Puppy Survival Thread - for old and new pups

[Riverlee]

Thought I’d start a new thread as the old one is at its limit, for new and older pups.

please come and share your tales of success, woes, concerns and questions, and of course, photographs.

So some ups and some downs for us.

Ups-

Walking nicely on the lead
Sleeping well both day and night
Sitting by the back door when needing a wee

Downs-
Only sits at the door for a second before wandered off to wee elsewhere
No notification of needing a poo, still loads and inside
Getting increasingly bitey

Our vet, and my vet friend both said 1 week after vaccines for a walk and bed the 2nd lepto 4 as long as avoiding waterways and commercial bins.

*before

We’ve had wees and a poo inside today. I thought we’d have improvement by now! Just when I think I’ve cracked it I find a puddle 😂

Poor Hazel was so tired she was falling asleep before her tea at 17:30. She's had a long sleep then she's woken at 10pm and had a massive drink, then out for pee and poo. I suspect I'll have to get up in the night to let her wee again, now.

We’ve had so many wees inside today. I can’t believe we had a day last week with none because they’re mostly inside now.

thanks @Lougle I need to work on luring to the left and marking.

Have decided I need to get an HPR gundog trainer asap. She’s much bouncier than my older girl and if she has the same prey drive I’ve got my hands well and truly full. Also going to sign up for doggy daycare a few mornings a week, for socialisation and separation

We were told 2 weeks after 2nd jab but we took Charlie around our street after 1 week. Tbh we still haven't ventured much further 3 weeks on as I want to concentrate on recall and loose lead walking before I take him anywhere more exciting - he is still very much trying to walk us!

FluffyPup would fight you for the puddle! We go out in all weathers here. He loves his walks! 🐕

Hi everyone. Hope I can join late. I've got a shoodle (Shih tzu poodle cross) who's 12 weeks. He's been with us for 3.5 and we love him to pieces.

Struggling with a few things, mainly toilet training and barking when separated. Any advice or support welcome.

Welcome @Tomlettegregg

No advice I'm afraid, we're also struggling with toilet training.

I've found natural yogurt mixed with a teaspoon of beef sandwich paste (that cheap 70s stuff) on the licky mat was a huge success, and fewer calories than peanut butter or wet dog food (and cheap).

I’ve been using Greek yoghurt on the lucky mat. I tried peanut butter but he isn’t that bothered!

I’ve decided I’m just going to try and survive this week, half term with everyone still on tact. And get back to serious training routine next week when I’m back on my own with pup 😂

@FoxRedPuppy I agree. It’s too hard to manage everything!

Maggie has been horrible and bitey this morning. She seems absolutely starving, she was jumping up and biting my hands and arms, jumping on furniture, and growling at things in the garden. She seems really unsettled and unhappy today. Everyone is tired and to be honest, I woke up in a shitty mood and it got worse. She’s now on the floor by my feet asleep and hopefully she will wake up a bit less sharky

I feel like I'm going backwards with the biting 😬. He's becoming a defiant little shit. My fault for getting a terrier 🤷‍♀️

I long for the day he will chill the fuck out. The atmosphere at home is tense as partner is loosing his cool at being woken in the night, what did he expect!

Tomorrow is another day 🙏

I'm so glad you've joined us @Tomlettegregg . Re. Barking while separated, I'd go back to the start and find her 'comfortable' distance. Then treat her and take one step back. If no barking, treat and take two steps back. Keep going until you reach a point where she gets upset, then go back to the point you were at before and treat several times. When you have reached the door, you can work on closing the door for a few seconds, then a minute, etc.

Toilet training takes time. I think people gloss over it or forget how long it took. Hazel whines if she's in her crate or pen and needs the toilet, so it's pretty good, but we have to watch her if she's out of the pen because she just starts sniffing around. Of course, dogs do sniff around, so it's not really easy to tell which it is, but if I see her sniffing and wandering for more than 30 seconds, she goes out.

@FoxRedPuppy and @thenewaveragebear1983 solidarity with your bitey, overtired sharks. We're still pretty strict about naps because if she doesn't sleep, it all goes wrong.

Hazel is gradually learning to be calm around our older dog. I just think she's got it cracked, then one of them starts playing again. We'll get there. She learned to use the cat flap today, which is fun. We also lost her for a few minutes so we were searching frantically. Turns out she had followed me into the porch and I'd shut her in. She doesn't make much noise, so we had no idea!

Charlie is also being bitey, in the sense that he seems to have forgotten how to take food nicely. Been trying to teach him 'middle' but he's so excitable, literally jumping on the spot and nearly biting my fingers off when I reward him. He keeps going into 'down' any time he's unsure which is super cute but not what I'm asking 😂. Puppy class tonight (week 2) so hoping that will help. I'm guessing that as its half term and both (very noisy) kids are at home he's not getting the rest he needs.

Have you played 'it's yer choice' with him @DoggyNewbie ? https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DDBmLFn6YyoM&ved=2ahUKEwjwl8nknKCCAxXAXEEAHYr3A3EQo7QBegQIChAG&usg=AOvVaw3lmKHrfp7LdOFiZJ6PbxJx

@Lougle that reminds me, we played this a lot in the early days and he was much better until this week. I guess it just goes to show you need to keep it up! I do think he is teething/losing his baby teeth though which doesn't help. Even when he was calm earlier and much more gentle he was getting me with his front teeth, and when he's eating kibble bits of it are falling out his mouth. Funny how bits of sausage or cheese don't fall out though 🤨 (although to be fair these are softer and he probably swallows them whole 😂). He's not very interested in kibble full stop though, I fear he has been spoilt with treats/human food. We are making a lot of mistakes it would appear...

