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 😂

Its the last leg of puppy sitting now and when he originally arrived I was counting down the hours…
They have both been really good, the ear/leg/tail chomping has calmed down so they play.

@VanGoSunflowersas far as I know, she hasn’t been dogging yet. She isn’t allowed out alone as she’s only 4 months old 😉😂
I haven’t seen any of the Quakers yet. When I do I will apologise and offer to donate some grass seed or something. My own garden is a disaster area.

Talking of gardens, we had a weird adventure on Friday night/ Saturday morning. We were woken at 3.40 by someone hammering on the door, which turned out to be a copper. She said they had been chasing a perp and he had started garden hopping, so the K-9 unit had let themselves into our garden and tracked the baddy down to our shed! They then spent the next 20/30 minutes searching our garden. At one point DH opened the door to ask if they wanted a cuppa or anything and Merry escaped to join the party. She had to captured and was brought back in disgrace…

Weather wise, it has been very windy here but also mostly sunny and very mild, so quite nice for walking.

@Struckbylightning you didn’t let Merry join in the chase? 😂Poor Merry! Imagine the stories she could have told the local dogs if she had helped caught the guy.

Tbf it might even have made the police’s job easier - if I was running from them and they set a puppy on me, I think I’d have to stop and give it pats.

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding oooh I really do
love the look of that coat! I might have to copy you, you’ve got a bargain there as well! Please let me know when you’ve took it for a trial run! The recent windy weather was strange because it wasn’t cold, just blowy. I’m always on the look out for ways to keep warm in the winter outdoors!

@LandSharksAnonymous glad you managed to escape the bad weather! In truth, I don’t think it was too bad here either but it’s quite a built up town but with pockets of ‘countryside’ for want of a better term for dog walking.
The coffee beans I am drinking at the moment are beautiful! I think they’re my favourite ones from Rave - it’s the Chatswood blend. I think it’s a 4/5 in strength but the crema on it is beautiful! And it’s really smooth. I drink mine black with one sugar and equal parts espresso and hot water as I like it strong - do you take milk?
How was your walk? And did you just single handedly solve all crime with the puppy suggestion? 😂

@Struckbylightning ooops! That’ll teach me to proof read my posts before posting them 😂 I do apologise for suggesting that Merry was up to such unsavoury things 😂 although you must be quite proud that she wanted to help catch the baddy 😀
Did they find him?? (I suppose I should say ‘or her’ just to be politically correct 😊)

@Isabelle70 Im glad you got through the puppy sitting unscathed! Perhaps that’s your sign to get another pup 😂😂

@VanGoSunflowers we should all get one, then we can look out for each other in public like the secret MN scarf of years ago 😂.

@Struckbylightning that sounds like quite the night for you!

hi all,

Our miniature poodle pup is due to come home this week and I’m doing final preparations. Crate and pen are ready, toys and treats organised…

He’ll be coming with raw food that he has been started on and we need to work out the best way to continue. We spoke to a dog trainer who was very convincing about raw food and when I asked if puppy will be getting enough calcium (as discussed previously) and he said the calcium is found in the bones in the food…

I do have a question about nighttime. We have a pen and crate set up in our kitchen / diner / living room area and plan to spend one or two nights downstairs with the puppy to help him settle. After that, would you recommend a baby monitor or something similar to keep an eye on things? We have white noise on in the bedrooms so hearing him might be difficult without a monitor!

Any further advice appreciated!

Thanks

@VanGoSunflowers it’s was definitely a he, we saw him being cuffed and led away. He was hiding in the shed, for which he should have a bravery award. I haven’t been in there all year, it’s very spidery!!
@LandSharksAnonymous I did think about asking the dog unit if they would take Merry away and bring her back when she was better trained. She would already be quite good at the ‘biting the baddy’ part. I’m sure that police dog would have her licked into shape pronto.
@PoodlePlace I’m the wrong person to comment on feeding. With my old dog I did go down the rabbit hole of dog food research. One of the things that freaked me out was the attitude of the raw feeding people. They seem to be a bit like human vegan types - very unyielding and evangelical. Very odd bunch. I also can’t really comment on crate training as I haven’t done that either, but I would imagine that it will take longer than a couple of nights. Both my dogs have always slept on their own bed in my bedroom, and have been perfect sleepers. Merry never gets up in the night, even for a wee. Probably I’ve just been lucky. I just feel like it must be very unsettling to be taken from your Mum and littermates, where you sleep in a pile of warm bodies, and then are suddenly taken to a new place and be expected to sleep alone in a cage.

@PoodlePlace I think the night time will be a case of playing it by ear. All puppies are different. Some might be alright sleeping alone after one or two nights. Others take weeks. I would advise not leaving them to cry it out though. That can lead to separation anxiety.
Mine also sleep in my bedroom and have settled since day one.

