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

Crikey @DrBlackbird thats a big jump

so my pup is obsessed with the garden, obsessed with lying in the wet grass, playing in the rain, chewing every stick and leaf and piece of grass he can find. Wouldn’t really be an issue but it’s been pissing it down all day - good news he is now pretty much trained to come in and lie on the mag and get rubbed down immediately but he’s constantly in and out and I’ve had to wash 3 towels so far today because of the reek of damp dog. I let him out every time he seems to want to go because he’s still toilet training but there’s no way of telling if he wants to play, poo or wee!

any bright ideas?

Literally fell asleep on the cold hard wet stone step today and stayed there for 2 hours….

If you can get a dog drying coat it really limits the smell of wet dog. Main issue at this age is he'll grow out of it in about a month!

Oh my goodness there are some seriously cute pups on here.
@Autumn101 - he looks so sorry for himself!!!
@Citygirlrurallife I seem to have to opposite problem with Des …. It’s tipping down and really doesn’t want to go out!!! He’s popped out for a wee and poo but no way does he want to play in the rain. He’s looked at me as if I am a nutter!
After having a mare yesterday afternoon with him, he has just pottered and slept most of today… I suspect it is because DH is supposed to be looking after him so Demon Des on best behaviour 🤣

@Citygirlrurallife he’s gorgeous.

@Nugg we’re with LV too. Life time cover up to £3k a year was £10/month. Now i’ve read this thread it sounds like that’s not enough, but it’s better than nothing. The kennel club keep sending me insurance adverts but they are very expensive.

can’t remember who asked about cocker pup and children fighting, but we were in similar situation. The dog seems to think DS aged 5 is a weak target and really nips him. She’s had a firm telling off, enforced naps if she’s overtired and I’ve tried to get her to respect DS by getting him to train her and give her treats so she sees him more like she sees me. They aren’t allowed to roll around on the floor together because neither of them are in control. Ds will sit on the floor and cuddle her, but as soon as she gets bitey I stop it.

@Foxgloveleaf exactly what I have so wondering if I should up it!

Typical, mentioned that we’d got into a routine earlier, and RiverPup decided he needed an extra nap post lunch. Hence, his routine has been thrown.

He’s now having that pre-bedtime, piranha teeth stage where my jumper and leggings are a target.

@Citygirlrurallife I don’t think there’s a cobweb left in the garden as RiverPup has found them lol, plus twigs, insects etc. Also stones which freak me (and I’m finding the hardest part of it all).

@Citygirlrurallife take pup out on lead when it's wet so pup can go toilet but then straight back inside no messing around so minimises the damp and mess! Have towel laid on floor by door and any other internal doors shut so if pup gets zoomies when wet and muddy it's confined to one room!

Thanks @Aria20 after him being in and out all day the only good part is he’s basically trained now to get a thorough rub down and wait on his towel until he does so

problem is he’s had some accidents inside because he often goes out without having a wee or we just don’t know if he has or not

@Citygirlrurallife Haku is gorgeous! I have a half goldie/ half lab and she loves being outside in the wet, in the cold, in the heat - nothing bothers her. I have embraced (to a degree) the dirt trekked into the kitchen extension and if she is happy pottering about on her own in the garden, I'm happy too. Gotta say it was easier in the summer when the garden was dry. Different kettle of fish when they start bringing muddy paw prints in.

@ilovesushi i don’t mind too much about the wet (yet!) especially as I get mega cuddles rubbing him down when he comes in - the problem is trying to toilet train at the same time!

Brilliant - Haku has decided his crate is his toilet 🙄 any tips on how to retrain? We haven’t trained him yet to be in there with the door shut

its not even 6:30am and I’m already feeling a bit overwhelmed today with him weeing on his bed, shitting on his crate, and growling and barking at his reflection …. And getting up for the day at 5:15 clearly STARVING

@Citygirlrurallife what did the breeder recommend and what set up did she/he have? Our breeder had a large pen with newspaper at one end for the pups to go at night. She recommended we do the same and not worry about getting up, but we preferred to avoid any associations of going in the house so got up initially middle of the night and very early morning but then reduced it. We used a pen rather than a crate and there was room enough for newspaper at one end separate from the bedding in case we weren't up in time. Pup used it once or twice I think. I think the key thing is to make sure they have a place they can go if caught short which is not on their bed. I'm sure it's all fine! Takes a while to find a routine and then it keeps changing as they grow! Oh and there is a special cleaning product to get rid of dog wee odours so they don't start associating it as a place to go.

