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.

@LibisMum ah yes we've had a tube of the Arden Grange pate and he loved it. I want to buy some more but the postage cost from their website has been putting me off. They sell it at our vets though so I'm going to pick some more up when we are there on Monday. That's a really good tip, thank you!

@YorkshireFelix @LibisMum completely agree about Arden Grange – similarly would recommend Primula cheese in the tube from the supermarket! I used this for recall for ages and it was magic as it closes up properly and doesn't make your pocket all minging. Love the Arden Grange pastes but as they come in a metal tube they can get a bit spiky when nearing end of life.

Ok, so I don't totally dislike my boy today
Mainly because I have palmed had help off my husband today.

Here is a picture of my beautiful boy who I love. 😍

Sitting so nicely!

My puppy always has “victim face” in the car.

@CaptainBeanThief Milo is a very handsome chap.

I've also palmed the Brodie pup onto the husband...what am I talking about? He's his dog anyway! Husband has taken over more of the walking and much as I hate to say it (I'm relieved really) there are already signs of improvement. We're both all for force free training, but I'm way too wishy washy and soft, and the husband believes in a proper "no" if Brodie deserves one...watch this space...

I've also started playing Vito's game with Brodie and he's coming along really well with it. I've already got the bin a couple of feet away from me and he's stepping over an obstacle. Google it if you're interested, I'm not sure what it ultimately achieves but it passes the time and Brodie enjoys it.

I also can't recommend ostrich bones highly enough. Pure doggy pleasure for the time you let them have it...and poo perfection afterwards 🤣. They're quite expensive but they last for ages.

He looks like one of them spaniels who have one of the snobby spaniel owners that I slag off to death on here that rock up in land rovers and and look down their noses at other spaniel owners 😂😂😂
I'm relieved to have done fuck all today with Milo but to be honest I am TIRED. It's relentless,
We should point our husband's to camp in the Yorkshire moors together for a month with both dogs and go on a cruise ( me and you 😂)

I cut the Arden grange tubes open when they're getting difficult to squeeze more out of. There's always loads left inside and I mix it with warm water and use it as a broth over kibble or freeze as ice cubes.

Be sure to keep them out of reach though, my older pup ate one, metal tube and all! Luckily no harm done, just woke us up vomiting bits of metal tube in the early hours.

He is very regal @CaptainBeanThief

@CaptainBeanThief
Case packed and ready to go 😊

Can I join you all? This is Lottie who joined me just over a week ago and is nearly 11 weeks old. I am doing this by myself (my husband died earlier this year) and I have never had a dog before. Doesn’t sound a great idea when I see it written down like that but I’m really hoping it will come good. I think I’m in the middle of new puppy blues right now. It’s relentless by yourself and she is so bitey (and snappy which I’ve been told isn’t normal) that I am now feeling a bit wary of her which isn’t good and is stopping me really bonding with her. She can be lovely though especially when she listens and is calm. I also worry about seasoned dog owners judging me, but every dog owner has a first dog at some point so please be kind!

@Waxlyrically is she a golden? She looks like it but I'm looking on my phone and the sun is too bright to see properly!

Don't worry about feeling like you can't bond with her. Honestly, it takes time to bond with any dog - my youngest is 18 months now and I've only just started to feel true 'love' for him - and particularly puppies because they are bitey! As someone who grew up with GSDs and Flat Coats and owned Spaniels as an adult...the Retrievers (Golden and Flat Coat) have been the most loyal and companionable dog out of all of them. They truly just want to be your best friend and I don't think you made a bad choice or decision to get a dog - it can give you something to focus on - in you circumstances. I am sorry for your loss though.

If she is a Golden...Goldens are bitey and snappy - so whoever told you that is not normal is an idiot. The number of people who bought their golden puppies to me (I was a vet) over the years claiming it was aggressive...and it was just being a puppy. They do get little 'devil looks' on their faces, but that's just how puppies play when they are young. Labrador Retrievers are just as bad tbh...

I don't know if you saw your puppy interacting with her littermates, but trust me, she will have launched at them with teeth bared and mouth open trying to encourage play, and it will have looked like snapping. Remember up until now, her main source of play has been littermates. Play with humans is very different, but she doesn't know that yet. So you just need to re-direct her to toys etc (I know it's easier said than done).

Give it time. She will get better - promise.

And please don't worry that seasoned dog owners will judge. I thought about returning my youngest about 10x when he was about 13 weeks old because he was such a little git, and as I said before, I've had dogs my entire life (currently have five in my house!).

@Waxlyrically I'm sorry to hear about your DH

Lottie is gorgeous! But I can't imagine how hard work it is on your own. It is very difficult to even like our pups a lot of the time!! But you putting the work in means you'll have such an amazing companion eventually. You'll get there

Thank you both so much. I am trying to take it very easy with her today and just relax - hard though sometimes when you just want to get it right. @Killingoffmyflowersonebyone yes she is a goldie so I can’t begin to say how reassuring it is to hear that they are renowned for this as puppies but turn out ok. She is currently asleep on my feet and snoring; exhausted after zooming round the garden for 45 mins (is that where your user name comes from😁). I am making a big effort with sleep today as I think with all the visitors etc she has been getting over tired. How much sleep to play do everyones puppies have?

@Waxlyrically - Yep (see exhibit A, below)!

Goldens are really hard work as puppies (honestly, so much harder than any other breed I've had). The schedule for mine was: wake up, eat, be a massive idiot for an hour, sleep for 2-3 hours, eat, be a massive idiot for an hour, sleep 3-4hours, eat, be a massive idiot for two hours - and usually be told off by one of my older dogs - go to bed for the night. Wake up in the morning. Repeat.

