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 😂

We were rushed at and surrounded by a bunch of dogs this morning. I think there were 3 fat Labradors and a Jack Russell. The owners were out of sight round a bend in the path. It was a bit alarming, but I think they were more interested in the sausage in my pocket. (Not a euphemism). Merry handled it pretty well I think, by mostly just lying flat and showing her tummy.

@Aubrielle I think Twatdog gets attacked at least every other walk when he's walked alone. I am yet to lose my temper, but I must admit it is fraying slightly (a lot). So definitely count Brie not being attacked as a plus!

@Houndymumma how do you feel about the forced socialisation a puppy brings? 😀I never found it bad before Twatdog, but he does seem to draw them in like moths to a flame...Eris on the other hand, takes after me and has a superb resting bitch face which I am sure if keeping people away...

@Struckbylightning oh that's really rotten! Large groups of dogs really shouldn't rush at people and dogs - it can be incredibly intimidating tbh. Even worse if the owners are nowhere to be found. Bless Merry though, but I imagine quite a startling experience either way!

It's still pouring here. But my rabble were out and about this morning. Eris is getting a bit braver and venturing even further away, but still clinging to whichever adult is closest which is fine by me - as long as she has a responsible adult dog (Hen, Clem or Pen) with her, I don't mind her stretching her wings. Tubby, as I am fondly calling her, is about 14kg now - which puts her at the size she should be at about 5-6 months. People seem slightly horrified when they ask how old she is and I say 'not yet four months.' 😂

Hope everyone else has lovely days today - I am WFH so will be doing what I do best; eating cake and sitting on Team's meetings trying to look invested when all I want to do is curl up on the sofa with my dogs.

@LandSharksAnonymous its awful how often you have to put up with being attacked. Poor Twatdog!! What a lovely picture. Who wouldn’t want to curl up and do nothing with such a fluff-ball.

My question this morning is this - can a puppy get too much sleep?? I read somewhere (here?) that puppies need 16-20 hours of sleep a day and I realised Merry was getting nothing like that. So I decided to go all doggy-Gina Ford and trying to enforce and encourage more naps. Well it seemed to work, she became a nicer puppy, we had a good routine going on. Then the last 2 evenings she has been really hyper and not settling until after 11. Way past my bedtime. None of the ‘settle’ tricks seem to work at that time, she even got a bit bitey (mostly with dh again; she know which side her bread is buttered) She’s been napping at about 5ish while I cook tea; it would be mad to try to keep her awake wouldn’t it..?

@LandSharksAnonymous I don’t mind it too much as it’s always people interested in the dogs, especially as I have an unusual breed. With it being a puppy, obviously it’s even more! Ladies in the tea shop at the historic house we popped into yesterday were very pleased to hear we’re local so they’ll see her growing up. Or the other group of people are those that come up and tell me that they had a Basset once, make a fuss of the dog whilst wistfully telling me about theirs. That was me last year when I was inbetween hounds. You generally have a connection with anyone that’s previously owned a Basset, probably the same with other breeds. I’ve often wondered if dog breed types, attract different personality types and that’s why you really like the people as well as the dogs at breed specific waddles. With this breed, you generally have to be laid back and patient so owners are usually easy going and gentle. 😃

@Struckbylightning sounds like your pup handled it well. It can be very intimidating when that happens. My old boy really didn’t like that towards the end of his life, especially after he lost my female dog and he was alone. He’d get quite anxious.

Awww, little Eris ❤ or really, not so little. I totally understand the shocked faces when you tell people pup's age @LandSharksAnonymous . This is such a cute photo, all that soft baby fuzz is delicious 🤗 WFH, puppy cuddles and cake on top (though not literally obvs) sounds like an excellent plan for all of us 😁

Oh gosh, poor Twatdog, that's a bit much. We had a few little incidents with dogs having a go at our boys over the years, but really not so many - it certainly wasn't a regular occurrence as it obviously is for you. We've only had one attack on Brie and it was, I'm sorry to say, an off-lead male GR, that knocked her flying and stood over her, snarling, despite the owner claiming "he's normally okay with bitches". But, it happens to all of us from time to time. Overall it sounds like we've done okay.

