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.

@TeenLifeMum
Dog gates are brilliant if you want to do a free range pup. We've had 9 giant breed dogs over the years, they were all kitchen reared pups, no crate. Current pup has restricted access to the living room under supervision because there's more stuff in there that she could steal or chew. But she has had 24/7 access to the kitchen and our tiled dining room/orangery since being 8 weeks old, and it honestly hasn't been a problem. Ours have all been kitchen sleepers not bed sleepers because of their size.

Ditto with the slugs & snails @TeenLifeMum but luckily ours grew out of that nasty habit after a few months. My husband used to go out at the crack of dawn every morning on “slug watch” to attempt to get rid of every slug in the garden before the puppy went out!

With the free roaming, ours was confined to one room until we could tell from his behaviour in the daytime that he was not destructive or trying to steal food. We have a small amount of damage from when he was tiny & chewed a corner of the skirting board next to his bed was but that’s it really. After that I learnt to place a wooden olive stick next to his bed at night (bought from Amazon).

We had a baby gate across the kitchen into the snug and she slept in there for about a year before she got overnight snug privileges, but it could have been way before that as she isn't a chewer at all. I puppy-proofed the kitchen from day one but also left certain things out as non-negotiable – pan rack with wooden handled pans, hoover, bin, coats on backs of chairs etc – as she needed to understand that these were not for her and that they were permanent items in her environment. She chewed one edge of a skirting once, got sharply told 'no' and never did it again. We just lifted the back doormat until she was dry overnight as it was a pain to wash and, bless her, she'd try and get outside and go on it.

I'd do exactly the same again with another pup – it meant I got seven hours sleep a night and then could function to deal with her during the day. And she learned to be on her own which in my book is vital. @TeenLifeMum

The biting… oh my god, the biting! I feel like I could cope so much better if he would just stop attacking us all constantly!! We are enforcing naps, I can’t quite get him up to 18 hours per day but we’re averaging around 16 hours.

The biting is constant, we distract with toys. Stop if he bites us, walk away if he persists, pop in the pen if none of that works and we all just need a break but good god it is constant.

I keep thinking when he next gets up I’ll try this bit of training or that but then all he does is bite and all I manage is to try to distract him from sinking his teeth into us.

The incessant biting I never did find much of a solution for… they do mainly grow out of it when the puppy teeth fall out, that’s the only consolation.

I am in a few spaniel groups on FB and there's a man who is a trainer and is very knowledgeable, and always pops up on posts about puppy biting saying 'puppies don't bite if you teach them it's unacceptable, follow my method to stop it' but it never worked for us at all. It was putting your hand flat at the back of their mouth and applying a bit of pressure (just enough to feel uncomfortable for them). He, and others, claim it works in a couple of days but I did it for weeks and it made absolutely no different at all. He swears it works though but I call bullshit! I think some are just more bitey than others.

I did find when he got mental bitey it was because he was over tired and a nap would sort it. But we did go through maybe 2 weeks where it was just relentless and he would be lunging at you to bite straight after a nap. As annoying as it is, you just have to ride it out.

I always said the same, that I can deal with anything else as long as the biting stops!!

@Kateboosh I tried hard to remember that he was in pain and his gums were hurting as well as his mouth being the only way he had to explore. It mostly helped, except the day when he bit me on the ear, drawing blood, on the day Trump got shot 😄- that did drive me to tears (some of them of laughter).

I didn't ever crate him, or put him in a pen away from me, as there was only the two of us so it didn't seem fair. Instead, thinking about it as pain helped me find the right things to redirect him to - so if he was chowing down on my clothes, I'd assume he needed something soft and would find a rope etc. It didn't always work but it did help. Honestly when the baby teeth finally come out it's like a new world.

@Kateboosh I gave my girl goats milk ice cubes for her puppy teeth; water cubes are not recommended as they're very hard, but goats milk freezes softer. Also, a carrot straight from the fridge is good for them to chew on. Some people also say a frozen flannel makes a suitable teething chew.

We don't crate or pen either, and ours was a leg biter so we wore riding boots all summer but our arms and hands were covered in scratches. It just can't be avoided.

In agreement that once the adult teeth come through, everything changes pretty quickly.

Did you react the same way as Trump @Bupster ?

@YorkshireFelix Spaniel Man probably would have done!

Betty doesn’t seem to be able to settle properly outside her crate – we have it open all day and she chooses to go into it for naps.

We close it at night (she sleeps next to our bed) so that we can be assured that she’s safe while we’re asleep but honestly, I don’t think we really need to, she’s very happy in it, providing we’re there next to her! She wakes us up around 7am for a wee and after that she comes on the bed for a bit while we wake up.

We were very lucky - she slept through the night from day 1. She was about 10 weeks when we got her, though.

The wooden olive sticks are brilliant, aren’t they @Twiglets1? It’s the only thing Betty has been properly distracted by when she gets bitey. She has one in her bed and sometimes she wakes in the night and has a wee chew to settle herself again! It’s worth trying if you don’t have one @Kateboosh – seems to be the only thing that satisfies Betty when she’s struggling with her teeth.

I didn't even dare put a plaster on 😄

I think this was taken the day he savaged me, the beast. Honestly he was the sweetest puppy. It's the only reason I've not sold him for kebabs.

So incredibly cute ❤️ This is how they get us hooked!

Thank you all for your words of understanding and adcvice!! I will have a look at these chews and the ice cube tip is a great one to try… I had tried him with a carrot from the fridge but didn’t seems too keen, same with the frozen flannel but is worth trying these again.

