Summer 25 pups

[Lavenderdog]

Any other new puppy owners around this summer? Have been looking back at some of the old puppy support threads and can see how helpful it was for those posters to share their experiences.

9 week old mini schnauzer here - so toilet training and avoiding those needle sharp teeth are the current main activities here!

(And being tolerant of her determination to rid my garden of lavender plants. Hence my user name 😂)

@Struckbylightning I'll keep my fingers crossed for you ❤Let us know how you get on! 100% better to be safe than sorry with puppies.

Hi all! So Pablo is much better today, seems the anti-sickness jab did it’s thing although it only lasts for 24 hours so the real test of whether he is over whatever it was will be the next few meals (this evening and tomorrow!) he’s been even more cuddly than normal this past few days bless him. He kind of climbs on top of me when I’m sitting down and rests his head on my shoulder and puts his paws on my shoulders like he is trying to ‘hug’ me ❤️ he’s a very affectionate little thing.

@LandSharksAnonymous i took him a walk this morning and it was like he hadn’t been out for years! He was so excited bless him. And still getting mobbed 😂

On the subject of puppy food, we have Burns puppy food and for Pablo’s current weight of 10kg the RDA is 200g which actually seems spot on. It was 100g a day for his weight when I got him and I gradually increased it each week until we are at the 200g amount and it’s always been the right amount based on how he looks and his, erm, ‘output’ 😂

I feel a recent pic is in order!

Hope all goes well at the vet 🤞
They said to me they always like to check them over if they’re still pups

What a handsome boy @@VanGoSunflowers fingers crossed he’ll be 100% soon. Hope your poorly pup is on the mend @Struckbylightning

@VanGoSunflowers aww shiny boy. Glad he seems a bit better!

We’ve had another perfect day with Rory Roo. He’s been in the car twice, had a little cry then lay down. He’s had a lead walk and his first off lead walk in the field. His recall was perfect even when there was another dog present but his retrieving requires improvement 😂! I don’t think he has object permanence yet so if the ball wasn’t wherever he pounced, it was gone forever. All wees and poos done outside and he slept throughout my work Teams call this afternoon.

Co-pilot has just had me sobbing though with this picture of what could have been both my boys. I wanted Rory on my phone screen saver but I’ll never, ever get rid of Billy on there.

@Idratherbepaddleboarding it sounds amazing! What a little gem. How old is Rory again? Love the name btw.

I love that picture ❤️ I bet it’s a hard thing to wrap your head around? Do you think you’d ever consider getting a second after Rory? I’ve had romantic notions of getting a second puppy when Pablo is older but then I’d worry they would be much harder work than he has been 😂 I have no base for comparison really but I do feel like he is a really good pup overall.

@VanGoSunflowers thank you! He’s 14 weeks now as he was a little older when we got him. He was brought up in a house by an amazing family which I think has helped but also he’s just got such a nice, chilled out personality. He’s a confident little thing though, DS tried to play a chasing game with him yesterday which was too much for him and he barked to tell him off and he told off our friend’s 6 month old puppy for being too boisterous 😂.

I was always inside about getting another with Billy as he was so perfect but so far poor Billy is not comparing well behaviour wise 😂(although Billy as 8 weeks when we got him and brought up outdoors so it’s not his fault). I wanted to get another when Billy was about 6 so we’d have a good cross over but we never made it that far 😭. He loved dogs, especially other labs so much, and would have adored his baby brother. So yes I’d consider a 2nd on a few years if o could convince DH! The only downside would be two lots of food, insurance, pet plans etc plus there’s always someone willing to look after one if we go away but two might be too much!

Can I join?

I have a 10 week old staffie pup who spends the day alternating between zooming around the house, biting me and chewing everything within reach, and then sleeping peacefully while I do all the things I can't do when she's awake (like my actual job - I'm working from home for August, then back in the office three half-days a week from September).

I started a thread about her craziness, but it sounds like my issues are not at all unique

www.mumsnet.com/talk/the_doghouse/5380408-please-tell-me-this-gets-easier-new-puppy?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

I'm tired!

@Idratherbepaddleboarding mine barks to tell me off sometimes as well, it makes me laugh!

That’s what I have to keep reminding myself of every time I get misty eyed over getting a second - the expense and it’s harder to get someone to look after just one for you! Having said that, if I’d stayed a pragmatist when I was weighing up whether or not to get Pablo I wouldn’t have gotten a dog at all! Hope your day today with him is just as good as the days you seem to be having so far!

