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

The one thing he does pretty well is sleep! Although saying that, his naps this week have been quite short. I have to enforce naps, he'll get 4/5 naps a day (he's only doing about 45mins at a time last few days, sometimes I can resettle him but mostly not) he's in bed by 7:15, woken at 1030 for final toilet then he's asleep right until 6:30 (was 7:30)
He's probably teething, rubs his ears/face occasionally.
His eating is much better, we had issues with eating very little but it's been much better this week.
He has chews, ostrich bone, snuffle mats, kongs - all of which his interest is diminishing in.
Doesn't care for nylabone or benebone. Destroys all soft toys, even a Kong one. Very long days keeping him occupied.

Hi, I fell off the old thread a bit and didn’t realise there was a new one! Hi from me and Maggie

great photo!! @thenewaveragebear1983

Ah @thenewaveragebear1983 so cute.

So pup started gabapentin on Tuesday, I've been opening the capsules and trying to give her 200mg because I felt 300mg was too much. Last night I tried a full capsule and sure enough she was spark out and snoring. It's early days but I think I've maybe seen a tiny decrease in her reactivity. The more I look at her gait the more I think it's not quite right, I hope it's not a spinal issue. I guess we'll just cross whichever bridges come our way now. Thank goodness we got insurance from day dot!

Obviously a minor issue but just before the behaviourist said "pain" I spent a small fortune on a bed they need to jump into!! Agh, the company does make them with walk-in access but I doubt they'd accept this one back 😢

Lovely photo @thenewaveragebear1983 .

@PointerParty that's a nice bed but I feel your pain. You can get gabapentin in 100mg capsules, which might help you with dosing.

thanks I’ll call the vet on Monday @Lougle hopefully they’ll let me swap the 300mg (although probably not as it’s a controlled drug) rather than pay out again for more 🤞

Bit of advice needed - don't think it needs a new thread. We bought BooDog a camel plait chew thing. We gave it to him and he took it off down the garden. We thought we should take it away after a bit as it seemed a lot for one go. Anyway he growled. He's never done this before - either taken food off or growled. We know not to try and take it forcibly, but we managed to swap it for something else. Question is would we have been better to leaving it with him? (I'm thinking maybe we cut it into smaller pieces) Should we be worried. He didn't try and snap or bite.

@BackToLurk I wouldn't be worried about that at all. I think you've just discovered that the camel plait chew thing was really high value for BooDog. Swapping it for something else that's high value is ideal. The trick is to remember that it's high value to him, not high value to you. Hazel got very protective over a frozen carrot. Raw carrots were absolutely fine - we could take them away, call her away. A frozen carrot was treated like I'd treat a T-bone steak.

@BackToLurk I agree with Lougle, I wouldn't worry too much about this. I trade every time I take something off pup, even when it's not something high value. She can resource guard new toys from my older dog, so I tend to trade those and put them away because it's not worth the potential conflict. Be careful of cutting long lasting chews into smaller pieces because they can become a choking hazard.

We had a bit of drama on our walk this morning when pup crawled underneath a fence to chase a bird. I called her back and she could not figure out how to get back through again. The gate was locked so I had to climb over the fence and lift her over (fence was about 4ft and 5ft2), the really tricky part was lowering her to the ground! In all the kerfuffle I caught my hand on the metal fence and took a big flap of skin off my finger and it bled a lot! So much so that other dog walkers were asking me if I needed help. I had a tetanus shot in 2019 so I should be good... hopefully!!

We are away on holiday. First night was predictably unsettled, lots of mad sniffing round the cottage and getting in and out of bed. Went to two different beaches yesterday, so they were shattered and slept properly last night :-)

Managed to leave little pup's harness at home, not needed for the beach but if we're walking any distance on lead it's needed. Put the big pups harness on her today, not ideal as it's slightly too big but manageable.

Impressed with how brave she is with the waves.

Looks lovely @tizwozliz where are you now?

