Puppy survival thread. Oct/Nov fireworks!

[sandwiches77]

New thread...

@GuyFawkesDay FawkesPup looks lovely in his fleece 🥰.

@MakeMeCleanTheHouse Billy is a lab and a coat would just weigh him down! He’s grown a gorgeous, thick winter coat and not shown any signs of being cold.

@MightyMeerkat if she’s going so far that you can’t see her, I think you definitely need to stick to the long line for now 🙁.

I don't really take mine off the lead other than at home as terrified I will lose him. He gets recall but is stubborn!
Our local park has a fenced off safe area and that's the only place I really take him off lead.

@MightyMeerkat - I have found with previous dogs the only way to teach recall is using frankfurter sausages and a training lead (not retractable one). As a spaniel type does she have a favourite toy/ into chasing a ball? To keep her focus on you?

Mine definitely have never found me the most interesting so I’ve always had to outsource 😂 one like a ball, one doesn’t go off lead as she just approaches every dog and new puppy is learning via sausage 😂

Awful weather here and TerrorPup is not a fan. Got about 50ft from the front door on our morning walk before she put on the brakes, so we came back to play some scent games and training with her breakfast. She's clearly still got some energy go burn but apparently it will be dry by around 3pm so hopefully can squeeze in a walk before it gets dark and the fireworks start (she's absolutely not bothered by fireworks at home and even in the garden but not 100% out on a walk, plus I'm paranoid about her bolting thanks to my childhood dog so it's not a fun walk).

We do use a coat for her as she really does hate the rain and it means she might entertain a walk. The one we have fits awfully so we are buying an Equfleece this week. We also take her on public transport a lot, so being able to whip off the wet/muddy coat on the return journey is nice for us and other passengers!

DH wants to get rid of pup. She nipped dd yesterday, she didn't break the skin and it was provoked so it wasn't really pups fault, plus she's in season so more likely to be grumpy when pestered. Obv he's always looking for excuses to hate the pup and want rid of her and he's jumped on this.

I'm devastated, I've put so much time and love into pup and I love her so much. My 12yo ds is in tears as he loves her so much too, he's autistic and she's been so good for him and they have a great bond. Hes been to all the classes with me, takes her for walks, sleeps in room with her and he's saying he has nothing left to live for.

What the hell am I meant to do? I feel bereft at the thought of giving my pup away and never seeing her again and not knowing what's happened to her and the thought of her being confused and pining for us too. DH is making me feel like a bad mum if I don't get rid of the pup as it's not putting dd first and what if pup bites her face etc and of course I'd never forgive myself if something like that happened but she's not an aggressive pup dd was pestering her. I've not slept nor has ds and I just keep crying.

Hoping the rain eases up a bit. Ada isn't bothered about a bit of rain but isn't so keen today. Shes been fairly chilled so far this morning, we got up at a respectable time given the clock change (just before 7), toilet, breakfast, a bit of training/find it then back to bed for snoozing whilst we watched some TV. Just had brunch and going to see about a walk in the woods in the next hour. I think she'll be a nightmare later if we don't get her out

Ada's recall is pretty good, if no dogs / people she'll pretty much always come when we call. Generally she's off lead with places with good sightlines so we'll recall and put her on lead if we see people/ on lead dogs. She's also ok at being called away from off lead dogs.

@Aria20 how old is DD. Can you keep them separate for a while, especially during her season and closely supervise/manage time together? Different rooms or room divider or whatever works in your set up?

Is DD old enough to teach how to behave around pup? We’ve had to spend a fair bit of time working with DS who is 7 on how to behave around pup - he always wanted to hug him, face on, at times with puppy was playing or doing something else so we’ve learnt about dog body language and times to leave pup alone and why. He doesn’t always get it right but he’s a million times better.

@MightyMeerkat I have a lab so maybe different. We used the longline for a long time unless we were certain there weren’t others about and we had clear sight lines.

We used to take some really high value foods out and a special tug toy for walks only. We’d all run in a different direction and pup would come running and we’d have a party with treats and playing and then go off again…. We always reward for automatic check ins and try to only recall when we know he’ll come. The one time we needed him to come he did but I don’t think it would be bomb proof!

He’s definitely worse at the end of a walk when he’s tired and over stimulated!

Newboy back from the beach!
The rain was practically horizontal.
He's just had a nice warm shower down, went ok.

@MrsHerculePoirot she is 4 this week so still young. The nip hasn't put her off at all thankfully. She does understand not to touch the pup when she's eating/chewing or sleeping. But she does often cuddle her like you say and pup is normally very good and tolerant and I'm right there to distract pup with something else if need be. Yesterday they were playing with my dds blanket on the floor and dd put the blanket over pups head which pup didn't like and caused the nip, I was in the room but didn't step in in time so it was my fault.

