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.

I really need help. Nothing is working with toilet training. He just will not go outside. He waits till he comes in every time. I'm exhausted. Any advice?

Unfortunately Shih Tzus are known for being hard to housebreak. Were you using puppy pads for a while indoors? How did that go? Is he giving you any signs that he needs to go?

Bertie now responds to Alexa's reminder to "feed Bertie" by going into a sit and looking at me with cute expectation 😍 .

In other news I have puppy brain today and almost poured milk into his breakfast instead of my tea.

That's awesome 😁

Hazel still picks up the trainer but pretty much refuses to touch it if food is available.

We did a little bit of ‘leave’ training yesterday, with some carefully chosen ‘dropped’ items. She was fine with the cup and the water bottle, and the wooden spoon. She was not prepared to leave the crisp packet or the shoe. Small steps I guess.

the pup has still got a bad tummy and I am going to call the vet today. She messed in her crate again last night, it’s not foul smelling or bloody but it’s very loose. She’s completely fine in herself, eating and drinking normally. I did change her kibble last week but that was 5 days ago now, I’m a bit worried that she has eaten something really grotty.

she’s on raw food and I was hoping to use this month to transition to kibble because the raw is a pain to order and store. Except the breeder said yesterday that you shouldn’t mix raw and kibble and that could be what’s affecting her tummy. I’m so confused, and of course I can’t make any changes at all while her tummy is bad.

Oh that's so sad for you

However at least he's rehomed quickly and to what sounds like a lovely home

Thanks everyone, I think you’re right about the playpen - I’m a bit annoyed with myself for not having one from the start. The big two kids are getting good at stopping dead when he’s chasey/bitey.. still working on the younger one he’s harder to train than a dog 😂
wee GhostPup was actually really good and easy last night, although has now had two runny poos 😩 worried he’s eaten something he shouldn’t have in the garden. He doesn’t seem unwell otherwise though. This definitely feels like having another child!!

Took pup to the vet, she’s been given a probiotic and hopefully that will help her, she’s not showing signs of dehydration or fever so hopefully she’ll be back to normal soon. She said she’s most likely eaten something, after 3 days if she’s not improved I have to take poo samples over 3 days and take them in. So let’s all hope she’s better in 3 days 😂

as a species I find it incredible that they have survived when their babies are mobile, programmed to eat everything, and able to eat everything and have such delicate constitution that pretty much everything is infectious, dangerous or toxic. It explains why they domesticated themselves, the deal being “I’ll woof at stuff for you, you follow my baby around for 18 months and make sure it doesn’t die”

anyway, something clearly sunk in for Maggie yesterday because on our walk this morning she left a crisp packet and a particularly delicious looking piece of dirty tissue with a firm “leave” in exchange for a morsel of chicken. Good puppy 👍

I think some of the helplessness of puppies has evolved from them being domesticated. They needed to be able to be removed from their mothers much earlier, and be somewhat reliant on humans, which meant training and bonding. If that makes sense.

I often look at my own children and wonder how the human race has survived as long as it has 😂

How old is he? I have been in your situation with many pups over the years. They always get there in the end. My current pup is a big Weimaraner. She was like this, but like the rest, something suddenly clicked. I think she was about 4 months old when she became reliable. Remember, it takes much longer with a human baby 😌

@FoxRedPuppy it would be interesting to look at wild dog packs and wolves and see how they do it and whether their pups are more robust or whether they just don’t have the urge to constantly eat everything. I feel better after speaking to the vet, there is no way I can remove cat poo or hedgehog poo from my garden quicker than Maggie can find it but she reassured me that puppies are revolting little gobblers but probably won’t come to too much harm if you miss one or two

@thenewaveragebear1983 Our pup had a similar episode when very small. Emergency vets overnight stay. Due to our previous dog experience we decided to not give the old chicken and rice ( rice is not a great grain for dogs and many dogs have problems with chicken). We gave white fish / turkey and sweet potato for a few days slowly incorporating the kibble ( millies wolheart), along with the pro kaolin paste. We still give sweet potato and unsweetened pumpkin ( another great thing for poorly tums) in her kongs etc.

@Floramac she didn’t suggest chicken and rice. She’s on 3/4 raw and 1/4 kibble and I think part of this is due to changing kibble as what we had previously wasn’t available.
I intended to use this month to transition her onto full kibble, the raw is too much of a pain to order, store and I don’t think it fills her up. Plus it’s very expensive (even cheap raw is expensive!)

I’m now going to go back to full raw to let her tummy settle, then I need to decide what to do. I’d really appreciate recommendations from anyone if you have done research to save me doing it! Hills science seems to be a good recommended brand? I also looked at wolf heart but I didn’t get beyond the website as it looked like you need to call them to order? I will need to do the full transition from raw to kibble once her tummy has settled again.

this dog is turning into a very expensive hobby. It’s a good job she’s cute!

@thenewaveragebear1983 I use https://www.jollyes.co.uk/lifestage-grain-free-puppy-salmon-with-haddock-10kg.html

It's salmon, white fish, haddock and sweet potato kibble.

@Lougle thank you, I will have a look. Is it available in pet stores or do you have to order?

It's in Jolleyes pet store.

🤣🤣🤣

@thenewaveragebear1983 Millies wolfheart are great, they have a very good advice line or you can email them, on their which food page / contact. You can order online.

@Lougle thank you, I have checked but there isn’t one by me. I think I’ll check out pets at home first, we have a huge branch and I do like being able to go and get it when I need it.

@thenewaveragebear1983 have a look at allaboutdogfood website, it ranks the food according to nutrition/price etc. I wanted to use Orijen which you can buy from pets at home but the puppy one is chicken based and chicken makes Charlie itch 🙄. We're currently on Millie's Wolfheart but he's not mad keen tbh. Have also had a trial of butternut box which he loves but it is £££ 😫.

@DoggyNewbie I just looked at that brand but Wowzers, that’s expensive! I know you get what you pay for but I think that’s a higher price point than I want to start at.

Any suggestions to help with teething ? The biting seems to have stepped up and his mouth feels hotter than usual, he's just out of sorts,

Cold or frozen carrots are great.

Twist and old wet tea towel, but in freezer and then it can be used as a soothing teether. Also carrots.