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.

@Orangebadger can you see if there’s a trigger point for nipping? RiverPup gets snappy when he’s tired, and we chuck him in his crate. Also, overstimulation can wind them up.

Looking outside.

@Riverlee yes when she gets tired she gets very mouthy. But we have a pretty solid system that works for that, so she's up maybe 1.5 - 2 hrs then pooped in crate and she goes to sleep for a couple of hours. The sleep thing is working well, she also sleeps from 10- 7 am. Overstimulated is another thing though and I think that really doesn't help with the kids! I'm trying to get them to play calmly with her but right now she just sees their feet and that's it, it's bite time! Moving feet are especially fun. Now I can stand still and be boring when she goes for me but it's hard for the kids. The youngest freaks out as is worried about getting hurt and the oldest is ok but won't stop and stay still and be boring. We are trying distractions or sit with a treat. That works sometimes, now with the Xmas holidays though I think she'll be eating her body weight in treats!!!

I have the same challenge, my
youngest is 4. I do understand why centres won’t give rescues to families with under 5s now. She just finds it impossible not to give him squeezy cuddles or control her impulse to go to him when he’s in bed etc. It feels to me a longer term project training both kids and dog in how to behave around each other.

Now at 18wks and I’m not sure the nipping is much better (he’s full on teething I guess) but I feel I know the signs and triggers more and nip it in bud quicker so it’s doing my head in less if that makes sense. After one really hard visit from kids friends a few weeks ago I concluded that we just won’t have a lot of friends round til training is more advanced. And when kids are struggling to listen when told how to behave with him, I remind them that to have friends round and the like, we need a well behaved dog and we are all part of teaching him that.

He seems to understand ‘no bite’ now and will pull away when we say this but I wish we’d chosen a better cue word as that’s going to sound a bit scary when said around others…

@Beginningless I know it's tough with kids! In fairness my eldest who is 10 is pretty good. We haven't had any of my 5 yr olds friends over, that can wait until the nipping has stopped and she's better trained with not jumping up.

We do have gate to the front room so I can keep her in there or out of there. But need to figure a way to get my DS to behave differently. The irony is he tells all guests and anyone who will listen what to do and what not to do... don't run, don't pay her on the top of her head, don't screech, but somehow in his head this does not apply to him

Regarding nipping, one trick we employ is always have a toy nearby, so when he starts nipping, we can give it to him to hold in his mouth. He’s a lab, though, and they’re known to like this due to their retrieving tendencies. Maybe something to try though.

That’s a good idea @Riverlee , I do that when he chews furniture etc but not so much us. I’m going to keep a toy on the radiator in kitchen for when we go to him in the morning or after we’ve been out. This is prime nipping time, he’s whimpering like ‘where were you, I missed you so much’, but he wants to grip on with his mouth during this greeting, it seems compulsive. It lasts a minute or so and passes, we usually say no bite, turn away etc but maybe if I shoved something else in his mouth and cuddled him we could all get what we need in that moment!

Coco is nippy when tired or hungry. Definitely agree with the having a toy on hand trick. Or if all else fails dropping some treats on the floor and telling her to find it stops the nipping for a sec or two.

I'm having a ridiculous time trying to get her to eat (key as need to get her worming meds in her) as she's got a slightly dodgy tum and doesnt want to eat. Managed to get 2/3 of today's 1.5ml of worming meds in her - am hoping that will do the trick..

Haven’t posted on here for ages! Nice to see some new pups and hear how the others are getting on.

I think we’re probably not classed as a puppy anymore as my boy has just turned one, I can’t believe how fast it has gone!!

He was a total whirlwind to start and I had a lot of WTF moments 😂 but honestly it doesn’t last long so hang on in there! He’s now an absolute legend of a dog, I can’t imagine our life without him ❤️

Leif has worked out that if he rings the bell on the door he gets to go in the garden! Leif likes going in the garden. A lot. So he rings the bell, goes out on his own and then lies down. Or sniffs around and comes back again. To the poont we've stopped watching him all the time as we'd be forever by the back door.

So he paws to come in. And then rings the bell again.

And if you dare not to let him out he will come and pointedly pee in front of you!

Don't know whether to laugh or cry.

@Prancingponies that was what I’d heard about bells. We don’t have bells for Coco but she sits by the back door longingly staring out or crying to go out (then farts about chewing all the plants/trees or digging in mud in the borders). So solidarity fist bump here

After yet another walk followed by a full on puppy bath with Coco today, I have caved and bought an equafleece for her. Really hope it reduces the amount of wet dog in my life....

Dc has brought a Karcher portable cleaner for dh for Christmas, as maybe useful with a lab, as apparently they love water (although RiverPup isn’t that fussed at the moment).

[[https://www.kaercher.com/uk/home-garden/mobile-cleaning/mobile-outdoor-cleaner/oc-3-16800190.html Karcher portable cleaner).

