Puppy Survival Thread for New & Old Pups - Soon be Autumn 2024

[BrodiePup]

Setting the ball rolling on a new thread as the last one has reached 1k 😊.

Brodie had his first proper bath today...
I don't think he was overly impressed!

He'll be 6 months old on Tuesday. I can't believe how the time has passed, or how far along we've come.

To everyone who is struggling at the moment, stick with it, it really does get easier.

Hello @Tinkpod - that must be really hard, you must be struggling with guilt as well as probably resenting your partner a bit for finding the dog so easy! Do you think the problem is just that the retriever is a puppy and puppies are sort of arseholes? Or are you being left with a lot of the work for a dog you didn't entirely want? Or that she's not your heart dog and you're still grieving for him? How old is your puppy?

My pup is four months old and there is no way I could do anything advanced with him like obedience training right now; he is very trainable but he's four months old so has the attention span of a sausage. Perhaps you could set yourself a goal of finding one thing that you like about the puppy every day. There is a training idea too that you just set aside 30 treats and capture behaviour that you like - that might help both with training and helping you find things to like about her.

I do wish you the best of luck. It was pretty brave to post that here and I bet you've been desperate to say it out loud.

@Tinkpod my puppy is a golden retriever. He's 14 weeks today. I've been a bit quiet because there was a question over his heart. All good now.

This is my first dog so I've no idea what's normal but there are definitely times during the day where he's sensible enough to train. He's a big goof though and walking him is a struggle

@BrodiePup
You have jinxed me 🫢
In the last week Milo has pulled beyond belief to point he's been yanking me down through street 😳😬
We got him the halti harness and halti double ended training lead yesterday because I have ICU related neuropathy and it's especially bad in my hands as well as a spinal cord injury affecting my fingers - he ripped his head out of my hand yesterday and it caught on the worst finger - my little one. So so so painful. I hated him yesterday.
It made 50% difference on the first walk so I'm hopeful :-)
Are you having a better day ?

@bupster Thankyou for being kind, I nearly didn't post as I feel so awful about it, she is four and a half months old, I think it's a bit of all the reasons you've stated plus I just don't like her type of personality I guess, I had her housetrained within two days of getting her, and she sits, lies down to command etc when she's paying attention and goes on the lead well and we are working on her recall, i do pull her up on her obedience, i was taught dog handling by one of the head police dog trainer/instructors at the police dog training centre at keston, i did one to one handling lessons with him and had my German shepherd trained so well, but it was so much more enjoyable as i loved my boy so much, I just don't click with her I guess, and sharing space with something you don't click with and have to keep cleaning up and tidying up after just builds resentment. Then I feel awful when I watch her and my daughter play as she is so tolerant and gentle, and my feral toddler really loves her. Plus I'm sick sick sick to the back teeth of her shredding, chewing and destroying stuff, especially as I know it's not boredom as she is always on the go around us and has an exceptionally large area to play about in, she's a very lucky pup compared to most as we have a couple hundred acres here and she has access to it all. We crate her at night which she isn't too happy about but that's just tough as she can't be trusted alone for any amount of time. I just find myself wishing her to be a quiet fat old retriever who spends most of her day sleeping, which leaves me dreading the next few years of being stuck with a young dog I just don't click with

Oh @Tinkpod , you sound very tired, and almost like the pup is a guest you didn't invite that's overstaying their welcome. Puppies are exhausting at the best of times, let alone when it wasn't your idea and everyone else adores her.

I've never had a dog before but I can imagine trying to take on one that isn't my current pup and finding they didn't measure up at all in any way. I adore my pup even though he's a pain in the arse, and no other puppy would be quite good enough. I think all you can do is take them as they are - not a replacement for your old dog, and never the same.

Can you find stuff that is different from your old dog that you like? You mention her patience with kids. She's a very trainable breed, but not for the kind of high-drive stuff your old dog could do; but maybe with your experience you could get her started with basic retrieving ready for gundog or assistance dog training?

She's probably in lots of pain from her teeth, and needs your constant affection and attention all the time, which is exhausting. But maybe the more you engage the more you'll find things that you and she can bond over? It'll be a different bond, but she'll be an old fat retriever before you know it. I do hope you find a way to like her - it's going to be so hard for both of you otherwise x

Milo is 13kgs,
Does his body condition look good/ok?
He is so strong and is all chest.
I don't know if I'm irrational with this thought but does anyone get annoyed when they see seriously overweight dogs especially working breeds or when people make excuses that they are just "chubby" or "greedy"?

@CaptainBeanThief he looks spotless to me. What a gorgeous dog.

