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

[WomblingKnobhead]

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

@Shouldofgotahamster85 @LostFrog sorry to hear about your pups being worried by other dogs. I have to admit my heart is always in my mouth when a huge dog runs over and looks like it might eat tiny pup. Luckily we haven’t had any bad experiences yet.

On cloud 9 this afternoon, had a bet with my OH that pup could do a wait for 1 minute and had a week to achieve it. They haven’t been going very well and above 30s, however today absolutely pulled it out the bag and did one minute 2 seconds! So proud

@Handsfullofholes amazing!

I think mine is just a wuss. He was jumped on by a bull terrier once but even before that he was terrified of a cavalier King Charles spaniel that ‘looked at him a bit funny’. They were both on leads .

@LostFrog poor pup. Hope you get there soon, our training school does lovely puppy walks and parties outside of the classes so maybe see if yours does? The owner takes here (amazingly sweet and patient) Welsh Springer along too and the dogs all get to play together or walk together to build confidence. I'm afraid I have the idiot overconfident cocker spaniel who the other pups are a bit scared of cos he just wants to RUN and PLAY!!

@AutumnNymph it's an Ezydog one from Pets at home! Nothing out the ordinary but lovely padded front harness bit with memory foam and nicely free round the shoulders. I will get a perfect fit for him but he's still growing and this one was a freebie from my cousin who uses them on her spaniels. Here's a pic

No idea why you got three dog pics 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Sleep still up and down. She managed to settle herself and sleep a full night on the sofa the other day, snoozed through all the New Years Fireworks but wouldn't settle when we went to bed shortly after midnight then ended up in with us. Last night she wouldn't settle again without someone with her, managed 4.5 hours alone before i ended up on the sofa with her at 5.30am.

On the positive side, she was really well behaved on our walk yesterday. She's started stopping when spotting other people/dogs and then comes back when recalled. Previously she'd recall but would already be halfway on her way to say hello.

Now if we could just sort out the jumping up we wouldn't have to put her on the lead every 5 minutes. Generally we see people with dogs off lead but I have to put Ada on a lead to avoid her jumping up at people, so they put their dogs on lead. I've yet to meet the hundreds of badly behaved dogs and owners that most of mumsnet seems to meet!

@tizwozliz I've taken to repeating the bedtime routine when FawkesPup does his "I want a cuddle" whining at 4/5am. Chuck outside for toilet, get him another bedtime biscuit, put on the music for an hour and lob him back onto the crate. Took 2 repeats of this 20 minutes apart today but he did go back to sleep til 7:30am after that. And he did need a poo!!

I hope 2022 is off to a good start for all puppies and people!

The other day I was walking my pup, working on loose lead walking. Everything was fine until a jogger passed by. The pup behaved perfectly, sat and waited. But as soon as we moved on he went crazy, trying to run off. If he hadn’t been on a lead he would have been zooming-ing like mad. He was absolutely unable to focus on me or listen at all. It was a bit scary because I could barely hold him and cars were going by. I have no idea what set him off. Maybe it was frustration at not being able to follow the jogger?

Yesterday we took a walk in the same area and he was fine.

Mine does that too, absolutely perfect until away from something exciting then goes nuts.

We are back on jumping up and biting the lead again too. Aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrggghhh. Bloody teenage dogs!!!

Well puppy class went better than expected! Only 4 pups in the group which was great. He freaked out when he saw the others - a perky little paschendale terrier straining at the lead to get to him, plus a GSD barking its head off, and a nice little daschund (I have a massive soft spot for daschunds). Once he realised they were on the lead he was a bit better and the lady told the others to give him plenty of space, and once he knew what was expected of him he could focus on that and calmed down.

It did make me realise that we have a LOT to work on but was interesting to compare to other pups. No one else seemed to be letting theirs off the lead for a start.

That's great, lostfrog. There are very definite advantages to a pup who is slightly wary. Mine will go with anyone who gives her a pat or kind glance and that = recall hell.

We are away at my parents. It is a nightmare. I will never bring her again. They are so not dog people and I'm constantly apologising for her existence/behaviour/ tendency to steal stuff. And their garden is unfenced cue many hours of parading out there in the rain, with dog on a lead, in case she poos or wees on their cream carpets. She is bombproof at home...

Yes @Goawayangryman mine is the same 🤦‍♀️ I cannot trust his recall if there's other people or dogs, he's off to make friends. In some ways it's lovely as he's SO social and happy bit oh my god I cannot rely on him yet. About 80% of the time his recall is fantastic, but then he will just bugger off after another dog and his ears magically stop working.

And he's also decided that mud and water is THE place to be. So every day he is FILTHY as every walk round here is basically a bog, which he likes to wade in if at all possible.

His scratchy bits are loads better though. Got recommended some Leucillin spray and it seems to be working well. Good news is I can use it on all the pets we have, and humans too.

