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.

This is timely @Riverlee as have been trying to check the web for average weights for breakfastpup at 9 weeks (he is 4.5kg lab - would love to know if this is similar to others at 9weeks!)

4.5 kg is on the smaller side for 9 weeks I think, but there's lots of variation.

Ada was 7.2kg at 10 weeks (up until 6 months her weight tracked pretty consistently at 0.7kg ish per week of age)

Mucky pup here is 22kg at 6mo. I’d imagine we are going over 25 too but he seems on the wee side compared to some we meet.

Thanks both - he has put on 0.6kg in the last week - was only 3.9kg when we first got him, so will keep an eye on it especially if he doesn't keep putting weight on...

Sunpup is a lightweight! FRL weighed in yesterday at 19kg six months old. All his siblings are bigger and heavier!

I reckon JoshPup weighs about 5kg 😂.

So I’ve had a random breakthrough today. I have realised when she runs in her crate (and then straight back out again 😑) it’s her signal she’s tired. I’m also not walking her enough. As she’s only a little tiny squidge I’ve only been giving her a couple of 10-15 walks a day for fear of damaging developing joints. But I took her out for 25 minutes this morning and I have a much calmer pup.

We've had a bit of a setback here - breakfastpup was left a little too long by DH on weds eve and now he won't stop peeing in his crate. Have washed it all and he did ok overnight last night but has peed again whilst I was on school run. Am taking him outside lots but worried we've ruined the crate and know how important it is that he rests/sleeps

@AnotherBreakfast
It's just temporary, don't worry. I'd continue as you are, back to basics style.
This randomly happened me a couple months in, when we had had no accidents for a couple of weeks. I was GUTTED. I took it to the extreme - treat for going outside, treat for wee, treat for back in again. Repeat a billion times a day. Controversially I took her water bowl away at 9pm and last wee at 11pm.
Random treats chucked into the crate at random times for good measure. (Still do this!)
It will pass.

Ah thanks @BigBundleOfFluff - we've changed tact today and are not shutting door of crate for now at all... bedtime has been a bit trickier with some barking and crying which he's never done before but felt like we just needed to completely press reset on it and he has definitely felt like a much calmer pup today after yesterday's write off.
Also got him a puppy chew set from dragonfly - gross but the rabbit ear has gone down a treat and is the first thing he's actually sat and chewed!

Can I join? We brought home a ten week old rescue puppy on Wednesday. She's a real delight, friendly, sweet natured and unfazed by children, loud/weird noises, pouring rain, visitors etc. She's our first dog so I'm not sure what's normal. She's obsessed with chomping on branches and sticks in the garden. I've heard horror stories about dogs and sticks so am finding this a little stressful, but it's nigh on impossible to let her out without her doing it (we have a lot of shrubs and trees). Hopefully a puppy phase? I also have no idea what to expect from her as an adult temperament wise as she's a real mix. I don't suppose anyone has come across a German shepherd/lurcher/collie/huskey cross before 😂

Welcome @Unluckycat1 - Coco loves a good chew on sticks/plants and assorted rubbish she finds in our garden - we’ve fenced (with pen panels) off the end where there are lots of plants/trees we don’t want her chewing on and otherwise let her do it

And your puppy is beautiful

@Unluckycat1 she's such a pretty pup!

I found the garden so stressful at the start. Distraction distraction distraction. It works in the end but takes time. Fluffy bundle will still chomp away if allowed. She does it now if she's bored- if I stop to chat to someone on a walk for example. Start training a drop it and leave it. We have a not 100% reliable drop it but bombproof leave it. It does mean I have to be vigilant all the time to stop her picking things up in the first place.

Until that happens I'd try and set her up for success as much as possible. I swept daily and blocked off areas where I didn't want her to go.

I can deffo see lurcher in her and she looks like she will have a glorious double coat - can't wait to see what she'll look like when she grows up!

Thanks Cocopuff! I'm glad my pup isn't the only one finding rubbish - she keeps running out from under bushes with long forgotten toys and tupperwear. I might need to fence off the area it turns out some local cat uses as a toilet 🤢

Thanks for the advice Bigbundle! I've been wholly focused on toilet training, but as she's doing well with it now I'll try leave it tomorrow. I've never trained a dog before so can't quite believe they learn commands! But she's so switched on, it's delightful to see her little brain whirring 😁
I'm super intrigued to see what she'll look like full grown!

Coco is now 6 months! And most definitely turning into a teenager - back to food refusal (only wants kibble or treats - none of her delicious nutritious raw food!) and awful recall 🙄I now have two human teens and a dog teen in the house!

Photo of two of the teens last night. We went to battersea power station to check out their light festival - Coco decided (after being fully toilet trained for a couple of months and outside for an hour) to have an accident in the mall 😱 fortunately it was easy for DH to clean up

@Unluckycat1 what a gorgeous pup! Very curious to see how she develops. Orangepup eats anything and everything... snails including the shell are a particular favourite as are wet wipes found on the street, and cat poo. So I generally let chewing on a stick go tbh AKA picking my battles!! It's more important not to throw sticks etc that's more likely to result in a serious injury. But if your pup likes sticks especially maybe you could try some of the wooden chews available and have one in the garden?

@Cocopuff happy half birthday Cocopup!! Lovely pic of your teens!

Good news. Sunpup is fantastic at super speedy recall.
Bad news. He hasn't really grasped braking.
Conclusion. I now have a torn thumb ligament where he smacked into my hand at about 30mph.
Postscript. He really wants to chew on my thumb cast.
😂😂🙄🙄

UnluckyPup is lovely. I can see collie in her. Is there an unlucky cat in the household?

@Orangebadger Be careful with snails. I don’t think they’re good for dogs.

Riverpup scared us by picking up pebbles. Wouldn’t have been so bad except we got our garden redone a few months previously and have pebbles all around the edge now. We’ve relaxed a bit now. He still picks them up but tends to roll them around in his mouth, although we still encourage him to drop them , or remove them from his mouth.

@Sunflowers765 wishing you a speedy recovery.

I know, can cause lungworm. Vet is aware as very hard to police snail ingestion all the time, she found some behind shed for example. She is on a double dose of worming tablets as she's such a glut!!

@Sunflowers765 well great news on the recall but sounds sore! Hope it heals fast!

Lovely picture @Cocopuff — I'm so looking forward to being able to go out on adventures with a dog!

I feel like I'm going to have to pick my battles too @Orangebadger she's obsessed and short of constantly throwing a ball (bad for developing joints and can cause them stress if done too much?? such a minefield!) there's branch chomping happening. Will look up wooden chews though, thank you!

@Riverlee luckily no unlucky cat around! I'm using an old and forgotten about account/username 😁

ouch @Sunflowers765 !! judging by his pic above it will be easy to forgive him though :) Lots of lovely lab pics as I was scrolling through the thread 💛they're such nice dogs.

Ouch @Sunflowers765 - hope you recover swiftly