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

Has anyone got any tips for putting collers on? Ours is always a fight. My trick is to put some treats on the ground, and as he bends his head down, put the coller on. It’s usually a race to see who wins though.

I think I can safely say I have a swimmer now!! Properly jetty jumping in too, he loves it. Was actually pretty well behaved out today so he's slightly less in trouble now!!!

Today I have been extremely handy and have sewn our old duvet into a bed and made a cover for it from some cheap fleece. Am hoping the fact the duvet smells of us, and it's cosy and comfy helps him sleep better. He's been napping on the duvet bit whilst I machined the fleece so he definitely likes it.

Am playing hard ball on the crate. He might not like it but I'm not being dictated to by him. We might put the bed on our floor but I am 99% sure he'd just hop on the bed 🙄

I’m so tired 😫

@tizwozliz my dog stole a ball the other day - to be fair it was the same ball as hers - the blue and orange Chuck it one and it was a dog we know well so it was ok but like yours balls are the highest prize and she will drop anything else on command except a "special" ball - she'll drop tennis balls but not rubber balls or squeaky ones! My solution now for instant recall and dropping is a special ball that I keep in my pocket or dog bag that I only use in emergencies and she's not allowed it any other time!

Ada doesn't understand the concept of dropping a ball to get another ball. With a bit of effort she can get two in her mouth now! Most of the time I can recall her and if she does that she'll give the ball to hand yesterday she just had to play a couple of minutes of keep away first.

Oh yes she'd try to get 2 balls in I can see her brain while she's holding one in her mouth trying to figure out if she can pick up another! If we want to play fetch we play with a tennis ball as she drops those no problem and we save the Chuck it balls or squeaky balls as bribes it's the only thing that would work in certain situations- not even a hotdog or a whole steak will work but a squeaky rubber ball will do the trick haha!

We've not yet discovered a secret weapon. I bought a tugg e nuff with a ball on the end but she won't even hold that one so that was a flop.

Those blue and orange chuck it balls are the big mega mega prize here too! As soon as he sees it he starts spinning round and round whimpering in excitement 😂

Thats our most reliable drop as he will do anything for a chance at fetch with it and it’s an instant recall if I get it out my bag.

Dropping stolen socks and shoes is another matter 🙄🙄

Thank you whoever it was that recommended the doggy door bell.

I bought one from Amazon and within a day she’s now using it 50% to go out and 100% of the time to come back in. (Gardens secure so I let her out and shut the door when I’m working as it’s getting cold).

It’s so cute!

Oh @HollyJollyXmas57 ive been wondering about putting one on the outside too actually now that it’s got cold - our garden is secure too

@Autumn101 funny another spaniel obsessed with the blue and orange Chuck it balls! I dread it if we see someone else playing with one at the park as then I'm like noooo either back on lead or I have to give her her one!

@HollyJollyXmas57 that's sweet she rings to come back in! You are lucky you can just leave her unsupervised out there. Even though my garden is totally secure i could never leave her as she gets into mischief digging or running through the flowers and eating edible plants! I thought she'd grown out of it but even this morning while I was hanging out washing she sneakily dug up a bulb and was throwing it around having a great time!

Our garden is secure, in that River Pup can’t escape. However, River Pup loves the newish laid stones around the edge of our recently re-done garden, plus digs up grass (with his nose). We’ve moved two plant pots and a third has had the summer bedding plants removed. We’re now left with two fuchsia plants, but even those he likes.

Caught in the act!

We don’t have a bell, but RiverPup will now go and sit back by the back door. We still have a few accidents indoors though, either due to us missing the cue, or it’s an excited wee.

It’s so handy. I work from home and I can’t always stand outside for 10 mins to let her have a sniff and a wee.

I have no plants.
Im not a garden person so I have some patio and grass. That’s it. 🤣 I do have some strawberry plants that I tried to do this summer but they are up on a wall she can’t reach.
No plants or flowers to nibble on or dig and Iv never seen her digging out there so far.
Iv watched her from the upstairs window a few times and she just sniffs around. Sometimes she lays on the grass for a bit, does her business, play with her ball & then comes to the door.

Now Iv said this il go out there next time and she will be covered in mud 😂

Adorable!
I was having trouble with my pup just weeing and pooping by the back door if she couldn’t get out as I made the mistake of leaving the back door open 24/7 when we first got her so she never needed to ask..

and now… it’s getting too cold to do that 😅

How do you train them to use the doggy doorbell. I work from home and can't mingle pups yet so this looks ideal so I know when he needs out.

Hi everyone, would you mind if I joined you all? Picking up our 10 week old Cocker spaniel this weekend.

I haven’t slept for days, thinking about everything, spent an absolute fortune on everything I think we need but the thing that is worrying me most is food. How much, how often, what time, what treats?

Hoping to pick up some useful tips off you all!

We weigh out the recommended daily allowance for our lab pup (12 wks) and just split it into his 4 daily feeds. We also save some back to put in small pots in each room so we can drop him a bit when he is behaving nicely!

We just followed the schedule the breeder had been feeding, so 4 times a day, roughly - 6.30, 11.00, 3.00, 7.00.

Grand plans of using meal allowance for treats fell by the wayside as she didn't like her kibble enough. So we had various treats suitable for puppies as well.

The puppy food we brought had a feeding guide on the side of it. Welcome to the group, and don’t forget a picture of White Pup.

Thanks for the welcome, think I’m just overthinking it all!

Will send a pic when we pick him up at the weekend! Your pup is a beauty!

@MrsWhites Its quite daunting, isn’t it. We spent a fortune on stuff. Feel free to ask any questions you may have - we all learn from each other.

Yes it definitely is, I’ve bought the same food as the breeder is using for now, although it’s not the best so I’d rather change it eventually but I will give him a few weeks to settle in first.

I’ve bought lots of treats but I’m not which to give and when, I keep hearing people talk of high value treats but I’m not sure when to give kibble as a reward and when to give tastier treats. I suppose maybe I’ll just get a feel for things like this myself but like you say it’s all a bit daunting. Like when you are coming up to the birth of a baby and you have to prepare for that 😂