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.

There you all are! Will reintroduce ourselves - here is Haku who is 4months old today and we’ve had him about 7/8weeks and getting into a routine now.

will make sure to go back and read the thread so a quick update - we’re now walking usually twice a day and a play on the rec with other dogs the other - I worry I might be over exercising him but he’s full of energy and he loves it.

training is going very well at home - working on it outside of the home but he LOVES treats so that helps a ton. And we’ve cracked nighttime’s - dispensed of the bed and leave him to it in our main open plan area which is reasonably puppy proofed and he doesn’t chew on anything that isn’t his - he’s much happier and so are we so have got rid of the crate completely and starting to also leave him alone for short periods during the day.

Other than that he’s a joy - I also do most of the puppy care but I have surprised myself by how much I utterly adore him so it’s no hardship to be honest.

other than recall when other dogs are around he’s great - super sweet, never barks or jumps or bites, waits politely for people to say hello to him and it’s just lovely having him around.

I feel like it could be calm before the storm of adolescence…..

@Beginningless I agree with you personally - no teeth on flesh ever. Haku came to us already knowing if a human yelps he stops and sits and waits so that helped in the first week and now he never mouths or bites hands at all. We all stuck to high pitched yelp, stand and turn away whenever we felt his teeth on our skin, whether it was mouthing or biting

Crate not bed!!!

I had been off Mumsnet for a while so I never introduced my first ever canine companion. Ben is 8 months now and what the heck did I do before him? He's just the best.

I am trying to get puppy outside to socialise him but as he can’t go on the floor am finding it difficult. I have a sling that is material that I got from Amazon but he doesn’t really settle in it very well as there’s no support for him when he’s in it. I ordered a backpack carrier but it is quite heavy and bulky without him even being in it so am sending that back. I was wondering if you have any suggestions? 🤔

How big is he? Could you carry him and do short trips?

I carried mine but she’s small so was very easy and I’m probably under estimating how big your pup is 😂

Otherwise I seen a man with a lab in one of these type of things at the vets..

I am using a single fitted bedsheet! Ends tied in a not to make it into a circle, knot behind your neck and have it over one shoulder, under one arm, if that makes sense. A friend gave a structured backpack thing that he didn’t like but he loves the bedsheet, even falls asleep. Makes it easy to adjust his position.

I had a sling from Amazon, it had a button at each end of the sling bit and a little strap to attach to her harness. She'd just sit in there with her head poking out but got a bit wriggly in the last week she was in it because she wanted to be out on the floor.

I went out and walked with her every single day in the sling and took her to pets shops, garden centres, cafes or sat on a bench with her in busy shopping areas. She's so confident now, nothing bothers her at all.

Has he had both his jabs yet? If so, you can just walk him around. Must admit, we didn’t really take RiverPup out much before then.

I have a sling like beans on toast - need to keep a hand on the pup or she tries to jump out (she did it when No 2 son was wearing the sling)

I wondered what other people do with this - I’d read it’s 1 week after 2nd jag they can go out but the vet said 2. I wish I’d asked about the actual facts and statistical risk of him catching something off the ground. He’s had 8 days now so im tempted to let him walk soon but don’t want to be reckless either.

Puppy blues definitely back tonight. I do all the wakes during week while DH is working then he does more at weekend. Im so tired and cranky. Im so fed up of only getting to sit for 15min before he wakes up and needs some fucking thing. The barking, I hate the barking. So fed up of telling the kids off for whipping him up, know im being so naggy with them and they need to find their way, but im so tired and fuse so short that im finding it so hard to do anything else. I think we should’ve waited til 4yr old was in school, I only have 2 days with her in nursery and the rest is just relentless, and even on those days with no kids I can’t get a rest from him!! Arghhh I don’t feel like this all the time but hope it’s ok to rant.

I got a sling off Amazon for Sunpup and took him out and about. He's been to waitrose 4 times! He had 1st jab at 7 1/2 weeks, second at 9 1/2 weeks and was allowed down one week later. Which is good because he's 7kg now. He'll have his 2nd leptospirosis at 11 1/2 weeks. So he's now 10 1/2 weeks and today we went to the garden centre. Tomorrow he's going on the bus! It makes such a difference if he can go places. He still thinks 5:30 is a good time to start the day though 🙄

Had his second jab on Monday and vet said to wait 2 weeks. This is probably a stupid question but while he’s being carried can he go into all shops? Might try the sling again tomorrow and see how we go, he’s 4kg and he can’t decide whether to lie or sit in it. Im also a bit worried he’ll fall out of it but we can but try 😂

@CockapooMadness my vet said 1 week after 2nd jab. Seems strange they give different advice.. we are in touch with Sunpups siblings via breeder and we've all been given different time scales for vaccinations and when they can go down.

Our vet said one week after second jab too, we were lucky because our breeder had decided to keep them until 10 weeks and had done second jab so we only had to keep him in for a couple of days.

