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

BooDog's extra hard concentrating face as he finishes his first set of training classes

Hi all. I've been lurking for a while but tonight I'm at the end of my tether with our 6mth old springer. He still regularly pees and poos, despite backdoor being open all day. He just doesn't seem to have any concept of the right or wrong place.
Then there's the carrying the poos into the house to eat or hide in his bed for later.

He's not my first, but I've never known such an unclean dog.

Help!

It sounds like you need a stiff drink!

Can you go back to basics and supervise his toileting, rewarding him for going out, etc?

Thanks Lougle. We have done several times. I watch him toileting, he'll have a few faultless days, then I relax a bit and it goes tits up again.
And I think I'm going to need to feed him a bit more than recommended amount, hoping he'll stop eating poos.

Apart from that he's a lovely boy, a bit mischievous but nothing I wouldn't expect.
I just needed to vent 😊

Vent away. Have you considered changing his food? Sometimes they have a tendency to eat their food if the nutrients are still there in the poo and they couldn't digest them well enough the first time.

I've changed it once because his old food seemed to irritate his tum. Then again because of the poo eating. Am going to try a mixture of wet and dry from tomorrow, see if it makes a difference.

We’ve had a night of up every couple of hours for squits. Him. Not me

oh @BackToLurk my sympathies, i hope it's quickly resolved.
we finally had what we consider a good nights sleep! finley was NOT content in the crate so for the past week was sleeping in our bed from 12-5 when he was full on ready to play (terrorize the household with his teeth). yesterday we bought a third huge fluffy dog bed, placed the crate in the computer room for when we both leave the house (not the baseboards, furniture legs, drawer handles, absolutely nothing he can reach is safe at this point). closed the bedroom doors (ninja paws is a very quiet walker) and low and behold awoke at mn for a pee (came to the side of the bed and scratched to wake me), then settled till 5, although this time he pulled dh's trousers off the chair (leather belt and brass buckle made a good noise), we took him out to toilet again and he settled back till 7+ am!!
toiletting yesterday was great, so far today not :(.
thankfully he's super cute, very cuddly for a terrier.

Ok my pup is scaring me. Once the other day, and three times today, he has laid right down on the ground and barked loudly. He doesn't ever bark apart from when he's done this. The other day, my partner was playing with him enthusiastically and we assumed puppy took it as an act of aggression. But today, there was no obvious reason. One time, I had sat down, as I do all the time. The second time, we were sat in the kitchen just chilling and then it happened and he leapt at a puppy pad. Third time, I'd just walked into the kitchen, as I do a million times a day.

I am so worried he is showing aggression, not play. How do I know the difference? Sometimes he grows when playing and pulling things, but these times he literally crouched on the floor and seemed so angry.

That sounds lame reading back 'he lay on the floor and barked' but honestly, it was like a lion crouching down ready to pounce.

@Cavalierchaos it is such a difficult time with a new pup. How old is he now? 12 weeks? Pups play very fiercely and hard with their siblings, it's easy to think it is aggression. You are now their playthings and they will push you to every limit. When our pup would do this kind of thing, I would either walk out of the room, redirect immediately with a toy/chew, or just ignore it. Believe me our pup had the devil eyes, the bared teeth the lot, specially if she was over tired and / or was having the zoomies.

He is 10 weeks and 2 days. I honestly find it so scary. He gets loads of sleep and I feel I'm doing everything the books say. I hope so much he is not aggressive.

Milo is nearly 10 months old now.
Been a rough 7 months. It's absolutely flown by, I never thought I'd get through, it's been very difficult.
He has started to attempt to cock his leg up!!
I feel like I'm losing my little puppy into adulthood!

@Cavalierchaos this is partially why we've taken on a puppy with our two 12-13 yr old dogs (they might even be 13-14). when finley (10-11 weeks) gets too rambunctious they definitely put him in his place. sometimes both seniors will together give him a stern look/warning/growl and rarely a grab, but they 100% accurately get their message across. personally i find the down on all fours bum up in the air growl ready to pounce a play gesture. the two older ones will occasionally respond and play along. toy time, time to burn off that energy outside.
i was chatting to the co-breeder the other day, she does not allow the pups to bite her she takes their snout and gently squeezes it closed and gives a firm no. so far it's working for me, dh doesn't really do it as he somehow thinks it's not so bad.

today i also popped into a pet store and refreshed more of the toys.
the older two don't really play with toys anymore, and although they will chase after a ball certainly never retrieved it.
two of the toys even predate the older dogs! (shout out to west coast toys zogoflex bone it's amazing, well loved and withstood bulldogs). the other toys were mainly random ones we actually found.
anyway $$ later we have refreshed the dog bowls (on sale double walled aluminium), a kong squeeky fabric fish which in my mind has a similar texture to dh shoes, and a spiky clear softish plastic squeeky bone that seems ideal for his gums!