Sorry you've also had a slightly negative dog experience with Merry @Struckbylightning . It's so hard trying to keep them safe at that age. I'm glad she seemed to cope okay. Puppy Brie dealt with dogs the same way; lying down. She is still quite submissive now.

She had her walk at 7 and we've just had our third successive morning of sitting on the floor and hand feeding her breakfast. Clearly it is becoming a morning ritual.

I’ve been doing enforced naps. One between 9.30 -11.30am. (Means I can shower/get dressed,chores) Then if home a small one around 2.30pm for an hour, sometimes two, (chores) and then I pop her down for a nap at 6.30-8.30pm (so we can eat dinner in peace.) She then joins us on the sofa for TV time (generally chewing a toy and then dozing off) and then bed at 10.30pm until 7.30am wake up.

She is a lot better with more sleep but I don’t think I could get her up to 20 hours. Without enforced naps she wouldn’t sleep enough otherwise, although she’s now beginning to self settle, but she happily trundles into her cozy crate for naps at allotted times. I know crate training isn’t for some people, and I totally respect that, but it’s always worked for me with all my dogs. I’m at home full time and the maximum she’s in there apart from nighttime is 2-3 hours, never longer. My previous hounds always had their crates as well as their beds and often slept in there by choice even when old, even though the doors were permanently open. Also half the week, I’m usually home alone as my DH travels with work and my kitchen is a big open plan area that although puppy proofed, I can’t make completely safe as it has sofas etc.

Just to add, at the moment the above routine is working well, although I know that could change at anytime. She’s completely dry in the crate. Hope is as she learns to self settle more, the enforced naps will become redundant. The cat has a bad habit of coming in just as she self settles though, announcing his arrival and she desperately wants to say hello. It’s like he knows when she’s just gone to sleep! 🙄

It seems to be a phase they go through @Struckbylightning
Brie was an angel when she was tiny and was a good sleeper, but then once she properly started teething that changed. We had a horrible phase where she was fighting sleep, getting overtired, cranky, hyper and horribly bitey.
We don't crate and she initially had the run of two rooms; spacious kitchen and the dining area which overlooks the garden. The only way for me to enforce napping or at least "settling" was to add a dog gate between the two rooms. That way she could see me prepping dinner etc but I wasn't having to fend off her silly antics.
We had a bit of whining at first but she soon got the idea. Now that gate is never closed, but she still trundles off to lie under the dining table while we cook and eat.

To some extent you have to go with the hyper/bity, fighting sleep, it will pass.
It has to be said though, you do have a more active high energy breed than mine is, and @Houndymumma also has a calm placid breed, so Merry will likely always need more play or walks to tire her out. I do suspect part of the fighting sleep is linked to the onset of teething though.

We have that issue with our cat too @Houndymumma . She's 13 and has lived with three Pyries, so she really rules the roost. Even now, she seems to wait for Brie to settle, then she'll barge the living room door open, saunter into the kitchen and start yowling, just so madam will wake up to interact with her. 🙄

It’s honestly like he’s waiting to disturb the peace! 😂

He previously lived with my other two but they were always seniors in his lifetime. He is adjusting to having an exuberant youngster but he has the whole of upstairs as his space, I’ve never had dogs upstairs as stairs aren’t great for hounds on a regular basis, plus I’ve always had cats too, so it’s their safe space.

Ah, likewise @Houndymumma - our dogs don't go upstairs either, but the cats have always slept on the beds. Pyries aren't great with stairs- they can get up easily enough but struggle on the descent because of their long back legs. I imagine it's the opposite for you, with the longer body length of a Basset being the issue.
Freija is the youngest, and now the only one remaining, from our pack of 6 cats, so she is a wise old thing. She has coped surprisingly well with hooligan Brie and they're good friends. I've even had them eating side by side in the kitchen. They sit in the garden together and Brie even tries to get Freija to play ball 😂It's very cute.

@Aubrielle you’re exactly right. Same here with the cat, he sleeps in bed with me. Yes this morning the pup stole the tea towel and rushed over and waved it in the cats face to play. The look of disdain was classic and he marched off to bed. He’s mostly a house cat by choice and only goes out between 7.30am and midday or even shorter on bad weather days.

