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

[WomblingKnobhead]

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

Just catching up on escaping pups, cocking legs and stolen items. Ours has been largely ok over Christmas but when people come around... Oh my god. She is so over-excited and wants to play, hard with everyone and jump all over them. So embarrassing. On the plus side recall has been going well but she keeps jumping at people on walks (oh it's ok, they say! No it is frigging not. Ignore her!) To the point where I have to clip her back on when people approach. Arsehole!

Today we are going away to somewhere that is possibly slightly unsuitable as I has a balcony with rather sketchy fencing... Not too high but it will require close supervision. Could be a disaster. We shall see....

Mine has just stolen and eaten a whole, large buttery flapjack left over from a walk yesterday and that was in a zipped pocket of a coat. Little bugger. Luckily raisin-free....

Pup hardly touched the tree at the holiday cottage, even when there were presents under it. She's intent on pulling off decorations on our one now she's home though.

She only managed an hour or so downstairs on her own last night :-(

My niece is visiting overnight. She arrived yesterday and pup took one look at her, decided she's a friend, jumped up and licked her face then when she sat down he sat on top of her 🤦. Luckily, she's 13 and has a dog of her own who does similar things but is smaller.

It's funny how my parents got barked at and sniffed warily the other day until treats were produced, but niece is accepted as part of the family and licked and sat on as if she belongs.

Pup kept on stealing my mum's shoes whenever she got a chance whilst we were away. Didn't touch anyone elses...

Please can I join you? We got a Border Collie 2 weeks ago and she's a nightmare. Zero idea with toilet training, total trash panda and muncher of everything. Cute though.

Welcome @motherofawhirlwind don’t worry, it’s gets better! But you do have to pay your entrance fee of one photo of your pup.

My robot vacuum cleaner arrived today. It’s going to be a godsend! And it provided some entertainment for Billy 😂.

We bought a cordless vacuum in the expectation that we'd be dealing with lots of hair but has mostly been put to use for hoovering up bits of ostrich bone and shredded twigs. I'd quite happily swap pup for one that would mean hoovering everyday if we could have a one who would sleep on her own!

@LadyCatStark

Welcome *@motherofawhirlwind* don’t worry, it’s gets better! But you do have to pay your entrance fee of one photo of your pup.

My robot vacuum cleaner arrived today. It’s going to be a godsend! And it provided some entertainment for Billy 😂.

I did try but it's keeps saying something has gone wrong :(

@tizwozliz oh god we could make another Billy out of the amount of hair he loses on a daily basis! It’s really obvious too as it’s black and gets in the most random of places.

AwesomePup loses a lot of hair too. It's not too noticeable in the living room with a beige carpet but the hall has a navy carpet which shows every hair. It looks terrible pretty much as soon as I've hoovered it so I don't bother unless someone is coming

I spent most of last night ignoring this cuties cries to get him used to being on his own at night- I was exhausted this morning. DH also poorly from Covid booster thankfully our DDs are not super demanding.

Oh but look at that face!!!

@GuyFawkesDay that face is the reason it's been more than a week since I had a full night's sleep he sure is beautiful though.

@Xtraincome so cute, such a soft spot for bulldogs

@stretchpup has been…… ok. I’ve had major puppy blues, it feels just like when I had DD1 and I felt like I’d never leave the house again, but that’s stupid as he has been mainly lovely.

Christmas Day was a bit mad and he was wound up to a insane degree, boxing night he barked for 2 hrs in his crate, as my neighbours dogs woke him up barking in their garden at 11pm and he was like a pup possessed, but my lovely DB and SiL have had us over for dinner twice and he was lovely with DN who is 18 months and dog obsessed, we went to the beach yesterday 2.5 hrs in the car and he was fab, just 1 wee break each way) and had an absolute blast on the beach, went to a dog friendly restaurant and he slept the whole time.

Today we went to a local shopping centre ( park first) and he was fab and so chilled on the lead, then went to the pub for a couple of hours pints and again slept even chilled when a big dog was barking (usually howls like a nutter) and was super soft with 2 more toddlers that just wanted so smooch him.

