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.

That's our direction too @PyreneanAubrie – we're doing Belfast-Dublin then the ferry Dublin-Holyhead, and then the drive to my folks' in the south of England. She's pretty good in the car thankfully so I reckon she'll be okay. Fingers crossed!

She'll be fine.
Make sure you have kitchen roll, plastic bags and wet wipes on hand for the inevitable little mishaps, but I'm sure you will manage, and her first Christmas will be wonderful.
She will have made a lot of progress by then anyway and hopefully you will feel more bonded to her.

@peachgreen are you taking her out for walks in a sling/rucksack now? I found that was so useful - brilliant for Bill's socialisation/habituation to the world, he met loads of people at head height (though he still insists on being picked up to meet the postie and delivery men at 21kg so I made a rod for my own back there), he got used to the smell of the groomers and the vets, and we even went up to watch the dogs play at the dog park. Crucially, it got me out of the house and talking to people too...

@Starlight1979 try Rover.com or Trusted Housesitters?

Wish I could have done that. I got a sling but she was too big and heavy, even at 8 weeks. We're really paying now for her lack of early socialisation 😞

Oh @PyreneanAubrie I bet she was. Bill outgrew the sling in a week, hence the rucksack, but it was getting perilously close to the limit by the time he was allowed to put his feet on the floor. They really ought to invent some way of carting round giant breed puppies.

Little squidgy head in his rucksack for tax

Got to say @Bupster , that I think, of all the puppies here on this thread, Bill is by far the cutest ❤

Omg so cute! I'm sure you could have gifted him to someone else when you got sick of him in the early days @Bupster 😂

Oh God yes, @Twiglets1 , I think a couple of people at the dog park offered 😄. @PyreneanAubrie he is still the most photogenic person in this household. Even though he's just been completely astonished by his own fart 🙄

@Bupster We are indeed, she does the school run with us every day in the sling and we’ve been to a few dog-friendly cafes, the park and Pets at Home! She is also outgrowing her sling a bit – a backpack is a great idea, I may steal that! Bill is utterly adorable, look at his wee head. Too cute.

Well I still haven’t cried today! Although she has definitely emerged from her shell – today she has discovered her voice and is barking at her own reflection A LOT, and has also chewed through her car harness! So that’s fun. 🤣

It's good to hear you sounding a bit happier @peachgreen and long may that continue.
You'll find that every day presents a slightly different challenge as your puppy develops their own individual character. Once you get over the initial shock it can be an interesting experience.

How are you getting on @peachgreen? Nice to see you sounding brighter yesterday! I really held onto those random glimmers of hope which appeared during those first few weeks when I was having a tough time. Hopefully you have a great weekend together!

Thank you for checking @YorkshireFelix. Yesterday was good, a couple of accidents but dealable with and otherwise she was very good (although she’s getting quite hyper and bitey!). Today not so great. She had three accidents in her pen within minutes of each other. Each time I took her out, she didn’t wee, then came back inside and she peed on the floor straight away. So hard not to get infuriated with her. Unfortunately it’s as if she now thinks it’s okay to wee in her pen – but I really have no other way of keeping her safe when I’m working.

I’m feeling pretty down because I’m quite house proud, I love this time of year and want everything to look nice but right now my house stinks of pee and puppy, and there’s bags of decorations and mess everywhere. Argh. Hoping to persuade DP to take Betty and DD to see his folks today so that I can restore some sort of order. But feel very guilty about asking.

And I’m worried I’m upsetting DD who keeps catching me crying even though I go off to hide to do it!

Sorry you're still struggling @peachgreen

Hyper and bitey generally means overtired and needing an enforced nap. They go through this a lot when they're little and it can be very challenging.

With regard to the weeing, I can only suggest using the washable puppy pads. I had three sets of 4 large pads in rotation for Brie. As soon as she wee'd, the pad went in the washer and a fresh one went down. I know some people say using pads delays housetraining, but for us it didn't, it saved my sanity though and kept the wee smell to a minimum.

