Puppy Survival Thread: Surviving into Summer 2022

[tizwozliz]

Discussion of all things puppy, highlights and pitfalls, good times and bad, successes and failures

Previous thread here

www.mumsnet.com/talk/the_doghouse/4496297-Puppy-Survival-Thread-muddy-footprints-into-Spring-2022

Teenagers also welcome

@Aria20 I’m assuming it would be a simple job as the water feeds are already on the other side of the kitchen wall. So just some drilling and bit of pipe work. Then you can buy the garden hose attachments to make a shower/gun to wash the dog.

@Foxgloveleaf we are having a new kitchen done in September so I might ask them if it's something they can do for a little bit of cash in their pocket while they are here anyway!!

I've got a hoselock portable shower I use for Mr Stink who is v found of a ditch/puddle/stream. I am thinking of upgrading to an insulated one but as he thinks cold rivers are ok then I'm going to assume cold shower is too!!

Got it from Amazon and it's loads cheaper than the mud daddy. Works a treat. Wet dog, lather him up with my shampoo bar, hose off. Have a cheapo B&M drying coat in the car which is cut a harness hole through he has a seat cover and that does the job.

@Aria20 I love the self service dog washing place. We're very lucky that it's so close by. They have all the necessary supplies: shampoo, conditioner, brushes, towels, etc. And if we go during the week it's half price, they charge more on Saturday and Sunday.

Though now I'm liking the sound of an outside hot water tap!

I've got a mud daddy but we only bother washing AwesomePup when he's rolled in something smelly (a full on cow pat on Saturday morning, covered from head to tail). The rest of the time I just give him a rub down with a towel, which usually does the trick.

We're away on holiday without him this week. He's at home with dd1, and apparently is not missing us at all. I will need to work on loose lead walking again when we get home though as she's not taking him on pavement walks, just playing lots of fetch on the field near our house. He did apparently hump one of his doggy friends this morning, which he doesn't normally do (any more, because I've worked a lot on this after he was asked to leave doggy day care)

@MsAwesomeDragon I need to work on loose lead walking again too when the kids are back at school as they've been walking her a lot over summer and they let her get away with far too much!

I forgot how hard it is to have a pleasant walk with a dog. So much work goes into being able to casually walk with a dog not pulling you or over reacting to every dog and person they see. I really hope we get there with Foxpup.

9pm- 5:45am last night. I think the 2-4am wake ups are behind us. She’s got visitors again today, it’s just like everyone coming to see your new baby.

@Foxgloveleaf that's good to know the middle of the night wake-ups are gone!

I've never been as popular since I got my pup 🤣

Walking is going ok. Takes forever and there's a LOT of lead biting, so I spend a lot of time standing still while she stops! She hasn't grasped toileting on a walk and I missed the sign - she's suddenly started crying to go out - and she did both on the floor 🤦🏼‍♀️ never mind! We will get there!

Been trying "watch" and "leave" which have been ok, but other than sit paw and laydown, which she got in minutes, she's not really interested in training. Just sits and looks at me 😂

Whilst I’m thinking about it, what are you all letting your puppies experience so that they don’t freak out when they encounter it when they’re older?

mine is the robot hoover. It’s on twice a day and I need her to accept it with no fuss because I need it!

@Foxgloveleaf
Traffic, I purposefully went where I knew there'd been a little road sweeper and lots of cyclists and joggers today too as it's a regular walking route for me! We didn't get far 🤣
I need to try the lawn mower however it feels me out having a dog about with a mower so really I'd rather she stayed indoors! We only have carpets upstairs so sweep downstairs and use a hand held, I've given her a hand brush to play with when I sweep to stop her attacking my brush!

@Nugg great tips. I’m going to do all of those too. I’d forgotten about the lawn mower.

I took mine out in my arms at least once a day from when we got him just to see and hear traffic. Also went and sat outside a primary school at pickup so he’d get used to the noise of young children. We went up and down a field with sheep/cows/horses too, there’s a lot around us and fields change constantly so I wanted to try and make sure he wasn’t too bothered by them (obviously I always put him on lead but have been surprised by a herd of cows a couple of times!).

A big one which I wish I’d done is use my hairdryer around him. He has been to the groomers a few times but still freaks out at the dryer there. Also I should of got him used to being brushed earlier as we have to use treats or a licky mat or he tries to bite the brush.

Can’t sleep and found myself wondering about treats. Is the a limit to how many treats you can give in a day? Don’t want a fat lab!

@Riverlee break treats up into tiny pieces. Or if you are lucky and your lab eats anything you might get away with using the kibble - I could never train with kibble though!

@Riverlee it's just calories in, calories out. Some of the treats are massive though & don't break like the pedigree chum ones. I got training treats at b&m which are good and small & still can be broke in half. Also ordered some of these from Amazon which are like tablet size

I really need to work hard this weekend on stopping eejitpup from jumping up as a couple of the wee ones I mind are scared. It's not fair on them & super stressful for me! I think this will be easier tackled than the mouthing. Any hints or tips appreciated!

Oops

@buckeejit I might order some of those treats myself. I normally use small bits of cocktail sausage but need to vary it up to reinforce walking nicely!

Mine ADORES the Bakers bacon and cheese twirl things. I cute them up tiny with scissors.

Sprats cut up
JR Pate

JR pate is a firm favourite for us. I also get the wainwright’s bags - they are pretty small. Cocktail sausages and any leftover meat chopped up are good high value treats too

I use the Wainright's for puppies as well, they have some really small ones. But I am trying to use kibble now to replace some of the treats as I realised she was having loads of treats while we mastered going to the toilet outside. Luckily she will eat any food!

So glad I found this thread! Am having a particularly hard day with my 10 week old pup and just had a little cry of frustration. I love her so much but it's really hard and I feel like I'm not doing a very good job at anything now...

I have been reading the thread for a few weeks now, but figured it was time to post.

DPup is 4 weeks old currently, so we are playing a waiting game. We already have DDog who is five, and generally a level headed type who has stuff down. So we are quietly hoping some of it will rub off.
DPup is a samoyed, as I leave an active life and wanted something with a little more get up and go than my currently velcro couch potato 😉
And of course obligatory pic:

Does anyone else's puppy get hiccups a lot? DiddyDoggo seems to get them at least once a day. I've bought him an insert for his food bowl that slows his eating down which seems to have helped a little, but he's still getting them lots.

@dinkydino123 sorry for your tough day, I think we can all empathise and have experienced similar! Puppies are wonderful but the hard work hits you like a ton of bricks. It will get better xxx