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.

@BleakGarden I know! She’s lovely, but too much for me on my current situation. Only tomorrow to go now.

@mogernator i agree, puppy blues is definitely real. The complete lack of freedom and not being able to tidy up or get things done has really hit me. I had a hard week this week and I cried a lot!

my tips are to try to stick to a routine as best you can. Don’t expect too much of yourself or the pup. Try to keep things calm in the house. The rule here is ‘you wake it, you walk it’ - funnily enough everyone creeps past the sleeping puppy now…..
also: Do a big sweep of literally every single thing they might eat/steal/destroy and move it up high. Get a box by your garden door and put everything you might need in one place- boots, lead, poo bags, treats, towel etc.
make sure you take some time yourself. If they are sleeping, put them in the crate so you don’t have to watch them constantly.

I won’t lie, these early weeks are really hard. Much harder than babies/toddlers. one tip given to me on here was to get a safe, dog proofed space which is something we don’t currently have, but it’s my mission for this weekend. I think we’re going to get a pen that opens out to a room divider and it means that at least there is somewhere she can go that’s not her crate but she can be awake in there And safe.

I guess at the moment I'm wondering if it's all worth it ☹️ I'm going to give it a few days to see how I feel. Definitely don't feel v rational at the moment in thought. Tx all.

@mogernator We’ve all been there and it does get better. Don’t forget he’s just left his mum and siblings and is probably over-stimulated by everything new. We found, once we established a routine it was easier, and that included recognising when he was tired and/or enforced naps and putting him in his crate.

@thenewaveragebear1983 we had a similar policy that if you woke the beast, you looked after it!

Wouldn't work with FluffyPup, he'd just bugger off with the socks! 🧦 🙈🤣

@mogernator if you don't have one already, get a puppy pen. It makes life 1000 times easier to have a 'no-supervision' safe zone.

I remember Fluffpup was asleep in her crate in the kitchen. The kids wanted to come in to get a snack. Through text messages I made them take my purse down to the shop to buy a snack rather than come in and wake her - that's how desperate I got.

@NoWordForFluffy socks are ok. Fluffpup's kink is used pants. Particularly the massive maternity nipple huggers which I can't bring myself to get rid of as they are so comfy. Can't wait for the day she greets the postman trailing those bad boys behind her!

We had our second puppy class today. At the moment it all seems to be stuff we've already done, but it's good to practice it with distractions. Hazel is exhausted and fast asleep now.

Took pup outside, stopped him from playing, I knew he needs the toilet. Finally came back in and he ran to my bedroom and peed on my floor. Argh.

It’s a good job he’s cute!

That's so frustrating @FoxRedPuppy . They're cute for a reason, for sure.

We seem to have cracked wees outside. No wee accidents in 2 days! Yay. She's more chewy though.

Very much enjoying going out and meeting people and dogs. And we're also extending the period of time we can leave her alone for - today I took the kids to a Halloween party, was out the house almost 2hours and she was fine. Left her with a licky mat and ensured she was exhausted before we left. We have a baby monitor attached to our phone, so I could see was ok. And she really was.

@Dogdaywoes that's great progress.

@Lougle yeah, I'm pleased. Poo is still an issue - one this morning immediately after having done one outside. And one yesterday morning. But progress is progress!

That’s great progress! We can go two days with no accidents. And then suddenly we’ll have a day with loads.

@mogernator I've been there too and it does get better. We have cats also and the amount of research I did beforehand did not in any way prepare me for how I felt. Like you it was the change overnight, my routine with everything went out of the window and suddenly there was a small bundle of fur that I was responsible for. I just wanted things to go back to the way they were before we got pup and it just be us and the cats again and I would have happily given him back to the breeder. I found a routine that suited us and enforced naps in his crate helped as I knew that I would get some relief from him. I cried loads during those first few days/weeks. It does get better and I wouldn't be without him now and even the cats have come to tolerate him.

Maggie had a lovely day today, she went to doggy day care and hung out with the lady and her beautiful pointer. Came home exhausted and had a lovely quiet afternoon, she went for a good sleep then we had a little play, and another sleep. This evening she seems calmer. I think the increase in her food rations is helping a bit as well. A break has done us all good I think, I managed a lot of work and I feel quite refreshed by the change. Tomorrow dh is taking the dc out to the zoo and it will be just me and the dog, more like our normal weekday routine. She is at the vet for her 2nd jabs at 8.30.

@Dogdaywoes we’ve gradually built the daily crate time up to around 2 hours now and it really helps doesn’t it?

@mogernator we're just over a week in with ours and have taken heart from this thread that this stage will pass (hopefully really really quickly). It's pretty much me and pup from 6am to 8pm - I also look an absolute state as barely have time to clean my teeth let alone wash my hair 😂The loss of freedom is real.

Today has felt like a step back for us. Ziggy was spooked by the storm so stopped going to the loo outside. Having had just a couple accidents in the whole time we've had her, we had 2 wees within an hour inside. I've popped a few pads down in our cloakroom which have worked so far and hopefully will do until this weather sods off.

Last night after his 12.30am wee and poo, I let Foxpup sleep on the bed with me. I just couldn’t be bothered trying to settle him in his crate. He already coke on the bed during day and in the morning for cuddles.

And he slept until 7am! So I’m not sure it’s a bladder issue, more a being on his own thing that means he wakes and then needs to go out. His crate is still in my room (I carry it up and down the stairs everyday!), but apparently that’s not close enough!

DP won’t be happy (we don’t live together). Of it was just me I’d have him in bed. He’s small and only going to get to about 10kg as an adult. But I can see it isn’t ideal for the future. I’ll have to be strict on the crate again tonight.

They do like to snuggle don’t they @FoxRedPuppy, Maggie has a big quilt as her bed and in the evenings she comes to each of us to try to lure us over into her bed for a cuddle. In her crate she has a couple of sweatshirts that I wore for a few days and that seems to help with the settling.

@mogernator I can remember nipping into Pets at Home and looking down at myself thinking I’m sure I had these clothes on yesterday, pretty sure I slept in them and also hadn’t cleaned my teeth. It was a low moment. It will get better I promise. As people have suggested get a puppy pen, you need somewhere you can dump the pup knowing they’re safe and having 5 mins to yourself.

Feeling marginally better. Have messaged breeder who was very lovely. Will see how weekend and next week goes. Small steps. Obviously having children massively affected me and haven't quite got over that initial change in lifestyle yet. Feels very dramatic to be feeling like this over such a cute animal but there we go.

@mogernator glad you’re feeling a bit better. It’s totally overwhelming, and I completely underestimated it. What breed is your pup ?