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

Moonpup and Dora are gorgeous, as are all the other pups on here!

Been trying to post for two weeks but mumsnet is so glitchy.

So our pup is a chocolate dapple dachshund. He's called Diesel. Breeder messaged last week to say mum was struggling to feed 5 massive pups and vet agreed they could go at 7 weeks.
It's been 20 years since I had a puppy and four years since we had a dog in the house. I've never crate trained or done puppy classes or even insured a dog before.
I had Jack Russell's. They both got to the grand old age of 16 without too much bother.
It's all different now!

Leif the Landshark arrived yesterday, and instantly turned a quiet household into utter chaos. He is a bundle of fluffy energy and teeth! So far so bad! Doesn't like crate, and my daughter is in charge of him as Ddog is velcro'd to me and we don't want him to get upset or jealous and change his routine.
So there is much learning of pee and poo signs for daughter (who is just coming up to 13!)But then he is going to be her dog.
Picture of him when not causing chaos.

Welcome Diesal and Leif - both very cute.

Welcome to all the new puppies! Oh yes they’re brilliant when they’re asleep….

after our nightmare and upsetting attempt at crate training I left DH to it the other night and he created a gentle approach which now seems to be working! We also took the dividers out and took the coverings off - against all the advice but our puppy doesn’t like to be hemmed in or sleep on beds or blankets so I guess it really is a case of do whatever works for you

New pic of Haku, 12 week old golden retriever

We have a crate and I planned to put a blanket over it.
Never crate trained my last puppy, it slept in the same bed with my first dog.
Not looking forward to locking it in at night- it just doesn't feel right.
Me and dh work opposite shifts. He goes to bed at midnight and I'm up at at 330am so it won't be for long.

Hello all. I’ve been lurking here for far too long without saying hello!
This is my big bundle of love. She’s a big bold 5 month old golden retriever.
Got to say a big thanks to you all. I found the first couple of months with her very hard. Very very hard. But now she’s the nicest, friendliest goofball addition to our family. You guys and other threads here really made me feel normal again.
Just wanted to add to the post if anyone is tired or struggling - it’s tough going at the start but I do have the loveliest lady now and wouldn’t be without her. Until she hits her teenager stage….

@Rowgtfc72 crates are new to me too but we're lucky that moonpup seems to have arrived semi-crate trained and loves spending time in hers. By the time she has her dinner and she's getting pretty overwhelmed she'll only eat and drink in there.

She was pretty chilled on her first night (apart from waking me up 3 times). DH is in charge tonight so I bet she'll sleep through.

We're learning a lot about whippets. Even at 8.5 weeks they are fast. And silent - we haven't heard her bark yet, and she just stands by the back door waiting to be taken out... even if we're not there 💩

Hi, I’m a lurker since I got my pup 4/5 weeks ago… we got her at 9 weeks and she’s pretty much been a dream.
Has never cried in her crate at night.
Slept through from day 1, I was waking her up in week 1 and taking her out at 3-4am but decided to stop and see how she got on.
She’s had no accidents in the crate at night which is great.

I do seem to be having a slight toileting issue though. How do you get the pup to tell you it needs to go out for a wee? 😅
The first couple of weeks we took her out very often and we still take her out loads but for example tonight I took her out twice within an hour and she did a wee bit no poo.
She then falls asleep on the sofa and less then half hour after Iv took her out Iv got up to go and see to one of the kids upstairs.
She’s got up in this time and pooed by the back door. So she obviously went to the correct place and if that door would of been opened she would of went out but as it’s closed she can’t and went a toilet by it instead.

Now is there something I should be doing here to get her to tell me she’s wondered by the back door? Or will over time she just hold her bladder by the back door and wait for me?

I was upstairs for less then 5 mins (if that) and seen her walking back into the front room which prompted me to check by the back door to see what she had done.

Sorry if I’m being dense and it’s something really obvious! This is my first pup and I’d like to nail it before winter properly sets in as I can’t leave the back door open all day when it’s freezing outside!

Thanks for any help & suggestions.

Also here is a pic of the pup. She’s a 14 week old cavapoo.

She’s very cute @TwinkleChristmas though I do hate you for the nights! Mine is 12weeks and I really need him to start sleeping through

re going to the loo outside we have a bell hanging by the door, every time we took him out for a wee we rang the bell with his paw before opening the door - now he knocks it with his nose when he wants to go out (to play as well as wee!)

