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 thats bigger than my pup will likely be fully grown!

Hazel went for a night time walk today. She got spooked by someone slamming a car door and had a little woof. Then on the way back she was staring intently at the field in the car park. I realised she was looking at a bin on a post. She did really well with her lead walking and sitting politely outside the chemist. She also did some polite greetings with people.

@thenewaveragebear1983 if you email Millie's with puppy's breed and age they'll suggest an appropriate food. You can trial it out with a puppy pack (700g of kibble, treats and a £5 off voucher). I tried raw but weirdly my dog kept turning her nose up at it!

@Lougle they're easily spooked on night time walks! I remember my dog losing it when we walked past a parked motorbike one evening. Maybe it looked like an enormous dog 🤔

I am finally making progress with toileting. Ridiculously happy about it. Starting to get nervous about separation anxiety though. He does not like being left alone and I'm still sleeping downstairs with him at 4 months.

@FoxRedPuppy my older dog is 19kg so I'm thinking she'll be bigger than that! I'm hoping she slows down soon!

I'm so pleased for you!!

Thank you I will email them, it’s been on my to-do list for a week!

We've still got Hazel on 320g of kibble per day. We were on 80x4 but now on 107x3. Our stud kennels owner advises to go by body condition and poo consistency. I think we were slightly overfeeding because her poos were quite soft. Now they're nice logs - not hard, but proper shape to them. As long as she continues to gain, I think we'll keep her on 320g per day. If her growth tails off, we'll increase.

@Lougle we were doing 130g 3x a day of the James Wellbeloved, but as she's gone up to 12kg she's gotten quite ribby again despite having constant soft poos. The James Wellbeloved calculations are based on predicted weight. The Millie's food is based on current weight, she's on 375g per day at the moment. I probably need to up the treats a bit too. Definitely pleased with poos I can pick up though!

Our poos improved when we switched to 50:50 Butternut box/kibble.

Florapup’s poos improved when I put her on Royal Canin Large Breed Puppy. She’s been on it a few months now. She loves it and all is well.

Hmm. Hazel has only put on 0.5kg this week. She doesn't seem overly hungry and her body condition is really good, and her poos are good, so I don't know what to do really. Looking at her, she's on the right amount. But looking at the bag, she should be having another 100g per day. But then I've been told that manufacturers up the quantity to make you buy more.

Same here.

I’m following the food guidelines and Freddie has 146g a day (based on adult weight of 10kg). But he has treats on top of that. His poos vary through the day, he does do some soft, but probably from treats. Some days he eats all his food and then seems hungry, yesterday he didn’t finish his tea.

We collect Benji tomorrow/ very excited and scared !!
This may be a daft question but what should we take when we collect him. I was thinking he'd sit on my lap on the journey home (car journey of approx 30mins). But should he be in a carrier or something ??

The law says that a dog must be suitably restrained when driving so as not to distract you or injure themselves if you stop suddenly. I have a seat belt fastener that attaches to his harness. So I took the harness with us when we collected him.

We just tried an outdoor socialisation class to see if pup might get on any better but we couldn't get in. We were miles away but she was shaking, growling and barking. She even did it at the trainer who tried to approach.

I was watching the other puppies, some of them were nervous but they recovered enough to get into the class. It made me realise how extreme pup's anxiety is.

We watched from far away for a bit but after half an hour I gave up and left.

The behaviourist is coming on Monday, I think she needs to be medicated, it wasn't just the dogs it was people, the place, everything. She cried and shook the whole way home in the car.

I love her to bits but I'm really feeling like I can't keep her. I've got 3 kids plus another dog and I don't know how I manage a big, anxious dog that will need a lot of exercise

Oh @BleakGarden I can feel your distress. That must have been hard to watch. How far was 'far away'? I really don't think that sounds like a normal level of stress, tbh. It sounds like she is completely fearful. I don't think you should do anything else with her until the behaviourist comes because it sounds like even the most basic stuff is flooding her, and the more she's flooded the more ingrained it will get.

Thanks @Lougle yes I'm going to keep her in until Monday now. I've booked the older dog into lots of daycare so at least I'm not worrying about her getting out. It's costing a fortune though.

This is as close as we could get, not sure if you can even make the other pups out!

My concern is the breeder has been dismissive and she might not take her back. I don't think I could hand her over to a rescue. She needs a place with lots of private land. She's just the most loving puppy though I feel a bit sick even contemplating it to be honest.

That's pretty far away 😕

Oh @BleakGarden . Are there breed specific rescues you could approach. You might be able to keep her until they found a home for example. I hope the behaviourist can help.

@BleakGarden oh that sounds very hard . How old is pup now? Really hope the behaviourist is helpful on Monday. Interesting that the littermates are similar 🤔

Is anyone else's pup crazy after eating? Charlie seems to have a mad half hour every time he eats!

And @Lougle do you train with the lead on the front clip? Or does anyone else? How the flippety flip?? Just tried it with Charlie and he was charging off all over the show and getting himself tangled and then biting the lead in frustration. Feel like we're never going to be able to go for a walk ☹️

@DoggyNewbie Perfect Fit say you can't use front clip only on their harnesses. Either back clip or both. Don't know about other harness.

I use back clip with long line on a harness if I'm intending her to do sniffy 'free' walking, and lead attached to collar if I'm intending an 'on lead' walk. Lead and handful of kibble in my right hand. Puppy on left, with one piece of kibble in left hand. Treat for being on my left with her head just behind my leg. Treat every few seconds. If she pulls for any reason, stop dead. Wait for her to return to position, treat and move on.

does anyone else have a puppy that is completely different when they are wearing a harness? Not necessarily outside but indoors. Mabel turns into a dream puppy when I put hers on her, calm, no biting whatsoever, cuddly and affectionate, it’s just bizarre. She’s currently (in her harness) in a deep sleep draped over my arm, I know it’s a deep sleep because I can pick up a limb and it just drops like a stone.
I guess it must be the dog equivalent of a weighted blanket, not that it’s heavy mind you, it’s just an over the head adjustable soft fabric one. I assume as long as she comfortable wearing it, it can’t be doing her any harm and I get a delightful puppy- hurrah!

@Lougle i need to do more of this. We aren’t being very disciplined when walking. It’s just a massive sniff fest and I try (badly) to distract her when I see dogs up ahead but she always always always wants to speak to them. I think I need better treats and to be a bit firmer on the behaviour. She does actually walk really nicely on a loose lead maybe 50% of the time, so I guess I’m just being lazy.

We want and bought some new toys today, so she’s had a lovely afternoon trying those out. TK max have some really cool dog stuff in.