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 🤬😡😭.

That sounds amazing LadyCatStark!

Sunrise walks are great in winter! Will have to do more antisocial times whilst the terrible teens are in play

We also rejoined a dog life skills training group so I have people to commiserate with

Finally starting to feel like TerrorPup is less attractive to the boys so she was on her long line for the first time in ages today. Wide open field, 10m line and she kept a perfect heel completely unasked for until the last part when she played with another dog - tbf no dogs around until then. I mean, I can't complain but it makes it so difficult to know if her recall is ok or not.

We also took her into John Lewis yesterday (they are all dog friendly). Other than one incident (so there will be no faux fur cushions in our house!) she was impeccably behaved and sat nicely whilst we looked at ovens and fridges. Escalators is one thing we need to get her used to, obviously we carry her but she's just not keen.

Sunrise walks are great in winter!

Yes, I'm loving some of the crisp sunny mornings we've had lately. Doing plenty of sit, down and stay training for pretty pictures!

@tizwozliz gorgeous photo! And looking like a very behaved pup lying like that

@terrierorterror that is an impressive shopping indeed! No need for fluffy pillows when you have a fluffy dog “pillow” anyway

Oh God, I think I’m going to need this thread! Picking up puppy tomorrow - also a black lab, can see there are a few on here . Looking forward to it and dreading it in equal measure - we have a 7yo golden retriever who was an absolute twat of a teenager (but a very easy younger pup) and was hoping this one might be a bit better! Not holding out much hope now.

Remember that this is a support thread so tends to lean towards the negative :-)

I thought we were prepared, but in the end the things I expected to be hard were easy and the things I thought would be easy were hard! Take each day as it comes, celebrate the small wins, remember that puppies are all individuals, some pups will pick certain things up easily, others take a bit more time.

Hi all- any tips on getting almost 7 month old pup not to bark the whole time we are out?!

I have to be up front and say we didn't leave him until about 2 months ago so may have created more of an issue than we would have if we'd one it earlier.

He doesn't destroy anything or wee/poo while we're out but I know from my very lovely and very patient neighbour that he does bark pretty constantly. The longest we've left him for was an hour after building up from 10 minutes gradually. Do I need to go back to basics and if so, how do I do that?! He barks as soon as the car is out of view apparently but if he sees me coming back he stops.

He's a Dachshund by the way and I know they can be notorious barkers

@tizwozliz

Remember that this is a support thread so tends to lean towards the negative :-)

I thought we were prepared, but in the end the things I expected to be hard were easy and the things I thought would be easy were hard! Take each day as it comes, celebrate the small wins, remember that puppies are all individuals, some pups will pick certain things up easily, others take a bit more time.

Thank you! Our retriever is fantastic around the house, but still a bit of a dick when out walking - hoping he teaches the puppy the former behaviour but not the latter. He came virtually house trained too (very lucky) so I’m a bit nervous about that bit! We have a fabulous trainer that we work with. Dh hates the puppy stage (adores dogs once they’re through it), which doesn’t help. Fingers crossed! Can’t wait to bring him home but ready for a very busy few months.

House training was the bit I thought was going to be difficult but was easy, she only ever had 2 accidents in the house, both in the first couple of days. I can take no credit for it really. Sleeping on the other hand...

Hopefully we’ll be lucky again too! He seems pretty bright, so keeping everything crossed. The chewing is my other great fear, as we’ve just had a new kitchen . I’ve just ordered a box of grim ears and other bits, which will hopefully help, and have kept a load of cardboard to build a fort around it (although I did drop the pestle onto the bottom of the cupboard today and left a dent, so maybe it’s me it needs protecting from!).

@PhoboPhobia where is your pup left when you are out? Mine hated being left in the crate (despite happily sleeping in it at night) or in the kitchen - I think it was a combination of it being colder/more uncomfortable floor despite her bed being left there and she could hear next doors dog barking etc.

