Puppy survival thread! All welcome!

[VanGoSunflowers]

Running on from our last one…

I won’t tag people because I will forget someone and then feel awful 😂

@landsharksanonymous- I would love to hear what insight an actual puppy could give us 😂

@spanielsgalore - don’t worry, I have never found a tooth either! Have only seen gaps so far 😂 I can’t believe the sound didn’t work for you ☹️

@idstillratherbepaddleboarding oh no, your poor neighbour! Fingers crossed it’s nothing for you to worry about. How awful!

@VanGoSunflowers thank you for starting the new thread. The adolescent dog one is a bit quiet at the moment!

How strange, I also couldn't hear Pablo's big boy bark, kept clicking the muted speaker icon but nothing happened. He's so cute tho, looking was nice!

@Nella68 Hi! 👋 nice to see you 😊

@widewomanofthevillage that is strange! I clicked on the link and it works if I turn my volume up on my phone (sometimes for me that unmutes stuff!) how are you getting on??

I could hear him fine. That is a proper bark!

Thank you for starting a new thread ❤

Thanks for the new thread.

Any tips for the land shark phase? He's drawn blood twice on me today and no matter how much distraction I do with toys, body parts and socks (while being worn) are much more attractive! The kids are particular victims, they are doing really well at standing still and not screaming but they've both cried today because he's hurt them 😓

On the positive, house training is going well and I've taught him to sit and he's only been here 6 days. My Mum and Dad had him for a few hours today while we had to go out and he was good for them and had some lovely long naps in his crate.

Hello!

Thought I’d join over here too - nearly 8 month old mini poodle. First time dog owners with some challenging behaviours around resource guarding stolen items and snapping… but also get lots of compliments on how well trained she is too. So a mixed bag! Seeking professional advice to help us as she’s wildly loved and we want to keep everyone safe and happy.

Thoroughly enjoyed the puppy phase - finding this stage harder!

@VanGoSunflowers I know it was such a shock to hear 🙁 and a reminder of how fragile these little creatures that we love so much are! Not that I needed a reminder. We avoided our usual field today just incase it’s something he could have picked up there as we didn’t want to risk Rory getting sick or worse 🙁🙁.

Logging in solved it - cor that's a proper bark! Buddy is still a bit yappy even when he's defending the honour of the house against the postman or amazon deliveries, bless him!

I've found a lovely lady for his daycare and we're doing a meet and greet soon before starting properly a couple of times a month. Can't believe how busy some of these boarders are, she was the third one I'd tried after sifting though so many and I wasn't going for the cheapest!

He's sleeping really well in his crate overnight and chooses to go in there during the day sometimes as well so I got brave and put him in with a safe treat while I nipped to the pharmacy this week and other than a little whining he was fine and soon flopped down with his bum facing the camera!

@cazinge our pup (18m) was a little terror. Things that helped:

• making sure he got enough rest. He was particularly bitey when overtired/ overstimulated
• having a section of the room barricaded off. When he got bitey (usually in the evening) we would all vault over the barrier and out of the way of the teeth
• having a frozen likki mat (peanut butter and greek yogurt) ready to give him. That helped to distract him and calm him down. Being frozen made it last longer.
• frozen tea towels to chew

At the time it was dreadful and my soon found it particularly difficult. He kept away from the puppy which made him all the more exciting and therefore more of a target.

Once the baby teeth fell out it was so much better

Been lurking in the doghouse for a while - joining this thread please.

I have a 7 month old cockapoo. Both DH and I had dogs growing up but this is our first family dog.

He is doing really well and is an absolute joy but I have so many questions every single day. So following the discussion with interest!

@Nella68 the licky mat and frozen tea towels sound like great ideas, I will try those thank you! I've bought puppy teething gel too (it really is like having a baby all over again!)

My DS is similar so is also a target! And he has sensory issues around feet/socks which makes it trickier. But seeing them play together is something else 😍, he asked me every day since our old girl died when we could have another dog 😭

@cazinge is he able to get out for walks yet? That made a huge difference here!
Just to vouch for some of the excellent suggestions from @Nella68 - making sure they sleep enough and having a separate space for them works wonders! With those two things, and after we were out for walks, the bitey attacks went from several a day to about one a week and that was if I slipped up and didn’t get him to sleep when I knew he was tired (or if I was twenty minutes late giving him dinner 😂)

Hi @Flowerfusion and @GoodBones85 👋

@widewomanofthevillage I remember the very first time I heard his bark, it sounded the same and he was about ten weeks old! I didn’t realise it was him at first 😂

@VanGoSunflowers unfortunately not, his 2nd jabs are on Friday (5th) so nearly another 2 weeks until he can go out 😭

It's reassuring to hear several times a day is normal. He is insane! It's both when he's overtired and overstimulated, he's really bad when we all come downstairs in the morning and he's only just woken up so not tiredness just so overexcited to see us. Later in the day is tiredness, I'll order some more gnawing toys too as I do think his teeth are hurting him 😌

Carrots or carrot sticks is another teething recommendation @cazinge .