Hurley® Dog Bone | Dog Bone Toy | West Paw
this thing is great, soft but firm, chewy but doesn't break down.

Maggie is a toy destroyer - she is costing me a fortune. Thankfully she doesn’t chew any furniture or things like slippers or shoes, but toys and anything left lying around is fair game and she will kill all soft toys (even ones sold as tough for strong chewers) in minutes. Last night she pulled the corner of a blanket which covers her crate into the crate and has shredded the entire thing, god knows how much wool she has ingested. 🤷‍♀️ my plan over Easter is to make her some knotty ropes out of old clothes. She is clearly just going to destroy everything she is given but they are so expensive. She crunches tennis balls like apples.

I also am going to get her an olive tree root which I’ve been told are excellent, - and maybe something else if anyone can recommend, I am worried about bone splinters but I think I need to be brave and allow her something like an ostrich bone? She’s nearly 8 months old now so maybe better able to gnaw safely.

does this chewing ever calm down or have I destined myself to live with this shredding machine until my whole house and everything in it is turned to dust?!

Our 3 year old will still destroy toys but maybe not at the first opportunity these days. The toys without stuffing seem to last the best. We have a couple of kong scrunch knots toys which are more or less still in one piece.

Chuckit ultra balls are really durable. Expensive compared to tennis balls but last well and and withstand chomping.

Ostrich bones/knuckles are great.

I can't remember your home circumstances, sorry should have read back before writing this, but anyway...

My little whippet/IG pup, now 13 weeks, seems calmer now she's just with me, all guests having left.
She's also sleeping loads more, I think she was so overexcited with young guests in her first weeks here. I didn't plan it that way, they just descended on me. 😆

She definitely looked devilish and really aggressive at times when I had my young adult daughter and her boyfriend here and, like yours, would bark which I think is saying "c'mon, play with me!" Her teeth would be bared, looking like a piranha and fast as lightning. I noticed she did the barking more at males (my young adult son came to stay after my daughter left, so she's not had much peace). She would do 'parcour' around the furniture and pounce on them, and they would squeal and laugh and say they didn't mind her biting them.
Would they stand up and ignore her? No. It was hard.

I've forgotten your circumstances, but I fully empathise, also think your pup will outgrow it given time.

My own strategy has been to have a toy (or 10!) always close by, to throw a little away from me or put in her mouth, and if she managed to grab me in the process I would prise her off, stand up tall and turn my back. In silence for about 5 seconds. Sometimes I didn't sit for long at all, but that's supposed to be good for us, right!?

The barking, again I turned away and ignored, and she doesn't now do it to me.
Also thick gloves can be useful!
I do a bit of play and basic training with her, but on my terms.

Best wishes x

@Cavalierchaos puppy is experimenting. It would be very unusual for a 10 week puppy to be genuinely aggressive. They are like raptors.

Thank you all, I was very unnerved yesterday. Hopefully he was just playing...

@Ginfox a late reply from me but I agree with Lougle, I'd go right back to basics and start closing the door so there is a clear distinction between inside and outside. Take pup out every hour initially, especially after meals, games and waking up from naps. It sounds extreme but when I was younger we had a lab who was terrible for eating her own poo, we muzzled her when she went out to the toilet. I'd be considering this if pup is bringing poo into the house.

Pup had her follow up with the vet yesterday, the vet felt there was a noticeable improvement in her gait after two weeks of meds. She's definitely a bit less reactive too. So the next step is referral to an orthopaedic vet for x-rays. Thank goodness for insurance!! I'm glad we picked Waggel because we won't be able to change now

@Cavalierchaos aggressive barking will be accompanied by aggressive body language - stiff body, raised hackles, stiff raised tail, staring/white of eyes, baring teeth, air snapping etc. It sound like pup isn't doing those things?

Quick food question. BooDog often seems hungry. He has 3 meals a day, we're going by the feeding guide (but not religiously) but some days he barks loudly as though he wants food earlier than normal, or is still hungry after a meal. He is a quick eater - even with scatter feeding - and I think he'd probably just keep eating until he explodes. How do I know which is genuinely hungry & which is just trying it on?

@BackToLurk I'd look at his body condition. If he looks thin, he's hungry and needs more. If he looks right, he's hungry but doesn't need more. If he looks fat, he's greedy 😁 Could you give him a carrot instead of more food, or something to chew?

We're really mean. Hazel very rarely get her food without working for it.