At 11-16 weeks old, they do sleep anywhere between 16-18 hours a day! So they need surprisingly more sleep than you'd think. Don't forget, mental stimulation (learning commands etc) can also help tire them out.

She is beautiful though and in a few months you'll have the best friend and companion you could help to have😀

@Waxlyrically She is absolutely gorgeous 🥰 I was desperate for a golden when we got Brodie, but my husband wanted a WCS, so we decided to be 'sensible' and go for the smaller breed...don't get me started on that one...

I'm sorry for your loss, it can't have been an easy year, but I'm sure your new companion will eventually become your best friend.

Some great advice from @Killingoffmyflowersonebyone

Stay strong and have a break when you can. I'm still stunned at how incredibly hard work puppies are! Come on here for a rant anytime you need to, also post your wins; there will be plenty 😊

A golden would have been my second choice after a WCS! I love them. Our house is too small for one though.

Did some more walking to heel training this morning and V did so well again. He kept correcting himself into position on my left hand side which I was impressed with. It's very satisfying when he actually does something right instead of being completely wild...

@Waxlyrically I'm doing it by myself as well and it is really hard at times - it must be doubly so when you are processing so much already. I'm also a first time dog owner and spend at least half my waking hours obsessively reading about dogs and puppies and training and the other half trying to keep him occupied - work and life gets squeezed into the corners.

My little sod (half lab, half WCS) has never slept 18 hours in his life, at least not since he's come home. Until a few weeks ago a good day was awake two hours, then asleep 1.5 hours, rinse and repeat - except in the evening when he was a nutter, and overnight. So about six hours asleep in the day. Now he is awake from 6:30ish until 10:30ish, for a couple of hours at lunchtime, and from 5 till 8ish in the evening. Just so you know that puppies can have wildly varying sleep schedules, and not to worry if yours is having none of it when you try to put her down for 18 hours!

A lot of the biteyness is teething, and once I really understood that, things got a lot easier - I could look for the right replacements for my clothes and flesh to help the bits of his gums that were hurting. Sometimes that was ice cubes, frozen carrots, or Nylabones - other times it was random hard plastic things I had in the house, or proper dog chews. Whatever he needed. One of his puppy premolars came out today and I knew it was on the way because he's been trying to shove my old trainers right to the back of his mouth 😄

This is the nicest, kindest board I've found and you won't have anyone judging you here. Lots of pictures of your gorgeous girl, please. Goldens may be insane but they are very photogenic.

@Waxlyrically Welcome! Very sorry for your loss – I hope you are bearing up, albeit whilst being bitten to shreds. I have single-parented our cocker, as my other half worked away almost permanently until her first birthday, so I understand what it's like to do it on your own.

For us, biting meant sore teeth (hello cow/lamb/goat horns/antlers/wood chews/pizzles etc) but it was also a cry for help, her way of communicating that she was just so, so tired. I didn't use a crate but I did make judicious use of stair gates and separate rooms. When I look back at the notes I took when she was 12-20 weeks they're pretty depressing, things like: '3.45pm: she started biting so I had to leave'. And then I'd just leave the room and have a cry into my laptop for two hours because it had got too much. By contrast, she'd whine for 20 seconds and then conk out. So don't be hard on yourself: they all do it and you will get through it – the biting will end!

@Waxlyrically Lottie is beautiful but I can imagine she is much like my one golden retriever cross who has reduced me to tears on occasion.

No judgement here. I call the puppy we are raising the little beast. He is very hard work sometimes & seems almost feral. Other times he is just cute.

I’m sure you’re doing a great job but it is exhausting.

I forgot to answer your question about sleep to play ratio @Waxlyrically

It varies a lot from day to day ( mine is 16 weeks old). But he always has a nap of about an hour after exercise & is normally sleepy all evening from about 7pm so is happy to go to bed at 9.30.

Sometimes his behaviour is worst when he is tired.

Thank you all so much you’ve helped me out of a pit! Just hearing others are going through this and also doing it alone has made me feel better. I know where to come now on good and bad days. I’ve been pushing longer sleeps today which seems to have helped a bit - great for my exhaustion levels too!

Vinny is 12 weeks and sleeps a lot but does have the odd day where he refuses to. On a normal day it can be anywhere between 30 mins to 2 hours awake then an hour or so asleep and so on. I enforce naps in his crate and really does help when he's bitey. Sometimes he wakes up and still wants to bite the crap out of me though!!

Oh god V has now learnt how to jump on and off the sofa. I knew it was coming but it's SO annoying. We have a corner sofa and dd could sit right in the corner and he wouldn't be able to bite her but now the safe place is no more! I have been warning her he will be able to get up there at some point. I'm going to be spending my whole life putting him on the floor and saying 'off' now aren't I

I didn't even attempt that one, @YorkshireFelix . I decided to pick my battles, then threw out half of the battles I'd picked as well 😄I decided I liked him on the sofa nestled into me, and anything to help the little bugger nap. He used to reliably go down before 9am so I could get some work done - now it's half ten if I'm lucky and he's an over-tired barky toddler for the last half hour of that.

The biteyness is nearly over I promise. My monster is 19 weeks today and I can't actually remember the last time he nipped at me - I do remember that he bit me on the ear the same day that Trump got shot 🙄- though he does still bite me gently on the nose if I'm giving him belly rubs, which frankly is my own daft fault.

Another snoozly photo attached as puppy tax.

@YorkshireFelix Good luck with that one!
B was up on the sofa within days of us bringing him home. It was one of our plans not to allow it, but we soon gave up and bought lots of throws. We didn't have anyone needing a safe place though. It should be possible to keep him off if you stick to your guns.