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.

And the pic!

Welcome Vornpup. What a contented pup he is. Lovely photo.

Vornpup is gorgeous!

Lovely photo Vornpup. Off to take mine for second vaccinations this morning.

Awwww Vornpup is lovely. Love a red fox lab.

Aww, welcome @Vornkins and Vornpup! Gorgeous!

And thanks again everyone who responded to unluckypup getting bitten. It's really reassuring that this doesn't seem to be the norm. I think maybe part of our 'bad luck' is my own lack of experience with dogs, and in future I'll be mindful of warning signs. Thankfully she still seems to love other dogs, had the loveliest play at a puppy socialisation session yesterday :)

@Midnightstar76 Hope the vaccinations went well. I imagine you’re looking forward to take a star pup into the big bad world.

Hi @Vornkins ! Lovely looking pup you have there.
And attagirl unluckypup! @Unluckycat1, that's the spirit, get straight back in there. It's so nice watching them play. Fluffpups favourite game is stealing other dogs balls. Not so she can play with them, but do they chase after her!

@Riverlee she sailed through made no distress at all and just wanted to play she was very excited. Decided to get the kennel cough one up the nose at the same time. Glad it’s all done and we can tackle a first walk in a week or so. Watching lots of training video’s to see what to do but got training school which starts next week. Can’t wait to get stuck in.

Can I ask about second coats? Has your puppy's come in yet? At what age? Did it end up looking quite different to the first coat? Over the last 24 hours luckypup's scraggly flat tail seems to be fanning out a bit. And looking back at her small puppy pictures she's got loads more black in her coat now (she has gsd colouring). She's 19 weeks and I'm wondering how much more change there is to go.

Unluckycat looks like she's going to have a double coat. She won't lose her puppy fluff. That becomes her inner coat and she'll grow longer guard hairs. They are the ones that will keep her waterproof and make it easier for mud to brush off her. They will appear as feathering on her tail first and then she might get flashes on her legs. Fluff pup got extra fluff at say 4 months and continues to get fluffier. I think she'll get her full coat in the next few months.
You must continue to post pictures. I'm quite invested in her as I think she's a stunning mix and will love to see how she turns out!

Ooh thank you so much @BigBundleOfFluff for the informative reply, fascinating. I had no idea their coats changed so much prior to getting her! love that fluffpup is getting fluffier- I have a vision of the world's fluffiest goldie in my head now ❤️ happy to oblige with pics, I'm delighted someone else is invested in just what this strange mix of doggie genes is going to turn into 😅

First trip to the beach!

@Unluckycat1 ohh she's beautiful. She really looks like she has rough collie in her from her face and coat.

@Unluckycat1 . Her pose is like my first teams call of the morning when you switch the video on and go good grief is that another chin that's appeared, look up and to the side!
She's magnificent. Agree with rough collie, also think German Shepard and greyhound. I'm never noticed but she's also got a really long tail - watch out for mugs as she gets older - we've lost a couple now due to enthusiastic tail wagging!

Lucky pup is gorgeous, and getting so big now.

"Her pose is like my first teams call of the morning when you switch the video on and go good grief is that another chin that's appeared, look up and to the side!" — @BigBundleOfFluff 😂

Funny to hear rough collie mentioned twice, the rescue centre did say there was collie in the mix, but IRL no one picks up on that, she mostly gets guesses of saluki or lurcher (she has got lurcher, but no saluki, and looking at pics of them she doesn't really look like one, I think people are just thrown by the fluffy ears!)

Inspired by the puppies never going on a lead thread we've been working on recall and focus on me when out and it's going well. I realised (probably far too late) that the answer to training is grinding perseverance. I'm literally giving her a (small) treat every time she looks up at me, and the difference in how she acts on walks is already huge.

That said, we start puppy training on Sunday and now I'm worried I'll be told to do something else that will confuse her. No idea what to expect from it really, I just booked because the rescue advised me to. How have others found puppy classes?

Puppy classes are good for puppy socialisation and for general guidance on dos and don’t. It set us in the right direction.

However, I found a course of six wasn’t enough and our original trainers didn’t do a follow on course so I changed trainers. They took a slightly different approach, and used terms slightly differently, so we all had to adapt. I th8nk I’m now trying to do a mixture of the two approaches, probably not successfully.

I’ll be honest, I do find puppy training hard work. Didn’t help that dh’s approach was different to the trainer, and every YouTube clip said something different as well. For every approach you take, there’s someone preaching the opposite. Also, books like “Easy Peasey..’ make it sound simple.

It is a case of repetition, repetition and practice, and every time you’re with pup, it’s a training session, even if it’s just getting them to sit and wait for their food. However, I admit, I have shed tears from frustration, and almost on a daily basis at one point. I thought I was doing everything right, but it wasn’t working. I don’t feel we’re there yet, but walks are now enjoyable rather than frustrating, for example (well most of the time!).

sorry, that’s a bit long.

I have read the puppies not on a lead thread? Interesting! Orangepup is still on a long line. Tbh her recall is not that bad for a hound dog, who generally have awful recall. Today I even managed to get her away from some other dogs, which was a first. But the main reason I have her on a long line is that she's so friendly and excitable with dogs, children and well anything that moves. Obviously not everyone wants to be greeted by an over enthusiastic pup!

