Puppy survival thread. Oct/Nov fireworks!

[sandwiches77]

New thread...

If you can't fit in a crate I think the next best option is harness and seatbelt clip thing. My main gripe with this in our car is the dog spins around and ends up getting a bit tangled.

We use back seat at the mo with harness and over headrest strap.

Will go to crate once he's adult size and can hop into my SUV boot.

What breed of dog do you have? We have a lab and until 7 months he went ok middle back seat. We had a sort of dog seat thing from Amazon with a clip from harness to seatbelt. I knew it would be wet and muddying the autumn/winter so we now have a travail system and we’ve got a boot guard which goes all the way across along the back seats but we’ve also gone for the divider in the boot so he has half and we have half for boots and stuff. It’s worked really well. We bought a ramp from amazon or lifted him initially by now we just hold the harness as he jumps down to take out some of the weight as he lands. It wasn’t cheap but they are made specific for your make of car so you put in your car and it shows you all the options. We and he are very happy with it.

Fireworks 🎆 not a problem here but pup has been testing my patience in other ways.

Gone completely off her kibble since Wednesday so has been hardly eating anything. Just fussiness I think as she'll eat treats/kongs stuffed with wet food etc. but hard to know what approach to take. She had one sloppy poo yesterday but think that's down to the vast quantities of treats she consumed at training after eating no breakfast. Wouldn't eat kibble in the evening either, I ended up giving her wet food because I didn't want her to be hungry whilst fireworks going on.

She's also attacked me twice when I've been doing training with her in the garden, hanging off my sleeves. Yesterday I had to resort to taking my jumper off to get away.

Needs constant supervision or she'll be chewing something she shouldn't.

On the plus side, out and about she's been pretty good and she did ok at training yesterday.

And I'm still I'll and OH recovering from surgery which doesn't help matters

Oh @tizwozliz sounds hard.

FawkesPup still bites and hangs onto other people in the house. Particularly DH. He only ever shouts and is negative and at some point he might twig the problem is him, not the dog. He did inform me the other night he knows about dog behaviour. Which is intriguing on the basis he's never had a dog or read a book on them or worked with one means he's talking bullshit.

I'm going to leave easy peasy puppy squeezy out and talking about "implementing strategies" a la @Aria20 and see whether I can get him to puppy class on Monday.

Could pup be getting any more teeth or is it adolescent shenanigans?

Just wondering about food, could you add some tinned sardines or similar?

She often gets extras, so egg or sardines on top a couple of times a week, but that's not worked at all. Just means a soggy mess of kibble to throw out. I was never expecting feeding a labrador to be hard work!

Think all teeth are through now, but guess could still be pushing up. She hasn't been bitey indoors for months, but both times in the garden she totally lost it. Removing yourself from the situation not so easy with 20kg of Labrador hanging from your sleeve. First thing so shouldn't be overtired. Could be hunger related but if she won't eat I'm not sure how i tackle that.

Our trainer said yesterday that they're most likely to take things out on the people they love the most so I guess it's an honour!

There were a couple of 5 month old labs on the training course we started yesterday, I can no longer tell myself that her kangaroo on a string impression is just because she is young and excitable!

@tizwozliz might be worth a vet check? Only because my trainer did tell me if a lab isn’t interested in food it usually is a worry/something causing it.

We get the hanging off again a bit - that’s adolescence I’m sure here. We’ve reverted back to removing ourselves every time his mouth opens on us. First time. It’s very annoying when we just want to sit down and sometimes we have to do it two or three times on the trot. It’s bloody annoying.

I’ll be training or playing nicely and then out of nowhere he’ll go crazy and start jumping up and like you say 25kg of puppy isn’t easy to move! I can’t imagine how mich worse it is if you’re feeling unwell too.

Teething @tizwozliz ? Merli became a belligerent bitey feral pest but it was short lived. A tooth has just dropped out on the sofa ironically. I've got sample packs of Millie etc and he loves it btw

We bought a new car specifically for the lab. Boot divider and guard and each dog has their own space.