Thanks @Bupster
How's your pup doing
X

Little hooligan is doing brilliantly on most fronts but obviously I'm only focusing on the bad. I took a couple of days off putting him in the car but we're back on it now, at least once a day. We've got as far as him letting me get in the front seat; he's not impressed, but not whining and barking yet. So slow but steady progress.

It's really hard doing this on your own though. Every day I come up with something else that I think I've got terribly wrong - today it's the fact that he only naps if he can be near me and I'm sat relatively still. I've no idea if that's normal for puppies or if everyone else's has been taking themselves off to their crates on their own since they were ten weeks old. I got paranoid about separation anxiety last week, but I've actually managed to leave him alone in the house for one minute and 50 seconds watching him on video - he's so far utterly unbothered so fingers crossed I've not wrecked him by being at home with him all the time. Thing is, I want to be with him all the time as well. So it's my neediness and anxiety probably more than his, and he's a perfectly confident, robust little monster. ARG. I wish they came with a manual.

@Bupster With our oldest we were at home with her pretty much all the time until she was probably about 9 months or so. Didn't cause any issues re: separation anxiety.

4 month old Roman spent yesterday afternoon trying to get on the sofa where he isn't allowed. I spent a couple of hours putting him back on the floor/his bed.

Left him alone for the first time (he's 4 months) feeling upset driving away imagining him pining for me, maybe even crying a little.

My son came home 10 minutes later, sent me a photo of the puppy contentedly snoozing on the sofa. I bet the little sod jumped up there the second I shut the front door.

Hi @Tinkpod you really sound like you're struggling at the moment and I really feel for you.
All I can say is we chose Brodie at 3 weeks old, from that point to picking him up at 11.5 weeks, every update/photo we got of him a little voice in my head was telling me to stop it happening. My husband was already besotted, full of plans for our wonderful future together.
We had a 2 hour drive home, I sat in the back with a gorgeous puppy thinking that I really didn't want him. How shit is that?
He is the sweetest natured dog you could wish to meet, he hasn't chewed or destroyed anything, was never bitey or nippy. Slept through from day one, no separation anxiety, the perfect puppy in many ways, but like yourself I just couldn't connect with him. I'm a quiet reserved person, I can't deal with chaos and hysteria. Brodie is 100% spaniel with bells on...we're a total personality clash.
At first I wanted to return him to the breeder. Then I would've rehomed him if I could find someone nice. Then I would've rehomed him with perfect gun dog types who own a farm and would give him the perfect life. Now I would rehome him with the absolute best people in the world who would hand feed him freshly peeled prawns and quite possibly they wouldn't be good enough to take him...so after 6 months I would say a bond is growing, but if I could turn the clock back would I still get him? It's still doubtful, but I have hope that we will get there.
Stick with your pup, see the joy she brings your daughter and picture them growing up together.
Good luck, and don't beat yourself up for feeling this way x

@CaptainBeanThief Milo looks perfect to me. Brodie is 12kg of solid muscle at the moment, I'm not sure how much more he'll grow, he might get to 15kg.

Sorry about the pulling, blame Brodie for messaging Milo telling him how much fun it is 🤣
Joking apart, it really isn't fun, and must be even worse for you. I hope the harness helps, keep me posted.

@Twiglets1 that is so funny. They are little buggers!

I have been trying to do some heel training with V but he's just a nutcase. He has good engagement and eye contact with me but he just jumps up and goes mad when he knows I have a treat in my hand. I have been trying to do the 'lure' training with him ever since we got him but he's always done the same jumping, snapping, going crazy thing and every video I watch the puppies just calmly follow the food in the hand whilst sniffing it which is the opposite of what he does.

I've watched a few videos from trainers who don't use food rewards at all but I just can't get my head around it. One said he gets the dog into position by just snapping his fingers by his left leg and then gives a positive verbal cue when they follow but Vinny is absolutely not interested in my fingers snapping. I don't know how to do it!

If anyone has any advice or can link me to any other good videos I can watch that would be great 🤞🏻

Roman does everything for food @YorkshireFelix

He’s like a doggy supermodel that won’t get out of bed for less than a piece of kibble.

@Twiglets1 he will sit for food but I don't know how to get him to walk by my side for it. He either just sits and looks at me or follows but is jumping up and biting the crap out of me

Roman will walk by our side for a piece of kibble. But once he has eaten it he sits down and looks at us expecting the next piece. The only thing I’m confident about re training is that we’ve gone wrong somewhere.

