Puppy Survival Thread for New and Old Pups - here comes winter 2024

[Bupster]

I thought I might as well be the one to start the new thread! Nothing to report but a sleepy puppy over here.

Yes, our girl is already 13.5kg and she's only 12 weeks!

@YorkshireFelix Haha yes, I always think this but in truth I think I only want another dog for my own intellectual challenge, rather than actually wanting to have a second shadow, as that's what she would inevitably be. Then I'd have two black spaniels staring at me on the loo, as I'm not original enough to deviate and would just have another one exactly the same.

It's funny you say about him being bored of retrieves as today at lunchtime we did some dummy retrieves in the garden. She literally did two and then lay down, not arsed, whereas she can't get enough of me asking her to find it. I don't think of hunting as a retrieving activity though I suppose it is – but the bit that's key for me is the find.

Interesting that your trainer said not to get a rabbit ball! Usually people encourage dogs onto them to get them interested in picking stuff. I'd say our rabbit ball is the second most valuable item in this house, the first being the floppy rabbit dummy. The noise she makes when I get it out – she sounds absolutely possessed!

@PyreneanAubrie I too marvel at your enormous pup, and the core body strength you must have! She is literally more than three times the size of pupsy and V and I will never cease to be amazed at the variety of dogs there are in the world. In fact she's probably the total weight of pupsy, Brodie and V! Bless her.

In your situation there's no way I'd use a slip either! It is so horses for courses but I do regret some of the things I did to start with as I've caused myself problems now. I think tonight's walk is going to be mostly onlead, with all of this chat in mind. She's still seeming a bit stiff on her back end so an evening without a big run won't hurt.

So my DP has just walked through the door from work with a slip lead and we're going to give it a go. Will let you know how we get on!

@brushingboots She actually gave him a rabbit ball at our class on Sunday as he wasn't remotely interested in the toy I had brought for him for one of the exercises, and he went crazy for it.

I was watching a Spaniel Man video yesterday and he said to have them on a long line to physically stop them chasing but obviously I can't do that in the woods in case he gets caught on anything. There's certain spots where he's chased a squirrel or a bird and no he stops in that exact same same place every time to assess the situation 😂

@DowntonNabby fab! Someone I know a bit has done some great little videos on Instagram of her new springer pup – look up Thorpe Creek spaniels if you're on there and they're in the highlight 'Aila starts'. Different kind of dog of course but she's done some nice shaping of heel position and transitioning that to adding a sliplead.

@YorkshireFelix weird! And yes this is the trouble isn't it – the longline would help in so many situations but most of those are inappropriate for it because of the environment. All very well teaching stops etc with a longline on a flat scent-free field but it's no good for woodland! Though I guess the point is that you've taught and solidified the skill and they should be able to transfer it.

Should have said thank you @DowntonNabby and thank you and I hope you are coping okay @JessiesHuman

There is so much to think about after a close bereavement. I'm an only child so it's been a crazy three weeks trying to organise everything. In my case, there was no property to sort out, and we went with a woodland burial beside my Dad because it's what Mum wanted.

Would you stop still each time they pull and then walk again when they stop?

Yes, we did the stop and wait for there to be no tension on the lead before we moved. For me it really helped having a harness at this point as I just stood and waited it out, with a collar the sounds of her choking herself, whilst trying to swim with her paws to get the forward movement, were so hideous it was hard to just stop still.

My older one was probably closer to 2 before she walked nicely in most places, but it was a very gradual thing getting there. So she walked nicely at night, on our pavement walks where she knew she didn't go off lead at all from about 9 months. But walking nicely in the woods on lead where she'd normally be off lead came much later. As did things like walking down to the beach.

I'm lucky enough to have plenty of off lead areas, so we concentrated on recall but then always practiced some nice lead walking at the end when she was a bit tired.

But it did really seem like we had to wait for her to mature, because younger it wasn't that she didn't know what she was meant to do, but that excitement just completely took over.

Funniest thing is @YorkshireFelix , our other girls were quite petite as youngsters, so we expected Brie to be the same... but she's actually bigger than Finn was 😆She is not particularly feminine, it must be said...