@Unmute sending solidarity! I’m also raising a pup alone so you, me and @widewomanofthevillage all have that in common! I don’t know about you but the mental energy I have expended so far seems to be tiring me out more than anything else! Hope you have a more peaceful day today with him

@Struckbylightning how is puppy today? How did it go at the vets?

Hi @unmute.I’ve read your other thread. We have a 5 mo WCS. It’s been utterly nuts but now her adult teeth have been coming in there is a lot less biting due to teething, more it’s her being over stimulated or needing a nap. I have no idea how those of you doing this solo manage - that’s hardcore.

Hope all the poorly pups are feeing better.

Thanks all for the good wishes. Naturally, by the time we got to the vets Merry was as normal as can be and was a very good girl for him. He gave her a wormer and a tube of gross paste stuff to give her twice a day for a week. Nice firm poo this morning and back to being a little terrorist/ perfect pup.

@Struckbylightning absolutely typical! They're horrors when they do that, aren't they? I always find it so embarrassing - not that I want them to be sick, but my vets probably think I'm a lunatic given how often I'm down there about things that turn out to be nothing. So glad she's much better now though ❤

@Struckbylightning so glad she’s better!
@LandSharksAnonymous i know what you mean, when I walked Pablo in to the vets on Monday my first words were “so apparently he isnt well” because he was so happy to be there and was all over the vet like a rash 😂

I find that it’s the same with kids. And cars when you take them to the garage for a funny noise 😂

This is definitely true. I had to take my car to the garage on Friday as the air con is only working when it feels like it (usually when it isn’t needed!) and I can guarantee it’ll be working on Friday!

We’ve had another excellent day, Rory played with a bottle for my entire team meeting. He walked nicely on his lead but we tried his collar and he didn’t like it, he kept trying to scratch it off so we’ll stick to his harness. He went for his first visit to the park and played with a 4 month old sprocker who was on a long line because… spaniel. They kept running around us and almost tied me and the enormous male owner up lady and the tramp style 😂🙈. He recalled nicely when the play was finished and he got two compliments from the man and a lady that I know from dog walking.

He got his first Greek yoghurt pot to lick at lunch time which went down very well. Here he is doing his best “please, sir, I want so more” face. And yes he got some more!

He was so funny before as he was lying on my knee on his back and started tired biting so I said no and put my hand up in a stop sign and he start high fiving my hand 😂. He’s definitely mastered “no” today 🥰.

He’s also been having some epic dreams 😂.

PS the white on his face is yoghurt not white fur 😂.

@Idratherbepaddleboarding that is a beautiful pic.

Glad Rory & Pablo are doing better.

We got a tip to mix a spoon of tripe in with Kayla's kibble and she is now wolfing it down. I've ordered a pouch of skinners wet puppy to try and if that's a hit we'll mix in wet & dry going forward.

Do your pups get hiccups?

@Idratherbepaddleboarding I am loving your updates ❤️ what an angel face he has! So glad it’s going well!

@MrsKJones yes! Pablo gets hiccups all the time

Best dental chews/advice for puppy’s bad breath. 4 months old.

@Megsro at 4 months old I really don't think a puppies breath should be that bad. I'd imagine it's more a diet issue (i.e. quality of the food) than anything else! I'd hope it's not a health issue in one so young.

I've never known a puppy with bad breath. The worst I've smelt is one who smelt like poo (sorry) because she ate it.

Ah really! First puppy so very new to what’s right and wrong. It’s more of a fishy smell, we’re gradually changing from wet food to kibble so could be linked perhaps.

on another note, we’ve just started going walkies, how do we stop the barking at every single human that comes close?

@Megsro Fishy breath can be a sign that their anal glands need emptying.

Sorry for all the tags today @SpanielsGalore but agree! @Megsro I'd ask the vet to take a quick look.

On the barking, is it excitement barking? If so @VanGoSunflowers might have some good advice as she's got a young, excitable, puppy who she's been trying to persuade not to go manic every time it meets someone (with quite a lot of success from what I can tell) 😄

If it's fear barking (or nerves), positive reinforcement using treats and distracting them so that they focus on you.

Either way, walking is about acclimatisation rather than socialisation (if that makes sense). You want your puppy to be focussed on you on walks and ignoring other people, that's how you build good attention and puppy learns that you = rewards/food and other people/dogs are a bit boring because they don't have food. So always have some treats handy and if puppy looks like it's about to go bonkers, just distract with a command and reward before it can act.