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 😂

New kibble has arrived @VanGoSunflowers , looks and smells great. We've just got back from our walk, so won't be feeding her just yet, but for a non-foodie, she seemed pretty keen on the 5 or 6 pieces I did let her have.

I’m going to start a social media account “things I’ve removed from my puppy’s mouth today” he’s 7 months and a retriever and does not bloody stop retrieving. His soft little mouth is never empty, nothing is safe! he’s eaten acorns, apples, leaves and numerous sticks.

how we haven’t had a vet trip yet is anyone’s guess.

edit: I did manage to rescue the rest of the sponge! 🧽

I started a collection of you steal it you wear it :-)

https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE4MDMyMzQxMDM0NzEwMzI2?story_media_id=3715055084297322192_1095864616&igsh=MWQ0MTk2a2ppNmt5ag==

@reversegear is that a brownie?

@tizwozliz omg they are both so gorgeous 🥰.

part of a plant pot, a stick and a sponge were today’s offerings.

@reversegear haha. Rory’s prize today was an entire stalk of corn (I didn’t let him even contemplate eating it!).

Wow, looks at how much he's grown

@tizwozliz IKR, he’s also looking a little in the chunky side so I anticipate another growth spurt (or maybe it was the Nutella!).

Sorry, have been AWOL due to work and having to be sociable the last two evenings 😂

@Aubrielle how are you getting on with the new kibble so far? And how are you feeling?
@tizwozliz if I started a page like that, it would all be pics of Pablo wearing socks or tea towels 😂

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding oooh he is looking so grown up! And such a handsome boy 🥰

I am livid after our last walk of the day.
We bumped in to the nice man with the Spaniels and he and I were stood on the pedestrianised path between the two fields waiting for some of the dogs to finish in there so we could let ours off to have a run together. We were either side of the path, all dogs were on a lead. Another man (let’s call him Prick) started walking towards us so we both asked our dogs to sit and wait for him to walk past. He then proceeds to, without asking, go over the nice man’s youngest Spaniel to fuss her and of course, she gets excited and jumps up at him. He then comes and does the exact same thing to Pablo, even though it was clear I had Pablo sitting and focussing on me (which he was doing to be fair to him, even with the other dogs and people around) and of course, Pablo jumps up at him too. The man then stands back and proceeds to lecture us both on how our dogs don’t respect us, pointed to a grown up Collie that was being walked behind us as if to say that dog was better behaved than ours and just kept going on about how much he knows about dogs and how they need leadership. The entire way through his little monologue, Pablo was literally sat by my side completely focused on me!

So, I ask you lovely people, is there ANY such things as a perfectly trained 6 month old pup?! Do they not get any allowance at all for being so young, and do people expect you to never take them out in public until they’re fully grown and behave perfectly??

Oh hell @VanGoSunflowers what an arrogant little shithead he sounds! It reminds me of a strange "dog trainer" woman that @YorkshireFelix told us about recently. So many of these "experts" around, selling themselves as dog trainers now.

My girl doesn't behave perfectly at 18 months, I never put her into a sit, and she would more than likely jump up if she was being fussed. I'm afraid that if he mentioned "leadership" to me, he would have been on the receiving end of a lecture, not dishing one out 😏

My gosh, Brie, who is totally not a foodie, absolutely loves that new beef flavour Calibra! It does smell very meaty. I wanted to introduce it gradually, so she had two thirds lamb to one third beef but she thought I was really stingy with it, and was looking for more! It was definitely a good find for me and I think those two will be her main foods now, alongside the Essential Estate which is an adult food. I won't be reordering Millies Wolfheart or the Jollyes Lifestage.

I would be happy to send you a sample of the beef for Pablo, but from what Landsharks has said, it might be too low in calcium...but anyway, for us it is a success.