@CaptainBeanThief Has he got a discernible waist, if you look at him from above? Ours is 12kg and slight and lean but a bitch, and deemed a perfect weight by the vet so unless he’s particularly short, 13kg sounds great – I’ve met huge 18/19kg cocker boys!

And yes, I can’t bear it when I see tubby spaniels as there’s just no need. There’s one that walks near us and I feel sorry for her every time I see her. She’s not exactly fat, but she has no shape whatsoever.

@YorkshireFelix Engagement and eye contact is a good start! You can reward him just for looking at you, provided he’ll receive a treat nicely without ragging your hand off! That’s an easy win for him, and a key step which can be built on over and over.

Just some thoughts here – am v much not a trainer and all self-taught but if it was my dog I think this is what I’d do (and I think this is what I did!)

If he won’t walk next to you for a treat without savaging you, have you gone a step too far too soon? First things first, he needs to learn to sit nicely next to you in the heel position (if that’s what you want him to do). Once he’s got that and he isn’t attacking you (!) then you could add in a little shuffle forward, rather than step forward per se, so he’s travelling with you but dead slow. So it would go: shuffle, stop, pip on whistle, ask for sit, mark (my word is ‘yes!’), treat and praise. If the whistle is too much then skip that but while you’re teaching the auto-sit, which is what that is, ideally – that when you stop he stops – it’s a good opportunity to work towards him sitting on one pip, if you’re keen to (eventually) work on the stop whistle.

Then, when he’s got that you stopping when he’s next to you means sit, and that sitting next to you is the right position, then you can move it on. It’s hard from afar without seeing what he’s doing!

(Hopefully some of that is faintly helpful!)

Re videos, this probably isn’t quite what you had in mind but the girl who runs this lovely Instagram account, Sunny, who I know slightly, has been doing little updates with her springer pup – look on the ‘Aila starts’ highlight. You might find those useful just to watch someone else doing it, if you know what I mean. I don’t think she’s done any tutorials as such but her pup is 21 odd weeks now and her heelwork is amazing for such a little one. She’s got another spaniel too who she has chronicled her journey with. She’s a really good follow if you’ve got Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/thorpecreekspaniels/

Milo’s body condition looks excellent @CaptainBeanThief

@brushingboots very helpful thank you! You always explain things so clearly.

That's pretty much what I had been trying to do and he will sit and take a treat but never in the position he needs to be. But he just sits and looks at me and I don't know how to actually get him into the heel position to start off with, if that makes sense. If I try and lure him into position with the treat he just doesn't get it and goes crazy. If by some fluke he is at my heel and I move, he just stays sat there like a statue even if I encourage him to move. I'll keep trying with it! I say 'yes' and praise him every time he makes eye contact with me so will keep doing that too.

We did a short burst of recall training using 3 pips on the whistle like you suggested after it arrived yesterday and he responded really well, so at least that's something

@brushingboots also I follow her on TikTok!! I found her after seeing a video of her introducing a slip lead to Aila. She is brilliant!

@brushingboots well we just tried again and he somehow managed to do it really well! Thank you so much for your advice!! I couldn't manage the whistle when he sat as it was too much to do at once but I'll try and include it eventually

@YorkshireFelix Hooray, well done! You're so welcome. No rush at all with the whistle – but glad to hear you're having some joy with it for recall! It's so rewarding when they get it, isn't it?!

I'm a big fan of Sunny – glad you've already found her! Aila makes me want another puppy but I know it's too soon.

one thing I found useful with Libi, when she was at a snatching treats stage, was to get a tube of training liver paste. Arden Grange. It was really useful as you can stick the end down to them and squeeze it giving rewards when they get the position right. I bought a case of tubes, but only needed to use a couple! I now keep an unopened tube in most of my dog walking jackets/treat bags "just in case".

you just need to be careful not to give too much as it can give them the squits - as I found out after I used a whole tube on a train trip up to see my sister and took the pup.......💩💩💩💩💩 fortunately NOT on the train 😱

My trainer, BTW, doesn't advocate giving treats for toileting - even in the right place - she says the dog will then start "offering" that behaviour to you in order to get a treat, no matter where they are. Just praise and the words "good toilet" or "yes".

As for when to take them out - controversial, but our Vet when we lived in London said he thought there was more danger from poor socialisation than from disease in central London and advised taking out after the first jab. Now that was 40 yrs ago, and I'm now rural, but I know the breeder of my pup, and many of the other owners, were taking them out early so I did too. I have 3 other dogs who are walked and would have been traipsing viruses in and out anyway. Ultimately it's all about risk assessment. (damned if you do damned if you don't!)