Puppy survival thread. Oct/Nov fireworks!

[sandwiches77]

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@Rollaroundtheclock our last dog was a rescue puppy. We brought him home at about 15 weeks. He grew into the most wonderful dog and we still miss him every day. We now have a 5-month-old pup who is also wonderful but a very different character. One thing that always seems to help me when dealing with an excited puppy is to speak in a very quiet voice. And teaching "watch me" and "touch" can be really useful in the early stages. You probably know that already though!

Thanks @bargelights I think that’s just it, they are so different, and whilst the older one is/was excitable it was very different. She was excited by us and treats, pup is excited by everything! I also have to remember although older dog has been great she certainly had her moments and tested us (funny how you forget a bit 😂)

Aim for the week is just keeping calm in the house in between play and getting him into a sleep schedule. He hasn’t done too bad today but not sleeping as much as he should but hopefully he will get bored of his new surroundings soon!

PoirotPup is allowed on sofa and chairs here…. We weren’t going to but then he snuck in and slept for hours a few times and as someone else said “choose your puppy battles, sleeping nicely on the sofa probably isn’t one of them” so we bought throws to cover them instead 🤣🤣🤣

Can’t remember who asked about stairs and labs. PoirotPup isn’t allowed upstairs but he does them over a railway bridge and initially we just held his harness for support so he didn’t jump down crazily. He’s too heavy to carry- I think as long as they aren’t going up and down multiple times or being sillly/running/jumping it’s ok.

I taught AwesomePup to come down stairs over the summer

Posted to fast there. He was about 5ish months at the time and we had bathroom fitters in who needed to be up and down the stairs all the time. The fourth or fifth time he followed me up I bribed him back down slowly with treats. He needed about a dozen treats scattered on each step before he would come down very gingerly. Once he'd done it a couple of times he got the hang of it and can do any stairs now. We've still got the stair gate up though as we don't want him upstairs, there's too much stuff up there.

I've just been invited to a puppy Christmas party at doggy day care. All their pups and owners are invited to come and play on the Saturday before Christmas, with games and raffles, etc. That seems like such a lovely idea.

Ah that is lovely!

Awww I hope the puppies are getting dressed up 😆😆😆

Right what has happened to my puppy? Since standing my ground over the sofa he has been angelic. He's been a bloody star at puppy class and has taken himself off to bed in his crate in the kitchen. This is utterly bewildering.

Finally got my act together to post a photo of 18 week old LegsPup. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with it all today; a bit like when I first went back to work with small children - like you aren't doing anything properly.

I agree with everyone who has said that it's hard to ignore them when they are hanging off your clothes! He's actively tried to bite us a few times in the last 48 hours if we have tried to move him, or get him off someone else's clothes. This morning we are working on the assumption that he is teething and in pain, as he calmed down after some water-that-chicken-was-boiled-in ice cubes (thank you to someone on the previous post for that suggestion).

Another whinge are that he has weed upstairs on rugs once a day for the last 3 days (we have rolled them all up downstairs and he's not supposed to go upstairs but is sneaky).

On the good side, he is really good at out and about recall and this morning, I left him for 25 minutes and he didn't make a sound (I left the sleep talk app on). But waaaaaaaah. So much to think about, all of the time!

He is very very cute @LegsMiserables 18 weeks is about right for teeth. Block off access to upstairs with laundry airers or any other object because he will regard that as the spot now

@WomblingKnobhead

He is very very cute *@LegsMiserables 18 weeks is about right for teeth. Block off access to upstairs with laundry airers or any other object because he will regard that as the spot* now

It's so annoying - it was 3 different spots upstairs. Any soft carpet he could find. But yes, the stairs are blocked off. He just sometimes finds a way. Pest!

@LegsMiserables oh he’s very cute! I felt exactly the same at first, every minute decision had to factor in the dog. It started to get easier around 20 weeks so you are nearly over the worst I hope! Once the teething phase is over, the biting calms down and you start to get used to your routines after a while and it doesn’t require as much thought.

Newboy went to his first puppy class yesterday. It was good, the instructor is lovely and patient.

Out of the 3 exercises we covered he only excelled at one; collar touch, which is pretty darn easy!

We have to practise walking to heel, sit to lie, watch and look.
He/I found sit to lie the hardest but I've got to have more patience.

And the very very good news is that we've had no little gifts to clear up in the kitchen of a morning for 4 days now 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

I just got home from a PTA meeting (it's evening here). General chaos, kids not in bed, DH whinging that Pup had had a bad tum in the garden. So he'd had to clean it up with baby wipes?! Has the man never heard of a hose?!

Anyway, pup escaped upstairs again and weed on the only other carpet up there he hasn't weed on yet this week. FML.

Omg cleaned up dog poo with baby wipes! That’s one of the funniest things I ever heard 😂😂

I know! Hooray for your clean floor @BaconAndAvocado It'll nearly be as clean as the grass in my garden!

Love the man logic there!!! We have a special old broom and use a watering can with a tiny bit of flash in. Pour on poopy splat and brush off. Easy peasy.

Sit to lie took FawkesPup a while to get @BaconAndAvocado but once it was in there it's made a huge difference as I can now teach him lie down and then settle whilst drip feeding kibble. Today I managed to get him to settle under my chair at national trust cafe table and have a rabbit ear whilst I had a coffee with my friend. He's been lovely company and no bother at all. Was actually like having a nice dog and not a small bitey kangaroo to walk!!! Stopped and got some ostrich braids and I figured it might help reach the further back teeth which are clearly bothering him. One was bleeding earlier so this week's bitey antics are definitely teething. Poor lad.

It does feel like he's settling down a smidge sometimes....just in time for teenagedom to hit 😩

GuyFawkesDay yes I can see how sit and lie will be very useful for cafe/pub visits.
Our town has a fair few dog-friendly places to eat and drink, can't wait to explore eventually!

And here is the pup, happily asleep. He seems to be doing ok so far!

@LegsMiserables I'm laughing at your DH cleaning the grass with baby wipes!

@casinoroyale4ever adorable puppy!

Gorgeous new puppies.

I'm still waiting for mine to settle down.. the mouthing (us, visitors, passers-by who have flappy clothing) is getting better but still not perfect.

Jumping up definitely getting better out and about. She still goes bananas when anyone comes into the house though. It must be so boring here normally!

Recall, well, funny one. We had a command, was going OK providing no massive distractions like another dog or a runner.... then it kind of... stopped working. I think we managed to make it extinct by using it, using it louder, again, if she didn't come back. We've now moved to a whistle and she generally does now return but sometimes it takes a minute or so - not ideal if she is ever in the situation of heading for a busy road or with a dog-napper....hmmm.

Hi everyone, we pick up our Springer pup on Saturday so reading with interest! Is it normal to have the puppy blues before you even get them?? I am freaking out a bit here. First time dog owner so feeling quite overwhelmed with how much I have to learn.

God yes I had quite a few "shall I cancel, I can't do this" moments. And I have had some "oh my god, I can't do this" moments since. And thoughts of rehoming (either dog or husband) but then he is a total poppet and he's all good.

I put way too much pressure on myself in the early days. It is like having a newborn to a certain extent, just roll with it as it ends quickly.