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 😂)

@Megsro my puppy loves every human that exists 😂
He pulls towards everyone we see (although doesn’t bark) and he if gets close enough he jumps up at them! Basically everything @LandSharksAnonymous suggested is what I have been trying to do. If you get enough warning that someone is coming your way, try and get them to sit still and distract them with a treat then reward for being calm and focused on you.

This is exactly what I did with Vinny and it has paid off massively. He is a scaredy cat so never did it so much with dogs but he would always pull towards people because he loves people! I got him to sit and rewarded every time someone approached towards us on a path or wherever, and was really consistent with it. Now if he’s off lead and someone/a dog approaches he comes straight back to me and sits or walks to heel without me even asking. It’s the one thing he’s very good at!

@Megsro me and @VanGoSunflowers both have pups about the same age. SoupDog is a 5 mo WCS. She loves everyone too due to being out in our garden since 8 weeks and greeting everyone who passed by through our railings and being spoken to by them all. So same issue here, wants to speak to everyone, so pulls on the lead. We’re doing the same things as @VanGoSunflowers, distract and treats, and I’ve also introduced “wait”. SoupDog will sit and look at me and I keep saying wait in a low voice and allow whomever to pass. She managed an entire football team last night. Then move SoupDog off in the opposite direction. In the garden she does excited barking at new people and some dogs so I have a permeant stash of treats on me to try and encourage her to “quiet”
and “come”. It’s a work in progress needless to say.

Thanks so much for the advice, definitely going to put it into practice on our next walk and will def speak to vet tomorrow about the breath situation! It’s such a learning curve lol! Everything requires research 🫣

We are finally cone free! After two long weeks I've got that and his harness off and given him a decent brush in all the places we've not been able to reach! Still some mats I can't remove where the cone was rubbing but he's not letting me near them with clippers and I'm too scared to try with scissors so the groomer can sort them when he goes for his puppy groom.

@VanGoSunflowers thank you! I worry people will get bored of my updates but I’m just so pleased with him! Today’s adventure was a trip to the post box to post my ballot to strike letter. I went to the office for work today and DS looked after him but I brought him home a brand new plastic bottle and it brought on an attack of the zoomies with him lobbing his bottle round the living room and pouncing on it 😂. Rory was NOT up for his walk after that and hid under the table! However he also didn’t want me to go without him so off we went and did his first road crossing. We got to the road and he actually sat to wait to cross without me asking him too 😵. I like to think he has his big brother Billy teaching him somehow as there’s no way he’s should have known to do that! After we crossed again he walked around the river path behind our house off lead and did some sniffing and recall practice.

He also met some big, barky dogs on our morning walk but I know them and they’re harmless so we carried on walking calmly towards them and he was so brave going up to them and sniffing noses. I think they’re going to be good friends and I’m glad I didn’t panic and turn away!

Another rabbit hole! food, lifestage puppy (Jolleys own brand) for my puppy’s age (14 weeks) he should be having 70/80g of kibble per day! I weighed it out and WHY does it seem so little?! That can be split into 3/4 meals a day… it’s a small amount 🫤 or am I being daft and just thinking in human mind and not small tummy puppy! I swear I overthink the puppy more than I ever did my kids 😂

How much does he weigh? And which flavour food is he on?

Sorry should have added that. He’s 3.3kg, he’s on chicken with salmon and turkey flavour

@Megsro I make it 102gms.
1kg = 65gms
Each subsequent kg up to 5kg = 16.25gms
So 65gms + 37gm = 102 gms.

(That's if I used the correct feeding guide. 1 - 5 kg = 65 - 130 gms)

What feeding guide did you use? I would love to understand these numbers 😂 the more I read it the more confused I get

@Megsro I used this one, which is hopefully the one on your bag of food.
But actually, 14 weeks old puts your pup in the 3 - 6 months age range, so it should be 104gms.

@Idratherbepaddleboarding I worried about the same thing when I first got Pablo! You’re in the honeymoon stage and it feels wonderful, your watching their little characters come out and you want to sing from the roof tops about every positive thing that happens, it’s wonderful but I worried everyone would get bored of my updates too 😂 but I love to read them. Especially in your circumstances after losing your previous boy so young. It’s lovely to see how well you’re getting on ❤️

What a clever little pup you have, to know to sit to cross the road! I can’t get Pabs to do that without telling him to 😂

We have just come back from a pub visit and my friend took over dog duty so I could keep both hands free. It was a welcome break 😂 now sat in the garden and my pup is curled up asleep next to me

That fits with mine as well, he’s 3.5 months and 10 kgs and has 200g a day

@Megsro I go by looking at him to tell if he’s getting the right amount because mine would always eat more if I let him 😂 as long as he is lean(ish) I can’t see his ribs but can feel the last two, he has a waist and a tuck and no runny poos then you’ve got it about right. Trial and error!