We're still very bitey too. There was a day last week where I thought it was tailing off but it definitely wasn't!

@Tomlettegregg we have been having trouble with barking and whining when I leave the room (even if DCs/DH are there). I have been doing lots and lots of micro-absences (literally leaving the room for a second and coming back in) or even just approaching the gate and turning back and making absolutely no fanfare about going or coming back (so no treats for this). This has got us to the point where she is thoroughly bored of me going through the gate and leaving the room. I need to address her distress around my leaving the house routine - ie shoes on, car keys and it's the same approach. Keep picking up keys and putting them down etc etc. I'm doing it for 5 minutes a few times a day. There's a good facebook group called "dog training advice and support" that has a module on separation anxiety and how to avoid it. The flitting game is good and something I've found helpful.

We went out again this morning and she is very anxious bless her, I could kick myself for not doing more socialisation before 12 weeks but with 3 DCs, waiting for vaccines and her being too heavy to carry it didn't come together. We stood outside the gate this morning and 3 kids ran past - she cried out and climbed up my leg! So we gave up on that.

I took her to the playing fields near here and met a nice group of dogs, she was climbing up and shaking again. We stuck with it, as she started to calm down I let her off the lead and that helped. She played with one big dog and she was enamoured with a toddler. We also had a good recall when she went off with her new doggy buddy. I'll take her back tomorrow, fingers crossed I can still catch the end of the socialisation window.

I'm going to try and be a bit more positive.

Pupxx is now 13 weeks old and is 99.99% fully house trained, he takes himself into the garden and back in after toileting. He understands sit, paw and down. His recall is pretty good, not tested off lead yet.

His appetite is good and he loves cucumber, broccoli and melon, which I use as treats. I'm not giving him the credit he deserves.

@Lougle is your older dog giving corrections for crazy play? My older girl is almost too tolerant, I split them up when it's getting too much because she just endures it. But she has corrected her once or twice... particularly when she's trying to sleep and pup launches at her. Last night my older dog corrected her and she yelped, and she left her alone after that. I try to avoid it happening as much as I can though

@userxx that's brilliant! 12 weeks here and still so many pees in the house

@userxx that sounds brilliant! It's so easy to focus on the to do list and not see how far they've come.

@BleakGarden he does quite well at playing and allowing her to jump, but then pins her gently by the neck and moves her around the lounge. He does give growls if she's standing on his tail, etc. To be honest, I'd rather they just curled up together but I think that might be a long time waiting!

@userxx that's a great update. Pooper pup is 18weeks and only about 50% trained. She knows when she needs to go, knows she should go outside, tells me she needs to go but is hit and miss on whether she remembers that whilst outside and also won't go outside by herself. For example, today I knew she needed to go so opened the door and took her outside. She followed me, sniffed a bit and then I went back in, leaving the door open and pup outside. She immediately trotted back in and did a wee on the floor 🤦

@userxx that's pretty amazing.
We met a lovely lively lab pup the other day and I immediately thought of you lot. We had been tracking them along the road, they were obviously training so we had kept a distance so not to interfere. I thought they had turned a corner but they had double backed so the dogs were on top of each other. Fluffpup grew a little tired of the pups antics so lay down and had a little growl. The lab pup just kept on going so as calmly as you like Fluffpup raised her massive paw and laid it on the lab pups head - so gently. Lab pup instantly stopped but instead turned to me as a plaything! Jumpy bitey barky, just well excited. Reminded me of the awful early walks where Fluffpup embarrassed me at least 8 times each walk. They do grow out of it.

She has been so bitey today, and woofy and even a bit growly. It’s like she’s turned into a monster 😢 she’s been jumping up at me and biting my hands and clothes and to be frank, she’s been horrible. The dog Walker came and played with her for an hour and then immediately she was gone, the bitey monster returned. In the end I sent her out in the garden with the kids, then have had to put her into her crate because I need to work and she just seemed really unhappy and snappy.

We’ve had a few upsets today though- kids off school and being snippy with each other, we had a new washing machine and it’s spin cycle genuinely shook the house, it was like a helicopter going over head, plus she had her incident last night which may have given her some belly ache?

plus it’s Halloween so clearly she has turned into a werewolf.

I am actually not looking forward to getting her out of her crate in ten minutes when I log off. I’m going to put her on her lead and take her in the garden for a bit of proper walking rather than just mooching about eating things.

not pup related but is your new washing machine installed properly @thenewaveragebear1983 ? We had a new machine recently, I paid for installation but the guy didn't balance it properly and took the tool for adjusting for the feet! So I had to get a new tool sent out and did the feet myself... after that the banging stopped. I hope tomorrow is better for you, sounds like the day I had yesterday.

So we've dropped down to 3 meals a day instead of 4... so it's 130g of dry food per meal now which seems insane! I'm surprised she's not sick. She's gone up to 9.5kg from 7.5kg last week.