Puppy Survival Thread for New and Old Pups - Spring is around the corner!

[Lougle]

A thread for puppy owners to share their ups and downs as we head into Spring. We're not just here for the idyllic moments. We've all had a cry at some point!

All posters welcome - just dive in.

The previous thread is here https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/the_doghouse/4945764-puppy-survival-thread-for-old-and-new-pups-heading-into-winter?page=1

Thank you, I'll look into this.

@BrodiePup thanks! Sometimes it's just relentless but other times she's just so lovely it makes up for it. People say it's hard work but you never realise just how much hard work it is 😅

Jonsnowsghost…Ditto to that! We’ll get there though…eventually…🤞🏻

@BrodiePup
How are you going with your little sod today???
Milos got a terrible terrible stomach today! He's a twat tho he's always eating shite off the floors on his walks.
What are you feeding Brodie on out of curiosity with being same breed?
We've gone through loads but he's settled on Skinner's wet & kibble. He's got a good stature and a good body condition.
He's an absolute arsehole still with being adolescent we have to muzzle him in the car,
I had a hire car and he chewed a seat belt 👀 as my 73 plate got stolen ( got it back now) and the little swine isn't doing that in this!
Have you managed to get much sleep?

@JamieJ93
Morning! Yup, Brodie is the same, a rubbish hoover when we're out, fortunately we've not had any adverse effects yet, collecting a runny poo is not a thought that fills me with joy! I hope Milo recovers quickly. How old is he?
We feed him Vetspec as that's what he was raised on, I bought a big sack before we collected him. He loves it and does well on it, but it's quite expensive and mail order only. Skinners is one I was considering getting him onto eventually.
Nightmare with the car, did you get charged for the seatbelt? Brodie hasn't been in the car much, but so far so good (touches everything wood I can lay my hands on)
I'm getting on much better at the moment thanks, my husband is about and he has so much more patience than me, I'm dreading him going back to work, but I do think things are getting a tiny bit better 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

Just wondering, how much crate time does everyone give their puppies through the day?
I'm torn between being really grateful to have somewhere to put Brodie for an unsupervised sleep, and hating putting him in a cage.
Also, am I the only one who creeps around when he's in it? I daren't even go back in the room for fear of disturbing him, which is v annoying if I've left my phone or something in there.

I’ve never crated mine other than at night (which is mostly for their own safety)! My dogs have always slept in dog beds on the floor as puppies and they learn to get out the way on the hoover or the mop etc.

Remember you have 10-16 years of this (breed depending) and you don’t want to be creeping around forever. Act as you usually would - make dinner, go in to get your phone etc. It’s annoying when they wake but you can treat them too sensitively - it’ll just exhaust you!

FluffyPup has only ever gone into the crate when he wants to and has never slept in it at night. Since we moved (into a much warmer house) he's not been in it at all, so we've taken it down.

He used to sleep in it for hours though!

Just popping in to say we’ve had a really good few days with pup. Yesterday we were walking past an on-lead schnauzer, no barking from pup, she was following the treats, but then they went nose to nose and she was wagging her tail!!! Not scared at all. I’m sure the schnauzer owner was confused by my speechlessness. Also she’s built real muscle memory around checking in with me when she’s worried now.

She has her blood tests on Tuesday, she has to be fasted for 18 hours before in case they need to knock her out (they will do). We’ve been seeing a new vet on the recommendation of a friend and she’s great. She rightly pointed out that we’ve seen trainers, behaviourists and specialists yet no one has thought to run some blood and look for anything obvious that might be making her feel unsettled.

Pup sleeps in her crate at night but that’s it, she’s gated into the kitchen and dining room during the day so that keeps her out of mischief. She will occasionally sleep in the crate during the day but mostly chooses her bed on the floor

Milo occasionally uses his crate - only during the day to calm down or when he is being an absolute dick and needs to calm down after a walk/straight after eating to prevent him being sick.
He's coming up to one now though.
Doesnt sleep in it at night only his bed or sometimes the front room.

We only crated Fin the first few nights he joined us. The crate was in our bedroom, two other dogs sleep on the floor (large dog beds) he clearly wanted to be with them and we clearly wanted to sleep.
He stays put in the room and does wake us to go out, in the too early am (he’s a 5am riser).
Free throughout the day, takes himself out to toilet again that means a door cracked open from 5-9pm.
As for naps, the 13 and 14yr old dogs sleep lots, so Fin simply rests when they do.
Like an overtired toddler 4pm-7pm can be rough with Fin tormenting the older two, counter surfing, or being mischievous in the garden.

max has been so bitey the last couple of days, i've i've acquired quite a few scratches on my arms and hands. i'm so ready to get him out and about and i think he's ready to explore more of the world too.
here he is looking like butter wouldn't melt vv

Supper cute @lookwhatyoumademedoo !
The teething certainly slows down, have a suitable chew toy ON YOU at all times. We referred to this as a “guard toy” guarded us from piranha teeth, shoved it in his mouth quickly.

