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.

Oh she is beautiful!! How cute. I’m looking forward to the teeth falling out part, the kids will be very excited.

Im a bit traumatised by the chews, even before the lamb braid incident he had a choking incident with a pizzle where a chewed sinewy bit had been swallowed and I had to pull it back up by the hard end. Then when I googled are they safe for pups and found out it was a BULLS COCK that was too much for me 🤮

@Beginningless what did you think a pizzle was!! I try really hard not to think about what the chews are!!

I dunno, all it said was 100% beef, was I meant to know by the name?! They smelled so disgusting, they are one that will not be coming back no matter what age he is!

Took pup to the vet last night- she checked him over said he wasn't too thin, gums not too pale. He didn't enjoy the thermometer or the checking of his testicles.
She said sloppy poos for a week was a concern but as he was still eating, drinking and running it was probably just a bug and nothing serious.
We have stool thickening paste and he's been wormed.
I asked if it could have been a reaction to his 2nd jab. If you remember we had to go to a vet that would use a compatible vaccine, not the same as the first one as that vet was an hour and a half away. No vets local to us use it.
Our vet was suspicious, said she couldn't guarantee he was covered and advised they repeat his 2nd jab in 2 weeks. ( even though dh rang and checked and they said it would be ok) he's now confined to the garden again as the vet said there was an outside chance he caught something from his technically not vaccinated walks.
However happy pup this morning as he no longer has sloppy poos (sods law now we've spent 50 quid at the vet)

Can I please join you?

This is my lovely Iris, she's a cavapoo.

9 weeks old and causing all sorts of mayhem in the house, wouldn't change her for the world 😂

Just working on crate training as want her to have some much needed peace from the DCs.

She is struggling with toilet training, she will go to the door and we take her out and she will poo or pee but she's mostly doing in the house at the moment as she doesn't really show any cues, just does it! Any tips would be great!

Adorable!

At her age it's just a case of taking her out very frequently perhaps every hour and every time she wakes, finishes playing, eats/drinks. When she does anything outside I'd start using a word like "toilet" and give her lots of praise and a high value reward, she will soon realise what to do.

You could also try bells on the door and ring them every time you let her out, then she will ring the bell to alert you when she needs to go.

Puppies usually start frantically sniffing round on the floor and turning round in circles when they need to go so look out for that, then scoop her up and take her outside.

@welcome to you and to ZigPup, who is adorable.

Regarding toilet training, we did lots of praise (and treats initially) when he went outside. If he had an accident inside, we made no fuss and just cleared it up, using a scent masker spray.

ZigPup is only nine weeks old, so still young, and getting used to her new surroundings. It will come with time.

Also, as Beans says, take her out straight away after sleep, food etc. We’ve sometimes waited in the garden until the business is done. Also, RiverPup is often asleep by 6.30-7pm (and sometimes even earlier), so we wake him around 8.30pm to go outside again to ensure a full night sleep.

Get a good torch for the night time visits!

Aww. Zigpup is adorable.
Our pup is 3 months today. I take him out when he sniffs and after food and a nap. Dh has just started doing this today as he's tired of cleaning up wee in the house. He's learning! Still training the teenager to do this.

We’re still taking 12 week old pup out every 45 mins and he wees every time. If we don’t take him out he’ll wee inside so he obviously needs to be taken out every 45 mins but I would’ve thought by now he would’ve been holding on for longer? If he’s in the crate for a nap he can go 1-2 hours.

Zigpup is very cute. Coco is 11 weeks old and we’ve had her 3 weeks - I try to take her out every 30-40 mins. If she needs to go, she will go pretty quickly - if she doesn’t, then she fall zips around all over the garden, hiding behind trees and snuffling things - and then decides to go in the house without warning when I get fed up and bring her in. It’s a definite learning curve! Have had a couple of wee accidents and more poo accidents in the house - at least she’s small and raw fed so the poos are fairly inoffensive. Tonight is a big night as we will be using the baby monitor instead of sleeping on the sofa by her crate

@cocopuff. Hoping you’ll have an undisturbed night.

Good luck @Cocopuff and Cocopup.

Welcome @ZiggZagg , Iris is lovely. For us in early days there didn’t seem to be many cues either and now sometimes there still aren’t but at 13 weeks I understand the signs better through getting to know him and his routine. As others said always after naps and meals but one I’ve found helpful is after vigorous play, and if I’ve seen him have a big drink I always take him out 5-10 min after.

