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.

oh wow @Tangomango1 what a little cutie.

He looks adorable ...but that's how they reel you in

Milo would have gone insane at that age if I stuck to that mental rule.
I obviously didn't take him on massive hikes and then mile walks but I did let him have 20 minute walks and lots of indoor stimulation.
Some dogs may be ok with the "5" minute rule but can you imagine a WCS having 20 minute exercise ONLY in one day 😑

No I can't or a little Lab either.

I believe that rule is discredited now but of course we use our common sense re not exhausting our pups

I like to think of it as 5 minutes guidance rather than a rule.

We roughly followed it but not rigidly, so at 14 weeks we were probably going out for half an hour twice a day but doing a bit of training/lead walking/sitting and observing the world so only covering the distance you'd cover if doing a 15/20 min walk if that makes sense. Then if we did a bit more one day we might do a bit less the next.

I think some people would just try and walk their dogs to exhaustion if not for the guidance when actually less physical exercise and more brain work is beneficial.

We keep going over and over this one too @YorkshireFelix , it is perplexing.
How can a 14 week old Irish Wolfhound have exactly the same exercise needs as a 14 week old teacup Yorkie? I don't get it.

But then do we also factor in off lead/free running? Because Brie won't be getting that so it is almost all gentle walks on the lead for us. I honestly don't think there is a scientific formula aside from start small and gradually build up,

Obviously another cocker owner is the best person to answer you properly but to me the guideline thing is total crap.

Breezy is 6 months old next week and we're on about 15/20 minutes early morning, longer walk late afternoon (30-45 minutes) then another 15/20 before bed.

Oi! @CaptainBeanThief & @AubrieDog
I thought you were my friends? 🤣
Brodie pup is a model citizen I'll have you know! Honestly, he's been so good this week I almost feel like we've brought the wrong dog with us. We met up with the people who bred him today, they said we must be doing something right because he's far better trained than a couple of his siblings (polishes halo)

@Tangomango1 Eddie is fab! He's got a paw print on his nose! 🐾

@YorkshireFelix I only loosely stuck to the 5 minute rule, you can usually tell when they've had enough. Just use your common sense. Exciting times 😀

@YorkshireFelix I asked on the DTAS puppy group and the trainer there said it's kind of bollocks, and not based on any research, but at the same time quite useful as it dissuades people from sticking tiny puppies on leads and dragging them on long walks on tarmac for hours

Ah brill, thanks everyone for replying! I took him out for about 15 mins this morning and another 15 this aft, then 5 minutes to collect dd from school (she wanted to show him off!). I took him out this afternoon as he kept sitting and looking at his harness and lead. I am such a soft touch 😂

My new found freedom means we can do a little walk down by the canal or the river from Monday onwards which I can't wait for!

He's been brilliant today so I am very happy after his horrible day earlier in the week.

Before and after...
12 weeks and nearly 7 months

On a different note, would anyone like to buy a puppy? I'll sell him for a fiver and I'll throw in a bag of cheesy wotsits. And gin. No, I need the gin.

I thought I was being clever taking him for a long lunchtime walk yesterday as well as his sniffy walk in the morning and the dogpark for play at 5pm. He fell asleep at 6ish, and I thought: result!

The little bollox has now been awake on and off since 8pm last night, when he began disabusing me of my smugness with a monumental two hour fit of the barky zoomies. He woke me up at 3am for a giant poo. He will not nap. He is currently yawning so much his head is nearly falling off but he wants to go up to the dog park and has done since 3pm. Today is a work day, I've not slept properly (see 3am poo the size of the bloody puppy), and every time I attempt to sit down - including on the loo - he tries for the most disruptive, loud and preferably dangerous way of getting my attention. I mean, some of it was funny - I gave him some meat juices in a plastic bowl earlier and he spent two hours carrying it around with him like a furry Oliver Twist - but he has now been yawning and whining for two hours and I'm exhausted and he is driving me INSANE.

[/vent]

I'm capitulating and taking him to the park. Obviously.

I'll just take the wotsits 😉

@Bupster Oh heck! The wotsits are tempting, but I see @CaptainBeanThief has already bagged them...
At the moment I can say with absolute certainty that I wouldn't take on another puppy for all the tea in China 🤣
Hope he settles down a bit after the dog park...good luck!

@Bupster Coincidentally, I'm selling my pup today as well. I'll chuck in some fake posh crisps from Aldi and a video tape of Belle and Sebastian as a bribe.

We went for a 30 minute walk across the fields.

I feel like I've spent two hours in the gym...masquerading as a punchbag.😩

Anyone want a Livestock Protection Dog? Very clean, low mileage, one careful lady owner...

@AubrieDog Hmmm let me think....erm....no ta 🤣

Maybe we should organise a puppy swap? We might all be grateful to get our own back after a few days 😊

True enough I guess @BrodiePup Would be an interesting social experiment though.

Yesterday's walk was lovely. Same route today was a masterclass in lead biting.

Anyone else have or had a lead biter?

Me!

@AubrieDog One thing he's never done 😇

@CaptainBeanThief How are you feeling? Have you been back to A&E?

So what do you do? @Twiglets1

When I correct her she thinks it's a game and does it all the more. She even tried it as we were crossing the road today...😱
Yesterday she hardly did it all, today almost an entire 30 minute walk was lead biting and boot biting.

Debating if I should shove a toy in her mouth on a walk but I suspect she'll just drop it and I'll end up carrying it (tho' not in my mouth, obviously...😬)
Treats doesn't work, we've tried - she either scoffs the treat and then goes straight back to biting or if you withhold the treat she just ignores it and goes back to biting.

Why do puppies regress? We went from making progress to total idiocy in the last three days 😒

@AubrieDog It is frustrating, as soon as you think you're getting somewhere, they seem to regress. With any luck Brie will be as good as gold tomorrow.

I'm dreading next week, Brodie is being so good he's a pleasure to be around. I'm wondering what will happen when we're back to normal and my husband is working...and I'm back to being on the other end of his lead...gulp! 😱

aww @Tangomango1 he is beautiful 😍
@YorkshireFelix i've never stuck to the 5 minute rule, Max would have been bouncing off the walls still 😂 At 6 and a half months now he needs a good hour twice a day, we do some walking, lead training, sniff games, socialising with other dogs he's made friends with in the park and general training like focus, come, stay etc not all on one walk, we do different each walk.
@BrodiePup he's such a pretty pup 😍 I love his tuffty hairdo!!!
Max was surprisingly very good on his walks today, i'm sure it will have been a fluke and we'll be back to not listening tomorrow. Oh and he brought me a present on our morning walk, a dead pigeon 🤢 it wad great fun trying to get it off him without having to touch the manky thing. fun times haha

@AubrieDog what I do when he bites the lead is hold it a lot lower down so the lead is short & nothing really for him to bite. Then I lengthen it again when he is walking nicely.

Thanks @Twiglets1 I'll give that a go.

With any luck she'll grow out of doing it fairly soon.

Yes, I do think it’s mainly a puppy thing as I don’t remember my old dog doing it once he was mature ( that took a while though!)

@BrodiePup
The then and now photos of your lovely boy are just gorgeous, Baby Brodie looks so very serious but by 7 months he's broodingly Byronic 😍
Handsome pup.

I'm sure Algy did it too as a pup but nowhere near as much as Brie does. Todays walk was hard work.