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.

He’s always been in my room. Just not in my bed! 😂

We are away this weekend and dd is sharing a bed with me. So he was in bed last night too. I took him out at 3am, but he didn’t ask. And then we woke at 8am!

He’s had his first experience of grass at my parents house. They have a massive garden and he loves it.

@FoxRedPuppy super cute!

We had a breakthrough last night and DDog nodded off downstairs without one of us there - first time since we've had him so nearly a month of sofa sleeping this felt massive!!! We snuck up to bed and managed to sleep until he woke us at 7am (I didn't tell DH he actually came onto our bed in the night as he just quietly settled by my feet and there was no way I was getting up & DH is very anti dog upstairs)

Thanks for this! I'll look them up

So we are 10 days into Bertie being at home.
He is either MANIC and very, very bitey of my slippers/feet/ankles/fingers/clothes or lovely and sleepy and pleased to see me when he wakes up and has a cuddle (for about 2 seconds).
I'm so tired I've twice missed his 'I need a wee' signals.
I've started making the sound "yip yip" in a high pitched voice to try and inhibit his biting as I'm now anxious that he's going to get worse rather than grow out of it and I don't want to keep leaping up onto the chair to escape those little needles in his mouth.

It's all the more stressful as I'm currently staying with a friend whilst my house is being finished off (new build) and although he is very laid back and loves Bertie I am desperate to get into my own house so I can properly set up permanent puppy proofing the house and garden. I should have been moved a month ago but these things happen and hope to move end of this month so I feel like I've got to find some way of managing Bertie as it's not his fault, he's hopefully just doing what pups do (please someone tell me this is ALL NORMAL).

Welcome new puppies 😍

@Labtastic I wholeheartedly recommend JR Pet products. The puppy pack is great, and Charlie particularly enjoys beef tails, pigs/cows ears, calf hooves (can be stuffed with pate/cheese spread etc), tripe sticks, trachea... I bought the medium puppy pack before we collected him and thought the ostrich knuckle looked huge - finally gave it to him last night (hes 17 weeks now) and he was in heaven! The pate is really good too - it's not like a spread, it's a bit firmer, so ideal for cutting into tiny pieces and using as training treats and is a complete food I think.

(Honestly, I'm not on commission 😂 - I've just found it to be fantastic)

Hi all.
I'm joining in the hopes of hearing lots of words of wisdom. We're 2 weeks in with a 17week old cockapoo. He's lovely, so far not bitey or a chewer but bedtimes or leaving the room are a nightmare. He cries and howls and doesn't stop. Toilet training isn't going great but the rain and mud aren't helping and I can cope with the pee and poo for now.

I've had 2 pups before but this pooch is on a different level! I need sleep and so do my neighbours! Help!

Toilet training can be a real slog. I find (I’ve had lots of puppies over 4 decades) that it feels like we’re getting nowhere for weeks, or even a couple of months. Then they seem to be getting it, then it all backwards. Often it’s a sudden change when they are beautifully house trained. My Florapup was really frustrating for months, then suddenly at 5-months she was solidly house trained, with no mistakes. She is 6 months old now. Hang in there!

Another jr pets fan here. Once my order went astray and one quick email to them and they sorted everything. Fluffpup is a champion chomper - she almost goes into a trance when she's working on a chew. We tend to have a few chews on the go. 1 which is a larger "project" that she picks up and drops - I get the absolute monstrosities of root chews - the antos x large one I got at Xmas last year is still on the go somewhere. 2nd would be a "day" chew that lasts well but not everlasting. Things like the collagen sticks from jr pets last get a good few hours. Lastly would be "last minute" chews which are good for 30 mins. Which include yakkers, the price of which makes me weep when it's gone in 30mins, but she will focus on them until they are gone.

@mumnosbest what are the sleeping arrangements? Is he in the room with you? My cockapoo (10.5 weeks) is still on my room in crate (or on bed 🤣).