She is now happily left in my sons room (which is downstairs and where she sleeps at night) for up to 4 hours (very rare we leave her that long!) as long as she's had a decent walk and lunch she will just sleep in her bed. She's 11 months old but has been settled for few months.

You could try leaving the radio on classic fm or similar or tv on, there are various "dog calming" channels on you tube we used to put on for ours. Try leaving a lick mat with something tasty on. You prob will have to go back to only leaving for 5 mins at a time to build up to it though.

Thanks @Aria20. He has the run of the lounge and kitchen. He doesn’t go in a crate anymore. He loved it to start with but never set foot in it after about 10 weeks after we got him. He has a bed on the kitchen but sleeps in our room at night.

I will try the lick may and go back to short periods and build back up. Good idea about the calming sounds, I’ll give that a go too.

We have the same problem. My pup just barks at the window if we leave him on his own. I need to go back to 5 minutes and build it up. Too much to do all the time though.

Anyone want a broken spaniel?

Limp is back a bit today. However, he's now thoroughly peeved at the lack of proper exercise and is basically a bitey nightmare.

Actually wondering what on earth I have done.

Crossing fingers and paws that things improve for everyone who is facing challenges with their puppies.

My pup played with his pal Oscar today and also made a new friend named Scout. Tomorrow he's going for a full day at day care. He did very well during his evaluation session last week, so I hope he enjoys the day tomorrow. But I admit I'm somewhat nervous. It's a bit like sending a child off to the first day of reception.

Sandwichpup has definitely hit adolescence and being a nightmare. His recall is non existent now, back to being bitey and not sleeping through the night. Only thing that hasn't regressed is toilet training, phew!

@littlepeas labs pretty much toilet trained themselves. Toilet training was the easiest part for us. The biting was the hardest initially and now Billy is in adolescence, it’s recall around other dogs. I think we’re making progress there though 🤞

@GuyFawkesDay did you have the scan in the end? Nightmare for you. Mine is a barky pain when she's doesn't get a decent offlead run so I can imagine your situation!

My frustration is my dog just doesn't seem to like kibble at all! I don't want to go down the raw route for practical reasons. I've tried various brands and flavours. We've been on Millie's wolfheart for about 7 months now mixing it up with different flavours. She has it mixed with either wet food or sardines or some cooked meat and veg that we are having. She will basically pick out the bits she likes and spit out most of the kibble. I've tried it in so many different toys/puzzle feeders, plastic bottles, cardboard boxes etc you name it I've tried it and things will work a few times but not consistently she never gobbles the whole lot in one go but she might go back and pick at it later... the only time she gobbled food up is when it's chicken and rice lol but that's not good for every day!! Any suggestions?! I've used all about dog food website but some of the other higher quality brands eg Eden and orijen are so expensive to buy a whole sack and there doesn't seem an option to just buy a small 500g bag to try! She came to us on James wellbeloved and we then had a free bag of wainwrights both of which had messy poo so that's when I swapped to Millie's where her poo is perfect and her coat is shiny, no more eye gunge as all grain free but she just doesn't seem keen! Argh fussy madam!

You should be able to get sample packs of Eden @Aria20 - either via stockists or from Eden themselves.

Aria20 sandwichpup went off his food, local independent pet shop advised Carnilove kibble. They have nicknamed it fussy dog food, sandwichpup always eats it and no going back to anything else now

Sandwichpup bangs on his crate in the night, we usually take him out for a wee but he doesn't then settle back into his crate and ends up on our bed last night he wouldn't settle on our bed either and we ended up awake most of the night.

@sandwiches77 I've just seen there are 100g sample bags on their website so will order a couple to try.
@tizwozliz on the Eden website I clicked on the sample bit and it came up saying due to demand and limited stock it's unavailable 😩

I spoke to them back in September and they said they'd send some to our local stockist if they didn't already have any available.

Aria20 the pet shop recommended the ostrich flavour. Pet shop do a loyalty scheme and we got a free bag so I chose salmon to try, DH says he is turning up his nose at the salmon but I haven't noticed but I think we will stick to the ostrich as that seems to be his favourite