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 😂

Hi everyone.

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while, I’ve been diligently following the conversation and learning as much as I can from the chat - but I struggle to keep up with posting between work the DC and the pup!

We have had some real successes this week though. I have noticed that now we are at 7 months, W’s mouthing/biting has significantly reduced which is great.

Also thanks to whoever suggested rewarding all voluntary check ins when he is off lead - this is working well and I am getting more confident with him behaving when off lead.

I know we will likely go backwards again before we go significantly forwards at this age but honestly this week I’ve seen my hard work pay off to some degree so I’m buzzing.

Anyway I’ve popped into the office today (I work almost exclusively from home) so here he is asleep on my Mum’s sofa which is helpfully 5 minutes from the office…… he loves it as she spoils him rotten 😂

Oh those curls!! Buddy went to daycare for the first time yesterday and was an angel apparently. Walked beautifully and played nicely with the family. I've invented the word pri-lief. It's the mix of pride and relief I feel that he was happy and welcome back!

@VanGoSunflowers Oh bless him! Did he settle nicely from the start or did he take a while to settle? My rabble are all fine - it's a bit hot for them today so most of them all lurking inside.

Twatdog has finally been allowed access to sexi-phant (under supervision) and he's over the moon. I went outside a few minutes ago to check on him and he immediately dropped sexi-phant and came trotting over. He's a very good dog.

Clearly if you, me and @Aubrielle all have dogs that love Spaniels, it must be Spaniel owners doing something right! Mine always light up if they see a Spaniel - but particularly if it's a Cocker. Satan also loves other Cockers which given she hates everyone and everything is quite the achievement 😀

@Aubrielle I would not call you old! But Brie does sound perfectly suited to you. I'm not quite sure what I would do if I had a dog that wanted to sniff and amble nicely...possibly just swell to the size of a small mountain. I think the only reason I am not mountain sized is the ridiculous amount of dog walks.

@GoodBones85 it's so handy to have doggy-day care that's free and nearby, isn't it? I shamelessly use DMum as well 😃He is absolutely beautiful! So lovely to hear that your training is paying off.It's lovely when it all comes together and you can trust your dog! How are you finding the socialisation aspect/calling him away from others if need be? Does he always come to you?

Yes it’s nice having a dog that doesn’t need to get out every day and if the weather is bad, it can be impossible to try sometimes! My old boy use to absolutely refuse even when young. Also shorter walks are fine too, they don’t get hyperactive if they don’t have a long walk.

@LandSharksAnonymous thats so funny about your dogs wanting a fuss before letting people pass.

Very warm here today, so we only did a short pop out to the local common for a 15-20 minute sniff. Will pop around the cul de sac later at witching hour as DH is away tonight so it’s me dealing with it alone. 😬

It's not so bad having a sniffy amble @LandSharksAnonymous
We've just been up the moor again, sat admiring the view for a while, then wandered back down. I suppose it's another part of sticking with the same breed, I do like a calm dog. I don't think I'd be at all suited to a high energy breed. I'm used to just being able to go out and quietly mooch around the woods and fields for a bit, rather than having any pressure to cover a great distance. I know that wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea though.

@Houndymumma I say this to @Aubrielle all the time...but you're both convincing me that the future is not Golden (retriever) 😁I didn't want to go out this evening but the four adults came and sat in front of me and stared at me until I gave in. Sigh.

It was hot here as well - 23/24. The best thing about Autumn is how quickly it cools down at night. I can take a hot day, but I like my evenings crispy.

@Aubrielle yep, no mooching here! Even Hen doesn't mooch - although I do think she is starting to slow down. But she is 13 now, so as I always say she's a very old woman by Golden standards.

It's the brilliant part of dogs really - that there is a breed for everyone 😊

@LandSharksAnonymous having mum so close to the office is honestly a life saver even if I rarely go in. It helps that she absolutely adores dogs…..

So mixed progress with the socialisation and calling him away if needed. He is barking at/trying to instigate play with fewer
dogs we encounter (it used to be EVERY SINGLE ONE) but he is still dong that on occasion.