The early weeks are hard. My girl was crazy during the evenings, she would be manic with zoomies and get very bitey.
I agree with @Nella68 our solution was to put a baby gate on the kitchen so pup had no choice but to settle in one room. Fortunately this hyper phase doesn't last long, and as soon as you can give them a 5 or 10 minute walk it seems to help them to settle better. But, as others are saying, the nipping really only lessens when the adult teeth come through.

Thanks. I will baby gate the kitchen, that's where his crate is and there's very little he can chew other than my solid oak table 😂

I think from Tuesday that's where I will be working rather than my office as it's safer in there and easier to keep an eye on him. I was going to just close the door but I'll pop a gate on there instead.

Hello 👋 I have a 6 month old retriever he’s our 6th dog and lives with our 3 other adult dogs, so he’s a pretty grown up pup, and we avoided the landshark as he was mostly hanging off the dogs ears and getting told off by them.

i just wanted to ask where do I get lick mats? We’ve never used them before, but when he’s separated from the pack would be great to keep him busy, is peanut butter ok for puppy’s? Or any other tips on what to put on these?

We go out individually with him about 3-4 times a week s week, single walks trips to coffee shops etc to get him away and get him socialised.

How is everyone doing with accidents? We had a wee in thr house a few weeks go, he got excited when we came home and didn’t get out fast enough, so I blame myself for that.

@reversegear Aldi have them in right now! I haven’t bought one for Rory as Billy just chewed his to pieces so we stick with a frozen Kong.

@cazinge with Billy, nothing worked for biting and we just had to distract him with chews (pizzle sticks worked the best) or a frozen Kong. I still have teeny holes on some of my older clothes! With Rory, I simply say stop and he stops but he is not a normal pup 😂.

Oh and @reversegear peanut butter is fine as long as it’s just peanuts, no sweeteners so higher quality peanut butter is better or you can buy it especially for dogs. Billy didn’t like it though and Rory hasn’t tried it but I think he’d eat anything! We used the meat paste you can buy for sandwiches which is also what I fill Rory’s long with, you can also get that in Aldi for about 50p and one tin fills a Kong perfectly. Rory likes the salmon best and it’s good for oils for those coat.

I never did licki mats either, because of having a large, strong breed, they mostly just shred up toys. They did have Kongs though, those are more robust.

@reversegear I bought my licky mats off Amazon. I usually spread a yoghurt and tuna mix on and freeze them. I have used pate when they've had a long treatment at the vets. If you use peanut butter, make sure it doesn't have xylitol in it.

@cazinge My four year old was awful for biting as a puppy. The mornings were way worse. She'd wake up at 6am and attack me for the next two hours. I spent many a morning sitting in tears on the kitchen worktops to escape her. I was covered in cuts and she ripped several items of clothing. I absolutely hated her at times. It only really got better once she lost her baby teeth, I'm afraid. But she's been a great dog ever since and never had an adolescent phase, so hopefully you'll get off lightly then too.

Welcome to the newcomers.

Welcome newcomers!

@VanGoSunflowers Eris has many views on many things. Her AMA would be full of some very strong opinions. She has very strong views on people who call her 'little bird' (me), very strong views on 'what is the meaning of life' (apparently it's to lay on your back and get tummy rubs) and very, very, strong views on male dogs private parts...as evidence by her morning walk today where she tried to suck on a little boy cocker spaniels winky and realised, quite abruptly judging by her shocked face, that it was not in fact going to produce anything. Sigh.

On the plus side. She recalled fantastically again.

@reversegear excited tiddles are completely normal until they're about 6-7ish months old, I've found 😊Personally I don't use lick mats because I think it's too many calories for too little reward and can often excite/over stimulate dogs. I just teach them to settle - but I have very strong views on 'food games' in general. But if you are going to do it, yoghurt and frozen fruit as Spaniels suggested - peanut butter is full of sugar and calories and retrievers get fat easily!😃

@SpanielsGalore thanks, it sounds very familiar!

Puppy household here too. Second vaccination next week. It feels like lockdown again!! I remember how frustrating this first few weeks were from my late two dogs. Can’t wait to get out. We’re doing trips out in the car for familiarity and thankfully all good this time. My previous old boy was a nightmare last time as a puppy, so relieved it’s not like that.

We have Ted who’s 10 months and I’m pretty sure he’s on the government terrorist watchlist.

He eats/chews everything even though he’s been neutered already and his baby teeth have gone. Training has been great for him as he’s such an over-excitable idiot - lots of ignoring and no eye contact til he calms down and he’s gradually getting better.

Our older dog (6y) keeps him in check and they’ve just started properly playing together. Before now she just found him highly tedious I think.

His recall is very good but he also has selective hearing when cowpats and other dogs’ balls are involved.
on the plus side he’s very loving and his annoying behaviour is nearly always attention seeking (mostly mine) because he wants fuss. He’s very good with his crate too and goes down for naps in the day.