Also @Megsro i definitely overthink puppy more than I did my child 😂

I could do with some advice please! I know the zoomies/ witching hour madness is normal to a degree, but… Merry has these mad half hours when she seems to go completely psycho. There is an armchair which has a low table next to it with piles of books and a plant. The plant has been moved, but I’m running out of places to put the books. She gets up on there and starts gnawing the books. I say ‘No!’ and get her down Rinse and repeat about a million times, but as I lift her down she kind of goes for me, thrashing about trying to nip me. It’s doing my head in.

Today I thought I was winning - I tried saying ‘No!’ then giving a treat. Etc etc. Then I thought… is she playing me? Am I treating her for chewing the books?? Should I just remove all the books???

I’m probably imagining it, but when she’s in that mood she seems to get this evil f-you glint in her eye. And then she falls asleep and she’s so cute. Help I’m going mad.

And the bitey thing is so bad. Someone at his work asked my son if he had been self harming today. (He’s a carer so it’s not that unusual). His arms and hands are a mess!!

@Struckbylightning My friend was taken to one side by her boss and asked if everything was alright at home, because she came to work covered in cuts and bruises.
And yes. Remove everything that you don't want chewed. It's easier than constantly trying to get her to stop. She'll grow out of it eventually. Hopefully.
In theory, you are rewarding her for stopping the chewing. I used to exchange stolen items for a treat. So my dog learnt to steal something and then sit there waiting for his reward.

@Struckbylightning remind me, she’s a collie isn’t she? How old? Is she out walking yet or are you still pre-jabs?

If I were you, I’d move the books. Set her and you up for success. If you don’t want to be saying ‘no’ to her all the time and creating a more negative space, she needs to not be able to access anything you don’t want her to have and only access things she can. Some people say don’t give them too many toys but mine has a range of different textured stuff that’s his that he can chew on and nearly always goes for his own “stuff”

On the biting, I probably can’t help all that much as Pablo has been relatively easy in that way - he’s a working line dog like yours but doesn’t zoom all that often - I don’t know whether he’s just calm or it’s because we are out on walks so he’s tired out or it’s his breed or what but when he does act like that, it’s always either boredom or frustration or being over tired. It’s about striking a balance I guess. Not too much stimulation but enough to satisfy. Not too much exercise but enough to satisfy. The only thing I know about collies is how intelligent they are - what sort of training are you doing?

I also had the same brain melt that I was teaching Pablo to do the naughty thing and then stop doing the naughty thing to get a treat. So I kept rewarding him for not doing the naughty thing (I use the word naughty but obvs they don’t see it that way!) I.e. you leave the books alone, you get a treat. But if you continue to leave the books alone, you keep getting treats.

Also would reward him for when he chose to be calm. A bit like when they tell you to reward them for choosing to come to you to build good recall at the start. They’re choosing it themselves but you’re reinforcing that’s what you want them to do.

Thank you spaniels and VanGo. Yes she is a border collie, but only 10 weeks and pre jabs. I don’t remember our previous collie being quite this crazy, but that was 15 years ago and she was very lovely and chilled out (lazy 😂), but I’m sure she had her moments when she was little. I’m trying very hard not to compare, it’s very early days.

Thanks for the advice, I’ll try to find a hiding place for all the books, and plants, and everything else. She has also been doing a spot of gardening; I do remember Pippin doing that; once she tunnelled herself clean out of the garden. Luckily our neighbours son found her and delivered her home.

Regarding training, she has mastered Sit and Lie Down, she’s getting the hang of Fetch. I’ve been trying to do a bit of recall, but it’s hard without a bit of space.

@Struckbylightning it sounds to me like you’re doing brilliantly! Don’t worry about needing space for recall, that will come later - if you’re already doing it now at home - even from a metre away, that’s the foundation, right? You increase the distance gradually over time.
But look, I have no idea what I am doing over here - feels like I am flailing sometimes but it’s progress. Sometimes it feels like two steps forward and one step back but it’s still progress. It’s not linear.

@VanGoSunflowers thank you, it is hard not to just wax lyrical about him 🥰.

Pablo is stunning, he’s the spitting image of Billy 🥰. It’s good you got a bit of a break although he looks nice and chilled out in the garden with you!

I must admit going to the office felt like a nice break yesterday and DH coming home (he works away) meant I could do my pole dancing last night so it was lovely to have some time to myself. I am trying to do as much as I can so he gets used to the routine but I’d have to shut myself in my pole room so I don’t accidentally land on him and that feels a bit much yet so I can only do it when DS or DH are home to be with him.

I remember moving a big box of photos out of Bill's way, onto a chair, so it'd be safe. Came into the front room one morning to this.

@VanGoSunflowersit’s so difficult lol I feel like I’m doing the wrong thing by him when it comes to food. How much do you increase the food for each kg he gains?

@SpanielsGalorethanks so much for your help. Honestly you made it seem easy, clearly my maths is out the window lol!!

also, raw food? Are we giving raw food to pups?

Well, terrible dog owner here. Pup isn't 1 week post-vaccination until early next week, but I took her out for a walk.

She was a delight on the lead, and had a good run around off lead, while sticking very close and keeping an eye on me.

Now she's sitting quietly on my feet chewing a tea towel, instead of trying to attack me.

I know I should have waited, but it was this or return her to the breeder. I was losing my mind with the biting.