The puppy blues made a brief come back for me too earlier this week but we seem to have made some progress with the jumping and nipping so it’s got a bit easier in the last few days!

Sunpup is getting into a routine.
Wakes up for a wee at 4:45 ( on the dot) this is pretty good for 11 weeks!
Goes back in crate quietly
Wakes up again at 5:30 ( on the dot) cries and wails until DH gets up and starts the day.
I get he's small and needs to be up at night, but 5:30 is too early to crack on with the day...
he's very sleepy in the evening ( not surprising as he's had an early start) we've tried keeping him up later - he's having last wee at around 11:30-11:45. So basically I'm doing late shift, DH is currently up at 5am and gone to bed by 8:30 on ready for the next early start!
Don't know what to do to move Sunpup to a later start!!
Any advice? Let him cry it out ? Stay up even later?

@Sunflowers765 no advice I'm afraid, maybe he will just sleep more as he gets older. My pup is 18wks and sleeps by my bed, she wakes every morning between 5:30-6 but only because she wants to get on my bed for a cuddle. As soon as she gets on my bed she goes straight back to sleep until the alarm goes off and she doesn't want to get up then.

Can I join please? My pup is almost 10 weeks old, had him just short of 2 weeks. He's been overall doing great with sleeping in his crate, toilet training, sit, down etc. However these past 2 days he has regressed on the toilet training, much more mouthing (to be expected) and goes absolutely wild when it comes to feeding time! I'm taking him out to the garden constantly even when he doesn't signal that he needs and he always goes. However today, we've been out 3 times in the space of 50 minutes (once for 20 minutes) and 90 seconds after we came back in, he has pooped in his pen! Is this normal?! Not sure if I'm doing something wrong !

I think I spoke to soon, as soon as I said the nipping had stopped this morning he started again, tried it a couple of times today so will
have to keep working on that.

@Flightlessbirrd i haven’t experienced that with our pup but I have heard people say that if they don’t do their business outside when you take them out, when you bring them in carry them around for a few minutes and then take them out again, keep doing this until they go. Also noticed you mentioned you were outside for 20 minutes, maybe he’s seeing the garden as a fun place than a wee and poo place?

@Sunflowers765 have you tried moving meal times around to see if that alters their body clock a little bit?

@MrsWhites thank you so much for your advice. Yes you might be right re the garden being a fun place, we've been doing some lead training in the garden but might cut that back for now until he's good with the toilet training. Will also try carrying him around, hadn't thought of that! So frustrating when you think they've cracked it to then go backwards. Never knew I had so much patience !

I am having trouble finding chew treats for pup that don't result in softer poo or is this normal when eating something for the first time? So far have tried whimzees sticks and dragonfly natural dog treats all of which he loves but seem to result in runny poo. We have had an exceptionally Bitey Benji today and resorted to setting up a pen in the lounge to be able to put him into when he gets like this to give us some respite. I know this is normal but he has all different sort of chews and textures that we try and substitute for but it doesn't work and we're finding it a bit disheartening when we envisioned cuddling up to a peaceful puppy on the sofa and ended up with a shark instead, it seems there's no end to it all 😂

@CockapooMadness Sunpup had chews from dragonfly and he likes the yak chew best it's lasted ages. He hasn't made much of a dent in it yet. He likes lamb braids but they are consumed in about 1/2 hour. Tummy seems fine afterwards though. But the yak chew is good because he basically can't eat any of it!! Also the fish skins are really tough ( and smell disgusting!!)

Are they the JR Pet Product Lamb Braids? If so I must have a faulty pup 😂 she chews through any other chew easily but the JR Lamb braids literally last 4-5 days she goes at them multiple times a day for 30-60mins a time too. I've stocked up on loads because they are the only treats that last long enough for me to have a break and because it lasts multiple days they aren't going effect her weight.

She demolished a furry rabbit ear in about 10mins.

Nothing useful to add as my wee dog is terrified of fireworks even although I tried all the advice re getting him used to the noise as a puppy. Just really enjoyed seeing all those gorgeous wee puppies😍😍

@BeansOnToast32 I can't remember where I got lamb braids from but I'll try some from where you get them! Yak chews as far as I can tell are indestructible! He's been chewing it for days and only made a small dent in one end! The lamb braids last until they are unbraided then about 10 minutes! To be fair Sunpup isn't that bitey so far and can be deflected with a toy mostly. He's pretty good apart from the 5:30 am start the day!

I’ve focused on chews that don’t get eaten really, just sort of knawed on a little bit at a time.

Best ones so far have been cows hooves, deer skin and buffalo tail. He’s had those animal shaped chews from pets at home and similar sticks from b&m too but he gets through them in no time. The longer lasting ones are better because they are cheaper, last ages (hoof and tail have lasted 1-2 weeks) and not actually eaten in any great quantity so no problems with his poo either!