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.

She's grown! I'm taking so many pics and videos while he's little.

Oscar doesn't always eat his food as soon as I put it down so I had to lift it out the way of pup. I waited until I knew Oscar would eat it (later in the day) then let puppy out mid meal. Suffice to say, Oscar soon growled and snapped at him to get away. Logan now keeps a respectable distance and just watches.

I really wouldn't worry about trying to slow down a puppy when they're bolting their food. It's just what they do and they soon slow down themselves. You can spend a fortune on puzzle feeders and all that jazz but there's really no need. Worst case is they puke and gobble it up again! 🤮

Our older one would have happily let pup eat all her food so I just supervised in the early days so they've eaten alongside each other from day 1. Little one normally finishes first but now politely waits to check older ones bowl once she's done.

Pup has been out with our dog walker for the first time today. She got a glowing report so will be going out once a week along with the older one.

Shattered!

We had a tired one, too, today.

I don’t think Maggie chews her food at all, she gulps them down like tablets. She has two of her meals in her ball dispenser, it’s brilliant and takes her at least 2-3 minutes to eat rather than her usual 30 seconds.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Avont-Feeder-Dispenser-Interactive-Enrichment/dp/B0B1T72SWP?pd_rd_w=ufOvc&content-id=amzn1.sym.38f90169-67d8-49b7-8ef1-61bdff262c06&pf_rd_p=38f90169-67d8-49b7-8ef1-61bdff262c06&pf_rd_r=FM70MR8TCS41NEGCNVC4&pd_rd_wg=GGAIv&pd_rd_r=bebec0f9-20ab-4c1f-a801-9dcd30a74bb0&pd_rd_i=B0B1T72SWP&psc=1&ref_=pd_basp_m_rpt_ba_s_4_sc

We've had a major breakthrough today in that pup was home alone for the first time! I went out for 45 mins and she slept soundly. I decided not to crate her because she's gated into the kitchen anyway and then she could cuddle up to our older dog. Given she used to howl if I dared to leave the room for a second this feels like a big step towards getting back to "normal"

that looks like a good slow feeder @thenewaveragebear1983 we had a kong food dispenser but she chewed a hole in it

Food advice please. My puppy (just about 4 months old) came to me on 4 meals a day. We want to switch to 3. Do we just switch straight over without any need to ease him into it? For context he would eat constantly I think, but he sometimes sleeps over the time his 3rd meal is due, so I don't think he is desperate for the 4.

A;ll mes;d go in about 30 seconds (eyes ball dispenser upthread)

@BackToLurk Yes, just switch to 3 meals and give him a carrot if he seems hungry. He'll soon adjust. Don't change the amount you are feeding though (unless you think you're feeding too much), just split it over 3 meals instead of 4.

@BleakGarden that's brilliant progress!

Thanks @Lougle although everything plant-based seems to give him terrible farts. Which is ironic as I don’t eat meat.

How are we all doing?

I have a frozen carrot question. Are these whole raw carrots frozen? The internet has conflicting information as usual

Grace is hoping for some cheese!

Yep - shove them in the freezer.

@tizwozliz that's impressive.

Yeah. FluffyPup is the same with cheese! 🧀 🐕

Question for you all. Pineapplepups pretty good off lead, I tend to only let her off in big open safe spaces but she happily comes back to me when I call her. The issue is when it’s time to go home. She’s far too clever for her own good and knows that if I clip her lead on, I am effectively ruining her fun, so she refuses to let me get near her. 20 mins it took me earlier and the lead only went on due to a passing guy grabbing her harness for me. I was genuinely starting to panic about how I would ever catch her. There’s actually only one road between the park and my house and she will happily follow me, I just don’t think she has enough road sense to cross the road off lead.

Tried the obvious luring her with food but she’s wise to my ways and refuses to take them from my hand as she knows I’ll catch her. She thinks it’s a big game. Anyone else have this problem and have any solutions?

@Pineapplemonkey you need to condition her to having her harness or collar grabbed. Do it in the garden, make it a game. Call, treat, grab collar/harness then treat again and, crucially, send her off with a cheery 'Ok, go play!' Repeat often until it's no big deal.

@Pineapplemonkey ours is the same. Our trainer taught us to do lots of training with putting the lead on then playing tug, then letting her off, let the lead drag whilst playing, on off, on off repeat ! when you do recall always do a touch and touch the collar/harness. I still can't let her off with her favourite kong on a rope ( and we have two for enticement) so she is on a long lead when I let her do the running ( which is not so much as I am trying to concentrate on enrichment not just being lazy and throwing a ball).

@Pineapplemonkey my older dog used to do that, it's so frustrating when you're almost there and they leap ever so slightly out of reach! We went through a period of putting the lead on and off lots of times during the walk, so it became unpredictable. And rewarding each time we put the lead on. Also if you're in a jam, try running away from them, sounds mental but usually it will get them to chase after you.

We did a huge thing today! We went to puppy class, pup calmly watched all the other puppies jumping, playing and barking. We stood in the circle with the other pups and she did all the exercises!! Previously she's been far too frightened to get anywhere near the circle. She wasn't completely comfortable (she was very calm and not her usual mad as a box of frogs) but she did it. I think it's a combination of a good behaviourist, getting a bit older, and skullcap and valerian tablets. I was initially skeptical of the tablets, it might be a coincidence but the timing lines up. Of course now I can never take her off them 😂

We were told not to put the lead on just at the end, as then they associate it with leaving.

Therefore my suggestion is to put the lead earlier on, then walk around the field, perhaps do some on- lead training etc, then let her off again. Do this a couple of times each session.

Also practice in garden as suggested above.

Ooh @BleakGarden I could cry for you!!! What an amazing turn around. Well done for all your hard work to get to this point.

Thanks @Lougle I nearly did cry!! Everyone is out this evening so I'm drinking a glass of Prosecco on my own to toast our success, pup got a cheese slice 😂 Thank you for all your advice on this thread, you've been a fountain of knowledge and support ❤️

@JaneIves He’s gorgeous 😍. Can’t wait for your update once he arrives.

We did a trick training workshop today. Hazel was exhausted!

Thanks! We are so excited! It's going to be a long week until Saturday, just hoping the weather will behave itself as it's a long journey there and back.