@Struckbylightning ha, laughing at you saying he needed a bravery award to go and hang out with a load of spiders for a bit 😂

@PoodlePlace I agree that all pups are probably different but if it helps - I brought home my first dog, an 8 week old Lab pup, back at the beginning of June. I planned to spend a few nights downstairs with him while he was settling and was also crate training him. A few nights unfortunately turned in to 7 weeks 😂 I spent a couple of weeks sleeping on the floor right next to the crate, then gradually moved to the sofa in the same room a little while later. I eventually got to bed, and then at the end of August I took him on holiday with my 7yo, where he slept on the bed with us, and I realised I could get a lie in if he slept with me! So he has slept in the bed with me ever since. I dismantled the crate a little over a week ago.
I don’t regret using the crate to begin with - as you probably know, getting enough sleep is so important for small pups and it can save your sanity as I found mine was so much calmer and less bitey if he had enough sleep. Sometimes when he was overtired but couldn’t settle, I could put him in the crate and he would go straight to sleep. He can settle to sleep without it now so I don’t need it anymore.

Can’t comment on the raw feeding as I have no experience with it. Mine is on Calibra junior kibble (advice I got from @Aubrielle) and he is doing really well on that and I include a forthglade meat topper too.

Best of luck with your new pup and please feel free to keep coming back! I have found this forum, and these threads, to be incredibly helpful. They saved my sanity a few times!

Thank you! ☺️

Don’t worry, I won’t be leaving him to cry it out and also prepared to play it by ear. We have the crate inside a pen and the breeder has said not to close him in the crate itself but to use it for nap times and as a safe place within the pen. I am planning to stay downstairs for the first few nights, but if longer is needed, then so be it 🙈. Also would be happy to bring him into our room if that works better but I’ll just see how it goes first.

@PoodlePlace based on my experience of one dog for all of five minutes, I think playing it by ear is a sensible approach 😊 do you have any pics you’d like to share?

@Struckbylightning my friend sent this to me the other day referring to Pablo but thought you might appreciate it too 😂

@VanGoSunflowers I did threaten that my messages would be very long after being so slow on replies!

I do drink it with milk - otherwise my teeth hurt. It's weird, I could easily eat an entire large box of ferrero rochers and my teeth won't hurt, but one americano and I'm crying like a baby!

@Struckbylightning you'd miss Merry...eventually! You might enjoy the peace and quiet for a bit though 😃

@PoodlePlace I don't like raw feeding for puppies as I prefer puppy specific diets because if a food brand is 'one size fits all' which many are - such as Butternut Box, not raw but similar - then chances are they're not giving the correct nutrients for puppies if it's also suitable for adults. But, that's personal preference.

Definitely don't be afraid to bring the puppy into your bedroom...although do be prepared it might never leave again! 😄I do agree with @SpanielsGalore though that you shouldn't leave the puppy to cry.

In slightly grimmer news...those of you who have been aware of the saga of Eris the Winky Sucker. We have made progress! Today she waddled past Twatdog and decided that, instead of going for his winky - which was right there - she would suckle on my toes. So I've spent a lovely morning on Team's calls with a puppy suckling on my big toe. It's a bit of an odd sensation, and a bit slimey, but she seems quite happy. She fell asleep mid-suckle earlier which was adorable. 😍

@VanGoSunflowers oh my that meme is spot-on! Especially appropriate as Merry is named after the Hobbit of the same name. Frodo was too male for a girl dog. (Potentially outing, but our previous dog was called Pippin).
@LandSharksAnonymous I’ve never had my toes sucked (or winky!) but Merry sometimes falls asleep gently chewing/ sucking on my hands. Maybe there is a market out there for dog dummies?

@Struckbylightning they already exist! Google them, some are ridiculous! Rory likes to suck my thumb like a baby 🥰.

Bill just finds them in the street and brings them home

@@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding of course they do. There was me thinking I had struck on a marvellous idea that would make me rich.
@Bupster what an adorable picture. So derpy 😍

We had a mixed day today. The Quakers have forgiven me for the garden. Mostly because last night someone went in their garden and used one of those disposable BBQ’s and burned 2 holes in their lawn. So Merry’s holes don’t look so bad. She was well behaved this morning, then manic all afternoon. Including discovering how to push out the dining room chairs enough that she can climb onto them and then onto the table. She stole an almost full packet of Cream Crackers and led me a merry (ha) dance all over the garden and house. She wouldn’t give them up even for roast chicken. Total pain in the arse. There was quite a lot of swearing…. On the evening walk she nearly
pulled my arm off too. Now of course she is peacefully sleeping and looking like butter wouldn’t melt. I feel I have aged at least 10 years this summer.

