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

@Citygirlrurallife - we had a pup who hadn't read the training manual and that's where in person training was really helpful as they could provide alternative options/strategies. They also pick up on things you might not be doing quite right, i.e.so often timing of treat delivery is critical so useful to have a trainer observe.

Have you tried throwing treats on the ground away from you to get him up again?

@tizwozliz were also finding that easy peasy puppy squeeze while great in its simplicity is VERY simple! And training sessions not lasting more than 5mins? We’re lucky if we manage to keep him going for 2!

yuo tried that too, and sometimes he gets up and sometimes he doesn’t, we probably just need to pay closer attention to when he’s in the mood for training!

honestly as well I’m enjoying him being a little puppy, I know it’s going to be hell when he hits adolescence, maybe I should save my training pounds for then!

Somebody else might be able to offer more suggestions but having a pup that stays sitting is outside my experience :-)

I don't think we did anything too structured at that age, but I think it pretty much all involved treats.

@Citygirlrurallife our puppy is 16 weeks now. The training is overwhelming, I often think how the hell am I ever going to do this! But last nights' class made it seem much more achievable, and it was nice to be sent home with written instructions on what to do this week. I would really recommend training class (1 on 1 or group) either instead of or in addition to socialisation classes but any place where you can speak to an expert in person would be beneficial. Group training will involve some socialisation by default anyway so 2 birds, 1 stone. There were some gorgeous puppies at the class last night 😍

A couple things we were advised that were helpful:

• practice only one skill per day and do it for a couple minutes (maybe while the kettle boils) several times throughout the day. This has helped me massively to not worry about trying to do multiple things a day. So much more bearable to decide on todays skill and just keep doing it. I've been using her daily kibble allowance as the treat as luckily she loves and will work for any type of food.

-use a specific treat for toilet training only (i.e. don't use that same treat for other things) and make it their best ever treat, like fish paste or something else super amazing that they'd be prepared to 'hold it' for just so they can get that treat. We now need to go out and find a special 'toilet treat'.

But tbh, even me giving this advice probably just feels like another information overload 😂

For non-treat/training/cuddles I am not very imaginative but I sometimes wrap a toy in a blanket and let her spend a while trying to unravel it. Or just let her potter about the garden doing her own thing. Cuddles are my favourite though, she is a real snuggle monster!

@Citygirlrurallife train a release command - when he has done the thing you want (E.g sit) say "OK!!" or similar word and then just walk/move away. No rewards or praise after you have said this marker word. Eventually he will understand his job is over after he hears this word.

@DuaneDibbley thankyou!

@Isthislife this is brilliant - thanks! We’ve def nailed toilet training since giving cooked chicken to our pup and we don’t give it for anything else

I think there are some good blue cross videos on puppy training that are quite bite sized (for owner and dog!). Training a good sit with distractions is another step on from just a sit. Training recall is always going to be useful. You can do it inside your house and out in the garden. I wish I had focused on that sooner!

@Citygirlrurallife I think the Easy Peasey lulls you into a false sense of security. I read it and thought it seemed fairly straight forward. However, in reality, it’s not that simple, or else I have a hyper-active dog who goes frenzied at the mere sniff of the treat (getting better).

Quite like some of the Mcann training videos on YouTube. Watched the one on ‘Drop’ yesterday.

Nice to hear how everyone is getting on with their pups.

ups and downs here. She’s 14 weeks old now. Toileting is alot better. She is definitely holding it until she’s outside most of the time. We’re having the odd puddle inside, but she’s reasonably reliable now. I don’t feel like she could wee inside at any moment now.

Her recall is great if she wants to come. If she doesn’t she doesn’t. Main area we’re working on (I say we, but it’s entirely me) is loose lead walking. It’s tedious and the DC let her pull them.

the puppy class I wanted to do is booked until November. Probably a good time to go though as she’ll be entering the teens by then.

So nice to hear of all the new pups news! Sounds like they’re all doing great.

This is just an offload from me, not a good morning so far and I’m in tears which hasn’t happened over the dog for ages!

10 days in with the stitches and no walking and his behaviour has just nose dived. Jumping, grabbing, not listening. Utterly obsessed with getting to his paw even with a cone and bandage on so we have to watch him constantly. Taking it in turns to sleep with him overnight so pretty shattered too which never helps!

He’s also decided to refuse to go to the toilet in the garden anymore so we have to take him out on a walk to the grass verge on the corner and he’ll happily go there. Walking is hideous, he pulls like anything. We tried to go for a coffee yesterday to get out and about and it was a disaster! So many disapproving looks…….

I am feeling so down about it all. I’ve put so many hours into training and it feels like it’s just disappearing. We’d gone away the week before all this and honestly he was a dream. Calm, settled, great recall and even walked pretty well on lead which has always been our main struggle.