17 weeks is still very young to be left, and mine whine a lot if I’m out of sight. So I’ve started doing flitting back and forth to show him that I do return. Then building up te time.

Basically he folllows me around most of day and occasionally I leave him for a few mins and pop back.

Thank you and LabPup says thank you too! I've looked at their website and it looks great

Thanks @AnnieSnap it's so frustrating isn't it but this gives me hope. The issue is I know his signals so I take him out he doesn't go and we return in, I watch him but nothing. Then the second I'm making tea or putting the dishwasher on he'll go. I know he's anxious and doesn't want to go in front of me but it's so infuriating. I never tell him off just clean it up and try and move on but he can pick up on the fact I'm fuming inside.

@Tomlettegregg it does sound like he's realised that indoors is not what you want and has inadvertently learned that doing it when you're not looking is the answer. Did you say you have a trainer coming? What would happen if you waited outside for an hour? Would he still refuse to go? Hazel seems to be house trained now, but she'll still, say, do a wee in the poo palace and then lay down chewing a bit of gravel, which to DH and DD2 signifies that she is finished. I give her a look and say 'That's not being busy!!' and I won't go in until she has done her poo.

@mumnosbest where does your puppy sleep at night? Can he hear or see you? Does he settle if you sit beside him?

@FeargalLandSharkey I read a really good article on bite inhibition (regarding Labradors) and it was saying that puppies need to bite and chew, so if we stop them, they don't learn to inhibit their bite and use a soft mouth. So allowing your puppy to gently chew you and y then removing your hand if they get too bitey helps them to work it all out. With Hazel I let her chew me and if it hurts I pull my hand away, hold it high, and say 'Oww!'. Then I offer my hand back and say 'Gentle'. It's making a huge difference.

Hazel's bed arrived today.

M husband used to get really cross about it with Florapup. The last time he trained a puppy it was the was the days where training tips recommended rubbing their noses in it’ 😲 He often said “how is she going to learn if you don’t punish her for it”. I reassured him, but it was a tough time. She is so solidly house trained now that he acknowledges my “told you so”!

We’ve done some loose lead training today. It won’t fairly well although he just continuously sits down. And I’m he’s spent the last 20 mins following me around by my left side hopeful for treats 🤣

Lougle he sleeps in the living room. He's been sleeping in his crate with a cover over and TV on. He's fine in there when we're in the room and chooses to lay in it through the day when not on the sofa stuck to my side. As soon as we leave the room he whimpers then builds to a bark and then howl. He settles if I come to sit by the crate. We've had one or two good nights but nothing consistent.

2 night ago, We tried leaving the crate open and he slept like a baby on the sofa. Last night same again but howled until 3am when I caved in and slept on the sofa with him on his bed. I'm dreading tonight!

@Lougle she will hold it the entire time, even more than an hour. I'm not exaggerating when I say we spend so much time outdoors. It's really defeating me.

@Dogdaywoes 9 weeks little boy. He's great but never stops!

If he’s only been with you for 2 weeks, that’s too soon for him to sleep alone. He needs to sleep near someone, so someone sleeping near the crate or the crate in a bedroom with humans.

He's a baby. He's been taken from his litter mates and his Mum. He needs company. He's telling you he can't cope without you.

@Lougle
Where is the bed from? Looks great.

It's from HiK9. It's a mesh bed on the frame with a vet bed topper.

I'll be really interested to know what the trainer says. I have no suggestions, tbh, if you're staying out there for so long and she's still not going to the toilet.

Mine won't wee whilst out on a walk. Waits until we get home. We were out for 2 hours (not exercising the whole time) and she pooed but no wee. As soon as we got home huge wee. Thankfully in the garden. Obviously something psychological to it.

We seem to have cracked wees but poo is another matter - more in the house than out.

Does Hazel like it? I was considering one but we're encouraging sleep in the crate, so not sure how it fits in with that? Good for teaching boundary though