Ours were indoor cats with a garden pen @Houndymumma but Freija now does go into the garden when we're there. We have trees right around the boundary - obviously a younger cat could still escape, but as an old girl, she's very happy just mooching about.
I'm now happily picturing a baby Basset asking a cat for tea towel tug of war ❤

@Struckbylightning I really feel for Twatdog if I am honest! I know everyone says this about their dogs, but he is gentlest soul I ever met - he couldn't hurt anyone (except if he sat on them). Honestly though it sounds like Merry handled it marvelously - not that she should have had to, but her reaction was perfect!

In terms of naps, I try and do enforced naps with my puppies but it is a bit different as I have so many dogs. They absolutely do need a lot of sleep but equally they are a bit like humans - they can go a few days on only a few hours sleep, and then spend the next day sleeping 9/10 hours overnight, I've found! Teething makes it so much harder as there is no real pain relief for it so they just work themselves up into a frenzy (a bit like a sick toddler). I suppose the only up side is, as you say, Merry knows what side her bread is buttered 😁Even if your DH has to sacrifice himself to the piranha it'll only be for a few more weeks...

@Aubrielle I think twatdog's main issue (other than being big, fluffy and white) is that he's not been castrated and it does seem to set off other male dogs. Little male dogs seem to really take against him. Female dogs, however....

@Houndymumma that's a good point on the breed deciding what sort of people approach! I tend to get lots of teenagers and, oddly, men in their 20s. I shouldn't stereotype, but I wouldn't have thought a Golden Retriever was necessarily the 20 year old man's dog of choice! But I also get a lot of 'oh I had a Golden Retriever growing up...lovely dogs' and people always tend to get misty eyed when they talk about their childhood dogs. I do find a lot of joy in people telling me how much they love(d) their Golden Retriever - particularly if it's someone about my age so it was years ago and they still clearly miss the dog.

I spent this lunch-time pulling mushrooms out of my lawn after I caught her Royal Tubbyness eating one! Usually I'd leave them as it's quite good for the soil, but if she's eating them I don't want to risk her getting sick. It took so long the dogs ended up with no lunch-time walk, which I am sure I am going to pay for shortly when they wake up from their post-lunch nap...

@LandSharksAnonymous yes I’ve had to remove a few mushrooms. I think breeds must relate in some way to personalities. I’ve had a few people tell me they’ve had a Basset and never again!! They’re usually then standing there with a border collie or something the complete opposite of a Basset! 😆

None of our boys were ever castrated either @LandSharksAnonymous , but it sounds as if we fared better overall than Twatdog has with regard to dog attacks. I can only ever remember about three or four incidents of a dog physically grabbing them. Two with Merlin, who was (like Twatdog) the sweetest, gentlest soul, one each with Finn & Algy. Rose was once attacked by two bitches at once however, and fended off both. That was the one and only time any of my lot ever reacted with anger, and it was pretty justified.

It's funny you should say about young men loving your dogs - I may have said before that my cousin's son has always wanted a GR and still does. He's early twenties.

Our Pyries have always attracted older people. 60s, 70s. When they're at the cute fluffy puppy stage we get a lot of kids and teens, but once they're adult it's almost always older people that ask about them.

What the heck have they done with mn? Can we default back to the old site? I am loathing these sickly, old ladyish pastels 😬
It's worse than the Ravelry rebrand.
Think I might be about to do a runner.

Same here @Aubrielle regarding the age group for my dogs too. Also agree on the pastel colours, wondered what had happened to begin with.

Oh gosh @Aubrielle I agree - these colours are awful. I think you may have gotten lucky with your dogs just because you probably live in a less built up area (based on what you've said)! There's about 30K people in the 'town' I live in, plus two quite large ones nearby so the parks/fields/Pinetum are always full of people.

Good on Rose for fending off two dogs though 😯The only time any of men have snapped at anyone, it was Hen snapping at Satan because Satan growled at Clem (Satan was still only a few months post-rescue then so starting to come into her personality and push limits). But still no contact was made so it was all very restrained.

I guess older people tend to ask about them because they don't see PMD as much and tend to be more 'practical' when it comes to bigger dogs (i.e. knowing size doesn't = aggression)?

