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.

Welcome @newf and @staciea31 .

@newf I have no idea, mine is the same, we have a 20 minute game of fetch in the garden before relaxing for the evening, sometimes works, sometimes not 

@staciea31 Iris likes to eat what I'm eating, so I pretend to eat her dog food, works a treat! Your pup is adorable!

Thanks zigg zagg , yeah it’s a nightmare I do that too!! Sometimes works most times doesn’t haha . I made shepherds pie today I have tried her with dog food all day she refused so I put her a bowl of shepherds pie out for tea and she sat on the sofa next to me eating it as I ate mine the little tinker haha xx

You have probably tried this but maybe some meat with a tiny bit of dog food mixed it and slowly increase the amount? Imagine you have tried lots of brands? What about a raw diet?

Aw thanks so much for your advice , I have tried that and I have also tried every brand . I’m gonna give the royal canin another try the specific chihuahua one I have ordered the wet and dry so I will try that . I had considered the raw diet but I just don’t think she will even try she is so fussy I don’t mind cooking for her meals everyday I just need her to have the nutrients she needs I’m so scared she will get poorly as she doesn’t have them . Thank you for your advice I will try the raw diet if she won’t eat the royal canin xx

Puppy will be overtired/overstimulated, puppies need a lot of sleep (around 18hours a day) and a lot of people don't realise this, when they don't get enough they turn into little cranky demons.

Enforced naps are needed, they usually need 1hr - 1.hrs of awake time and then a 2 hour nap. Place puppy in his crate/pen for his relaxing/nap time. You might need to place a cover over it if he won't settle.

I did this with my pup then at around 4.5 months old she started following this nap pattern naturally herself so I don't really need to enforce naps anymore. She's almost 7months now. 😊

hi @newf I feel your pain.

Our pup is just a week older and we've been having similar issues. Nights are great; he sleeps in the crate from 11/11.30 till 8. I know we're lucky there! He's still sleepy and docile in the morning and will nap in his bed (crate door open) or the floor and will have another sleep in the afternoon but as you describe, is instantly alert if we leave the room. Although I can cook, empty the dishwasher and that doesn't bother him. He seems to be relaxed as long as we're around.

But our evenings were - and still sometimes are - challenging. Through the day when we're in we live mainly in the kitchen and hall .. both fairly large with wooden floors. After dinner we usually go through to the sitting room to watch TV and that's when he would start to prowl around, chewing furniture, squeezing under it and getting pretty bitey and just unable to settle. Actually he gets increasingly overtired from about 6/7pm. They say make sure your puppy gets plenty of sleep but it's easier said than done. We're providing the opportunity for naps however I think he's just a quite a high energy pup.

The opinion from our puppy class trainer was that the new surroundings were over-stimulating. The kitchen is pretty boring as he's used to it, but the sitting room is full of new smells and textures and corners to explore. So she suggested spending some time in there when he's calm and due for a sleep. I would never have thought of that but it proved to be a great idea. We did that one morning and he and I both fell asleep on the sofa! Having done that a few times it has definitely helped.

What has also worked is making sure he's already calm and tired before we go through there. So he will go out for a wee and a sniff round about 8pm, I put away all the toys and just leave out one chew and a rug, we sit at the kitchen table and more or less ignore him to give him the message that it's time to calm down and he eventually gets bored and settles down. Once he starts to drop off, we give him about 15 minutes to get really sleepy, we walk through and put the TV on, he follows us sleepily and climbs onto his rug on the sofa. He does need a yakker chew/bull's pizzle or similar sometimes to soothe him but occasionally will just curl up and doze.

This doesn't work every night; sometimes we have to go back through to the kitchen and go through it all again but I have hope now that we're on the right track. And hopefully we can extend the time through there as he gets older.

