Puppy survival thread. Cold nights in the garden ... yeah...no

[MakeMeCleanTheHouse]

The foghorn is sounding frequently and I suspect that's why I'm up enjoying the ambience of a foggy garden at 4am.

Hoping @BaconandAvocado is fast asleep and all the others with wide awake pups.

We've also got ostrich bone for our pup... It's the only treat her doesn't tear through in a matter of minutes/seconds.
Mine likes most treats... The only think he turned his nose up at was a lamb braid.

Mine's not fussed by lamb braids or pizzles either. Rabbit ears, duck neck, beef twists yes. Olive wood is ok, split antler in phases but not overly fussed yet.

His fave is his frozen kongs. He gets grated carrot, grated liver sausage, a bit of kibble and some butternut squash baby food in it, and cream cheese or Kong pate in the top and a few treats shoved into the top then frozen. Half an hour absolute peace and he spins when he sees them he gets so excited.

Here's the little monkey looking cute on his walk

@tizwozliz love that the bone is nearly as big as her!! Where did you get it from? My local pets at home has been sold out for ages!!

Mine still likes pizzles, various ears and braids but they don't last as long now! She isn't fussed on stuffed trachea or the porky roll thing I ordered. Never liked yak or antler but still loves her buffalo horn!

Yes @tizwozliz reckon one of those would last FawkesPup years!!! I'd love to find one!

I ordered direct from JR pet products website. They were out of stock on the website last time I placed an order a couple of months ago but back in stock now, might start filtering through to shops? Although I don't think our local pet shop stock them anyway

Been a dearth of JR stuff round here lately, I think I might go for a direct order too as FawkesPup does love a rabbits ear!

Anyone else struggling with separation anxiety? My pup is like velcro to me!

@cheeseisthebest we don't leave him enough to know. I noted today he sat at he hall door and peered anxiously after me when I went to the loo but generally we move around without him noting

We don't leave him either and that's the problem! I can't even go upstairs without him barking.

Wow, the pups are really growing aren't they? Here's Elmpup - she's an 18 week Goldendoodle. She's playing with her tripe bone,which smells just as attractive as you might imagine. She has put a kilo in each of the last two weeks.

It's weird because if I'm in the house he's like this or if I go into the village shop and leave him with DH or DS....but if I got out he doesn't bother and just settles down with DH and is fine all day.

He's stopped actually coming into the loo with me and now waits in the hall, but he still follows me.

So I can't work out if it's really separation anxiety...or a bit of attention seeking too?

Elmpup is just so beautiful @Elmrosie

That's a good point, if I go out and leave him with someone else in the house he's fine.

Ooh Billy loves an ostrich bone! I have a work colleague coming round tomorrow so I’m going to have to hide all the random animal parts that are now dotted around my house 🙈.

@GuyFawkesDay

Elmpup is just so beautiful *@Elmrosie*

Thank you - I loved the picture of FawkesPup after swimming! We went to a puppy meet the other day and we were all,laughing about how you never see a spaniel that's not soaking wet - even when there doesn't seem to be any water nearby

Loving looking at all the puppy photos! Makes me wish I had taken more when our pup (7 months) was little. She is currently zonked out on her donut bed after a busy day of non stop playing at doggy daycare. She is a brilliant sleeper. Instead I get woken up at all hours by our senior cats looking for attention while doggo is out of the picture.

Re separation anxiety, Newboy has none whatsoever (so far!)

I can leave him downstairs in the kitchen and go and do house stuff and he's fine. No whimpering etc.
Feel very lucky as I did sleep downstairs with him for 3 weeks so thought it would be inevitable.

We have a pup who is almost the same colour Elmrosie, but a labradoodle.

We have made it back upstairs to sleep. Vella had been sleeping 11-6.30 so we decided to try it and all went well. Very warn welcome this morning, and a full nights sleep.

We have a few difficulties with separation too. She's fine if we're just nipping to the loo etc, but anything more and she starts whining. She also had a habit of weeping or poking on the kitchen floor (even if she's just been), and since we have shut the door, she has started doing it right outside DHs office door! I'm going to actively need to work on it, though, as DH is going away with work soon and I cannot take her on the afternoon school run. I've cancelled a couple of the kids activities that mean being out for 2-3 hours, but need to get to a point where she'll settle for half an hour or so.

There are some great treat/ keeping busy ideas on here. We are using a fish and plant base diet. Bella loves the dried sweet potato strips, veggie pigs ears and frozen peanut butter in her Kong. Have ordered some doggy salmon pate to try.

I've just been out (for the first time in 10 days) to the pet shop. We'd run out of kibble!!!! We were on the emergency Ava that had been a free gift when we joined the pets at home puppy club. So now I've got a 12kg bag of our normal brand (chudleys puppy/junior, it's ok but it's what he's used to). And I went on a bit of a spending spree on chews . He's now got an ostrich bone, some buffalo tails, goats ears, buffalo lung, buffalo twists, more yak chews and a load of treats. That should keep him going for quite some time.

We took Mac pup to the beach yesterday. He really enjoyed himself and got to meet a few other dogs too. He is proving ok with coming back to us if he’s been allowed for a little play but I can already see he may be a sod through the teenage years 😆

Today this needs to be family surviving thread. I feel like I can manage the family or the pup but both together...😬

Back to work next week which I'm really struggling with so I'm already feeling grim about that. It's normally a Sunday night feeling of dread, not so early

I'm doing some online big important work meetings today which cannot be interrupted by bitey shouty pup. Agh. I decided better to put up with bitey bitey mad and snappy behaviour for an hour or so before to really wear her out! I've got a lull over lunch time when she will be walked, and then trained to death which will hopefully buy me a bit more time.

Then it's the joy of a stupidly extended school run because of traffic jams caused by petrol queues, followed by another meeting (where it doesn't matter if she barks, thankfully - because she will at that time)...

And then at 630 we are all going to the pub and I'm going to have a massive drink.

I'm studiously ignoring the bits of shredded cardboard and leaves throughout the house, and random bits of left-over dog chew.

Solidarity to those juggling pup, family, work. I'm pretty sure this is the difficult bit and we will look back and think aaeeeuuurgh.

Fab photo TheBigMacDougal

I can't wait to be able to take Newboy to the beach!!

Woke at 2am to some snuffling from Newboy so let him out for a toilet.
Forgot to set alarm for 5 so woke at 6 to a poo and wee in the kitchen.

Things are definitely starting to fall into a pattern with the nights.
I feel tonnes better.....I go up at 9:30, sleep till about 2 then back to bed to wake at 5/6, then back for a sneaky extra couple of hours whilst Newboy naps and family see themselves out to work and school.

Joining in with our 6 month old Australian Labradoodle - he's generally not too bad, however is obsessed by food and an absolute nightmare when I am trying to prepare food or we are eating.
I have ordered some puzzle toys to try and give him something else to do when we are cooking/eating !!

PSA: if you have a large Dobbies garden centre mine has just restocked the JR products stuff and this ostrich bone was cheaper than buying it direct from them (?). Having established this is the BEST thing ever, I am going to use it as a "I'm going out" distraction so he starts to associate me going out with it and hopefully he will stop being so clingy to me