But I also have to say I am finding the psychology of dog walks tough, not so much other dogs, but their owners! Would be interested in others opinions. I get totally that if you have a dog that doesn't like other dogs, your dog may be on a lead and you really don't want other dogs approaching, so I understand that. But what I don't understand is some people really think that dogs should not really interact at all with other dogs, or if they do for only a few seconds. I am aware that some dog trainers actively encourage and advise this. Now I understand this is you're walking down the road and quick hello is fine, in the park, again fine. But if you have 2 dogs that are wanting to play for a while I don't see what the problem is? Fine if the owner doesn't want that. They can move on. But why is this an issue or not to be encouraged. Orangepup a breed, a basset fauve, is a dog loving dog, they are a pack type dog. Even the breeder would prefer it is we got another when Orangepup is a bit older as they tend to be happiest with other dogs. So surely this mantra cannot apply to all breeds/ personalities of dogs. Just curious as to others thoughts on this?

@Orangebadger I read the thread. It's very interesting. For context I'm a shite trainer. I find it incredibly hard and stressful. I constantly second guess myself and overthink. I'm also overly polite - meek even. I'm so worried about offending people etc (and by extension fluffpup and my girls) it's awful and I don't know why!

Fluffpup is only offlead in certain circumstances. Her recall is awful. 2 reasons why I didn't let her off lead at the start was - yes I agree they stick closely to you but to me that was because they were scared and I really wanted her to recall because she wanted to rather than training based on fear. Most likely that was wrong. Secondly, she's thinks the world is her audience and can't fathom why people, dogs, any moving thing wouldn't want to play with her. She's a dog of the people snd if allowed would approach EVERYTHING and I'd be worried she'd jump up at them - she's so big she'd knock kids over. I do keep trying with recall - if no distractions it's 100% but with distractions it's maybe 50%. Pretty poor for a 1 year old pup eh!
On greeting other dogs. As fluffpup is on lead and virtually all dogs she meets is on lead I see no value in a greeting. We stop and wait for them to pass. Prior to doing that she'd lunge towards the other dog. I'd know she's friendly but from the other persons perspective it would look aggression.
In safe places she's off lead, I have a decent sized garden and she goes to day care once a week. I also play a lot with her so I know she has enough exercise, but all her walks are slow sniffy walks.
I'm gutted/sad for her she's always on a long or short lead but on balance she's a very happy pupster.
I do ask most dog owners what to do, I'm keen to hear others opinions but they all say - just let her off snd who cares if she runs up to people - I can't bring myself to do that.

Nodding along to so much of this.

@Riverlee ours is only a four week course, which I did think sounded way too short to get meaningful results, and I think you've confirmed it for me. Though I believe there's intermediate level training too so it might work out in the end. But yes to all the conflicting approaches! I think the reason the last few days have had any kind of impact (as in, from 1 to 3, with 10 being fully trained 😂) is because it's just me and the dog, the kids are back at school, my partner has been working in France. Having other people around distracting her and shouting out commands at the wrong time or using the wrong word is just maddening.

@Orangebadger and @BigBundleOfFluff luckypup is on a lead most of the time to, for the same reason, she's just so friendly, loves all dogs, all people, children, babies in prams 😬 I'm convinced she would run a really long way away from me if she saw another dog. Quite a few people on the no lead thread said puppies don't like to be away from their owners, but I don't think we have that velcro relationship (which has a positive side I guess in that she's very chilled out when I do the school run without her).

@Orangebadger aw basset fauves are such lovely looking dogs. Dog owner interaction is a funny one for sure. Maybe the daily grind of dog walks gets some people down after a while and they just want it over and done with. Dogs playing just seems the loveliest thing though, they are so in their element flying about with a pal.

@BigBundleOfFluff I've had people say just let them off as well. I asked one fellow puppy owner if her pup (who is off-lead) ran up to other dogs and she said yes, and if the dogs don't like it the puppy will learn the hard way. I guess that is one approach! But I'm too anxious for it. I do let her off to play if I've established with the owner that it's ok as she will completely fixate on the dog and not leave its side. I can't imagine her recall ever being good enough to call her back if we were just walking though, the second she sees a dog or person she is 100% focused on them.

@Unluckycat1 I never commented on the main thread as I thought people would say I don't have a strong enough bond with my dog. I don't think that is true. I don't have a Velcro dog. She's a very confident (some might say cocky!) wee thing and always has been. I think of our bond as a "secure attachment". We are really happy to be in each other company but we have a strong enough bond so neither of us worry when apart (school run, sainsburys shop etc) she does the right thing when off lead and checks where I am - I just can't trust her not to chase after a squirrel, leaf, dog anything. We'll get there.
She's currently at my feet gurning at me because I'm still sitting at my work pc and there are pee-mails that she needs to check.

Hi! Can join you all ? Our little lab has been with us almost a week now and she is doing well but fancied some dog chat . I'll read back a bit now .

All very well this dogs should be off lead from the start..but Joshpup is deaf so no thanks…the closest she’s ever getting is a long line. JoshDog goes off lead but she can be a bit dog reactive so only when we have the space to ourselves. JoshDog is four and her recall is pretty much spot on unless she spots a squirrel 😂

Sorry forgot puppy tax .

@pookiedoodlepuppy Amazing! You got the flying tongue AND ears!!
What kind of pup is pookiepup? Is it a labradoodle?