@VanGoSunflowers
I don't know if this is of interest to you but I think it looks amazing!
https://thepharmpetco.co.uk/product/calibra-life-dog-junior-large-breed-fresh-beef/

I'm ordering a bag and will let you know the verdict.

@Struckbylightning haha sorry. I’m still annoyed that when, as a child, I invented the “portable bin” for use in the car etc. My family laughed at me about that for years but I saw them on Temu recently 😭.

@LandSharksAnonymous I wrote a few essays myself this morning - of probably mainly waffle 😂
I do love a cortado myself but milk doesn’t agree with me and it’s not as nice with oat milk!

That’s adorable that she fell asleep mid toe suck! And good that she left Twatdog’s appendages alone 😂

@Struckbylightning I always end up laughing out loud at your posts 😂😂 loved the addition of winky in brackets!
Ah she’s running riot for you at the moment then! Are you mildly impressed with how agile she is though? 😂

@Bupster that picture is priceless and your comedy timing was spot on 😂

@Aubrielle ooooh! Yes, definitely of interest! Please let me know how you get on 😊

I will @VanGoSunflowers , I ordered a bag last night so it should arrive by early next week. I'll update after she tries it.

Just in case anyone else is interested, there is a small/medium version as well as an adult option. It's higher in meat than the big names (Hills, Arden Grange, Purina, James Wellbeloved etc.).

I'm replying to you here @VanGoSunflowers , rather than on the Beyond Adolescence thread.

As regards walking, I waffle at Brie all the time and it got on the first trainer's nerves @VanGoSunflowers Because she went through that secondary fear thing at about 8 months, I started giving her a running commentary of things ahead, be it tractor, motorbike or just a dog. He told me I was confusing her and wanted me to stick with the usual commands, but I'm a gobby scouser, so I just ramble on about stuff and she's used to it. I'm not bothered what people think.

The therapy was hard. It was CAT, which is very different from CBT. It's more like psychotherapy, and it was very triggering at times in relation to my pattern of rejection by parent, peer group, partner and the way I blame myself and beat myself up over every little thing. I almost gave up after week 2 and I had another big wobble in the last few weeks, but somehow toughed it out. I'm trying to hate myself less, but yesterday was not easy.

Yes, I'm doing an art course, but it's more about process than product. It's all part of the therapy for me. Now might be a good time for you to get into pencil sketching again, with winter coming and more time indoors. I definitely paint and knit a lot more through the winter months.

I'm moving on from the other thread I think. I don't really fit because of not having a gundog. It is becoming Gundog Central, which is fine, that's how it has naturally evolved, and the adolescent thread has always been similarly gundog focused, it has just shifted from one across to the other now. There's no sense to me hanging around with my gigantic guardian dog, because nothing I say has much relevance to anyone. What I do say seems to get misinterpreted or misunderstood a lot, which is hard, given how very different LGD behaviour is from that of a gundog, (or hound or toy). It has stressed me out over the last few days 😔so I'm stepping away, for my own MH.

Sorry for the waffle. I'll go back to quietly lurking for a bit. I'll let you know what that food is like and if you want a few handfuls for Pablo to try, I can send some. I went for a 12kg because the small bags are a rip off. Annnnnd.... I'm still waffling on😂

@Aubrielle my apologies, I replied to your last post on the other thread before I saw yours on here!
I’m glad you aren’t bothered by what that trainer thought - you clearly have a very strong bond with your dog and know exactly what she needs. She must have taken some comfort and/or encouragement from your words!
Im sorry to hear you have found the therapy tough. Do you feel it has helped you? Even with it being triggering for you? I’m also very sorry to hear about you hating yourself. It can be a very dark place to be. I won’t go on about my own experiences of feeling this way in the past, as it may not be at all relevant but I will say, that the one main focus on how I parent my DS is to try and make sure he has a healthy level of self esteem and feels loved at all times. It’s hard to break the cycle when it wasn’t demonstrated to you.

I think doing something creative that you can lose yourself in is a beautiful thing. It’s like meditation isn’t it? I really should break the pencils out again!

I do hope you’ll keep posting - even if you feel like you need to take a short break or you don’t feel comfortable with the interactions at the moment, I do think your contributions are absolutely relevant though. I’ve learned a lot from all of you and that goes for you just as much as everyone else! You’ve helped me with food, with lead walking, with baby gates, with sleeping arrangements and all of that advice and guidance and support has had a measurable positive effect on my experience with raising Pablo! I remain grateful to you for it!

Please look after yourself ❤️

Thank you @VanGoSunflowers

I think I'm still processing the grief from losing my mother exactly a year ago this week. We had a difficult relationship and apparently those are the hardest losses to come to terms with.

As long as I have my books, my art and that great big silly girl of mine, I'll be okay.

You're really doing amazingly with Pablo - and with your son, by the sound of it. The perfect little family unit ❤