Puppy Survival Thread: surviving into 2022

[LadyCatStark]

The other thread is full and I can’t see a new one! Hope it’s OK to start one. I’m actually barely surviving puppyhood, actually teenagerhood, this week 🤬😡😭.

Mine is barking at her food bowl because I have run out of other stuff and have given her... tinned food, which she won't touch.

I think she's a cat.

Furthermore, Google thinks she's a cat. It's trying to flog me a photobook of her pictures entitled "Kitty Chronicles."

GuyFawkesDay no off lead for sandwichpup until his recall his better, he is fine ish if no distractions but chases off after other dogs or runners and wont come back . He has two 30 min walks at either of the day when im working, and an hour plus a round the block when im not working. Looking at what you do, maybe im not doing enough

He's 9 months so I guess just 'reaching sexual maturity' as the trainer so delicately put it 😁

Trip to the pet shop today and got him a new long line for running about and a double ended lead for when control is required/ likelihood of lunging at other dogs. This combo made for a lot nicer walking experience today. Teen DD was able to walk him and feel in control which hasn't been the case lately.

I also got him some filthy stinky natural chews. The fish skin stick is a big hit and has bought me some peace and quiet. His breath is going to be pretty unpleasant after that though.

My dog walker has cried off for tomorrow due to the predicted stormy weather though which is a shame as I have a haircut booked. DH will have to manage as penance for having 4 days off the furry terrorist whilst we were away with my family.

Does anyone have any recommendations for boot liners? I'm getting a shiny new (3 year old) car and should try and keep it nice. Apparently camping plus dog necessitates a bigger car, this dog business got expensive quickly!

@sandwiches77 we definitely find he's better if he's had enough walks, and the offlead time is really good for just tiring him out. That said we are very lucky we have fields, private dead end roads and loads of open space to allow it.

FawkesPup is definitely getting better, today he went off to play and although he didn't come back immediately, he did come back from about 50m at top speed....just after 30 seconds! He normally just gets distracted by other dogs and I know both those he met today so knew he'd have some fun running round with them, then I called him back.

He's also reaching peak bed humping and is pushing a lot of buttons with his barking and general attention seeking twattiness.

Be thankful it's just his bed he is humping
After the peak of arseholery it's a gentle downhill slope to the sunlit uplands of very good dog behaviour isn't it? Isn't it??

My friends with older dogs all tell me it gets a lot better as they age.... I re-read their messages regularly.

We have been away with our snowflake who won't eat, poo or wee away from her normal environs. She is good after 24 hours but god what a long, fraught 24 hours that was.

Doggo has been doing really well with a much firmer hand and tone of voice i.e. a few deep vocalisations and physical redirection when misbehaving/ doing her own thing.. Turns out for her that inducements, "high value.treats (hahah!)" and praise does not actually do the job on its own. She now knows "no" and "fucking hell. ARRRGH!" and life is much better again.

Am slightly dreading tomorrow and the high wind/ rain..DDog is scared of flags and flapping things, and I don't actually know where I can walk her here in safety in gale-force conditions..she is awful without a massive run. We will have to do a ton of brain work or something.

After yet another bed shredding I bought a dog mattress in Aldi today. It's gorgeous, squishy, padded memory foam plus a soft top. I would sleep on it. Needless to say, the dog is asleep on the hard wooden floor 🙄

Hah, @GuyFawkesDay we have very similar. So many comfy beds, so little interest in any of them. When we visited her at 4, 6, and 8 weeks she was asleep on the hard wood floor....

I spoke too soon, he's just curled up on it! I mean, I give it not very long before it too meets the bed bin but I live in perpetual hope of finding a bed he won't destroy!!!

I'm away from home for two days for a work trip. I miss my pup already (and the rest of the family too of course!). I wonder if he will miss me. . . I know DH will take good care of him but the pup is quite attached to me.

I am just a meanie. When my dog ripped up his bed I didn't get him another one.

He has another bed that he never uses anyway and the one he did like a bit he ripped up. He also has a crate with a mat in that he rarely goes in. He likes to sleep on the front or back door mats, the hall rug or under the dining room table. In the daytime he has a spot on the patio that he likes. It just didn't seem worth buying another bed for him to not use.

Mine dragged my towel from the hallway and slept on that last night.

Designated dog bed resolutely ignored as always!

Mines the same with beds. Bought a gorgeous one in the January sales, just drags it round the house chewing it. He’s got a big cushion, hard sided bed with cushion in it, crate and then lots of blankets and noodle mats, and he always chooses to sleep on the tiles near the back door. I was reading the thread about putting blankets on dogs at night to tuck them in and felt awful as mine just won’t tolerate being tucked in! I’ve tried and within 5 minutes he’s back in the cold tiles again. I dread to think how he’ll cope in the summer. Think we’ll have to shave him! 😂

@GuyFawkesDay peak bed destroying here was 7-9 months. Touch wood she's not tried to destroy since!

When we got her first bed I told pup that if she destroyed it she wasn't getting another one. Seems to have worked :-) It's still her favourite even though we've since got a bigger one of the same design.

Hi everyone,
I brought home my now 9 week old golden retriever pup a week ago. These posts have been so helpful, especially early ones about the puppy blues, which I've definitely been suffering from. My anxiety levels are through the roof. Crate training is proving challenging with IndyPup barking and whining most of the night, despite being let out for the toilet! It's all A LOT. I know it'll get better as time goes on but just need some support and reassurance right now!

Poor thing. It gets better.. but I would suggest rethinking the crate if it isn't a reassuring place for your dog.

@Suzbug oh yes! I remember it well. It's so overwhelming. Are you leaving the pup alone downstairs in the crate at night? Might do better either with crate in your bedroom or you downstairs with the pup just temporarily. You can edge away over a week or so.

Suzbug, welcome to the crazy puppy world! I’m only 4 weeks in but definitely finding it much easier now and less overwhelming, the first two weeks I found incredibly hard. I was well prepared, excited but it still was like a bomb going off in our lives!

You get to know the pup with time, start to learn their cues of whether they’re tired/hungry/over stimulated which really helps.

If ours cries at night we go downstairs and lie next to the crate and gently say shush and he settles back down. The first couple of weeks it was a few times a night, we’re now on a 10pm bedtime, a 4/5am toilet trip then sleeps until 6ish - getting sleep makes the world of difference to how you cope emotionally. Can you perhaps sleep with them for a few nights or have them in your room to see if that helps?

@Autumn101 Thank you! I saw your posts earlier on the thread about you bringing your pup home. Reassuring to hear it gets marginally easier as time goes on.

The sleep deprivation is such a killer and knowing if the approach we're taking is the right one...there's so many "options" and opinions

It is so difficult to know what’s right as there’s always someone advising or recommending something different! My mum gave me the best advice which was to just love the dog for who he is and everything will fall into place in time.

Yes, agree to the “this will pass” mindset. With my last dog I was crying with tiredness and misery after a few weeks - and as for the biting! Most books/experts toss it off as an irrelevance, or suggest “offering something else”. They have clearly never had a shark-toothed puppy repeatedly lunging at you and then clinging on with a mad glint in their eye. My current pup can be bought off with treats, but old dog didn’t much care for most food and thought a tasty arm was vastly preferable to a piece of sausage.

This is a nice supportive thread btw. When I had my puppy a few years back there were some monstrous posters offering only the most sneering criticism. I remember one saying that “only experienced owners should have dogs”