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.

@Kateboosh @Ineedanewsofa our vet literally suggested popping her in her crate for a couple of minutes when she gets manic and bitey. It's what we had already been doing (literally two minutes) but it was nice to have the reassurance from the vet that it's a good idea.

How is everyone doing? We have first puppy class tonight, went last week but without pups, just to talk through the plan for classes. Some people did bring their pups though and they were pretty well behaved, I am now scared Belle will buck that trend 😂

Hey @ComeTalkToMe 😊 was thinking about this thread earlier and wondering how everyone is getting on!
Our classes unfortunately don’t start until Feb but I understand the fear! I’m sure your Belle will be very good.
Lola has learned to hold her bladder overnight in the last few days which feels like a real moment, no more getting up to a puddle by the door! She’s also sleeping for longer 🙌 Still got a way to go with the drop/leave commands but getting there. Tested recall out on a walk yesterday and it went super well too.

Hey, just joined this thread! I am 1 week into a new puppy having lost our old dog last year. totally and completely overwhelmed at the moment, wondering what on earth we've done, and how I'll ever leave the house again!

Please help!

Hello and welcome.

Have a little thread through when you get a few minutes - it will help to normalise things. It definitely did for me.

The lovely peachgreen is the best ever example of someone who went through hell in those initial weeks but lived to tell the tale and is now flourishing.

Tell us about your pup when you feel ready; pup name and photos are optional of course, no pressure.

Breathe and don't be scared. Puppy Blues is very real but you will get through it, I promise xxx

I should also have added sorry for the loss of your older dog @bubbaflash
Been through it and know what it's like - lost our boy in 2021, got our pup last May.

@bubbaflash Welcome! As @CoubousAndTourmalet says, @peachgreen is the most recent poster girl for defeating the puppy blues and coming out the other side. You can do it too! We've all been there and this (and the thread you don't yet need for teenage pups) is a really supportive space x

You are too kind @CoubousAndTourmalet and @brushingboots! I don't know if I'd say "flourishing" but definitely coping a lot better! Our little rascal is going through a wee fear phase at the moment and yesterday managed to get spooked in the garden by a low-flying bird, next door's dog and a hedge trimmer all in the space of one visit, so she's gone from happily trotting out there by herself for a wee to needing to be coaxed out on the lead and refusing to poo...! But as with every aspect of puppy ownership, it is all SO MUCH EASIER than those early weeks, and I no longer cry myself to sleep! I promise it gets better @bubbaflash – honestly I begged DP to consider taking her back to the shelter on several occasions but I am now very glad he said no (as he knew I would be!). Tbh it's not even so much that she's got easier (I mean, she has, but there are still challenges) but just that a) I love her now so it's easier to cope with and b) the puppy blues have gone away so I no longer feel overwhelmed. You will get there too, I promise. I am very much not a dog person – I agreed to get one for DD and DP's sake – so if I can adapt, anyone can.

Sorry, I clearly still have puppy brain and I'm not even making any sense 😬
Read through the thread not thread through...🙄

Oh I know the feeling of never being able to leave the house again. N is almost 14 weeks and she still cries for the 5 minutes that I put her in the crate. Our house isn't set up in a way that leaving her to a room would be safe enough so the crate is a must. Going to

She is sleeping a decent 5 hours in the crate at night now before she cries which is a huge improvement from an hour or two. She'll also hold for a good 8 hours overnight now!

Did discover today that she's not a fan of walking in the rain though. Not ideal when we live in Scotland!!

@bubbaflash puppy sitters! They'll save your life and sanity - even if all you can manage is an hour a week.

Honestly, everything you're feeling is normal, and I promise it will pass. The first few weeks before they can get out to go for walks are HARD. Then you think the biting will never stop but their puppy teeth fall out and your skin heals up. By 4-5 months old, it really does get so, so much easier.

(then you think you've got your shit together and everything's fine and they hit adolescence but that's a whole different thread 😄)

@bubbaflash Welcome! I know the feeling (and sometimes still have it!) but it does get better. As @peachgreen says you just start to love them so much you put up with a lot.

@ConsternationStation I also know this feeling, I mainly work from home so Belle is never on her own, although she at least sleeps on her own now!

Well Belle’s first puppy class was interesting 😂even the trainer called her a ‘real livewire’, she just wanted to play with all the puppies all the time - but then when the trainer got her up to demonstrate something she said her focus was brilliant. I can’t help thinking this is as she’s a working breed, give her something to do and she loves it and thrives - ask her to sit nice and watch… ehhhh no!

@ComeTalkToMe I wish I could tell you that the journey to 'sitting watching nicely (and quietly)' with a cocker is a short one... we are still working on that every single day aged 19 months! They are awkward, self-opinionated dogs, but also the very best so it's OK.

