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

@BackToLurk Love Boo dog's 'super hard concentrating face'. Sorry you've had a bad day. He looks pretty well trained to me!

@Cavalierchaos if you'd asked me if you'd made a mistake getting puppy a few months ago, when mine was 3 months old I might have quietly agreed with you. Now that my puppy is 6 months old I'd say no, from the limited info I know, and in my limited experience, I don't think you've made a mistake. I think all you want from a dog is realistic. I want all those things and more from my dog too. A few I have now, the rest I definately don't have yet but hope to have with my dog in future. I think it's very likely that in a few months we'll be able to gradually start ticking off more and more of the things on the list. I reckon puppies are a bit like children. In many ways we're responsible for giving to them in their early 'childhood', when they've got little to no responsibility for giving to us (yet they undeniably do in abundance). As they grow older, puppies become more capable of understanding us and giving us more back. I think in the early weeks of having a puppy, the main thing they give us is gracing us with their soft, warm, beautiful presence (albeit with sharp teeth). Sometimes that's more than enough. You've mentioned your pup is sometimes lovely, sleepy and calm. Those were some of the best times I had with Water Dog in his early weeks with me. I still cherish those moments now, with him snuggling in for comfort. What with that and the exhaustion I'd rarely slept better in my life! In my lowest moments with Water Pup I wondered if I should have gotten a smaller gentler dog like a Cavalier. Yours looks beautiful. I've no doubt he's as wild at times as you describe though (just like mine)! Now, I feel with absolute certainty Water Pup is the only dog for me. Ask me again in a few months when he's deep in teenagerdom though! I hope things settle down soon. You're not alone in the armagedon puppies bring. Puppies have a real talent for finding / making mischief, that's for sure. On the other hand, there's a quote I like: puppies have a way of finding the people who need them x

Thank you. He's been ok today. Managed to get into the yard for a play in-between rain showers! Here he is, in a rare calm moment.

@cavalierchaos, he is absolutely beautiful. What a handsome puppy he is. He looks like he'll be a stunningly handsome adult dog. I bet he'll grow up to be the dog you dreamed of temperament wise too. Good to hear he's been OK today, long may it continue :-) No doubt there'll be many more ups and downs on this crazy roller coaster puppy ride for all of us x

lovely photo @Cavalierchaos i've been watching the clock for you Fin had 2hrs 55 min of solid manic activity before he crashed. neither his meal break or trips out to potty stopped or slowed down the frantic urge to chew, run and trash about. i was grateful for the older two who did a commendable job of tolerating his boisterousness. but i did rescue the old seniors on several occasions to attempt to give them a break (with limited success as they thought fin might be getting special treatment).
tomorrow i'll take note if these periods happen once or twice or heaven forbid three times a day :(.

I’ve had large dogs (often several at once) for 40-years. In my experience, it’s not good to always leave a youngster alone when eating. With all my pups (from very young), I have always handled their food and treats whilst they have them. I start by putting a bit of extra food in their bowl whilst they are eating. Moved on to moving the bowl to do that, then picking up the bowl to add food sometimes (not always), then giving it straight back. The addition of more food most of the time, means it’s never been stressful for them. I will also remove a treat for a moment and then give it back with lots of praise. I think it’s important to be able to remove food from your dog without it triggering aggression. This doesn’t stop resource guarding with other dogs though. Most will do it to a greater or lesser extent, others don’t.

@Waterwaves
Thank you so much for your empathic and considered responses. I'm 3 months behind you, and also my home environment hasn't been the most calm and stable since Fernpup arrived, with the adult kids descending and making it all exciting. She's also had to contend with a couple of days back at her breeders with her mum and brother, with the 45 minute journeys and changes that entails. (Arranged before getting her, the alternative being waiting to bring her home until she would have been 15 weeks)
My positive brain says she'll be fine, I couldn't call her a 'velcro' dog as she doesn't follow me everywhere, I always close the door and pop out to the loo etc, flitting really, and she'll either stay asleep, sit and look, or just be chewing something.
I look forward to this thread, thanks to Lougle for starting it and for everybody else for keeping it going!
Recent pic of her chilling next to me on the sofa (wearing a jumper as we'd been for a walk in the wind) Shameless! 😆

@Cavalierchaos
Your reasons are the same as mine, and yes you can go for a walk without a dog, but I have so many happy memories of walking my previous pair, for me it's the fact that they enjoy it so much it makes me feel good too! A walk without a dog to me can rather drag, unless it's somewhere totally gorgeous and the best weather!

When I had my previous pair of whippet crosses 17 years ago, I also had children, so the pups' puppyhood was not the main focus, also they were later in the year (very easy for toilet training) and all the biting and madness happened between them, then they would just crash out. But I do recall we couldn't let them anywhere but the kitchen for a few years as they would go on the rampage with stuff that was important to the children!

Roll forward to now and Fern is currently my main focus and I'm really feeling the weight of responsibility so hugely.
Keep going, and send photos of the lovely times! But you know if you do decide it's too much, it's not a crime, he'll be fine in the end if you just make sure of where he's going. He looks gorgeous. 😍

@CurlsnSunshinetime4tea my goodness that is a long time for him to be manic! My puppy doesn't do it for quite as long but several times a day instead!

Gah he fell asleep in my arms before so I enjoyed it for a bit before putting him in the crate, and now I can hear him chewing away in the crate. Just fall asleep pllllleeeaaase!
Pick from this morning as he was getting sleepy...