Today has been really hard, every nap has been a challenge. Although we are ensuring these happen, he is waking at every slight sound so they are shorter than usual and he’s lunging from the moment he is up. DH sat with him in the evening before he was going down for the night - he nipped his ankle, went for a pee, then nipped him again and went for a poo. Then seemed to settle a bit. Feels like he is nipping for everything right now.

Probably a good reminder that he may be in pain, thank you for this, I really need to reframe that and try to think of it this was but it’s so hard when it’s a constant battle. I think he fell asleep on my knee and was happily stroked the first 3 days we had him and since then it’s been a constantly bite battle.

I think I’m feeling more heightened around this as I’m on my own tomorrow WFH and have calls booked in first thing so if I have another day like today it could be a nightmare. Today was hard with DH & DD here with is all taking a turn. I have been reading through the thread and hoping his second injection next week & escape into the outdoors in two weeks time will help.

We’ve only been able to get him outside in a sling so far. Which he constantly scrabbles to get out of. I can’t find a harness to fit as he’s very small. I managed to order a triple xs one but even that isn’t really the right size. So need to keep trying him with it and hope getting him used to it and some potential growth will see it fit more securely. He also scrabbles to get out of this. Had a slightly calmer session with him tonight. Trying it again with rewards etc but as it’s a bit loose he just wants to bite it.

Sorry for the takeover, that turned into a bit of a brain dump. It’s definitely been one of those days, very appreciative of this thread!

Added tax

Don't worry about takeover @Kateboosh lots of us dip in and out of this thread now but posted a lot more when our pups were tiny seeking advice or just solidarity!

Thanks for paying the puppy tax - how can something that small cause so much chaos?? Easily, I guess....it is true that life does get a bit easier once they are able to go out for walks because they are getting mental stimulation that way & tiring themselves out so it's not so mentally draining for us being responsible for everything.

Bill outgrew his sling after a week so I put him in the rucksack he’s sleeping on above and wore it on my front. He absolutely loved it. But life got infinitely easier when he could walk!

Totally agree re walking. I also wfh and got into a good groove where I knew I could walk him around lunchtime and he would sleep for a couple of hours so I could get some solid work done. I did spend a few months catching up on work in the evenings, but eventually I could do more and more in the daytime and now I can mostly do a normal days work, with a break for a decent walk at lunch.

I stupidly imagined I could carry our pup in a sling or a rucksack - when we chose her at 5 weeks, she was small and chunky. Picked her up at 8 weeks and realised she weighed 10kg 😂The wait to be able to get out for walks felt interminable.

Ah @Kateboosh please don’t apologise, I was the last thread taker-over and honestly on some days posting here was all that was keeping me sane! It is SO much harder than I could have anticipated but I promise it also gets better really quickly. But at the beginning it doesn’t feel like that at all.

Not being able to walk them is such a pain. Persevere with the sling as the fresh air and exposure to new things is great for them. Do you have a garden? He is so tiny, ten minutes zooming around that should exhaust him. Also lots of food puzzles kept ours busy and wore her out – a snuffle mat, a kong and most of all a lickimat – they are brilliant things.

Belle is really unwell - she’s had terrible diarrhoea and some sickness. Trip to emergency vet last night for an anti-sickness jag and pro-biotic (£450 later 🤯) and she said to give her chicken and rice last night- which I did but she pooped probably 20 times after that… back on to vet this morning, she’s sleeping just now but going to try a very small bit of her normal food when she wakes as she won’t have eaten for well over 14 hours and just hope things get better - or it’s back to the vet…

Oh gosh, that's a worry about Belle, I hope things improve quickly @ComeTalkToMe

We were given the probiotic paste when Brie had a nasty 3 day bout of diarrhoea at around 6 months old. We just kept her on dry kibble for a few days after and she was right as rain. That was also a weekend vet trip though - the costs do mount up 🙄

I have got that paste also @CoubousAndTourmalet and have just tried her with a tiny bit of kibble and some of it.. going to wait 15 mins and will then give her another tiny bit - and water… the worry of being a pup parent!!

@ComeTalkToMe Bill had this, it nearly gave me a heart attack. They do recover so quickly though, I promise x

Sorry to hear that @ComeTalkToMe

Roman had the same thing when 9 weeks old, it was so scary. The only thing he would take & could keep down was Oralade which is a liquid that looks a bit like chicken soup. Its for dehydrated dogs and they love it.

We got him on a drip at the vet to get rehydrated but I think we were panicking a bit because he was so young & wouldn't even drink water.

Thank you all again so much, I feel you may save my sanity (no pressure!)

We do have a garden… however it is surround by hedges and frequented by foxes, badgers and all the neighbourhood cats so I have been too anxious to let him out. The foxes are unreal, one literally sat on the back patio the other day so I’m not confident in getting him out there until vaccinated. If our garden was more secure I wouldn’t worry but let’s just put it this way… I’ve needed poo bags in the house long before we ever got a dog.

We do have a snuffle ball, puzzle treat game and licky mat for him. I’m sure he’s got a bit cabin fever like the rest of us. I managed a nice walk in the sling with him this morning, there were loads of birds around so lots to hear and see and I even managed to get a harness on him indoors. He was scrabbling a bit but kept it on for 15 mins with some distraction.so today has definitely been lots more positive!

@ComeTalkToMe how is Belle doing this evening? I’m so sorry to hear she is so unwell and for all the experiences posted on here. Will be such a worry, sending well wishes your way!