Ordered a groomi tool today too as FawkesPup appears to be turning into a total floofball. His adult coat is really coming through, with wiry, shiny topcoat spreading and the puppy fluff going....mostly all over the furniture 😩

Mine is exactly like that as well @Goawayangryman and @GuyFawkesDay. He loves all people and all dogs, and his recall is far from 100% (meaning he is on the lead or long line most of the time). I was very proud of him a few days ago, though. We met a friendly golden retriever and her equally friendly owner while walking in the woods. The dogs said hello and both would have liked to play, but the other owner had to be on her way. My pup actually came away as soon as he was called. A proud dog parent moment. 😀 Heaven knows we need those moments now and then!

@certainshepherdpups I absolutely get what you mean..when mine comes away from a friendly dog/human I am so pleased. Dog trainer says the important thing is to keep your bodily orientation moving forward and your dog in the bubble...however this doesn't always work for me...

@GuyFawkesDay our pups sound very similar. I am so, so, so sick of the mud. Every walk means 20 minutes of cleaning afterwards. The house is permanently a tip, and all my clothes, coats and shoes are spattered with mud. Commiserations....

I am genuinely off to Waitrose tomorrow to buy some waterproof clothing wash as my coat is brown at the bottom! I've rinsed off my boots bit I need saddle soap to clean them properly. They're properly disgusting.

Every day the dog is wet and muddy. It's ok as it's what spaniels do but for the first time today I thought "yup, need a mud daddy!"

We had to lift Ada over a couple of stone stiles today where the fields had cows in. My coat is literally covered in shit!

On the up side: FawkesPup is now in the boot in his crate and no problems. Been a doddle. So my back seats are safer from the mud tsunami!

Mud Daddy is ok, we got the 8l one as no space for a boot crate, but if I had my money and time again I'd just get a very large bottle of spring water and refill that and tip it over the worst bits. The mud daddy is handy for the undercarriage but hardly a power shower and a tipped up bottle would do haunches and paws just as well.

@Goawayangryman that sounds really tough. My folks are not dog people either. We are going away with them at Easter and I am stressing about it already, especially because my sister has this amazingly well behaved elderly retriever and everyone has forgotten that he too was once jumpy and bitey! I think they pick up on your stress as well. And cream carpets !!

We lost Macpup yesterday! DH took him on a walk (the third one he’s done in 5 months, but that’s another story). And he saw some deer and shot after them through a small woods (frith). Took us nearly two hours to find him 😱

We have always done offlead on his walks, his recall is good and if he’s ever chased anything before it’s for maybe 50m across a field and then he circles back straight away, but obviously his chase instinct is stronger. No chance he wouldn’t have gone and he’s never seen deer before.

I feel really nervous about walks now. Friend said her lab did the same at a similar age (7 months) and she’s never let him off the lead since and he’s almost 18 months now.

I just don’t know what to do. I don’t think keeping him on a lead forever is going to make him a happy dog but how the hell do I proof a recall away from deer?! Not like there’s loads standing around to practice on.

@TheBigMacDougal how scary! Lucky you were not near a road! How was he when you found him? He probably frightened himself if he was away from you so long!

I know a few people do keep on lead through adolescence for that reason but that would be a LONG time. Can you just spend a load of time practising recall with distractions somewhere safe (maybe with squirrels!)?

I sympathise with all the mud magnets, the soil round here is mostly clay so mud has a reddish tinge which is nigh on impossible to get out!

Oh urgh @TheBigMacDougal that is very scary. And I can well imagine happening with my pup who theoretically shouldn't have a high prey drive but who seems to be very attracted to moving objects ...

I just bought a GPS tracker for ours, called Curve. 15 quid and then 1.50 per month for the SIM subscription. Waterproof for 30 minutes apparently. Made by Vodafone.

I just don’t know what to do. I don’t think keeping him on a lead forever is going to make him a happy dog but how the hell do I proof a recall away from deer?! Not like there’s loads standing around to practice on.

Do you recall to a whistle? It won't stop the chasing but does improve the chances of getting them back if they run off and can't locate you. A whistle can travel a very long way compared to your voice.

Mine did a deer chase in his teenage period and it was probably only 10 mins or so but there was no way he could have seen where I was and he travels a long way in that time but because of the whistle he eventually located me and came running back in a totally different direction to where we had been walking and where he had run off initially. Ironically straight after that time he tended to stick with me as it clearly shook him up as much as me.

Wow! That’s very impressive @Handsfullofholes!

You must have gotten such a fright @TheBigMacDougal. That is a long time to be missing. Bet it felt like even longer IRL.

Sleep deprivation is taking its toll here. I’m so glad I’m on holiday - not that it’s much of a holiday being housebound with 3 kids and a puppy! - but it would be so much harder if I had to go to work in the morning. DH has been away with work for 3 weeks. I’m counting down the days til he’s home.

It was freezing cold and raining here last night. She refuses to go out unless I carry her over the threshold and walk her round the garden on a lead. The 3am wake up was not fun and it took me ages to settle her in her crate afterwards.