That was a saga! But I hope it helps a bit. It's been our biggest issue so far. If you have any suggestions in return I would love to hear them as we are still very much a work in progress ..

and some beautiful pup photos, thanks everyone

@newf we have developed a similar problem. Orangepup sleeps well during the night in crate, the has a really long 2/3 hr nap in the morning and a smaller one in the afternoon. Usually wakes around 3.45/4pm when the kids come home from school. She use to have a good afternoon nap, but the last 2 weeks absolutely won't! I have assumed it's because 2 very exciting kids are in the house, she especially loves my DD so it's really hard to find a solution for her to nap in the evening. We try and get her to nap around 5.30/6 in the crate but she goes bananas! And then is very over tired by 7/8pm! It's hard as it's a busy time in the house with dinner time putting kids to bed etc. I have no words of wisdom, just empathy!

@Orangebadger @highlandcoo I'm glad I'm not alone!
I know he needs more sleep but like you said sometimes I put him in his crate Tom 'enforce' a nap and he scrabbles and barks relentlessly. I don't want him to be distressed and leaving him doesn't calm him down when he is like that. We do put a stuffed kong in but as soon as that's down he is barking to come out.

I'll try letting him in the lounge more as he doesn't go in there in the day so maybe it is more exciting. In the end last night we brought his puppy pen through and put him in it and he eventually fell asleep in there after being a complete pain for 45 minutes leaping, nipping, going under the furniture etc - you all understand!

Our house is much busier and exciting in the evening for him I guess with the kids being here and us not sitting and being boring doing our work.
Thanks for the empathy - it's good to know you aren't alone!

@newf coco is 21 weeks now - she sleeps well at night, has nano nap in the morning (30-40 mins) then early afternoon nap in crate for an hour or so after lunch. She tends to be quite sleepy in the evening so will nap (or do her best dead dog impression) around the kitchen/living room where and when she wants to. We have reinforced that the lounge is for lounging so when sat watching tv/reading etc it’s calm time - play time and training area is kitchen/garden etc so it’s pretty calm in the evening. She has vet beds in the lounge and kitchen she hangs out on when not in her pen (and often naps on them) - at enforced nap times I pop her in her pen and it’s up to her if she naps in her crate/bed in the pen or just on the floor if she prefers that. It works for us. If she’s going crazy indoors I tend to take her out to the garden for a sniff/run around. Also sniffmats are good to keep them distracted and chilled. And introducing bones/chews to gnaw on.

@staciea31 Coco is a fussy little eater and has phases of going off her food so I feel your pain. She’s raw fed but has some kibble (wolfworthy) in her food puzzle toys from time to time and I use chicken pieces/ham/sausages/venison etc for training treats. She’s in good health, lovely coat, active and curious. She was on iams puppy kibble and pedigree pouches when we picked her up at 8 weeks but stank - no issue with her smelling post transition to raw food.

What seems to help is mixing up her meals - this morning she had scrambled egg (ate a bit then I used most of the rest for training her) - lunch is raw food plus sweet potato mixed in, dinner lightly cooked raw food plus some lamb bone broth (sweet potato and bone broth and cooked food because she had a bit of a dodgy tum yesterday and was on food strike). Normally it’s just raw food 3 times a day - sometimes I lightly pan fry to release the smell. Using food puzzles and snuggle mats also helps.

Hello! Can I join this thread? I have a 16 week old lab puppy called Pablo

Welcome @Spacemonkey2016 and Pablo.

Can anyone tell me why DPup pisses with gay abandon all over my living room floor when she needs a poo. She can indicate when she needs to go out (although it’s still a dash as she’s only 10 weeks old) but when she needs a poo she literally drops and squats with no warning every 5 minutes until she’s pooed.

@JoshLymanIsHotterThanSam how often are you taking her out? I’d go out more frequently and if she does a wee inside then take her out and stay out till she’s pooed - or if she’s small enough keep her up off the floor inside and keep taking her out till she poke. Tonnes of praise for going outside. And make sure you’ve used an enzymatic cleaner indoors to remove all traces of wee

welcome @Spacemonkey2016 - Pablo is very cute!

After a fraught teatime tonight (which seems to be the theme!) I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed. Can someone talk me down please?! It feels like when my babies were small-all the worry about whether the things I’m doing are right/going to cause problems. My pup is pretty quiet but started barking by at my husband tonight and my mind automatically jumps to ‘that’s it-she’s going to be a reactive dog’. (The yaps sounded playful to me, but she generally doesn’t bark so it didn’t feel great).
I think I‘m just frazzled and entering into the ‘what have I done’ phase…
Anyone else?!?!