Evening all! Padpup is now 7 months old (cocker spaniel) and seems to be obsessively licking her bottom. Could this be the start of a season? Feels a bit young but previous dogs were big breeds so slower to mature. She also smells weird 🤷🏻‍♀️

thankyou @CurlsnSunshinetime4tea. we've a few chew toys and he seems to like a certain one the most so i'll keep that one on me! there teeth are sooo sharp !!!
@PaddingtonsHat could it be her anal glands? a friend of mines cockapoo regularly needs his emptying and she tells me he smells fishy 🤷🏻‍♀️

@lookwhatyoumademedoo thats a good shout. I’ll keep an eye and get them checked if no season materialises. She isn’t doing any bottom dragging or anything

@PaddingtonsHat her pup doesn't tend to scoot just has the smell so now she knows when he smells he needs doing. the joys of dog life eh 😂

Thanks for everyone's replies about crates, it's good to hear what other people do.
Today is my 20th wedding anniversary...the highlight was clearing up puppy diarrhoea from the pet shop floor... I know how to live 🤣
@lookwhatyoumademedoo
I don't know if it works for everyone, or if we were just lucky, but we let out a sharp squeal when Brodie got nippy and he stopped, we only needed to do it a couple of times. Max is a cutie 😊.

Hi all, jumping into this thread, glad I found it 😊 we brought home a cockapoo yesterday, and he's like my little shadow. I'd planned on crating him at nights, but - I know I'm only on day 2 but I'm convinced it's an impossible task. I don't know when or how I'm meant to sleep, he seems to only settle on a bed on the floor near me. I didnt think I was naive - ive had dogs before and have children.. but this little bundle is something else 🙈😹

I’d stick with the crate at night until he’s old enough to be trusted. I’ve known dogs eat wires, concrete walls, wooden beams, chair legs. Very few dogs like being crated over night. You just have to ignore them when they cry - most settle down in 5-10 minutes. Even have the crate in your room if you need to. But crating is about their safety as much as angling else!

It’s horrible, but leaving them to run loose is a big risk. The other mistake people make is having them on your bed is a recipe for disaster - your bed is either going to get shit and piss on/ you’re setting Yourself up for failure re. Them ever sleeping alone / it’s dangerous.

Obligatory photo please!!!

@Devilshands two dog in bed stories; I’m in bed with the flu, dog in the middle. Dh becomes concerned he’ll catch it from me so he gets a sleeping bag with the idea of sleeping on the floor. The sleeping bag noise scares the dog who bolted barking, across my face scratching my eyeball…deep gouge that has left a scar, trip to emerg dept and need for cocaine eye drops and bandages every 8 hrs + a trip to the specialist all over Christmas.
different small dog, full house, ds and daughter in law plus their dog. Bedtime, everyone tucked in. I had noticed my tibetian was loosing a lot of hair so I decided to give him a good look over for bald spots or mats developing. At which point I noticed freckles…how very strange all the freckles were the exact same size…freckles everywhere…isn’t that strange??? LICE, lice at nearly midnight. Cue the bed being stripped, baths run, calls to the night vet. Daughter in law unimpressed. Bloody hard work cleaning that disaster.
Lesson learned, never again.

@CurlsnSunshinetime4tea oh no! Both of those sound awful!

Thankfully no total horror stories here…although there’s still time as I expect several more puppies in my future

@SkyeB86
We've had Brodie two and a half weeks. We leave him downstairs in his crate, but his crate is open into a small pen where we put a couple of puppy pads and his water bowl. He's in there from 10:30-6:00 and apart from a tiny bit of whimpering at first is absolutely fine. He even manages to go through the night without weeing now, he's 14 weeks today.
You need your rest...daytime is relentless.

@SkyeB86 crate time needs to be trained so that he builds a positive association with the crate. We used Susan Garrett's crate games with Hazel. We lured her into the crate with food, then out of the crate, in and out. When she was doing that reliably, we used the word 'crate'. Then we played games where we'd say 'crate' or 'ok' for in and out. Then we started closing the door for 1 second, 3 seconds, 1 second, 5 seconds, etc., gradually building the time up.

She's 10 months old tomorrow and will happily go in the crate despite us not properly using it since she was 4 months old. She went to residential training 6 weeks ago, and even though she hadn't slept in a crate for 4 months, she was perfectly happy to sleep in a crate there.

Thank you both! This is reassuring. I'm off work this week, then I'll be mostly working from home for a few months after, so hopefully I've got myself a good long stint to work on this 😁 it can just be a bit disheartening when something doesn't go like it did in your head 😂😂