@brushingboots Thanks for the honesty! I did suspect that!

@ComeTalkToMe I promise it gets easier but honestly just enjoy the awkwardness! We live at the back of a deer park and I did tonnes of sitting quietly watching stags with her at Belle's age, and I miss that time. They grow up so fast and then suddenly you've got a dog that checks you're sure about what you've just said rather than automatically agrees!

So yesterday we had a day of tears and ‘what have I done’ - she’s nearly 19 weeks so I had thought the biting would be on its way out… but she got really over-tired and I think over-stimulated and wouldn’t stop going for me and the kids 😥

Then last night, she went to bed and slept the best she ever has and then did an almost perfect loose lead walk on her morning jaunt - you just never know what you’re going to get 😂

That sounds typical! It's peaks and troughs at this age.

The biting with our puppy started to lessen at about 5 or 6 months, it really only improves when all the adult teeth are fully through. They still get zoomies and frenzied biting when overtired even then.

Yep, good days and bad days here too. Ours is 9 months old now, she has days where she walks beautifully on loose lead but there's still walks when she's impossible, pulls like crazy and bites the lead.

It does get easier but I suspect a lot of that is just down to the fact that we get to know our own dog and we learn how to get the best out of them. The focus slightly shifts in adolescence but in some ways it is equally exhausting, we just cope better.

Thanks for the reply @CoubousAndTourmalet it really helps to know others that have been and are going through this have experienced similar.

Honestly @ComeTalkToMe If you read through the older posts here or bob across to the Adolescent Survival Thread you'll see that all of us go through exactly the same. We just somehow start to be a bit less overwhelmed by the time pup gets to 7 or 8 months and it'll be the same for you. We'll see you on the other thread in a few weeks time 😉

Yes they are all difficult at that age and many of us have been reduced to tears. The biting is absolutely terrible from many puppies but it's mainly connected to them teething so does improve magically once they have adult teeth.

'You never know what you're going to get' is sooooo accurate 😂

My boy is 7 months now and those sharp puppy teeth days were just horrendous. It got better once his adult teeth came through (they are surprisingly so much blunter!). He does still nip but very gently and in a highly annoying playful way. We get a mad half hour a couple of times a day where he zooms around and launches himself at you but it's WAY better than the puppy biting! I can tell when he's in the mood for it at he sits grins at me with his bottom teeth beforehand!!

We still get zoomies, leaping and biting in play at 9 months @YorkshireFelix , with some of them it does carry on into early adulthood then they naturally calm down.

The biting and chewing everything is such hard work. N will be 14 weeks tomorrow and just knowing that it's going to be a few months more until it stops is so demoralising. She's not too bad with me (unless she's in manic mode!) but she bites DH's hands a lot and has taken to constantly biting DC's legs/feet/trousers whenever they move. Loads of redirection, praise for gentleness and stopping play when she bites too much but it's exhausting. I hope that the adult teeth coming in will be a magic switch like a lot of other dogs. Our previous dog could be "mouthy" when she played but she never nipped or bit, just sort of put your hand/ankle gently in her mouth. I'd like that from N please.

I had a leg biter @ConsternationStation , I spent the whole summer in long leather riding boots. I can't pinpoint exactly when she stopped, but things definitely changed quickly when the adult teeth came through. It's a waiting game for all of you now but the weeks will pass quickly.

@ComeTalkToMe Worry not, she’s doing nothing any of ours didn’t do – especially, I venture, the gundog pups, as they need to learn to use their teeth to develop their soft mouths. I think it was the biting that sent me most round the bend but like everyone else has said, I promise it does stop.

And @ConsternationStation I know it sounds like a long way away but they really do grow up SO quickly. It doesn’t feel like it when you’re in the weeds, I know, and I had horrendous puppy blues (actually, I think, a kind of depression) with my pup but it didn’t last long in the big scheme of things. Just keep doing what you’re doing and there will always be people here to listen and help if we can.

Both of you – I can’t remember what your individual set-ups are but don’t be afraid of judicious use of bed/crate/pen if they’re just getting too much as usually manic biting means they’re overtired anyway. When pupsy was very little she slept all evening on the sofa with me but it took a downturn at somewhere about 17/18 weeks if I remember rightly, and she had to spend a couple of weeks in the kitchen in her bed while I was in the snug to chill out before she was calm enough to come to me. I was so upset about it but she was just knackered, had a sore mouth, and hadn’t yet learned how to settle without chewing herself to sleep on my arm. Now I can’t get her off the sofa from about 7.30. It will all come and nothing either of you are feeling is unusual x