Puppy Survival Thread - for old and new pups heading into winter

[Lougle]

A thread to continue our journey with our puppies as we head into winter.

If you're new to having a puppy, jump straight in.

Pup was very pleased with her find in the woods today. It accompanied us for a while, then I managed her to persuade her to leave it behind why tempting with a ball 😂

She’ll get used to the crate if you keep using it, just build up the time she’s left. I can leave the house and the pup is not impressed but he’s asleep when I get back. He’s safe in there and I need time to myself or I’d go insane.

@tizwozliz what is that 🤢

What do you think will make your life easier ? What are you aiming for ?

@userxx - a frozen squirrel 🐿️

Gorgeous 🤮 hope it was old age that got to it. Makes it easier to carry when frozen 🤷

FluffyPup is a carrot fiend. I've not noticed a diuretic effect on him.

@tizwozliz Aargh! That would make me freak a bit. One thing I like about dogs over cats is that they don’t bring you ‘presents’!

@Chocolatebuttonns if you can put in the time now, it will make it easier in the long run. We left Hazel for an hour last night for the first time. We made sure she'd had her dinner and had been out to the toilet, then we put her in her pen (crate door open) and shut the door of her room. She just settled in her crate and went to sleep. It will happen.

We got a blink camera today. This is her doing her Labrador pose at lunchtime.

I won't say 'hang in there' because if you've made a mistake it's better to sort it out sooner rather than later, but if you want to persevere, we'll be with you on this thread. We've all had wobbly moments.

Chocolatebuttons I know it’s an annoying saying but this too shall pass. Try not to give yourself “give back to the breeder” as a mental option. Tell yourself it isn’t. Lean in. Your puppy will one day be able to snooze by herself for hours, all house training complete and you’ll have wonderful walks with her where you both get back in and are so pleased with each other.

this really is short term. Your bond isn’t there immediately, it builds and you will end up with a lovely dog. It get infinitesimally better each week. You just need to accept that life is different but will be enhanced for you AND your family in the months to come. People loathe having puppies. Even committed, adoring down owners with thirty years’ experience. We know it’s sucks. It does. But it’s worth it.

@Chocolatebuttonns I echo that, we’ve all felt like that. Wanting the dog doesn’t mean you don’t find this stage relentlessly difficult. Everything takes longer and my free time is not my own anymore. My house is a tip. It seems a very long time off that I’ll be able to leave her and trust her not to trash things or miss me. She’s flatly refusing to use her pen for any kind of play time except with a licky mat and soon as she’s done with that she starts the whining and pawing. she’s now not enjoying her walks so I feel like we have no enjoyment sometimes, I loved our walks and so did she so I’m really frustrated she won’t walk more than 100yds now.

but, I guess you have to ask if the end result is worth it and if so, consider this as the building blocks of that end result. We knew it was the long haul, we want our nice secure dog that will do lovely walks and be our companion. It doesn’t mean it’s easy but it will payoff.

The thing that’s got me through has been routine, and using the crate to buy me respite. And training/conditioning. Just repeating those few simple commands and the dog knows you’re boss and it does cement your bond a little bit more. I would never have a puppy again, and I feel like mine is pretty chilled and a good pup generally. I cannot wait until she is an adult dog really, I just keep thinking by this time next year she will be nearly there please don’t anyone say Labrador’s never grow up and this time next year she’ll be worse

I agree, it really is one minute at a time in the early days. This is Hazel again - I did 15 minutes of 'wait'-throw toy-'get it'-'bring'-'drop' training with her. It's a simple retrieve but it builds in impulse control, and it's exhausting.

Now she's back in her crate, willingly sleeping. Once they know they can get a bit of sleep then play again, they're normally quite fond of the crate.

Riverpup is off his food today. As mentioned above, labs are food obsessed. He ate his main meals reluctantly.