Honestly @brushingboots no core strength at all, I'm 51kg, 60 years old - it is entirely technique from 47 years of living with these brutes. Cousin who's a vet was amazed at me manhandling Brie, because I do look like a puff of wind would blow me over. If only I had a pound for every time someone says "you could put a saddle on that and ride it" I would be a wealthy woman indeed 😁

Apologies @PyreneanAubrie I had somehow missed that you also lost your mum recently. Sincere condolences 💐

Thanks @Twiglets1 x

Sorry to those of you who have lost your Mum's recently
Can I join? We have our first puppy for 18/19 years he's a Dachshund cross chihuahua born on 4th July so 17 weeks old now. Think we've had him for 6 weeks now.

He's a tiny little thing about 2.8kg, but with a big personality,

He's from a rescue that homes all the dogs in foster homes so he's well socialised his Mum was dumped pregnant at the vets and she was too ill to feed the litter so they hand feed the litter so he probably thinks he's a very small human 🤣

He's called Marley.

We are doing well with toilet training a few accidents but it's still early day. Only slight problem is he's a poo muncher if we don't keep an eye on him in the garden he'll eat his own or the cats 🫣 definitely don't want a face lick after that!

Hello @Imtheghostofchristmaspast and Marley. Gosh, first puppy for 18 years must have felt like all your Christmases had come at once, so the names seem very apt!

Awww, his poor Mum, how awful 🙁but it looks like he's thriving despite his difficult start. Hmm, yes, quite a few pups seem to have a fondness for cat 💩but, with any luck, he'll grow out of it once he realises there are tastier treats to be had.

Marley is at the total opposite end of the size spectrum from my girl (who is a bit of a hippo)! She's white so they'd actually look quite cute together although I bet he'd be the boss 😆

Yes he probably would be the boss @PyreneanAubrie , he's definitely got a feisty nature and you can tell that Dachshund in him he loves to hunt around the garden and kill his toys.

It's very strange having a small dog DH and I grew up with bigger dogs my childhood dog was a huge Irish Wolfhound and DH when I met him his family had a great Dane cross Rottweiler.
But actually it suits us I've realised over the years that I can't stand the volume of spittle, hairs etc that come with bigger dogs it makes my skin crawl. All our children have SEN that whilst presents mildly does come with sensory issues, so I've come to recognise that it's okay I don't have to put up with something that I hate.

So I thought we'd never get another dog then my sister adopt a tiny little terrier cross and everyone got so much joy from spending time with her that we (mostly me) changed our minds.
Now I have a little shadow that I'm really enjoying and is bringing me so much joy 😊

Very cute! 🥰

My pup was a poo muncher too, completely gross habit.

He grew out of it luckily - no more poo meals after about 4 months, thank goodness!

OMG @Imtheghostofchristmaspast That is a pretty dramatic change from two gigantic dogs to a tiny one but it's clearly working out well for your family from what you say here. I can well believe that he's a big personality in a small package.

I understand; oddly enough, I actually said on a different thread this morning that the worst thing about having Pyreneans is the moulting! The amount of hair is insane and I definitely think my vacuum cleaner would cope far better with a dog like Marley.

Warning: This is vile...😝

I hope I don't make anyone sick saying this but one of our past girls liked to munch on poo in wintry weather, when it was frozen from being in the garden overnight. We used to refer to it as poopsicles 😂

Oh they are disgusting creatures aren't they? Don't know why we love them but we do😀

Poopsicles 😂🤢

I possibly should add that we do not have a garden full of poop, it's just if they do one at 11pm last wee time, we'll leave it to pick up in the morning rather than risk stepping in it in the dark. Miss Rosie always knew if there was a single bit missed under a fresh snowfall 🙄

Brie only seems to be interested in horse poo at the mo, we do have to watch her with that.

Well I don't know if it was a fluke but I tried @DataPup method of stopping every time Vinny pulled then walking on once he came back into position on his walk today and it was very effective!

He is pretty clever and seems to pick things up super quickly (way quicker than I had ever expected) and it only took 5 minutes for him to understand he has to come back to me to carry on walking. I did look like a twat stopping all the time but he eventually did loads of nice heel walking as a result. Going to keep doing this for every walk and hope he keeps improving.

Here he is looking handsome in the woods. He will be officially 5 months old on the 7th

He’s beautiful @YorkshireFelix

Gorgeous photo @YorkshireFelix He's growing up fast!