@TwinkleChristmas you could try bells by the door they sell them on Amazon. However my friends dog was crafty he used to ring the bells as he knew she'd let him out and he just used to play

Mine did the same as yours go by the back door which I think is still good as they know where they are supposed to go they aren't just randomly doing it anywhere! I found if we were in another room with door shut, not near the back door she'd start hovering by the door of whatever room we were in so I'd take that sign to open door and then she'd go straight to the back door and I'd let her out. Eventually as mine got a bit older she'd bark at the back door to let me know.

I wish my pup would hover by the door. She yet walks out to go out back I think and when it’s closed just goes a toilet by the door. Which I know is not her fault.

I work from home part time and on the days I’m working a couple of times I haven’t noticed her get up as Iv been on a teams call and go to the back door and she’s wee’d by it. Even though I always take her outside before if I’m about to start a meeting😅

Il order some bells! Sounds like a good suggestion. I don’t mind if she just wants to go out and play as the garden is fully enclosed so no danger in there!

@TwinkleChristmas we also bought a doggy doorbell from Amazon. She doesn't use it all the time, but she does use it quite often so it has been helpful. At first she was a bit freaked out by it but we just had to hang on in there and she got used to it. But as a PP said, she also uses it when she just wants to go out and play!

Loving all the puppy photos 😍

Love the thought of a doggy doorbell!

@TwinkleChristmas are you working in the same room as the back door? If not and there is another door in the room you are in and pup is in with you shut that door and see what happens... hopefully she'll go to that door and you can then lead her to back door and out!

We had a fab one to one session with a trainer yesterday. He was a guide dog trainer so it was perfect for our 11 wk old lab. He gave us lots of really good tips for instilling good behaviours in our pup. One thing he recommended was having small pots of treats around the house and whenever pup exhibits good behaviours (ie playing nicely on floor, walking calmly etc) then we should just causally drop him a treat and say 'good boy' . He was a big advocate of the Easy Peasy puppy squeazy training book too.

Just posting to shout FREEDOM!! 3 weeks of bandages and cones and zero exercise finally over and pups can have proper walks again. His face when we took him was the happiest thing I’ve ever seen and made me cry!

@peacypops we have treats in all the rooms the dog is allowed in for rewarding when he’s calm. It’s really helped I think so I would definitely follow his advice

Woohoo, must be such a relief to be out and about again. Hope letting him off leash again wasn't too daunting. After our pup's first season at 9 months I was paranoid about letting her off lead again as had visions of her running off into the distance after being so limited for 3 weeks.

@Autumn101 well done on Freedom.

@TwinkleChristmas one advice I read was to praise whenever he does a wee or poo outside - give a treat etc, but ignore indoor accidents. Don’t make a fuss if accidents occur indoor as then it becomes a thing, and some dogs like the attention.

Twinkle pup is very sweet.

@

@BigBundleOfFluff Its good to hear things get better. Seems a bit relentless at times. She’s a beautiful dog.

Yeah our house looks like an animal graveyard, bits of dead all over for him to use when he wants!

Yay to freedom @Autumn101 that's one happy spaniel!!!

FawkesPup off to vet to investigate the mystery itches, I am now 99% certain it's related to grass/something outside. Flares up after being on the grass. Having to wash him off after walks now, which is helping.

Here he is, looking v handsome waiting for his ball!

@tizwozliz he was actually fab at recall, I was very impressed! Had a crazy run in circles for 5 minutes then it was just like a normal walk so hoping that continues.

I think the hardest bit is going to be weaning him off the constant treats we’ve been giving him to keep him occupied 😂

He is such a handsome chap @GuyFawkesDay - hope the vets shed some light on the itches 🤞

what A handsome chap Fawkes Pup is - great photo.

I'm going straight to search for doggy doorbells - moonpup the (almost) silent whippet doesn't give any obvious signals before she wees on the floor so maybe that will help.

Can I ask about sleeping arrangements? Our bedroom is too far from the door to make it practical for her to sleep in our room while she's weeing every 2 hours. But sleeping downstairs (or next to her crate on the kitchen floor if you're dh) isn't a long term solution!

Yay freedom @Autumn101 what a happy pup! And agree @GuyFawkesDay FawkesPup is very handsome

Haku weighed in at 12.4kg today aged 12.5weeks 😬

any thoughts on how to very quickly train a dog to stay down? We’re managing when he’s tries to jump up at standing people (mainly through managing if he’s over tired/over excited and having people come down to him) but he’s started jumping up when we’re sitting in chairs and also grabbing clothes so our “drop it” training isnt really working