As a test, we scattered some kibble down and instead of gobbling it , he actually picked up a piece then dropped it out his mouth! He did eat it, but slowly, and not in the I’m-starving-hungry default Labrador mode. It’s as if he couldn’t be bothered, plus he’s been sleepier than usual. Hoping it’s nothing, but you can’t help worrying.

Oh @Riverlee I'd be worried too. Is he drinking normally? Do his ears feel a normal temperature and is his nose cool and wet?

He did have a drink earlier. Haven’t touched his nose. Ges currently asleep on the sofa, so won’t disturb him now, but will stroke his ears later. He’s definantly a little subdued today, although greeted us when we got in from a (freezing) day in London.

So, I’ve had an atrocious day puppy wise. Should have predicted it when she went into her crate for her morning nap and cried for the first time ever. Second puppy school class and good god it was awful, Pineapplepup refused to participate/engage in any way. Just sat and refused to move, neither of the trainers could get her to move either and they tried everything. They said she was overstimulated and over anxious. They said if she’s the same next week it’s best I don’t take her to class anymore as maybe classes aren’t for her. Fantastic, I have a puppy that fails puppy school. 2 weeks and she has learnt nothing, zero.
After that, we went to the pet shop to see about changing her food as I’m having issues getting her to eat her her James Wellbeloved kibble, she’s just not interested and I refuse to keep mixing it with Sardines, it’s making me retch from the smell and I strongly suspect the oily fish is making her behaviour bad and making her agitated (I tried her on salmon oil a while ago and had to stop for the same reasons, I have no idea why this would be , but it’s the only thing I can connect to her behaviour change).
After answering a lot of questions about her poo consistency pup then made me look like a liar by crapping all over the shop floor in a extremely soft and messy way and her arse was covered in it and then she started bum scooching along the floor making even more mess. It was mortifying. I have a sample bag of new food that I’ll see if she likes, fingers crossed.

She refused to eat any lunch. She then went to my dads for a few hours while I was at an appointment where apparently (as per my dads retelling) she looked like she was struggling to poo and when she did manage it, it got stuck and he had to assist, god I feel sick, thank god it was him, I’m not sure I’d have the stomach for it. I’ll keep an eye on it tomorrow before I think about a vet visit.

Onwards and upwards, tomorrow can only be better I hope. This too shall pass yeah??

Omg @Pineapplemonkey ! What a day! Hope pup is OK. I'm not sure I could stomach 'helping' either, thank goodness for dad's eh!
Hopefully puppy class was a one off and it will be different next time 🤞

I had a v stubborn mini schnauzer today - she was v keen to look at the frost/dusting of snow but absolutely not keen to move in it. I had to carry her to the park before she independently moved a leg 😂

She is beginning to walk nicely beside me (as long as i regularly post treats into her mouth) and I think toilet training is sorted. It's just barking at everything and howling when she is left on her own amd abandoned forever and ever (eg if I leave the room to go to the toilet) to sort out.

The biting and mad zoomies have totally calmed down, which is ace. She's 5.5 months now, cute as a button. And permanently by my side 😆

Sproutpup has turned into a bitey tasmanian devil from hell. The usual high pitched noise, and replacing my arm with a high value toy isn't working. He's such an intelligent little boy that it's frustrating he can't get this. Our other pup picked it up straight away.

Sorry to hear about all your bad days. Hope Pineapple pup improves on the new food, but might be worth trying bland stuff like chicken and rice or sweet potato to help her stomach get over the issue. My lot love the combination with sweet potato a lot more than rice!

Snow pup (well, dog now) gotta snow. We had a lot more over night, to the point I'm debating walking out to the horses. Sadly can't take the dogs that far, two of them would freeze as they're heat seekers!

i bought some psyllium husk for Maggie, I sprinkle a teaspoon over her food, it seems to help with consistency. She has raw food and sometimes that can make their poo a bit hard, which weirdly results in some quite horrible liquid poop as well, whereas the psyllium seems to help reach an acceptable middle ground. It took a few days to get the balance right, less is more. 💩 💩 💩