I know this is super hard for him and I feel so sorry for him, he doesn’t understand why this is happening and I’m sure once we’re back to normal I’ll get my lovely dog back but at the moment it is bloody horrific and I’m feeling sorry for myself!

Right I’ve got it out, now time to take some deep breaths and get on with it without moaning so much!

@Autumn101 I'm so sorry you've been having such a terrible time of it. It sounds like you are doing a great job of managing a tough situation. Hopefully as he's young, once his bandage is off it won't take too long to get back to where you were. My friends dog broke his knee when he was a very young puppy and it put all their training back (especially toilet) but he recovered and is now a fully trained happy almost-2 year old dog. I know that doesn't help you but at least its one example of everything being ok in the end.
The sleep deprivation is awful, I really feel for you! Thank goodness for this forum, it saved my sanity in the beginning.

@Isthislife thank you, it feels good to get it out!

Sleep deprivation makes it so much harder - when it’s all consuming day and night it’s hard not to overthink. Taking a step back I know once he can run his energy out everything will be so much easier. The foundations are there and apart from loose lead walking he’s been pretty easy to train

10 more days to go!!

@Autumn101 sorry it's so tough at moment, I bet those 10 days feel like a year at the moment. How old is he now? I sympathise with not wanting to toilet in the garden as well - mine has become funny about it lately, I know she needs to go as she'll go to the door but she has been stubbornly refusing to go in the garden and holding it until I crack and take her over the road to a grass verge where she will do a huge puddle! No idea why she's doing this all of a sudden but she did a wee in her spot in the garden this morning so gave her loads of praise and I'll just have to keep encouraging her!

@Aria20 he’s nearly 10 months now so full of beans!

The toilet thing is so weird isn’t it?? He’s never been bothered going in the garden before!

Had a bit of a cry on DH and he’s taking next week off so that’ll help hugely.

Honestly this dog is so so wonderful but it’s been harder than either of the DC as babies 😂😂

@Autumn101 10 months is a hard age anyway without being restricted by exercise they become little teenage sods. Hopefully once you get through this and he's had a good run around he'll start to come through the other side and his training will come back! You will get your lovely good boy back soon.

Oh @Autumn101 that sounds really tough! I think it's also just been a teenage arsehole too, I reckon FawkesPup has had at least 3 major training regressions since 6 months old.

Last week he had about 5 minutes really good fun chasing dozens of pheasants which appeared out of a ditch. He never went far but he totally ignored me. Then another day he buggered off to eat the remnants of the farmers lunch on the field edge and was on vom/wtf has he eaten watch. The barking is getting worse and he's generally being a total arsehole and he's not even injured so it's not just you!

@GuyFawkesDay ha ha sorry it’s not just me with an idiot but your post did make me laugh!!

He’s been affectionately renamed ‘The Dickhead’ this week 😂😂

@Autumn101 DH calls ours "bastard dog" a fair bit when she barks!

You are all filling me with so much joy of what is to come down the line!

I am fucking excited - I am sleeping in my own bed and DH is on puppy duty. I’ve even taken melatonin and told everyone to leave me the fuck alone until I emerge

haku met his grandparents today and was a bit nervous and skittish - maybe because he also had his first vax and was just waking up from a nap, and first people in our house since he arrived? He was just a bit nervous…..any tips or just socialise him more and more?

he already weighs 10.3kg and is 11wks old. I’m going to end up with a really massive dog

he already weighs 10.3kg and is 11wks old. I’m going to end up with a really massive dog

Sounds like a typical retriever size, a kg per week is fairly normal at this age.

For balance, Ada has been lovely today. We did a walk from home, it's about 700m to where she can be let off lead and I remember the first time we did it I felt like crying as it was miserable stop start pulling. Today she walked beautifully to the start then we had 4km off lead, past people and dogs.

@tizwozliz you’re giving us all hope and reassurance we’ll get there!

Pups slept all night last night on his own, feel so much stronger to deal with it after a decent sleep

River Pup likes to wake every three hours, and needs a poo around midnight and then six. He woke up in a really bitey mood. Ended up chucking him outside and gave him a ball. Seemed to burn off his surplus energy. Actually, quite comical watching him chase it.

Just came here to say I've just cut up a load of sprats into small pieces for training. First time buying them, didn't even know what they were until last week and the trainer has recommended them. Absolutely vile 😂I feel like I'll never not smell of sprats ever again! Bluuurgghhhh!

But pup seems very keen so that should be the super high value treat sorted

Just come back from Paws in the Park (Maidstone). Didn’t take RiverPup as hasn’t had second jabs yet. There were dogs everywhere, of all shapes And sizes. Not good for your wallet though. Our ‘no more toys’ embargo got broken!