@ilovesushi she had a pen rather than crate but we don’t have the space for it, I think we need a crate divider. Or maybe we get rid of the crate and replace with a pen?! Just worried about mixed messages for him….but if he’s started to go in the crate maybe it’s best to totally reset?!

i too don’t want an association with going indoors and he’s in and out like a yo-yo, and we have the enzymatic cleaner…

@Citygirlrurallife mine also barked at her reflection in mirrors/patio doors it is a phase so it will stop.

Have moved the crate to where his favourite bed is (he doesn’t sleep in it but likes to take toys there) and turned it so the long side is open, changed out the toys that were in it to try to break any association with toileting

we shall see!!

@Citygirlrurallife good luck for tonight. It took us a few nights to figure out our dog's sleeping arrangements and I felt awful for not settling her immediately into a perfect routine and worried I'd messed it all up!

@ilovesushi Any tips? RiverPup was Toe-Rag Pup in middle of night. Would happily have a cuddle and fall asleep instantly on your lap, but wouldn’t settle in his crate. (Can you do controlled crying on dog?!)

@Riverlee We were very lucky with a very settled dog who loved her sleep! Probably down to her temperament and whatever the breeder did. We found that when she did cry in the night it was always for a reason - she had vomited, she was about to have an explosive poo, so we were always glad we had gone to her. If she wasn't settling my husband parked himself on the sofa by her pen and gave her a few strokes and kind words. If I went down, I'd cuddle her but then she didn't want me to leave! She was generally very happy at night on her own and associated the pen with sleeping. She didn't really use it at any other time despite us trying to tempt her in there with hidden kibble! If she hadn't been a good sleeper I think we would have rethought our set up certainly in the very early days when she was just a baby really. I think it's like babies, there is a difference between a few tired whimpers before falling asleep and a distressed cry. Not an expert though!!!

No advice on sleep as luckily ours has slept pretty well in a crate from the start. She has been in the bedroom though and we are planning to gradually move her crate to another room as don't want her in the bedroom permanently (she fidgets and makes noises when dreaming which wakes me up!). Once she is on her own I imagine it will be a whole different kettle of fish!

On another note, we had our 1st puppy class last night and I have to say it was brilliant. I wish we had gone to the class before even getting a puppy so as we could set ourselves up well from the start. Can't change that now but I would recommend it to anyone getting a puppy. There is almost too much training advice online, some of which contradicts each other. It was so much nicer to learn in a face-to-face setting and be able to ask questions directly. I have practised one of the techniques today several times for a couple minutes a time and it's going really well so far. For DH and me it was like a revelation 😊Although pup is quite good at some things already (sit, stay) we were lacking some basic key skills that I think we'll finally be able to master!

We did get a bit of a frown from the instructor for the kibble and treats we use though so will have to look into gradually switching to something else as she said what we use for main meals (Iams) has a lot of hidden sugar in which makes it really difficult for dogs to concentrate. I thought we had gone for really good quality food but obviously not :(

@Isthislife Thats so true about advice contradicting itself, by all the ‘experts’.

@Isthislife thats interesting - we have puppy socialisation classes we’re signed up for but they’re not training, have found a trainer who does 121 or small (max 4) puppy training classes. I’d like to go but DH thinks that’s too many options but like you i think it would be beneficial to have someone actually show us what to do

moving the crate is working so far in terms of he hasn’t used it as a toilet again, though looked like he might want to earlier so I just got him and took him outside. Sniffed around for ages then finally did a poo. Also has only used the garden for a toilet since we introduced cooked chicken pieces as his reward - much like chocolate buttons for our human toddlers, we ONLY give chicken for appropriate toileting

im feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the training stuff to be honest. And he often doesn’t start in the way the books say to (ie we’ll practise sit, he’ll stay sitting, so I try walking away to get him on his feet again and often he’ll just stay there, sitting!) but we’re making socialisation a big focus as well…

first vac tomorrow!

@Isthislife how old is your puppy?

@Citygirlrurallife yes, it’s all a bit daunting. I’m not really sure what we should be doing when, and you don’t want to over stimulate them either.

Exactly @Riverlee ! I also thought maybe each week we focus on just one or two things? But how many times in a day can you say sit?! And how many treats require it?!

does anyone have any fun ideas of things to do with their puppy or play that doesn’t involve training, treats and cuddles? Ours loves to spend a lot of time in the garden. Maybe we should teach him how to actually retrieve as he loves bounding after stuff we throw for him hut then takes it off to his bed!