@Aubrielle I know! He really pissed me off! I did point out to him that he’s still a baby etc but he didn’t seem to want to hear it. You always think of what you should have said afterwards as well don’t you 🤦‍♀️
It was a tough walk all round really. This morning’s walk was unbelievable, I had him on a loose lead for most of it and he didn’t pull towards one person the whole time. Then this one it was like he was deaf the whole time! Probably because he was playing with his mate but even so.

Oooh I am so glad she likes it! Does sound like a perfect fit! Does it have less calcium in than the lamb one then?! I may order a small bag. We are getting through the 12kg bag of lamb very quickly 😂

Adorable!! But mummmm

@VanGoSunflowers Pretty sure my 4 year old will jump up at anyone who pays her attention. And several people who don't. 😂 WTF has that got to do with respect? You're right. He's a prick.

@Aubrielle Glad Brie is enjoying her new food.

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding How did Rory get so big so quickly?!

Yup, that's me too @VanGoSunflowers with regard to thinking later what I should have said, or how I should have handled something. But nobody who knows dogs well would expect perfection from a 6 month old puppy anyway, so it's not worth worrying about. When you have a dog, you always encounter idiots or people wo think they know more about your breed than you do. I'm sure I've said before that I once had a man insist that my St Bernard was underweight and he was going to report me for cruelty🙄 and no, I've never owned a Saint.

We still go from a perfect walk to an absolutely shite one with Brie, that's pretty normal, they have off days just as we do. But it's brilliant to hear that you felt this morning's walk was a really good one. It sounds like excellent progress with the lead walking.

The Calibra beef is only 1.1 calcium, which is very low, but for Brie it won't be her only food - the lamb is 1.3 and Essential is 1.8 so they'll kind of balance each other. I can't find what the correct calcium level would be for a Labrador, but the recommendations seem to point towards feeding a large breed kibble. I think we've concluded that for us the important factor is that it's large breed and a junior formulation. Once she turns two years we might switch to the adult versions. I got the beef from The PharmPet Co, it was a good price and delivery was only 36 hours.

@VanGoSunflowers OF COURSE there is no such thing as a perfectly trained six-month-old. Just ignore stupid people like that. You and P are doing really well, as P proved when he sat nicely next to you. Don’t give it another thought. Pupsy will gladly be fussed by people who give her the opportunity and sometimes she doesn't keep all of her paws on the floor and she's nearly two and a half. (My fault as I encourage her to jump up on me and as she's my dog that's fine.)

Like @Aubrielle says, lots of people will think they know much more about your dog than you do. I don’t have kids but I imagine it’s much the same as other parents and little ones. Just smile and wave/nod/walk away.

@SpanielsGalore It seems to be a recurring theme for me, some days I don’t care but I must have been feeling a bit more sensitive than usual
yesterday! Having said that, we do have a propensity to focus on the negative sometimes and I reminded myself of all the positive comments I have had too from strangers and other dog walkers and that perked me up a bit!

@Aubrielle oh jeez, what an idiot that man was for suggested that your St Bernard was underweight 🤦‍♀️ it reminds me of a saying I see on MN sometimes - “lord, grant me the confidence of a mediocre man” 😂 (just to point out though, I am not a misandrist and sometimes women do this too, but in my experience it is usually men!)
And thank you for saying that going from one good walk to a bad one is normal. That stops me from spiralling a bit and I will just take it in my stride if I know that’s what I can expect!

I can’t seem to find a general consensus on the calcium levels for a Lab, either - only (as you say) that a formula specifically created for a large breed puppy/junior. I’m very lucky he isn’t fussy and he seems to be doing extremely well with our current mix of Calibra with a small amount of forthglade wet food - one tray lasts me two days at the moment.

@brushingboots thank you - that does make
me feel better. I always try to remember as well that I am lucky to have such a confident dog! Funnily enough on the kids vs puppies thing, in my experience I have found that people are too polite to criticise your parenting - almost like it’s widely accepted that it’s rude but dogs seem to be fair game?! I’ve never had anyone give me unsolicited advice with DS (apart from one lady who told me he should have a hat on to keep him warm when he was already in a sling and it was 18 degrees out 😂) but it’s every other walk with Pablo! It’s not that I mind getting advice from other dog owners, sometimes when you get chatting to them it’s invaluable but I find the nicer, more helpful people tend to have a good level of humility at least!