I've been looking at dog friendly holidays, problem is once the dogs are in the boot there's no room for suitcases 🤔

We're in Pembrokeshire.

Just the two of us, so all our luggage goes on the back seat. Our older pup failed her home boarding trial last year so it's dog friendly holidays or none at all for the time being!

@PointerParty ouch! I'd perhaps call 111 and check with them, as the NHS site says additional treatment is often offered for:

• wounds or burns where a significant amount of tissue has been removed, or puncture-type injuries such as animal bites, particularly if they have had contact with soil or manure
• wounds containing any substance that should not be there, such as dust or dirt (foreign bodies)

If you were in a field and cut it on a metal gate, it might be worth checking.

@tizwozliz lovely photos!

Catching up with all the lovely pictures of all the pups.

How did she fail if you don’t mind me asking ?

@userxx - she just wouldn't settle, lots of barking and not much sleeping. She came home exhausted. It was with her usual dog walker who was quite surprised as she'd never heard her bark before. She's only ever failed one other dog in over 10 years.

Ok, that makes sense. I’m pretty sure Pupxx would fail too! Not many boarders take on unneutered males anyway so I won’t be going anywhere tropical for a while.

We're doing divide and conquer in that DH is staying at home with the dog and I'm taking the kids abroad in May half term. We think that he's possibly getting the better deal! 🤣🤣

FluffyPup is unneutered and will remain so, as there are health benefits for large breed males to remain intact.

@NoWordForFluffy yep, we’ve decided we’ll holiday abroad separately for a while, it’s going to be absolute hell going away with my best friends…… the sacrifices we make eh 🤣.

Got my first ever puppy on Saturday, at 9 weeks old. I'm exhausted!! I have wanted a dog for nearly two decades, done so much research over the years etc yet I'm feeling a lot of regret! It's the constant watching that is making me exhausted! Plus he's not doing well at toilet training. I've read and understood all the theory, but pup is just not co-operating haha. Won't do anything outside, just waits til we come inside and does it. Then I'll scoop him outside again but obviously its too late!! On the plus side, he's quite good going into the crate, only a bit of crying. I get up twice in the night with him and that's worked well.

Can't wait til he's had his jabs and can go on walks. Feeling a bit claustrophobic being stuck mostly in the house.

Oh and the crazy biting and lunging is something else...

We're going on separate holidays for the foreseeable future too. Two GSPs is a hard sell at the best of times but when you add in pup's dog reactivity and separation anxiety it's game over for house sitters or boarding. I'm quite relieved to hear other people are doing this, DH thinks it's nuts that we can't have a family holiday because of the dogs.

@Cavalierchaos ahh he's very cute! The early days when you're stuck indoors and constantly mopping up pee and getting nipped are very tough. It's like a grenade going off in your life. It does get better. This thread has been a lifesaver for me!

Thanks @Lougle I dithered for ages yesterday about whether or not I should see a GP, luckily I've got a family member who's an infectious diseases doctor and they were confident I'll be fine... phew! I now need to work on stopping pup from crawling under fences.

I'm definitely seeing changes in pup now, she's been on gabapentin for a week. It's taken the edge off her panic. We got quite close to two dog walkers yesterday and I was able to engage her and shovel in the treats, usually she's howling and barking immediately. She's also tolerating me flitting from room to room again, whereas that would normally cause instant howling.

12 weeks old Labrador pup, please tell me it gets easier. He has just torn into a full bag of chipped bark for the garden which we had left in our hall. Mess everywhere. Also very bitey with the kids.

I am interested in hearing about holidays too. We would love to go abroad but it’s too early to leave the pup. Never thought about going separately before.

Oh no. How awful for you! 😉

It gets easier! Tbh, Hazel has never chewed anything that she shouldn't have (which is unusual for a lab) but we did control her environment hugely.

She's 8 months old in a couple of weeks and she's pretty chilled.

Having said that, a branch was demolished earlier.