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

[WomblingKnobhead]

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

@WomblingKnobhead does he drink a lot before bed?

Still in the 11 week rose tinted spectacle phase here. He is adorable, follows me around and wags his tail. I don't think the trouble has begun yet!

Here is mine. 6 months old in a few days. Currently fast asleep. Do I take him for a walk to avoid the crazy later? Might see how he is in about an hours time.

He's gorge, @GuyFawkesDay.

We've been to the climbing centre where the dog ate lots of rubbish off the floor qnd tried to run off with the climbing harnesses. She got a lot of fuss though and someone described her as "well-behaved" which is categorically not true.

They are all so beautiful. Spaniels are just gorgeous.

@Aria20 no not really. He poos at night but his last meal is 5pm and I suspect I'd have stroppy hungry dog if I fed earlier

Ha you can't beat someone describing your dog as well behaved!

@WomblingKnobhead can you feed at 6pm as apparently approx 12 hours after meal is when they poo so you might gradually get to a morning poo rather than early hours!

Ah OK!! Had been thinking of it in reverse IYKWIM

Need some progress as I may have to divorce the grumpy sleep deprived DH otherwise

So many gorgeous puppy pics!

We had a lovely long (and cold) walk today. His recall was very good but there weren’t any other dogs around to distract him.

Too many gorgeous puppies! @SirChenjins what a cutie and @pardonmytits your spaniel has the most beautiful markings!

I do miss the tiny puppy cute chunky floppity days. Not the wee/poo/needle teeth/4 get ups a night bit. The cuddles and little cute flump bit.

@MrsHerculePoirot thanks for the tips! I guess I'm just expecting it to happen as if by magic but I suppose we need to put some work in.

She is the greediest dog alive I swear!

Thanks @GumsAndTeeth, he probably is frustrated, will look into the lead and FB group.

Had a fairly good walk today, working on taking paces backwards and turning the other way etc, didn't bark at the people we saw and did quite well actually.
Been fairly calm in the house as well. Past two nights has settled quicker than normal...hoping this is a bit of a turning point!

Need some progress as I may have to divorce the grumpy sleep deprived DH otherwise

I have one of those DH's too. I may see you in the divorce courts at this rate.

I know they're not popular on here, but this is my puppy, an 8 month old pug. Have read these threads since before she arrived but never posted.

Got to wait in for a parcel (new phone - so don't want that left at random house or floating around a depot) scheduled right over her morning walk time so she'll have to go without this morning and will be a nightmare when I work as a result :/

She's mostly a really good dog - sleeps all night, can be left for a bit, recall (as long as it's not from a dog who wants to play) is excellent for the moment, with masses of vigilence toilet training is over 95% there, which I never thought I'd be able to say. But oh my goodness, she is a nightmare on the lead. The pulling and yanking is constant, it gets me down tbh. As with everything I have trained her to do successfully, I've read all the things/watched all the videos/training classes. She's just so full of enthusiasm. No idea what to do other than keep on keeping on and hope it clicks at some point.

Argh Ffs even sprats didn't work or the whistle or a ball. The only thing that works is shouting bye and walking away but even then she sometimes runs around me and then off again! I've taught her "middle" which she's excellent at at home so tried recalling with that too as it's an ideal position to clip lead back on but nope it's like 5 weeks of being on lead have made her more determined to make the most of freedom!

What a lovely pup the pug is! My old flat coat (previous dog) was terrible at pulling on his lead. I see you've already got a harness which is good.

@casinoroyale4ever thank you :) Yes we've always had a harness - I worry about putting a collar on her anyway but with the amount she pulls, she would definitely hurt herself with it, so won't risk it.

star pup is 11 months now and still thick as mince although his recall is pretty solid so he can be let loose to universe. He's still a twat most evenings but most nights he does sleep through. his relationship with the cat is really improved and they both spend the day in my office with me. Hes had a couple of day care sessions he wasnt impressed but needs to get used to it lol. Next month is the big snip, already feeling guilty.

This morning I stood in the same place for 10 minutes waiting to get pups attention so I could ask for a sit so I could let her off lead. Starting to be strict on this in the hope she'll learn that focusing on me leads to good things. It's quite boring but being consistent with stopping every time she pulled on the lead led to results quite quickly so hoping this might be the same.

But when you can't even be more interesting than the 3m diameter circle of ground you're stood in it's going to be hard to compete with the wider environment. I think the only reason her recall is not horrendous is because she enjoys running full pelt towards you, even more so if she can do a four paws off the floor body slam at the end!

@tizwozliz they are funny, I have no issue with pup following directions when on lead she obv knows it leads to good things...it's just as soon as the lead is off she goes conveniently deaf and all training is out the window! So frustrating as now it's dark by the time everyone else is home it means I can't practice recall between me and someone else in the park - she will do it fine at home so practice at home doesn't help. Argh!

Urgh, need to get some decent waterproofs, we got soaked on our lunchtime walk 😖.

I'm worried that the pup has kennel cough. He has been coughing on and off today. Otherwise fine, eating well, etc. He's been vaccinated against kennel cough but I know the vaccine isn't 100% effective. And he has been interacting with a lot of dogs at the park.

I mean he has been interacting with dogs in the past few weeks so that is how he may have contracted kennel cough. Poor pup.

Oh that's annoying re kennel cough. I think it's generally over quite quickly though so hopefully your pup recovers pronto. A chap I was talking to at the weekend said (and I dont know if this is true but it seems to make sense....) that shared public water bowls are a huge transmission vector. I'm slack with these and will stop using now.