I still put him back on the lead as soon as we are even remotely close to another dog or people until I can assess the situation. I usually spot others before he does as he is often too busy generally sniffing/rolling in fox poo/trying to eat stuff off the floor 🤦‍♀️ - im
not painting a great picture am I? 😂

Bella is 12 weeks and went for her 2nd vaccination yesterday and her vet absolutely fell in love with her.
Here she is with my older dog who is really good with her.

@GoodBones85 - it is one of those things that comes with age! Mine have always been absolute horrors and then they get to about 8/9 months and it suddenly 'clicks' for them. Are you using treats to reward him for paying attention to you if he sees other dogs? If he's food motivated that's one of the quickest ways to get him to realise you're far more exciting than other dogs

Definitely not painting a bad picture! Just sounds like the typical young dog loving life and wanting to be friends with everyone and anyone 😁And I can completely sympathise mine are the same...only their weakness is humans.

@Isabelle70 I know you posted about your youngest...but your older one is also beautiful. Her grey/white snout just makes me go 'aww.'

Sorry I haven’t caught up on the thread because I’ve been super busy these past few days but hope all the pups and those older siblings are doing OK!

I was examining Rory’s teeth before and he’s lost loads! All of his front ones are big teeth now and he looks like he’s been to Turkey as there so big in his little mouth 😂. He’s got a couple of gaps in the back and I’m gutted we haven’t found any of the bigger ones but he still has his baby fangs and I’m hoping to find at least one!

The weather here is absolutely dreadful, like full on weather warning bad. Rory had a little walk before it got too bad but not enough and now he’s a bit hyper 🙈. I’m trying to tire him out by telling playing ball for a bit.

I’ve just braved the windy weather and taken pup for a short walk around the block again. The puppy zoomies started at 5pm on the dot as usual! Just as I start flagging! 😂

Hello,
we’re about to get our first puppy - a miniature poodle - and I’d really appreciate all the advice I can get!
The breeder has been amazing, with lots of advice and a ‘puppy essentials’ list that I have been ticking off, but I’d still like some ideas of the best way to approach things.
We have been advised to get a puppy pen and a crate. Did you all do it this way? Would a canvas crate work ok for sleeping in and how long is the pen needed for generally? Or would just a bed be ok in the pen? Our breeder advised not closing the
crate door, so would a puppy bed in the pen be sufficient?
We will get more information on routines etc this week, but how would you recommend doing ‘bedtime?’
Thanks!

Hi @PoodlePlace
There are really no hard and fast rules, it depends what works for your pup, house and family. Pups just need their own quiet space, be it crate, bed, playpen or with my giant pup, it was just lying on a mat under the dining table.
Quite a few of us here don't crate, but others do. Those of us who don't crate tend to use baby gates or dog gates as an alternative way of restricting pup's movements, but to some extent that can depend on whether your home layout allows you to create a puppy safe area.
Again, bedtime is what works for you. Some people here have the crate upstairs, others (me included) have pup in the kitchen and spend the first few nights on the sofa to be close to puppy if it wakes during the night.

Every pup is different, some will settle quicker than others and get into a good routine early.
Bedtime for us was a last trip outside to toilet, then sitting in with pup until she went to sleep. But everyone has their own way of doing things.
I taught the word "settle" for daytime naps, and "sleepytime" for bedtime.

Thank you, that’s really helpful.
The breeder has said we need a pen for any time we’re not watching the puppy. And crate advised for bedtime but to not close him in. Like you, we’re planning to do a couple of nights downstairs to settle him. I have seen a canvas crate on fb - do you think that would be sufficient or to go for a metal one? There was also a pop up canvas pen for sale with it and was wondering if it’s worth getting that for when we’re upstairs and need to put him down for a bit?!
We have an open plan kitchen / dining / living room which we can section off with a pen - just trying to work it all out and I guess it will all become clearer when he arrives!
How do you all secure your pup in the car?
Thanks!

Thanks @LandSharksAnonymous that's extremely reassuring!

W is incredibly food motivated which comes in very handy. So I do use treats to reward him when we see other dogs but I probably need to be much more consistent with it. I will make sure I do that and shall report back on progress…..

Thanks to all on this thread its so great having access to all of your experience ❤️

The pens are very useful in that respect @PoodlePlace , we actually now use one opened up as a room divider for our girl.
I can't really advise on what type of crate to go for (my pup was free range) but hopefully someone else will come along in a while and help you out with that.

