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

He will sleep in his bed overnight, but if I’m in the house he’s next to me, won’t settle in his bed if I’m around and even if he’s sleeping soundly will wake if I move to another room. I see a lot of chat about crate training giving a safe place for the puppy and helping with toilet training so thought it might be worth trying.

In all honesty I’m not sure how to train a dog that isn’t interested in food or toys or at least his need to be with me takes precedence over everything else. It might just take time for him to feel safe and secure I suppose.

@JamieJ93 Happy Birthday Milo!
Your message brought a tear to my eye, that poor, poor dog, there are so many people in this world who just need shooting. Feddie is so lucky to have found you and his loving forever home, it sounds like it's going to take time and patience though.
I was wondering how you first let Milo off his lead? I really daren't with Brodie, I'm sure if he sees something he'll be off. If he sees a blackbird or something he's desperate to get at it and completely oblivious to me. He loves fetching his ball and it would be so nice for him to play freely.

As recommended by previous posters, I bought cows ears (find all these things cringy as I’m a vegetarian). Gave Flora one and it only lasted 15 minutes 🤷‍♀️🙇‍♀️

@MatildaTheCat Welcome to you and Raffy! He's a clever boy with a zip 🤣.

What do people do who don't use crates? I'm still very much on the fence with them. Brodie goes in his overnight and settles well, it is open to a pen though. We close him in properly for an hour in the morning, so we can shower and get ready, and he goes back in for an hour or so in the afternoon, so I can go shopping etc. We've tried when we have tea, but he just kicks off which is annoying because he seems to pee more in the evening and forgets his housetraining. What does everyone do when they need to go out? I'd expect to come home to a trashed house if I left him free.

@AnnieSnap Gosh, Flora must have a strong jaw! I get large ones, and they maybe last 3 hours over a few sessions

@BrodiePup so our crate is in the kitchen which is fairly pup proof. At night he’s zipped in - or should be😳) but in the daytime we just shut the kitchen door. I give him a frozen licky mat in the crate but he’s not locked in. He does usually settle for a sleeep in his bed then I think. Being a doodle he often also sleeps on the hard floor.

@MatildaTheCat Thanks for your reply. I might try shutting him in the kitchen sometime, his crate is in the lounge, but it would be easy enough to move his day bed through there...there's less for him to destroy in there too!
What do you use on licky mats? I've tried cream cheese, but it only lasts a couple of minutes 🙄.

They were the large ones 😫

@AnnieSnap Oh no! 😳

@BrodiePup I mix banana with pain yogurt, celery, apple, carrot, strawberry tops or anything I have to hand ( mostly yogurt) then smear it on and freeze. I also freeze it in his kong and a ridged teething stick. Takes a good few minutes to eat I think. And lasts in the fridge a couple of days

Oh for the days when a lamb braid would last a puppy 20 minutes. The only thing that lasts longer than a couple of minutes for our two are raw beef ribs or a marrow bone.

@BrodiePup - our two have never been crated in the day. Restricted to the kitchen initially but they've never destroyed anything when left home alone. Although with the older one trips out were timed to happen after a long walk.

Any advice for a stinky, 7 month old border terrier?

He smells. I can't put my finger on exactly what the smell is but he reeks. He's always on lead and hasn't rolled in anything (that I'm aware of!) It's has notes of fox poo but not iyswim. He smells almost rancid/sour. It's getting stronger daily.
His ears smell fine, breath is ok. Awful farts.
Inconsistent poops, some nicely formed and easy to pick up, other times very sloppy.
I've stopped giving him salmon oil last week as I wondered if it was too 'rich' for him, and his poops smell a little better, previously quite fishy.
He's on a salmon based kibble (wainwrights) and I've now added a chicken bone broth powder to it.
He was groomed last week, and tidied up with a stripping stone, smelt divine. 5 days later he stinks.

I'm happy to open up a chat with my vets but wondered if anyone else has any insights?!

@JaneIves first thing that comes to mind is anal gland issue.
especially if the poops are sloppy they are not firm enough to massage the gland properly.

Anal glands? @JaneIves

Hmm I did wonder about anal glands. I'm a novice at this!!
He will occasionally scoot his bottom on the grass post poop, but like his poop it's not consistent!

I can do app chats with the vet, I'll get onto it tomorrow.

Some grooming shops offer anal gland care, might be cheaper than vet.

well, i've had a accident at work and cut the back of my ankle open resulting in 6 stitches. there goes our first doggy walk tomorrow 😢

@lookwhatyoumademedoo oh that's sad. I hope you're not in too much pain?

@JamieJ93 I've read back and saw your posts - you're nuts! HTH. But seriously, I hope your new dog bounces back very quickly from his past life.

Re. Crate training, we did it. It's really helpful to know she will settle in a crate. But since she was about 5 months old, we just shut her in DD2's bedroom if we need to go out (it's where she sleeps at night, too). But she's never been destructive or chewed anything she shouldn't have. We put in quite strict management with that, but I think we were also lucky that she was happy to chew her own things.

oh @lookwhatyoumademedoo i hope that heels up quickly!

@Lougle it's quite sore this morning, trying to not walk too much on it but it's hard to no with 2 kids and a puppy 🤦🏻‍♀️

It was indeed anal glands.
Phoned vet this morning and they had him in an hour ago, pretty full apparently! 🤢

Vet said could be a one off but if not to perhaps change up his food/add probiotics.

He's not so stinky now!

We half crate trained but got rid of it when she was getting too big. She just stays in the living room at night and (probably jinxing myself now...) she's not destructive so is OK.

We're finally getting somewhere with the barking when being left as well 🥳 we can go upstairs for a longer time and she stays normally in a lay down until we come back. If she does a few barks she stops fairly soon after. Just got to crack the leaving at home on her own! She'll have a kong for a bit but then she'll leave it when she notices we've gone (filmed her the other day) beef tendons do tend to last her so we're going to try that next.

She's also started to let my cat come downstairs and have a wander around the floor without chasing him which I'm so glad about as a few months ago he was a very fun game. He's got steps that go around the room so he can stay in the room but out of reach and I think that's really helped her get used to him being around.

She's really turning into a lovely dog though so I'm dreading any teenage behaviours!

@lookwhatyoumademedoo
I bet that's sore, and really bad timing. Hope you heal quickly and it isn't too sore.
@Jonsnowsghost It sounds like you're starting to get somewhere now, I bet easing off on the barking is a relief.

It's good to hear that not everyone is a dedicated crater! It's something I definitely want rid of in the future, Brodie doesn't go in his to chill of his own accord, he'll always go to his day bed through choice.

@Jonsnowsghost - with our 3 year old I felt like I spent the whole of her second year waiting for her to turn into a teenage terror. It never happened, and our younger one hasn't really had a teenager stage yet either. So you might be lucky.

It seems to be a bigger issue for male dogs from people I know.

@BrodiePup - we took the crate down with our youngest after a week I think as it was just being used as a stepping stone to jump onto the dining table!!