@Yllasin
Totally agree, we walk my partner's parents Labrador and I love it, love seeing how much he enjoys it. I feel like it gives such a purpose to the walk. I'd been dreaming of all the different places I'd be able to take my pup to, but that seems so far off now😞

Thanks @Lougle and @Waterwaves I was feeling very sensitive last night. BooDog has the tendency to be very overenthusiastic around new dogs and people (I even started a thread on it) so ironically on his walk we'd been working on ignoring all the distractions and keeping on walking. He was doing pretty well. Anyway I have filed numptie under 'unneeded advice' 😀

old airedale got pushed off a back woods trail by two boisterous dogs and belly rolled down a 20ft embankment landing in a clump of trees...
i though he was dead :( or certainly broke his very fragile looking hips.
he pulled himself up and made it home.
i had some leftover gabapentin from his dental surgery 6 months ago and dosed him with one (easier to get the capsule in him than the metacam).
fingers crossed no internal bleeding etc etc etc.

Oh how scary @CurlsnSunshinetime4tea . How is he now?

I had a heart in mouth moment earlier. Next door's dog barks incessantly at my dogs. They do a pretty good job of ignoring, but after a while, bark back. They have a 6ft fence their side, which is only about 4.5ft our side. Then there is a hedge that is a bit sparse at that point. Big dog put his paws up against the hedge to bark back, and Hazel decided to join in, but jumped up. Her front paws went over the hedge, and she started scrabbling for purchase. She was very nearly over the fence in to their garden. It wouldn't have gone well and she would have been hurt. Fortunately DD2 was able to lift her off the top of the hedge and bring her back to safety. We've put a couple of metal sheets up on our side until we can extend the 6ft chain link fence on our side.

I have a confession from today and I feel really guilty about it. So I've been following the 1 hour up, 2 hours down rule, but the puppy has just been so bitey and crazy that I've been putting him back in the crate after 30 minutes. He has not cried and I always give him a lickimat to do in there. I just worry that being the crate so much will hinder his development... As I said, he hasn't cried or anything so I know he's calm in there...

If he isn't crying surely he's ok? I haven't got far at all with shutting the crate, I've only done it when she had a lovely chicken foot to chew and because I had an older visitor who didn't need a puppy getting overexcited around her!
I reckon you've done well.

I had a weird late evening, there were loads of snails outside and she got obsessed with them. It was like a race to see who would get to them first, I didn't want her having them in her mouth. 😝
She got really bitey with me and took quite a while to settle.
So that's me in a war on slimey things, and Fern on a lead for last toilet. 😆

@CurlsnSunshinetime4tea
Hope your oldie is ok
Just the sort of incident that worries me.

@Lougle

Glad Hazel is ok (my daughter's name too by the way!) What a worry.

Fern runs indoors every time my neighbour is outside with her dogs, it's always a massive shouting , barking and snarling session. Noisy people, noisy dogs it seems.

@Yllasin @Lougle i'm surprised how much he is moving and how quickly he is getting up from laying down. at this point he is doing a heck of a lot better than i would have expected from the massive tumble.
no change in appetite and i've not checked for urine color or stool yet but plan to pay attention with tonight's walk (not in the bush just around the city block so urine color should be easy enough to notice, although he doesn't always have a bm in the evening).
the two bigger dogs; one looks like a giant schnauzer but isn't he's a french ?? but a solid big fellow. the other was a black lab cross and they were just growling greeting jumping asserting themselves and my two were innocent bystanders with the airedale body checked into the abyss all i could do was scream he's 13 years old...the fellow on a bike owner of the big black dog (who refused to get off his bike on the trail) asked if he could help (he's a neighbor about 10 houses away) i told him to get going since his dog had the best recall of the lot. the two young people with the labx and a little frenchie both on leads needed to get out of the way and get going as well 4 humans and 5 dogs on what is not much more than a deer trail was awkward.
@Cavalierchaos you are still getting to know your pup and figure out what is best for your family. play it by ear for now. i'm not familiar with the breed. i take it your concerned about him being overstimulated?

@CurlsnSunshinetime4tea
"the other was a black lab cross"

I'm in rural South East England and labs and their crosses are so popular round here. Many of them are great and well trained, but with those not under control their weight and exuberance can be a real nuisance. My 2 previous small lurchers were bowled over out of the blue as pups and were ever after wary around that type of dog.
Another made my children cry because it snatched my rucksack and ate the doughnuts!

@Lougle I hope you can get the fence sorted quickly, what a worry. My big dog has never shown an interest in jumping fences but pup seems to have a real taste for it now. While we're out walking she gets a run up and over she goes, a 4ft fence is easily cleared. We've got 6ft all around the back garden. We're also having some issues with barking from next door, they ignore it for ages but will eventually bark back so I have to bring them in at that point. I'm not sure how to handle it, but I'm thinking I might have to keep the doors shut all summer!

@Yllasin I have to agree there, pup is my first "nervous" dog that doesn't like to be approached by unfamiliar dogs. We avoid busy places but still have had a few instances where an out of control dog has run over and then not backed off when pup is barking, and not gone back to its owner when called. Each time it's been a lab, they are just so sociable and it's certainly excitement rather than aggression but pup is freaked out regardless.

Birthday Girl, 1 today. How time flies

Ah Happy Birthday!!

happy doggy birthday @tizwozliz , the well loved stuffy cupcake looks perfect for the occasion.

Happy birthday TizPup!!

Here's the birthday girl enjoying her ostrich bone.

Pups clashed heads on our walk today, little one bit her tongue and had a mouthful of blood, older one cut her head. Both entirely unbothered.