@Houndymumma I can't think of anything less similar to a Bassett than a Border Collie 😂How much exercise do Bassett's need? I feel like it's probably more than I expect...

Twatdog had a delivery earlier (a sexi-phant) and it's currently under quarantine in the study until he has digested his dinner...so he's laying outside the study crying sadly. The door is open, and sexi-phant is in one of the dog beds so well within reach, but he knows not to take it without permission - so he's just going to cry in the hallway staring at it and crying.

You could be right @LandSharksAnonymous
We are pretty close to some of the large mill towns but semi-rural and tend to mainly stick to quieter areas. Brie is appallingly under-socialised, truth be told, but at this point in my life I honestly don't feel that worried about it.
She did go nose to nose with a cocker today (both on leads) but she's met him before, so no worries.

So Twatdog actually recognises his new...errrr.... companion... and knows what it's for 😮OMG. How long will it take him to destroy it?

Ugh. I'm getting a headache from the brightness on here now. I may not be around so much, but some might think that's a good thing, I'm sure 😉

@LandSharksAnonymous the hounds don’t need that much exercise compared to many other breeds. A walk can take forever as they sniff every blade of grass. It’s more about the sniffs than the exercise due to them being scent hounds. Bassets are famous for just sitting down and refusing to move on walks when they’ve had enough too. It’s called ‘flat basset’ among BH owners. My last two were pretty good though and could occasionally do up to 6 miles in their prime but we kept them fit. Many BH owners let them get overweight which they are very prone to. My two even made it to the top of Pen-Y-Fan when we lived in Wales. I generally did about 3 miles a day unless we were out walking further. They’re also quite content to miss a day’s walking if you need to, but I always felt guilty so generally got them out and about.

Hi everyone! Hope you and your pups are all doing ok!
I agree on these new colours. Not a fan at all!

@VanGoSunflowers horrible isn't it? I always think when a company announces there's been an update that it's never an improvement! How's Pablo doing today?

@Aubrielle I find it so interesting that both Brie and my dogs all seem to really like Cocker Spaniels. Perhaps there's something inherently nice about Cocker Spaniels that dogs can just sense? Possibly something to do with the sorts of owners who have them? I have to confess, I've never had a bad encounter with a Cocker Spaniel (unless we count Satan...)!

Not only does he recognise it, but he knows what it is when the package is placed in the hallway still fully wrapped. I've not given it to him yet, but I'm hoping this one might last the weekend...if I am lucky

@Houndymumma 3-6 miles is further than I thought it would be! I can imagine it would take a while though but it's so lovely to have a dog that can take a lot of exercise but can also have a day off. That's the only thing with mine - sniffing is really not their 'thing' and they can't really take a day off. Their thing is more a 'run around being menaces and bothering people' vibe. They like to sit right in front of people (usually 2-3 meters) and not let them past until they have received payment (pats). They're very good at doing it all in a big group as well so if I'm not paying attention I can look up and find four of them all sat in front of some poor passer-by who just wants to get to the cafe or something. 😒

@LandSharksAnonymous he’s all good, thank you for asking! Found another tooth today! He came to the pub with me last night and was a very good boy. How are yours getting on? I see twat dog has a new shag piece 😂

Also to add, Pablo loves spaniels too! Well, he loves pretty much all dogs AND people but he’s especially excited to play with his spaniel friend. We haven’t seen her for a little while though which is a shame!

Hi @VanGoSunflowers , hope all is well with you & Pablo.
I'm still hating these changes. Can only do 5 minutes before getting double vision and turning green 😵

Yes. @LandSharksAnonymous , I agree re cockers being nice little dogs, Brie is always very drawn to them. They're definitely a popular breed around here, we meet loads and she always wants to greet them whereas she'll walk straight past a lot of other breeds.

PMD don't mind an odd day off either, if it's too warm or too wet for a decent walk. They'll do as much or as little walking as you like, they're not demanding really, particularly the boys and now Brie. Our three smaller girls liked longer walks, but the big ones aren't fussed; they're happy with an interesting little ramble of a mile or two. It makes them quite suitable for older people like us.

edit for typo 🙄