I feel like we are getting there and my life is no longer over (!) but I found those first weeks so hard. Tonight’s drama is that we saw a tick crawling on him and got it off, thankfully didn’t have to pull it out but now feel itchy all over and freaked out. We were only in a public park today, grass a bit overgrown but nowhere I’d expect ticks. I feel quite freaked out - does anyone have much experience of this and can talk me down?! Is this just life with a dog and I need to get into checking him and the rest of us? I live in an urban area, but beside a park that has some forest (not the park we walked in today).

Hi all. Our pup isn't little anymore - now 9 months old. Slightly concerned about the Christmas tree - she still loves nicking stuff and worry she'll constantly steal ornaments or pull the tree down on top of her. Really don't want to put a guard around the tree. Any words of wisdom/experience?

@mrsfeatherbottom We're going to get a tiny tree and put it on a table! It's not worth the hassle this year. Lab pup will be 4 months old by Christmas. I'm not chasing him round the house rescuing baubles 🙄🙄

@mrsfeatherbottom we are putting our tree in a pup free room which has a stair gate on it!

@Beginningless yes I think it must be one of those things you need to check for and a case of life with a dog.

Coco has slept through the past two nights without us on the sofa which is a relief - there were some fireworks just after midnight which woke DH and I and totally up but fortunately not her!

I am totally confused at how to start walking her outside of the house once we can go out - we have been starting loose lead walking her at home with a tonne of treats and I understand the progression is garden then street then quiet bit of park - but how long for? And when do you start letting them off lead to see other dogs? Any thoughts?

Coco puff - RiverPup:is now 4 months old, and we’ve not let him off the lead yet - not been brave enough.

Loose lead training is hit and miss - sometimes we have good days, others not. He’s better on the roads. In the nearby woods, there too many tempting smells. We’re doing one or two short walks (approx. 20 minutes) a day.

I practise all over the place, and not in any order. I even walk around the kitchen and lounge, getting him to heel, without a collar on. Our trainer says you need to teach them to walk by your side, and this can be done inside and out.

Trigger warning -
However, not done much in the last couple of days as RiverPup is poorly - loose stools. Thought it was something he’d eaten, but then saw blood on his stools. Ended up going to the vet, and being given antibiotics and bland dog food. Possibly a parasite. Fortunately, he’s still quite active, although subdued at times.

Also went looking for a new (used) car at the weekend. The first thing we looked at was the boot, to see if it were big enough for a dog!

We didn't have too much trouble with our tree and a 7 month old lab last year. We only had fabric and paper decorations though, no baubles just in case. She did steal a few decorations but it wasn't constant.

The tree at the holiday let which did have baubles on she ignored completely. She even ignored the presents under that one too.

Poor Riverpup - hope he feels better soon. Coco is being a total nightmare this evening - won’t nap, won’t poo in the garden (even though I know one is due) and a total bitey monster. Add to the fact she’s a total Velcro pup during the day, no 1 son doesn’t do anything for her without being asked and no 3 son is a bit young to deal - and DH is out with work (which is a relatively frequent occurrence) and it all just feels abit much. No 2 son (who was the one who was super desperate for a dog) has just come home and I’ve happily given the dog to him and sent them out to the pitch black garden

@Riverlee Hope Riverpup's poops get better soon. He were at the vet every few weeks in the first few months due to bloody stools. Indy was always fine in himself. I've come to learn that 9/10 he's eaten something and it's not agreed with his sensitive tummy. Moving away from chicken has helped. We have some ProKolin in the cupboard at all times (bought from Amazon rather than the vet). Better to be safe than sorry when they're young though.

@Cocopuff
@Suzbug
Thanks for your concerns. He’s very sleepy tonight, but hasn’t slept mch during the decay. We have some plain, gastrointestinal food from the vet (which he wolfed down) and some antibiotics. Hopefully that will do the trick. Hate to see him like this though (got quite tearful earlier).

Aw @Riverlee im not surprised, hope he feels better soon

we’ll chance it with a tree but prob decorate high up only!

we take Haku off lead - a trainer said do it while they’re young and want to stick to you, we do heel training on and off lead, it’s starting to get somewhere but he’s on the lead unless we’re on the rec and he’s playing or once we get onto the footpaths and trails then we let him off - it’s joyous to watch him zooming and bounding about! I do worry we might be over walking him sometimes though

@Riverlee hope pups feeling better soon. We're into the second week of loose stools. Vet gave us stool hardener but wasn't concerned as he was eating, drinking and biting. We've split his feeds into four smaller meals and that seems to be helping. He's also putting weight back on.
I googled all the nasties like parvo and got a bit upset. He's only 12 weeks old.

Took Coco for her kennel cough vaccination today - she had her other second lot of injections last Thursday so she can now go on the ground - swampy and unappealing as it is out there… The vet suggested that we spay her at 6 months as a small dog as it’s best for their type of breed to do so. Has anyone else been told this?