I don’t know why I am feeling so down… i think it’s just the huge responsibility I feel to socialise him, train him and keep him the lovely little smooch that he is and not make loads of stupid mistakes (like I did with my first pup)

DPup is being an overenergetic maniac the past two days and seems to have regressed, Throws himself against the crate/play fence, is running about like a maniac, is chomping away and howling the minute we leave him, This from the pup who is normally chilled and is fine being alone for a couple of hours when we are in a different room.

His barking is driving DH nuts and affecting his mental health. Dpup had his second jab on 23rd and the vet told us to wait for 10 days before taking him out for walks. I think he is bored of the garden and needs to run about a bit more but am not sure i can hold on until the 3rd. Please tell me it gets better. Neither DH nor I had much sleep with the constant howling, barking and throwing against doors that is happening. I am now lying down with a migraine while DD does her best to entertain DPup and keep out of his chomping range.

he is our first dog so we are definitely newbies and the puppy blues are definitely kicking in today. We have had him for almost 3 weeks and he was an angel the first two. Completely lulled us in complacency. Even DH who isn't a dog person and needed convincing was saying how chilled he is, etc

Sorry for the wall of words - needed to let it all out.

Hope I don't worry too many of the new owners with tales of our non sleeping nearly 8 month old. I think she's a bit of an outlier

Last night we decided to leave Ada with access to the lounge and sofa to see if that helped. A good start and she settled herself off to sleep whilst we departed upstairs. She only slept for 3.5 hours though before whining and then wouldn't settle again so I ended up on the sofa with her. She then slept until 8.45am so not all bad but wish she could just learn to be on her own all night.

@AutumnNymph we had a manic morning with our usually chill pup. 2 random poos and peed twice on the floor all within 30 minutes of waking up. I hope it gets easier soon. It's a real challenge at times. Maybe leave DPup outside playing more if you feel you can?

Lesson learned for me this morning- get him outside in his pen to relieve himself for a good 10/15 minutes. But also be pleased he held all that in for 5 hours because I overslept accidentally

@Xtraincome. Thanks - with the weather being milder today I have left the garden doors open and we did a very tiny first walk in our front driveway. Hoping to take him out a few times to tire him out today - any tips from anyone on getting a harness on a pup who again has suddenly decided he won’t let me put it on ? I have checked it fits etc - he has happily worn it before but today no. I don’t want to take him farther than our front yard without a harness on. I swear if I get it on him today, it’s never ever ever coming off - EVER

Our pup is at the vets today to have a torn claw safely removed. The house feels bizarrely empty without her. She is going to have to wear a cone and we have to limit walks to 10 minutes a day. Not going to be easy with a full of energy lab! We haven't really mastered 'stay' so I'm hoping some focus on training will help use up her excess energy. Any ideas for brain games/ training welcome!!!

Poor pup @ilovesushi. I hope her recovery goes smoothly. Can you teach her the names of her toys? That can be a fun thing to do and helps tire them mentally.

Hope all the other puppies are doing well. My pup’s new thing is to take himself off to another room to play on his own. I’m glad he feels confident about being away from us and that he can entertain himself for a while. But I worry that he will get up to mischief on his own so I keep checking on him which is probably not the right thing to do!

@certainshepherdpups I worry about this too. I have a nooie camera set up in the lounge, so if I know he is in there I can watch him stealthily (it's also handy when he's being naughty as I can do an AH-AH from upstairs. SPup must think I have the all-seeing-eye

@ilovesushi how pup feels better soon

@AutumnNymph we were told to wait for 14 days after our pups second jab - I think we lasted 9/10? We were just careful around stagnant water and fox poo. Your life will change once he can go out for walks!

We’ve had a good few days, bought our first yak chew today and did a new walk and pets at home, and then met a giant Alsatian in the park who was lovely! Then we got home and overtired grumpy puppy bit me on the ribs - hard. Our fault for keeping him up too long but it bloody hurt.

Hope pup OK sushi.
We have a very jumpy, nippy puppy past few days. He's 7 months for gods sake, yet still so bitey!