Four week wait - what to do?

[NormalNans]

We have a new labradoodle pup who has just had the first lots of injections and on the 4 week wait to be able to go on walks.

She’s absolutely bonkers, much more so than our last dog (lab) when he was a pup and we’re struggling to keep her calm(ish) and entertained. We spend a lot of time with her and she has lots of toys but of course wants anything but them 😂 She will go in her crate without any bother and is a gorgeous little character. Very loving / needy!

I have no doubt that as soon as she can go on walks she will be loads better as she will be able to run off lots of energy and get the mental stimulation she is craving.

Also had loose poo since injections and threw up her flea / worming treatment. I have been giving her the same food as the breeder but she has been having puppy treats.

Any words of wisdom?

We have had a succession of high-drive puppies so I feel your pain!

Do you have a friend with either no dogs or vaccinated dogs who has a large garden that you could take your pup to? It will give her the chance to run around and explore a new environment.

You can hide things around your house and garden for her to find - hunting kibble in the grass will help to tire her out. This is also a good time to gently start to lay down some training basics. For example you can decide if you're going to use a cue word like 'yes!' or a clicker to mark the split second of a correct behaviour, and then 'charge the marker' - teach your puppy that it means good things. This you do by giving the marker and providing a treat a moment later. You can move around as you do this so the puppy starts to follow you. (This doesn't work so well with a dog with low food motivation - voice of bitter experience!)

And finally, give your puppy the chance to experience as many new things as you can - scents and noises, a noisy park watched from the open boot of the car, and so on. You're in the key socialisation period, so make the most of it.

Oh, and out vet said ten days from final vaccinations until freedom, not a fortnight, but that might depend on their protocol. Worth checking.

i carry mine on walks at that age. They get to see lots and the mental stimulation is tiring for them.

also start thinking about little training sessions, 2-3 minutes all through the day

cut the puppy treats and use their kibble for a bit.

have you told the vet they threw up their wormer and how much of it did they throw up? The vet may want to redose

if the poos don’t firm up you will need to let the vet know, you might want a giardia test

Thank you both, yes vet knows and I’m going to re dose her. I think it was possibly too close to her injection as she was scratching like mad so I probably rushed it. Stomach was fine till her jab but if she’s not better by Monday I’ll make an appointment and will definitely cut out the treats.

Great ideas for stimulation, she will come (most of the time) and sit for me now (which I think is amazing but possibly looking through rose tinted glasses 😂) but not for anyone else yet. We have quite a long drive (well, about four cars worth) but no gate so I’ve been running up and down that with her on a lead and will carry on doing that. Will take to mum and dads today, they have a big garden. I never thought about carrying her on a walk so that’s a great call, as is the visiting places with her in the car

Mine came from the breeder on a Royal Canin puppy food and his poo was awful. After a few different sorts it turned out he's sensitive to chicken and is doing well on a fish-based food.

Running on a lead won't do her growing joints any good. She can race around the garden but forced exercise like running on a lead or jumping is not recommended for at least a year.

Carry her to places, take her in the car and sit on the tailgate with her, use your imagination before her critical socialisation period ends.

To be fair, when I say running, I mean at the pace she zooms about playing. I’m not forcing her to run anywhere.

Anyway this morning, we’ve played in the garden and on the drive, I held her at the end of the drive and watched cars and chatted to passers by and she’s started showing an interest in the treat ball toy so been chasing that round the house (filled with kibble) and she came and sat next to me on the sofa while I was having breakfast and slept! Success 🥰

To be fair, when I say running, I mean at the pace she zooms about playing. I’m not forcing her to run anywhere.

To be honest, I still wouldn't encourage her to run on a hard surface like a driveway at such a young age. Grass/sand is different but high-impact exercise on hard surfaces really isn't good for their joints.

Thank you, I hadn’t thought about it like that. We only have a tiny patch of grass which is covered in bits of crap from trees and birds so she’s either eating stuff she shouldn’t be or runs for a second and she’s on harder surface again. Roll on four weeks!

Start training her everything you can that's not chasing too. It'll mentally wear her out. Also worth getting things like kongs to stuff so she is at that for a while too.

I do feel for you though. My pup is 23 weeks tomorrow and he's carnage if not had training and a walk.

I'd focus on carrying her about - lots of shops etc. will let you carry puppies in, or you could take her to the pub and sit outside with her in your lap too. The car is also a great idea - you can always park somewhere and sit with her on you with all the doors open so she can see what's going on as well.

If you think when she is older you might want to take her to the pub it is a good idea to start taking her now so she gets used to sleeping and settling there. Take her for a walk carrying her- wear her out and then pop her on your lap in the pub when she is ready to sleep. I see lots of comments from people with 6 or 7 month old dogs wanting them to settle in the pub it’s best to teach them early how to sleep when they are out and about

Brilliant advice. Thank you all.

We’ve had a trip to mum and dads today, a nosy round their garden and a stand-off with their cats. She’s now chilling with me rather than running about eating things ❤️

We found our puppy became more calm when we toned things down - we were over stimulating him. Ie. Spending all our time with him, having lots of toys out. We then had one chew toy out, and one cuddly, and he became calmer. Also, as he settled into the household he became calmer also,