Puppy survival thread. Nov. Read this and buy a hamster instead

[WomblingKnobhead]

Or a rabbit, or a goldfish, or a cuddly toy.

@LostFrog he is gorgeous. I felt like I was neglecting kids a bit at first as pups need so much attention and supervision. It does get easier though x

Thanks. I think with Christmas coming up (we are hosting as well) it’s just a bit at the moment. I have that same run-down, emotionally drained, achy feeling you get after having a baby, weather doesn’t help!

He’s beautiful @LostFrog!

I think a lot of us are feeling the same - I know I am. I actually had a cry this morning, DH was very lovely and understanding, but it all feels a bit overwhelming. Freddy’s 💩 are still horrible despite being on chicken and rice, so of course I’m now imagining the worst (despite the vet not being concerned and him acting like a completely normal puppy). With Christmas coming up, full time work, the early morning starts with Fred and the rubbish weather it’s all feeling a bit overwhelming.

Everyone says it does get easier, so I’m clinging to that thought 🤞

Can I ask about exercise actually - are you all following the 5 minutes walk per month of age rule - our breeder was really adamant about this but tbh he is already probably getting more than that just in the garden, seems like it would be really difficult to stick to with an active puppy and I haven’t seen any advice about how long to do this for - is it 6 months? A year?

Sorry you are having a rough time too sirchenjins it is NOT FUN scraping runny poo out of your lawn

No I’m not - he’s in and out of the garden as he wants really. Walks are quite short but that’s by the time he’s sniffed every single inch of ground and walked about 200 metres (which takes about half an hour) it’s all a bit much for he wee legs and he makes for home.

@LostFrog 5 mins on lead walk per month twice a day until a year is the recommended so offlead walking/playing in garden doesn't count. We generally stuck to it, maybe the odd walk was longer but then we didn't do a second walk that day. She's 9 months now and I think (hope) fully grown, I generally do still do 45 mins but that's how long my weekday walking routes usually take lol not because I'm clock watching the 5 min rule. At weekends she's more likely to be out for 1.5 hours and then if she needs a later walk too it's just a quick 15 min walk.

I confess we don't time our walks. He runs on the beach and grass and pretty few lead walks which are more limited. I find it hard to imagine any animal in the wild restricted to 5 mins per month per day. Would like to see good research behind this.
This thread sums up how I feel...common sense, avoid agility work until 12 months, avoid ball throwing, watch pup for signs of exhaustion or tiredness. www.petforums.co.uk/threads/ive-been-over-exercising-my-puppy-is-there-anything-i-can-do-to-undo-any-damage.450407/

No ball throwing? Oh crikey…

Hello new overwhelmed owners. I sympathise. I think I had a bout of mild depression at about 4/5 months (melodramatic but true) I wondered what I'd done, I'd taken all the things I enjoy from my life, (long walks, sitting quietly, out and about whenever or wherever...)

It gets better. I adore him now and walks are longer, poos are firmer 😆, I can sit somewhere with a friend and not feel like I have to throw food at him to keep him behaving, not frightened he will poo or pee in inappropriate places...Still struggling with leaving him and he is still waking once a night to go in the garden 😢

@SirChenjins well occasionally we do but I think the sharp decelerating and turning does the harm

Ahhh ok - there’s not much sharp decelerating or turning from Freddy, we just throw it a little way for him to trot after.

I can completely identify with your post about missing all the things we enjoy. DH and I normally do our Christmas shopping together and make a day of it with a nice lunch somewhere - now it’s taking an age to organise one of the DC to puppy sit around their work etc. Hopefully this time next year… Freddy’s great though and I do love having him - it’s just a bit ‘wth’ at the moment!

Hmm I guess leaping off 3 feet of decking isn’t great either then

Mine would die without ball throwing 🙈

He probably only does 3-5 a day though and long range with the ball flinger.

@Aria20 only the second time he's worn it out. It was really bloody Baltic here, snow and howling so I put it on because the fields are very puddly and boggy and he got soaked. And and he rolled in fox poo (and possibly ate some which is what I think has upset the tummy?!) And it's far easier to wash a fleece than a dog 😂

Well rice, white fish and pumpkin puree was a hit. World's blandest foot. And he's had my nice cod loins I was saving for a Goan fish curry 😩😩

@LostFrog gorgeous puppy!

