Puppy Survival Thread: muddy footprints into Spring 2022

[tizwozliz]

Discussion of all things puppy...

Previous thread here

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_doghouse/4451767-Puppy-Survival-Thread-surviving-into-2022

Teenagers also welcome

Thanks @Autumn101 I think I need to buy several kongs and freeze a few so they are readily available. Its the long lasting bit that ise the issue, nothing seems to last long with him. Frozen carrots about 10-20 seconds lol!! Frozen kong probably longer, lickimat he seems to be more interested in our food than that. I am not sure what chews would be good, yak chews he likes but not high value enough in his eyes. Maybe some differing flavours in the kongs, I'm not really sure what else I can put in, I tend to use banana/peanut butter but maybe something more meaty?

I am hoping so with the sleep, also once he can do longer walks I guess that will help.

I bought some new brain training games so hopefully that will help a bit also.

I put a bit of shredded chicken mixed with yoghurt in a Kong which is a hit! Also tinned salmon with soft cheese - I’ve got a bone shaped Kong where you fill the ends which seems to last longer as the hole is smaller for then to get stuff out of.

We also have some beef tails which take a while to chew through, like yours frozen carrots last about 5 seconds 😂

I use a company called JR products too who sell pure meat pate, that can be spread or mushed or frozen. Plus braided Ostrich chews. All suitable for your age pup 👍

As you can probably tell mines a greedy guts so we had a lot of interest in our food but 9/10 now he’s happy to lie by my feet even without a treat while I’m cooking or eating.

That's great thank you, I will try those. I am clearly too unadventurous. Our 1st dog is a pug so as long as he can eat it he doesn't care what it is

Had a better night last night, I took him to watch my son play cricket so he slept less in the evening so not sure if that helped. He still didn't settle that well at first but took him out for another wee about midnight, he had some water then slept till my husband got up at 615, if he hadn't disturbed him then he would have stayed asleep I expect.

Veg puree like carrot, squash or sweet potato also works well in Kongs.

I mix puree, Arden Grange liver pate, JR pate, treats, chopped sausage etc and smoosh it all in before freezing

I made dog ice pops today. Chicken broth (salt free!) veg and treats in big ice cubes

We use the meat pastes that come in little jars in the supermarket to put in kongs. One little jar fills one large Kong, or mix in frozen veg and it stretches to 2 large Kong's. Or baby food jars, they're good too, as long as you get the ones without many ingredients. Or cheese, that's AwesomePup's favourite, and goats cheese is easier on their stomachs (lots of cows milk makes his poos unpleasant)

@PugInTheHouse make sure your pup is actually interested in a frozen Kong before you prep loads. My pup will take them off you excitedly then discard 2 seconds later.

@GuyFawkesDay where do you give him the ice cubes as I can imagine when melt they are messy and smelly lol!

My dog has never really "got" kongs instead of nicely laying there licking them and calming herself down she is too impatient to lick so she throws the kong around to dislodge whatever is in it and eat it that way!

@PugInTheHouse
I've mentioned this on this thread in the past so sorry if you've read it already, but I highly recommend the tea towel trick as a nice way of keeping puppy busy for 20 mins.
It was recommended by a trainer to me. My 8 month old lab is a ravenous insatiable chewer and she still loves it.
You take a tea towel, cut it into 3 strips leaving the top intact, so you can plait it. Plait it tight, tie a knot at the end. Then tuck a handful of their kibble or some treats into all the creases.
Mine loves chewing at it to find all the kibble.

Also, a really long lasting chew is the buffalo skin from JR products. I buy the largest size which is the size of a dinner plate! I take it away after a while and pop into a zip lock bag for another time.

Thanks everyone, some really great ideas to try

He is interested in kongs however not as much as trying to steal our food, especially if its meat!!

Big wins this morning on our walk. AwesomePup was off lead in the woods and he spotted a couple of other dogs before I did. Normally that would be him fixated on those dogs and trying to run over to them, but not today. Today he looked at the dogs, looked at me, listened to me, and came running back to play with me and the squeaky ball.
Then on our way home another dog came out of a side street right on top of us, and AwesomePup just gave a polite sniff hello before walking on, without me having to intervene!!!

All the disengagement and recall training finally seems to be paying off (at 15 months).

We're going mantrailing again tomorrow. I hope it's not too hot for all that running around, or for leaving AwesomePup in the car while the other dogs have their turn.

Good luck with the mantrailing @MsAwesomeDragon It's forecast to be 16 degrees and raining here tomorrow. We were mantrailing on Wednesday evening, pup was great at the trailing but there was lots of singing in between times.

Finished our gundog course on a high yesterday, finally seem to be making progress with the stop whistle at a distance. We have a few weeks off before the follow on course starts although her season might interfere with that.