@Spacemonkey2016 Pablo is gorgeous!

@JoshLymanIsHotterThanSam at 10 weeks our pup was the same, I couldn't take my eyes off him. I just constantly took him outside and really praised him for doing a wee. He's 13 weeks now and a lot better, at least I don't feel like I constantly have to keep my eyes on him. I found it really exhausting!

I'm another one having trouble getting pup to nap, everytime my older dog gets up, the pup wants to follow him around. Or as soon as he's settling down someone will come downstairs, or in the door and he leaps up all excited to see them. I was thinking about giving him a kong in his pen when I want him to settle down, but I can't think what to put in it, any suggestions? Rowdypup can also get on the sofa now, which was my other dogs only place of respite from the land shark!

Here an updated photo of the menace

@Rowdythree hes beautiful. I stuff our longs with peanut butter or cream cheese. I do try to freeze them so they last longer. I also buy natural dog chews which last a while and keep her entertained for a bit.

I can’t wait for the watching her every move bit to stop, it’s bloody exhausting 😴😂

Was pup overtired? Orangepup barks, growls in a very overexcited way when tired. Barking really isn't necessarily aggressive form of communication and is often just playful.

@Rowdythree I just put some dried treats inside, or you could put kibble if Rowdy pup eats that.

Orangepup too can get on the sofa now despite still been pretty small, it takes her a few lunges but she now gets there! Will have to make some changes to the kids habit of having a snack while watching a bit of telly in the sofa now! She is soooo food motivated, to lab like standards I would say she would be all over them with any food! walking her down the street is a nightmare if there is any litter around. Last night I took gum, a bottle lid, a piece of plastic and wet wipes out of her mouth! It's bin night last night, so probably best to avoid Tuesday evening walks!

She also loves snails! Well great for the plants to get rid of them but not so good for worms. She's now on double the monthly dose of worming tablets as she literally will eat anything!

@Orangebadger Yeah I’m sure it’s over tiredness, and I don’t think it was aggressive barking (I tend to catastrophise when things feel a bit difficult 🙄). Last night was pretty bad but I held off on a nap too close to bedtime because I read that classic thing about getting them really tired for bedtime so they sleep (and she’d slept a LOT in the day yesterday). Putting her in a pen/crate makes her howl which seems just as stressful as the manic bombing about and biting. She’ll sleep ok in her crate at night though, and today I’m trying to enforce all naps in her crate too.
it sounds as though evenings are the witching hour for lots of folk, which makes me feel better I guess!

Thank you for the Kong suggestions! I hadn't thought of putting his kibble in there, he does really like that. I'll do that for his supper tonight with a bit of peanut butter to make it more challenging. Thanks!

I need to go and buy a new bed today, he's grown out of the one he had already! Luckily it was a hand me down from my mums dog, so I didn't have to buy it.

@Rowdythree in kongs we do - mushed up banana then freeze. Kibble. Kibble that I've soaked in water to make a mush then squash in ( and freeze if I want it to last longer). Cream/cottage cheese. Squashed blueberries. Cooked mashed sweet potato.
He loves them all and it gives me between 5 mins and 20 mins peace to get something done. I started not freezing but he got really quick so now prep and freeze the night before. We had to buy extra kongs to keep up with demand!

I've invested in a toppl because Sunpup can't seem to get stuff out of a kong very well. I've frozen soft cheese peanut butter kibble squashed banana. It takes him 45 minutes to get it all out. Expensive but worth it.

@newf more great kong suggestions, thank you!

The Toppl looks good @Sunflowers765 I've not heard if those before. Rowdypup had had trouble getting the kibble out of his Kong, especially if it's glued together with peanut butter, I had to scrape it out with a knife for him yesterday. He's only just getting used to the Kong though, so I'll give it a chance before splashing out on something new.

Rowdypup seems to have taken a step backwards with toilet training, I keep finding wees on the floor, so I guess the watching like a hawk days aren't quite over yet! And why does he always do it on the rugs! I think I'm just going to take my rugs up for a while