I can and do separate them to a degree (when needed) with stair gate across kitchen/front room but at mo pup is really clingy to me so barks if I'm in the other room with dd and she's not allowed in so it's hard work unless ds is at home to take pup in his room. They are all back to school and DH back to work tomo so will be just me and pup at home in normal routine so I feel confident that it can be managed but DH is obv making me feel horrendous and doubt myself saying what if she bites dds face off next time etc.

@Aria20 that’s tough - hugs from me. Bet it was a right shock for you too.

I think keeping them separate, even if pup barks might be the way forward for a bit? Hopefully back at school/routine will make things easier too.

Maybe only let DD ‘play’ by helping you play - things like find it (get pup to wait in one room and let DD hide toy/treat in another) and fetch (rolling ball for pup). Or help her to make ‘puzzles’ out of recycling?

I don’t know really as haven’t been in that situation but hope you’re ok.

@Aria20 what breed/ age is she?

It’s not ideal but depends on the situation and intent of pup, a small nip that’s just a ‘go away’ is quite normal for adolescent dogs - especially during heat. It should be trained how you specifically train all unwanted behaviour.

@Aria20 That sounds like a really difficult situation. I feel for you. I hope you're able to find a way through it.

Re recall, I've tried squeaky toys and very high value treats but nothing works. She does get better towards the end of a walk because she's tired. It's just such a shame not to be able to let her off. She doesn't get enough exercise on the long line and just pulls like mad the whole time.

@GumsAndTeeth she's a spaniel 8.5 months old. Normally very friendly and playful. She had kennel cough and then straight into season so poor dog has only had short on lead pavement walks for the last 2 weeks so she's obviously got cabin fever too which doesn't help and she's def in adolescence phase too. So it feels like it's all happening at once bad timing! What sort of training would you suggest? I put her in her crate for time out yesterday after the incident.

@MrsHerculePoirot dd is very good at helping play games and do simple training with pup and pup looks at her eagerly waiting for her instructions normally and in fact dd has pup doing "watch me" for way longer than the rest of us lol. So I just feel like yesterday was my fault for not intervening quicker and now everything has gone wrong and I'm in this awful position!

@Aria20 you’ll know pup and house and family best of all. Sorry you’re in this situation at all.

Oh no @Aria20 that’s awful, was it an aggressive bite or playful?

@Aria20 if it were me I'd make time to sit down and talk seriously with DH outlining the negatives of getting rid of your pup. I'd then suggest solutions and offer a deal of what you agree is reasonable

Are you a member of DTAS on Facebook. Its excellent and has a whole section about children dogs, reading their visual signs which cause bites etc. I would absolutely read that and pick some of the ideas suitable for your children (targeted videos in there) and use that as evidence of what you are doing to prevent this in future.
The image shows correct site on FB. Arrow shows where guides are (apologies if you know this already)

My JRT bit me. There was an identifiable trigger and we decided to keep him. We called in a behaviourist. I was completely comfortable with him sleeping on my DDs bed because we followed the advice and taught DD what to avoid

@LadyCatStark it wasn't really aggressive or playful. I'd guess it was a warning or hey get off me.

@MakeMeCleanTheHouse I'm not on Facebook unfortunately but I have read all the stuff on the dogs around kids website the trainer recommended, printed off dog picture to colour where is ok to stroke and where isn't, have the ladder of aggression printed out too. I just don't know what else to do now. Devastated.

@Aria20 that sounds difficult. Is your DH genuinely concerned or looking for an excuse to get rid of the puppy?

Our last dog was the sweetest dog you could ever imagine. He loved people, especially children. On one occasion in his long life, he nipped a child’s hand. I understand exactly why he did it. He was in an unfamiliar place, under some stress for other reasons, and the child was pestering him a bit. He essentially just put his mouth around the child’s hand, like a warning, didn’t break the skin or anything. It can happen especially with children. With our dog it was a one off.

Gosh @Aria20 that's awful for you. Ours is still bitey, but much as DH is a pain with it, he does also acknowledge the biting is pups age or when it's DD she is squealing and running which is just the funniest game EVER for him. It's not his fault his instincts are to chase. But DD is nearly 9 so it's a different kettle of fish.

Do you think he's just looking for an excuse? I don't think I'd ever forgive my DH for it. It would have to be a trade off here. If the dog went, so would his hobby. If not I would probably have serious misgivings about him not being the person I thought he was.

Oh no. Was it a nip that was just a bit harder? Mine constantly nips my ankles and broke the skin yesterday.
Surely he wouldn't really want to get rid of your pup?

@bargelights @GuyFawkesDay to me it def feels like he's looking for an excuse to get rid of her as dd is totally fine, cried for 5 mins and not even a mark left on her. He'd never give up his hobby but yes pup is basically my hobby and I will certainly be lost without her.

I feel more worried about pup if we do have to rehome her as I'd feel so guilty about her feeling all confused and sad missing us as of course I'd be so upset and so would the kids but I'd eventually have to get on with it.

@cheeseisthebest it was a bit more than a nip but not a full on bite if that makes sense.