Pup hasn't got the message that the heat means it's time to veg out and not do much at all. We've had zoomies in the garden after calm, shaded morning walks. Met a 9 month old pup this morning whose owner asked if they could play. Poor pup then looked totally bewildered as Ada was spinning in circles in front of him and trying to encourage him to chase!

And now the thieving has started, she's stolen a tennis ball out the training bag and is pestering for fetch (not going to happen) and now she's just ran out into the garden with a ball of wool! Off to find a lake to chuck her in I think.

@MsAwesomeDragon that's amazing. Mine still lays down like a stalker if she spots certain dogs in the distance and then she is fixated on them! It's only certain types of dogs though - I guess ones she thinks will want to play?! Another dog did it today to us and I had a laugh with the owner and said that's normally us! We haven't had much opportunity for off lead walks since moving house as no good ones within walking distance and I've been so busy and then the heat this week.... but she's actually been so much calmer at home with slow sniffing onlead walks in our new area!

@Aria20 we've gone back to lying down like a stalker this evening, so it may have been a one time wonder. He's been playing with a bulldog just now, which was very funny as he just bounced a few places and the short fat bulldog was running as fast as it's little legs could carry it trying to keep up.

This is his third mantrailing lesson tomorrow. He was completely rubbish at it the first time, then I wasn't great the second time (my jeans kept falling down! Proper exercise clothes tomorrow I think), so fingers crossed that third time is the best.

@MsAwesomeDragon lol at the bulldog I feel for them in this heat they waddle along and sound terrible with their breathing. But there is a surprisingly fast and sprightly French bulldog around here who loves a ball - I've never seen a Frenchie run like him it's very entertaining to watch! Mine has been zonked in front of the fan most of the day loving the breeze.

Just back from mantrailing and AwesomePup was awesome!!! He did stop to pee a couple of times in his first trail, but then he on got his excitement up for a second and third trail with no pee stops. He got confused by the man hiding up some stairs, but nailed it with a walking man and a woman sitting at a picnic bench. Such a superstar!! I made good clothing choices with full on gym gear so I could "run" and keep up with him, but I do now have a small friction burn on my hands from the long lead. I really do enjoy it!!

I have a question for those of you who are doing gundog training - what rewards do your trainers use? Is it treats or verbal/physical?

i spoke to one over the weekend about some 1-1 training and he was really nice but said he does use verbal admonishments, for instance for lead pulling they stand in front and ‘growl’ at the dog. No hitting or force used.

Is this standard gun dog style? It’s so different to our puppy classes which was all rewarded with treats and no admonishments at all so I’m not sure it’s the right route to take!

Is this standard gun dog style?

I'm not sure standard is the right word but I'm sure there are gundog trainers about who aren't purely positive. We specifically sought out positive gun dog trainers (we travelled to one further away initially, but have since found one more local), rewards are treats/toys/praise.

Yeah I get the impression he’s quite ‘old school’ and more for the actual working gundog rather than a pet. Will keep looking

Is there anyone local listed here? These are all force free gundog trainers

thegundogclub.co.uk/instructors/

That's how I found our first instructor.

Brilliant thank you

Nothing for Sussex where we are but like you I’d be happy to travel a bit to get what we need so will have a look through

Hi everyone! I would like to join please as a first time puppy owner and someone who needs matchsticks for my eyes and a carpet shampoo machine 😂

Pup is doing really well at night and not too bad with going to to loo. It's just boring when they can't go anywhere isnt it? 1 week until his second jabs and we can't wait.

Try looking here, we are training with Lynsey and FawkesPup is LOVING his classes. We are doing fun gundog but I am tempted to do a further course with him as he's so motivated.

www.clickergundog.co.uk/

We quit gun dog training as the trainer wanted me to “boss him” too much. I felt like I had to listen to him during the class but Billy was really user after for days after the last class. He also goes to agility and the difference in his demeanour during the 2 classes was really noticeable so next week he starts fly ball in place of the gun dog class which I know he’ll go crazy for.

We randomly discovered there's a flyball group within walking distance just up the road. I'm sure Ada would love it but we're concentrating on the gun dog stuff for now, purely because I think steadiness, stop whistle etc. are most likely to be handy for everyday walks. After reading some people's accounts of gun dog trainers I'm really pleased we managed to find a couple of entirely positive trainers nearby.

We have been taking the pup swimming and he absolutely loves it. During hot weather it is a great way for him to cool down (his heavy black fur coat was not made for high temperatures!) as well as brilliant exercise. DH is over the moon since he has always wanted a dog that would swim with him.

Another positive thing. We went for a long walk yesterday and the pup was so good at coming back when we called or waiting when asked. To be fair there weren’t a lot of other dogs to distract him. I’m not sure when his recall will be solid around other dogs. But I was still extremely pleased (especially as we went through some rather trying adolescent behaviour a couple of months ago).