I don’t adhere to the 5 minutes per month “rule” because I have never seen any actual research that supports the idea. The vets and trainers I trust have also said they don’t abide by it. I do limit walks on the lead when puppies are little but that has more to do with training than exercise. Of course too much exercise isn’t good for young pups, but I think that would be much more than short walks.

My current pup is 5.5 months old. He has about an hour of exercise (running about like a loon) a day. When he’s older I hope to do agility training with him. I think he would love it. Yesterday we were at a park with an agility course and he ran up the dog walk on his own. He also sniffed at the tunnel but was too suspicious to enter it.

Currently thawing out after an introduction to mantrailing course this morning. Think pup enjoyed it

That sounds amazing @tizwozliz what happens at mantrailing??!!!

I vaguely stick with it but tbh all my long walks are on the long line across the fields one way or another. So they don't "count" in that respect? Or they're long line sniff and walk and train on the park round the corner. He probably does 15 minutes a day on lead on pavement. So even if we are 40 minutes faffing in the fields I don't worry too much?

It's basically following a person's scent to find them. So the intro is teaching them to sniff an object and then learning to go find the person. So this intro starts off simple whilst they learn the idea of it. So we did a couple of trails where they see the person run away and hide, they sniff something of theirs, e.g. a hat then they find them and get rewarded. Then one where they don't see where the person goes and they have to go find them.

Our weekday walks follow the 5 minutes per month rule, but that's mostly because I haven't got time to do more than 40 minutes morning and evening. Weekends he gets longer walks though, going for about 1.5-2 hrs. Only a few minutes of those walks are on lead on pavement though, it's mostly over fields, in the woods, by the river, with loads of off lead running around. This morning we were out for 1.5 hours in the snow, he ran around in the woods, played with a couple of other dogs (and came away when I told him to, every time, success!), cracked some ice in puddles, sniffed every tree in the woods, sniffed every blade of grass on the field, etc. Pretty much all of it was at his pace on his terms (other than coming back when he was told to). Then he's slept the rest of the day and will get a quick 20-30 minutes this evening probably.

@tizwozliz

It's basically following a person's scent to find them. So the intro is teaching them to sniff an object and then learning to go find the person. So this intro starts off simple whilst they learn the idea of it. So we did a couple of trails where they see the person run away and hide, they sniff something of theirs, e.g. a hat then they find them and get rewarded. Then one where they don't see where the person goes and they have to go find them.

That sounds fun! I wonder if there's anything like that round here.

I've found an agility trainer relatively close, and we're thinking of doing that, just for fun. It's either that or an online gundog course, because I haven't found any local gundog trainers with mostly positive methods. Or maybe an online scent work course.

www.mantrailinguk.com/find-an-instructor

@MsAwesomeDragon that sounds blissful. How old is your pup and what breed? That’s quite a result getting him to choose you over other dogs. I come a pretty poor second to chasing the cat at the moment!
Mantrailing sounds awesome fun
Relieved that no one is saying oh no you must stick to 5 min rule. My sister says she did with her retriever and he is very healthy for an old man BUT she also has selective memory about a lot of things so I’m a bit

I always looked more at distance than time, so we'd do walks that took 35/40 mins from quite young but prob only 5 mins on lead and only covering about 1.5km total, i.e. a distance you could walk in 20 mins if you were just walking.

Now she's over 6 months I'm comfortable with doing longer walks once or twice a week if it's mostly off lead on soft ground.

We're not rigidly sticking to the 5 min rule, which I've read is mostly about discouraging people marching puppies round the pavement for hours.

Went back to basics with recall in the field, ds and me armed with chicken and sprats started about 10 paces apart calling her between us with her lead trailing so we could grab her if necessary and she did really well so we got further apart and even managed some hiding behind trees and her coming to find us. There was a greyhound at the other end of the field and she didn't leg it over so that was great, she looked over but decided playing with us was better hooray! It def helps having 2 of us there to practice though as if it had been just me I'm sure she'd have been off!