@VanGoSunflowers I find the people who give me 'advice' on walks are the people who know fuck all about dogs.
My dog, who has asked to be picked up because your dog is bothering her, isn't trying to protect me.
My dogs don't think they are above me and I don't need to show them who is boss.
P isn't a springer.

Ooh I forgot to update, my Dryrobe in disguise arrived and I love it! It’s so warm and roomy. It comes down below my knee so I’m fully protected when I have my wellies on. I haven’t had to test it in the rain yet luckily.

Rory went to the beach again yesterday while the tide was in and he’s getting much more confident in the water. Zoom in to see his funny little facial expression though, he always looks so suspicious 😂.

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding the coat sounds perfect! Let us know how it goes in the colder weather!

Ahh look at his face bless him! We have no coast near by but Pablo is starting to enjoy paddling in streams now! He gets all excited about it and then I have to stop him jumping up at me!

Hope everyone else is well!

@VanGoSunflowers I will do, if it’s really cold, there is certainly room for layers!

We are very lucky to live by the sea although we were also lucky not to get cut off by the tide this time! It comes in so fast, we had to make a quick retreat.

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/discover/recipes/ciocolatissimo-brownies-recipe/ - absolutely nothing to do with puppies, but I made these on the weekend and given someone mentioned brownies upthread, I thought I would share they are the BEST brownies ever. They don't really cook fully the whole way through so they're incredibly gooey.

@VanGoSunflowers So sorry you had a rotten encounter (I have been very distracted by his Royal Twatness so not been keeping an eye on this thread). But there is no such thing as the perfect six month old puppy. And Pablo is incredibly well trained for his age. People are twats.

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding Rory is getting so big now! He looks less like a puppy in that photo 😀He is stunning!

I have been keeping up with reading this thread, but never quite got around to posting any replies, though I composed them in my head… the last bit of conversation I was going to join in on was the talk about books, one of my favourite subjects! I also love YA fiction, especially if magic and dragons are involved. When I actually was a YA, I don’t think we had the same calibre of choices. The closest I got to Harry Potter was The Worst Witch! Though we did, of course, have Tolkien.

Sorry about your experience of unsolicited advice from the Prick. It’s always a man isn’t it..! There used to be one who frequented our local park. He was always trying to ‘teach’ me and my kids how to train our dog. Funny thing was, his Goldie used to take absolutely no notice of his commands at all 😂

I am finding Merry a bit easier these days; she’s doing very well on walks, people always comment about her sweet nature, though she’s still quite bad at jumping up at humans. She just naturally assumes that EVERYONE and EVERY DOG is going to love her. Luckily so far, most of them do!

And I have found 2 teeth! They are so weird. Is it normal for the gaps to be quite bloody?

Glad that things are getting easier with Merry @Struckbylightning and that walks are good.
Teething can be painful for them, and it seems to vary from one pup to another. Our previous boy had a really hard time of it, with a lot of bleeding, but current girl wasn't too bad. Sounds as if it might be quite sore for Merry at the moment, but hopefully it will pass quickly.

@Struckbylightning oh you’re lucky! I noticed Rory had lost his last baby fang and I haven’t found a single one! Rory bled quite a bit especially when chewing (so always 😂).

Think I spoke too soon! The post dinner, pre walk period (right now) she is being such a pain! She’s roaming about the kitchen, jumping at the table and counters, just trying to grab stuff she shouldn’t have. She’s just run off with half a lemon. That might sting her gums, surely!? I’d like to say ‘that’ll learn er’, but it probably won’t. I’ve realised that it’s a curse to declare that things are improving… 😫