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.

Our 18 month old, whilst being delightful most of the time has decided to resume the witching hour, so I feel like I need this thread again!

@Sunflowers765 - if you plan to do any sort of gundog/pet gundog training, recall is more normally 3 whistles.

Twiggy is 12.5 weeks now and is doing so well, we're really chuffed with her. She sleeps from 10ish - 6.30/7 depending on when we come downstairs, and hasn't woken in the night since the second night we had her. Is loving her walks but isn't interested in keeping it to 10 minutes long - we have let her off the lead a few times in the field next to our house and she stays close to our other dog who likes to stay close to us! Toilet training is 85% there and any accidents are our fault for not watching her. We can leave her for a few hours at a time in her crate and when we get back she's yawning and stretching and not at all stressed. Totally aware things can still go awry but right now she's a superstar! And her favourite toy is the cardboard reel out of a roll of parcel tape (see photo 😃)

Gave RiverPup a lucky mat for the first time in ages. He took it into his crate and I thought was happily being entertained by it as all was quiet. Glanced over and noticed he’d bitten the corner off! Don’t quite think that was the intended entertainment!

We bought a small one from tesco before we got pup. Knowing what I know now having had him for four weeks I'd give that mat 5 mins with him!

We had a drama today with pup. Gave him a lamb braid chew that he had already spent ages chewing yesterday so was 2/3 soft and stringy, he swallowed the whole thing in one. Did a bit of googling and called vet expecting reassurance, but they wanted him in and decided to make him sick as they were worried about obstruction. Poor wee thing. He’s slept most of the time since but was miserable looking for food, I was told only a small light meal so gave him some boiled rice and chicken which he ate so frantically. He’s snoozing beside me (evening times are usually lovely) and I’m dreading the guilts when he wakes up hungry again! I’m hoping all will be back to normal in the morning. But vet told me no chews like that for a pup his age…the only thing that gave a reliable chunk of peace! Not keen for him to go through that again tho…

@Beginningless Sorry to hear your pup has had a rough time of it. How old is he as we give lamb braids to our pup and he’s 12 weeks old. Did the vet say at what age they can be given? Hope your pup makes a speedy recovery.

He’s 12 weeks too. Actually she didn’t mention what age, she just said no edible chews for puppies as they are a bit daft, she mentioned something called ‘safe sticks’ but that sounded like a rubber stick. Possibly this is all over cautious but I think I will steer clear for a few months anyway.

Oooof sorry @Beginningless !! I find the chews thing a bit of minefield - Haku is bigger than a lot of full sized dogs but I guess it’s about his baby puppy teeth? !

Hope BeginPup is okay now.

@Citygirlrurallife I’m with you on chews. RiverPup is also getting larger, and lots of the chews we brought at the beginning are too small. But large puppy chews don’t exist.

We’ve been using yak bars, but I read today not to use them under 4 months. Oops. (Although alot of stuff seems to have a 4 month age limit).

When Indy was smaller we had the split antlers and yak chews - they can't really eat them at that age. We also got a fake stick off Amazon which he is still going with at nearly 11 months. I'll try and find a post a link. He's a chewer and it entertains and calms him.

Someone mentioned soft poos and some bloody stool - we have had a lot of this with
Indy. He has a sensitive tum. We're on grain free food and avoid chicken as it doesn't seem to agree with him. Unfortunately he's always eating stuff he can find on his walk!

Petstages Dogwood Wood Alternative Dog Chew Toy, Small amzn.eu/d/4ztcf39

We have small and medium ones :)

We also tried a coffee wood stick but it went everywhere when he gnawed on it

We were told no edible chews or sticks under 6 months. He's desperate to chew some satisfying.
Still have runny poos here. Some about half and half runny and solid. Stopped a the new treats yesterday so he's had 24hrs without. Runny poo this morning.
He's wolfing his food, drinking well, playing , biting and chewing. Would you take to the vet?
He had his jabs at 2 different vets to the one were registered to so he's never actually been seen at ours. Are nurse checks expensive?

Thanks for the sympathy! He seems back to himself this morning apart from wolfing down his food which he hasn’t usually done so far. God I hadn’t thought of the yak ones as edible but of course they are, he was chewing on one of those this morning. Surely he wouldn’t swallow one of those…but I didn’t expect that yesterday!

Row when we were at vet I mentioned that poos had been a bit on the softer side, vet said this was quite normal in young pups, as long as they are formed. So if they are really runny could be worth checking? I was expecting diarrhoea after yest but he had quite a solid poo this morning.

I got the impression it was more about puppies being a bit daft and unable to risk assess, than size. But probably some are more sensible naturally than others!

Aargh, there’s so much confusing information. One person says use a yak bar, another says don’t!

we we’re recommended these when we visited the JR stall at ‘Paws in the Park’ event.

beef tail.

Riverpup likes them and they say from 12 weeks.

How scary! I've always been worried about choking, they can be so daft as pups. My pup has the JR Lamb Braids but I've been replacing her old one with a new one when there's about a third left just in case. It takes her days to get to that point though.

She's got a deer leg at the min which she spends ages gnawing on, she's not really trying to eat the bone part. She's chews on the bone end occasionally but she's determined to strip the skin from it. She's had it for days an only managed to remove about an inch of the skin.

No idea if we are using the correct chews here 😬

We use..

Pizzle Sticks
chicken feet
cow/pig ears
Beef Trachea with Venison Filling (which is huge and way to big for her really)

As my pup is so small everything seems to last her ages and ages. I bought multi bags of the above stuff and I think we will still have some left in 6 months time!

Might look for a yak bar when we are next out.

Where do you get the things such as a deer leg?

I love buying my pup treats but she’s diddy it takes her weeks to finish one thing and I buy at a faster rate then that 🫣

Here’s an updated pic of my pup…. She’s basically 5 months now!

@Hollypuppie I got mine from my local pet shop, cost £2.49. It's one of those shops that also has natural treats that aren't pre packed, they are loose in wooden crates. Failing that you can get them online, my one that's still has hair and skin on.

My pups a small breed, she'll probably be bigger than yours but it still takes her forever to eat some chews. She's also losing her teeth now so it takes her even longer.

Soo cute 🥰 mines 19wks today! Have you found any teeth yet? I found the first one she lost a few days ago and since then she's been losing all the little ones at the front but I haven't found those, she must be swallowing them with her food. 🙄

Yes! She’s lost all her 4 front lower teeth and they have already come back through and she’s lost her lower 2 canin type ones which are also growing back😄

il look in my local pet shop. I think there is one close but Iv never been in it.

@Hollypuppie mines pretty gummy at the front 😂 waiting for her canines to fall out because they hurt the most if she nips you just right.

We have runny poo too the last couple of days after giving pup a whimzee stick. I'm hoping it clears up on its own as it seems to alternate between being soft and formed and then a bit looser in the next one. Eating grass and leaves probably won't be helping either 😯