Puppy Survival Thread - as we approach Fireworks night for the first time…

[Riverlee]

Apologies if someone has already started a new thread. Couldn’t see one when I had a quick look.

As it’s a new thread, why don’t we all (re-) introduce ourselves. Ie. Good excuse for more cute puppy pictures!

I have RiverPup, who is now a 15 weeks old black Labrador.

Two pictures of when we first got him, and more recent.

@CockapooMadness What time does he go down for his nap? RiverPup is asleep now., but we wake him between 8.30-9pm to do a wee (and poo) and that usually does the trick.

Also, is he waking because he’s cold. Dh heard a whimper early yesterday, put the heating on (low), and he slept for longer.

@Riverlee Up until yesterday he was having naps at 9.30am for 1 hour and then at 12.30pm, 4.30pm and 8.00pm for 2 hours each. Goes to bed at 11.00pm and sleeps through until 7.30am. How much sleep does river pup have?

River pup wakes usually between 6.30-7am.

1. Naps from 8.30/9.30am (depending on when awakes) until 11/11.30ish.
2. Naps from 1.30/2pm-ish until 3.30/4pm ish.
3. 6/6.45pm until 8.30pm/9pm - when we wake him. Sometimes he’ll stay awake for an hour, other times he falls asleep quite quickly. He’s usually lovely then and comes and lies next to you on the sofa.

Sometimes he’ll awaken around 3am for a wee (grr). Then I usually have to sit on the sofa with him to get him back to sleep ( and to ensure rest of household aren’t disturbed). We must break this habit!

@CockapooMadness this is exactly what I’m afraid of, especially as I’ll be the one with him most, as I work from home. Not sure I’ll be getting much work done from now on! Although it’s good to hear that they nap a lot!

Welcome @tigerbear and Monty - he’s very sweet and sorry about his slow start but I’m sure you’ll give him a wonderful home and life

haku is now over 5months and on the whole everything is so much easier now. We were lucky that the mouthing/grabbing phase was very short lived but he can be very stubborn about going to the garden a million times a day and not walking where I want to walk if we go anywhere near our rec!

Also agree with yakkers and olive/coffee wood. I can’t stomach any of the animal parts so he hasn’t had any! We stick to frozen PB in kongs and these wooden chews that have proper corners which he likes to chomp down on.

He’s def napping less, has his morning nap of 1-2hrs then usually an afternoon nap of about an hour, might doze a bit in the evening or doesn’t and passes out around 9pm. He doesn’t wake us up, I get up at 7am and when I open the door he’s usually sat there waiting for me. We’re away for a few days and I can’t wait to get home and get the massive excited welcome he gives me

Thank you @Citygirlrurallife
im loving all of the suggestions of chews and treats! We’re off to Pets at Home today to get all of his stuff! Is there anything I’ve forgotten from this list:
Bed (current owner is giving us his crate)
collar, lead and harness
Puppy pads
Chews and treats
Dental sticks
Food
Bowl
Toys
Enzyme spray
Coat
Doorbell for toilet training
Blanket

welcome @tigerbear I am only five days into having a new pup myself and it's going really well so far and great fun. Fingers crossed that continues!

We are on our third water bowl now - it's a huge heavy ceramic one as Duggie found it great fun to pick up the light one and tussle it with his teeth sending water spraying everywhere. That's my only tip

We were advised against puppy pads and encouraged to take him out frequently and that's worked brilliantly. Two accidents in five days and that was when we took our eye off how excited he was getting. But he came to us at ten weeks so just that wee bit more mature I guess.

Your pup looks adorable.

Congrats on your new pup too @highandcoo That’s heartening to hear that it’s been fun so far!
Good tip about the water bowl, thanks!

We didn’t use puppy pads either. Took RiverPup out after waking, after feeds, when he starts sniffing and plenty of praise and a treat outside. Any accidents inside we just cleared up and didn’t make a fuss. Seemed to work for us.

Other items.
Car travel crate/carrying device etc
Car lead (to attach dog to seat belt)
Spare water bowl for car
Spare bedding and blankets for car and/or accidents
Storage Containers to put treats in
Treat bag for coat pocket etc
Poo bag
name tag for collar

A tip a friend gave me was that dog toys are often cheaper in TK maxx than the main pet shops.

Slow feeder

Our pup gobbled his food down so we got a slow feeder.

I found pets at home rubbish for pet shopping - had hardly anything in. Independent pet shops seem much better.

Id get a few pop bag dispensers - you never want to be caught short. Vet bed is great for lining crate/using as bedding. Fleece blanket. Lots of towels for drying pup off.

Coco was up at 7 today - she has been fighting sleep all morning and now just dozed off as I have to go get no 3 son from a party. Will need to leave no 1 son in charge of her (never a good idea as he’s more interested in gaming than the dog)

Oh and definitely sort pet insurance asap @tigerbear

Not forgetting tick/worming treatment, an added expense I hadn’t factored in.

Also, have they had all their vaccinations?

Just thought of another

bitter apple spray - to spray on furniture etc to deter them

@Riverlee and @Cocopuff thanks so much for the advice. We found Pets at Home to be pretty good, and got a £35 discount when we signed up to the app.
There were loads of owners and their puppies wandering around, so we had lovely chats with them all, and the store assistants were so happy and excited for us when we told them about Monty ❤️

Only a few hours until we go to collect him.
eek!

Ours pets at home is crap. Our local shops are so much better and cheaper too.

Dont bother with pads. Just keep taking out. So much quicker. Our pup got it in days that way and at 17 weeks she’s completely clean and will go 4-5 hours between garden trips.

How exciting!! Looking forward to seeing Monty!

Pleased to report that Monty has settled in really well so far! He’s completely chilled, doesn’t bark, and is just so sweet! ❤️
Only one poo and wee accident.
Loves his bed and toys!

So cute.

Aw. He's lovely.

Uh oh! He’s been absolutely fine all day and hardly made a sound, but now he’s gone in his crate for bedtime, and he’s crying and howling. How did everyone else get through the first night?

He’s adorable and I hope he quietened down in the crate. Some crying first night with Coco - we slept next to her on the sofa and dangled fingers in/shushed her and took her out for wees then straight back in crate when she woke

Morning @Cocopuff
We ended up bringing his crate upstairs into our room, and he went straight to sleep, albeit with the door of the crate open.
he woke at 3.30 and 6 and was taken downstairs and placed on the training pads, however had several wee and poo accidents on the floor 😬
He hasn’t gone on the pads at all yet, despite owner telling us he’s pad trained, but we’re wondering if it’s because they’re a different brand to what he’s used to.

He’s now decided it’s getting up time, and DH has gone downstairs with him.

How are all of the pups liking the snow?
Tigerpup had his first ever walk outside last night, so it must have been doubly overwhelming with all of the snow, which he didn’t really know what to do with, and kind of nibbled it.

Never work with children or animals…

Since posting RiverPup’s nap schedule a few days ago, he’s thrown it out the window, waking up at 4.30am once, and 5am twice. He needs a wee (and maybe more) so we can’t not let him out. Then he’s full on awake for a couple of hours.

At least this morning the snow kept him entertained (at 5am) and he ran around and played with it on and off for an hour. Then crashed.

@tigerbear try to read easy peasy puppy squeezy by Steve Mann. There's a good section on crate training in it. He also talks about taking crate up to the bedroom with you until pup is more settled. One of us stays in the living room with ours pup in the crate as the bedroom is where the cat likes to sleep, so need to protect his place.

One nightmare we are having is biting move socks and feet all the time! Any tips??

Off to vet this morning for 2nd jabs.