The Mud Daddy is another similar (and cheaper) prodyct, but dh is a Karcher fan.

mud daddy

The equafleece arrived today (brilliantly swift service), I got it on the pooch and was all ready for a muddy walk - only to find the bloody harness wont fit over the top... so another muddy street walk it was and another bath for the pooch...

Been away a few days due to family emergency. Think I missed the dog more than the dc! He almost knocked me over when he saw me on his return. That’s the, dog, not the dc!

Hope all ok @Riverlee

wishing all and their families and furballs a happy day today

@Cocopuff Thank you. Turned out not to be bad as it could have been (ie no broken bones) but opened a new can of worms regarding relative living by them self and care options.

Happy Christmas everyone!

Ah yes parents and family members getting older is fraught with all kinds of issues I’m finding. Glad it wasn’t worse x

Hi everyone, can I join in please, we've had our 9 week old pup for a week now, we also have a 2 year old resident dog.

Rowdypup is settling in really well, toilet training is mostly going well although he's still having some accidents in the house. He's going to be a big lad when he's fully grown so I want to make sure we get good behaviours established as soon as possible.

OMG @Rowdythree he is too cute!!
welcome!

I’ve only had Tigerpup for 2 weeks today, and it’s been an absolute rollercoaster.
tbh, I’ve found it more difficult than when DD was a newborn. The last week has been manic with work, DD being unwell, worries about my unwell Dad, plus me being at home with pup all day every day.

I had a massive meltdown on Christmas Eve, and told DH that I was feeling so resentful of being the one doing the hard slog every day, whilst he gets the fun bits of seeing pup in the evening, when he’s being all cute and snuggly. Pup is a Velcro pup who follows me everywhere, and I’ve found it so hard to get anything done (I work from home).

I pretty much told DH that if he wants us to keep pup, the division of care can’t just fall to me, and DH was hugely apologetic and is def going to step up. He saw I was totally on the edge - full on tears etc - and that scared him. As another poster warned me, puppy blues is def a thing!

To be fair to Tigerpup, he’s done so well in the 2 weeks we’ve had him - he sleeps through the night, is fine meeting new humans and dogs on walks, has met so many visitors to the house (inc 2 other dogs coming for Christmas Day!), sits on command, has been off lead and comes straight back when called.

Was anyone else shocked at how much their pups grew in the first 1-2 weeks?
ours doesn’t even look like a puppy that much now! He’s getting really big!

Thanks for the welcome @tigerbear , I definitely understand how you feel, in the run up to Christmas all of my children were ill, as well as getting the new pup and getting prepped for Christmas, it's been absolutely exhausting! I hope your dh takes some of the burden and you start to enjoy your time with the pup too.

Rowdy pup has been doing well, he's sleeping through the night, although he's had an accident on a puppy pad, which may have been this morning as I just couldn't wake up at 6am to come and let him out. Now Christmas is over I'm really going to work hard on getting him house trained and ready to start puppy training in January.

My older dog is taking a bit of time to get used to this new intruder into his life, so that's an extra worry. Although, I can see he's improving everyday, and he's being very tolerant of the new bundle of energy!

Welcome Rowdypup (and I hope he’s not being too rowdy!).

He’s one big ball of adorable fluff - what breed is he?

@tigerbear Puppies are tough, aren’t they. They do settle in a routine, though, and things do get easier. Can you use the crate more to get some time alone?

@Riverlee He's a Newfoundland, so going to get rather large! He's a lovely chap though, although is, quite Rowdy, maybe I should change my name to calmthree 😆. We're going to take him out for the first time today, not that there will be much to see on Boxing

@Rowdythree welcome! He's is gorgeous! My grandfather had lots of Newfies, love, love, love them! Such gentle giants. Very very cute pup.
I'm still having no luck uploading a photo but have read it's a clitch with iPhones so will try when I get a moment on my laptop.

Today was L's first park walk, she loved it and met lots of dogs and people and ducks!

I have to say I am glad Xmas is over. We have all had back to back illnesses, the finale been covid. My DM also lives with us, she came out of hospital last week, she has dementia and her dementia is much worse that before she went in, she also got covid and was knocked off with it, but is better now. Then we have had the in laws staying. All this with a puppy has been exhausting, luckily my DH steps up a lot, so we are just both shattered. But already feeling the benefits that come with a dog... must take the dog out! I use to be "I am just going out for a walk" which to some was odd, I love going for a walk, now no one bats an eyelid!

Welcome @Rowdythree - hope all continues to go well with Rowdypup.

@tigerbear i had a similar experience to having a pup as was working from home/freelancing when we got Coco - I found it impossible to work and had a mega tantrum at DH (who campaigned hard for a dog with 2 of the kids and then promptly buggered off to his mums with the kids for 2 days after we picked up the puppy leaving her with me!). I found creating a routine of some sort - wake, wee, train, wee, food, wee, try to get her to nap and rinse and repeat ad infinitum - helped. If all else failed she’d nap right next to me so I could do a tiny bit of work. It does get better as they get a bit older and can entertain themselves abit longer/ not need loo trips every 30 mins.