My comments may not be helpful or relevant for you, because I'm a giant breed owner, but initially we had a metal travel crate in the car boot for our pup with a blanket and a non tip water bowl in. Now she just travels behind a dog guard.

We didn’t bother with a crate for Rory, he spent his first night on his bed next to me in our bedroom and every night thereafter in our bed with us 😂. He’s a Labrador though so a canvas crate would not have contained him and he’d just have chewed it up instantly so would have needed a metal one. A miniature poodle might be gentler though.

He doesn’t have a pen either, but I’d think a bed in a pen would work nicely.

We secure Rory in the boot with a boot liner and a nice blanket with his harness and a seatbelt strap that fixes to the isofix clip thingys.

@PoodlePlace we got our first pup in April. We have a crate which he has always been happy to sleep in, but I know some don’t take to it. As @Aubrielle has said it really depends on the pup. I found iit incredibly helpful in the early days though for enforcing nap times.

We used a pen initially but honestly not for that long as he’s such an energetic boy he quickly needed more space. We use gates now, mainly to keep pup and my DS (who is 6) away from each other as and when needed.

For the car we had a canvas pet carrier with mesh sides that you could either pop on your lap or strap in for when he was really small and now we have a harness that attaches to his harness and then to the car seat. But so far he goes to sleep in the car straight away without fail so he’s incredibly easy to contain. Again just luck of the draw I guess 😂

How very exciting for you - we would love to see a picture once pup arrives ❤️

Our big silly girl has just spent 10 minutes lying in the back garden in the pitch black, pouring rain and a howling gale 🙄 The house now whiffs of wet dog and wet towels.

And then, out again at 6am, in my pyjamas, scrabbling around picking up fallen crabapples. If I don't shift them, she picks them up and sits there sucking them like a kid with a gobstopper (assuming that such things still exist; I'm a child of the 70s). I swear this pup would live outside permanently if she could.

Oh @Aubrielle what are they like…. 😂😂

W refused his last wee last night because the wind was so noisy bless him. He made till 7am though.

He goes for the berries that fall off the bushes every single walk 🤦‍♀️ madly sniffing the ground and making out to others like I don’t feed him………😂

Awww, what an excellent boy waiting all night @GoodBones85

The scavenging is a nightmare at times. We always think they're worse for smells when it's damp - Brie's nose has been glued to the ground on all our walks over the last week or so.

I spent most of last night at the emergency vet with Clem who woke me up in the middle of the night crying and wailing. I have never been so terrified in my life. She's usually the calmest of my girls but she was in such a state I couldn't even get her down the stairs and in the end had to ring BIL to help me wrangle her under control and get her out the house and into the car...and that's not even touching on the chaos that the others created in their terror over what was wrong with Clem. Twatdog was particularly (and unsurprisingly) Twatty.

We got home at 4AM but my heart is still beating a million miles a minute. Clem's practically back to normal though - I thought we'd have a nice snuggle on the sofa...and two minutes later she stalked off and went into the kitchen. That's gratitude for you, I suppose.

@GoodBones85 having a food motivated dog is great, isn't it? I always feel a bit lazy when I train mine as it requires such minimal effort due to their food drive. 😁Great that he let you have a lay in though...wish mine would do that!

@PoodlePlace welcome! As PPs said, there are really no hard and fast rules to puppy ownership - it's whatever works best for your puppy (not what works best for you, sadly!). Personally, I like to have the puppies upstairs straight away - that way I get a goodnight sleep in my bed, and puppy can wake me (or I can set an alarm) if they need a wee. On cars...a harness. If there are two of you, have one of you (preferably the one who will be doing 'night shift') on the backseat with the dog in a harness next to you - that way you can provide comfort and puppy can get used to you being 'their' person and you can begin to build trust.

@LandSharksAnonymous Oh no. Poor Clem. (And you, but more her.) What was the matter with her? Glad she's feeling better this morning.

@SpanielsGalore the vet thought it was a bad allergic reaction. Her throat swelled up so she couldn't breath properly which I think was what made her panic so much. There's a faint white lump on the inside of one ear, which I guess means she was bitten. Usually I'd have just shoved a Piraton at her but given her reaction the vet was definitely the best choice.

Not sure it would have killed her to give me a cuddle after though (I'm going to be bitter about this until the end of time).