X posted there!

Argh. Sounds like it's part of the teenage arsehole phase? FawkesPup is being a prime twat today and trying everyone's patience. Mine especially as I'm sleep deprived anyway with his wakings and have a grim cough & cold which is making it worse too!

She's always been a bit fussy and not very food motivated so this isn't hugely out of character and she'll happily scoff anything that's not kibble. She's not touched the stuff in her bowl but she has eaten some kibble in her puzzle and she's had some mixed with sweet potato in her Kong. I'll keep an eye over the weekend but doesn't feel like it warrants an emergency appointment whilst she is eating something and pooing as normal.

Fair enough - I thought more of a sudden change sorry!

We use half wet/fresh food and half kibble and mix together. He prefers the butternut box though and gets all tingly and makes these funny noises when he sees us getting it ready! Would that work better?
I know I’m nota dog but I always think eating the same dry food every day wouldn’t be enjoyable for me… (I know some dogs aren’t bothered though!!!).

I know you add other stuff @tizwozliz I meant more in general when we moved to mixed sorry didn’t want you to think I was saying about you!!!!

Merli just has kibble. When he was younger he wasn't very interested in food but gained 1kg a week so I just used to fill his bowl without weighing. Then we changed food and he has been so hungry I started weighing it and giving him extra. He barks angrily at the kitchen sometimes an hour before it's due 😞 which is tricky if in a video meeting. But he gobbles kibble and doesn't seem that disappointed if I use it for training as well. Princess terrier requires grated cheese or chicken stock (home made from boiling the bones of course 🙄) to tempt her to eat.

I know I’m nota dog but I always think eating the same dry food every day wouldn’t be enjoyable for me… (I know some dogs aren’t bothered though!!!).

I'm the same, totally anthropomorphizing, which is why she gets the wet food, sardines, eggs etc. as well. She's been doing great on that mix and everyone always comments on how shiny she is and it works well for us so hoping it might be a temp blip. Hunger strike because OH dared to go in hospital for a night maybe? Clutching at straws!

Who was the person having issue with the wall chewing? With Ada the problem seems to be all her chew toys are things she has to chew on at ground level, she'd much rather chew on something whilst sitting up. Makes it slightly awkward as at the moment I have to hold her chew root at knee level if I'm trying to distract her away from the furniture/wall

Me too. We gave up with kibble in the end as it was a battle and she is already quite highly strung... Still bitey at 17 weeks... Now on bloody expensive butternut box... I'm going to have to start bulking it out with something else tho as it just too expensive for larger, active breeds.

@tizwozliz mine went off food at same age for a week or so I thought it might be due to possibly coming into season but apparently between 8-9 months when adolescence starts they have a phase of teething again as the new teeth settle into the gums fully.

She did go off her food again though for a few days when she started her season.

Pup has been good as gold today, we've had various family visit for dd's birthday and she's stayed on her bed bedside me with a lamb ear and she was fine last night with fireworks too. Hopefully she's growing up a bit?! DH has been playing with her a bit today too so hopefully if she starts behaving he'll grow to like her!

Coming to share woes. DH and I went out last night and pup just slept from 6 onwards so when I got back at half 9 he was an absolute nightmare for 2 hours! Jumping, biting, nipping, scratching, gave him a kong, two chews but he just wants flesh! Ignoring would work but then DH moaned about the barking! His bark for attention is so loud!

Did sleep until gone 8 this morning and is sleeping brilliantly in DS bedroom. I have to settle him a bit but then crashes out. He's got a lovely mat in there but chooses to sleep on the carpet!

@Goawayangryman with butternut you can play around with quantities if you have space. So order the larger pouches but only use the amount you want and make pouches last more than one day… you can make it a bit cheaper that way if that helps! I saw that tip from someone else and it was great!

@MrsHerculePoirot off to investigate... She needs around 800g a day of their food unfortunately which comes in at £115 every 4 weeks. Ouch.