Sorry that you're still feeling very tearful, perhaps you have Puppy Blues. There are quite a lot of posts here about it, you will find it is normal and it does pass. But while it lasts it is horrible and nothing really helps.

Sending gentle hugs xxx

I’m having a rude awakening with our latest! Until recently I had 2 old girls, our oldest (collie/springer) passed in the summer 😢 Both 13.

My husband convinced me to get a male springer pup. It’s been 13 years since we had a pup 😂 And springers are NOT as bright as a springer/collie - he’s now 14 weeks and I’m continuously frustrated by the house training mistakes 😉

I’m starting to realise that our lovely old girl was the anomaly in being house trained within a week, and that it was definitely the collie in her… So I’m here for the reassurance that I’m not rubbish at training, and that I need to adjust my expectations after living with a collie…. 😁

@peachgreen I totally understand re the house. I am such a clean freak and really struggled having to drop my standards a bit once we got Vinny. I am still completely convinced our house stinks and I am now blind to it, even though everything get a thorough clean/wash all the time. That's one thing I've found so difficult (and I now understand why my MIL with 2 dogs has always hoovered 3 times a day 😂).

We didn't use puppy pads but I totally agree with @PyreneanAubrie in this case. V never went in his crate, but I think if he did I'd definitely have used them. I didn't realise re-usable ones existed so that sounds like a good solution for you for now?

@notathenabutcassandra sorry you're having a tough time with toilet training too. I know nothing about collie's at all but I'm on lots of spaniel groups on FB and it seems to vary dog to dog. I naively thought mine would be toilet trained in a couple of weeks but he was pretty much 5 months before it clicked for him.

It's a pain in the arse but just keep doing what you're doing, and they will get it eventually.

Also I've never seen a collie springer mix I don't think. I bet she was lovely.

Thank you so much 😊 I forgot the puppy tax 😂 here is our wee boy

And our lovely old collie springer girl…

Awww, your girl was beautiful @notathenabutcassandra - so sorry for your losses.
Your new little one is very cute. Hopefully the toileting issue will click with him soon.

I'm in agreement with @YorkshireFelix that even within the same breed it can vary tremendously; one of my boys was completely toilet trained and dry through the night by 10 weeks old, but our second girl took until 5 months to be fully reliable. They all learn at different rates and it's not necessarily about the training or even about intelligence; that piddly girl turned out to be our Mensa child but stubborn as hell with a "f**k you" attitude, hence being a nightmare to housetrain and lead train🙄

😂 I keep telling him that it’s a good job he’s cute, because he doesn’t have the brains 😂 so maybe you’re right, I need to stop being so hard on him and myself 😊

@notathenabutcassandra My cocker pup was nowhere near dry by 14 weeks last summer – like @YorkshireFelix’s V, I think it took us until about five months too.

He’s beautiful! I would rather like a black and white springer as my next pup. I can’t imagine what a springer/collie combination is like though as to me they’re such different types of dog.

@peachgreen You seem much more upbeat – hang on to that! If yesterday was good, that’s a big win. Keep counting down the days until she can go out. Agree with @PyreneanAubrie about hyper and bitey meaning overtired. Most things with pups that age mean they're overtired. If in doubt, put them to bed! She will get there with toilet training – promise.

We are trialling having a cleaner at the mo, which goes against everything I believe in but just giving it a go to see if it helps. She came on Friday lunchtime and did a gorgeous job. I managed about 18 hours with a beautifully clean kitchen floor before pupsy came in from the garden at pace, skidded across the doormat and then did a zoomy loop around the room, covering everything in muddy prints. Horrendous. I was once quite house proud but have had to let my standards drop, on the floor at least. But it really, really does get easier and better once it's just mud/hair and not accidents.

I would love to have a cleaner!! You are living my dream!

I'd also love a springer. My MIL has always had a cocker and a springer duo throughout the years and they are a lovely combination. Our house is tiny so not sure how well we'd cope with two dogs. I am already forgetting how horrendous the small puppy months were and contemplating it though, after crying many times saying we'd made a huge mistake and I would NEVER have a puppy again 🤣