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 😂

@Aubrielle agree, it’s a shame Lobero didn’t make it onto the screen. Preferred the books although the TV show wasn’t bad considering.

Yes, I’m hoping it’s later, rather than earlier seeing as we won’t get her neutered until she’s 18 months it seems. Selfishly if I’ve only got to go through it once that’ll be better.

P was 15 months old when she had her first season and K was 1 year and 8 days. I don't think either of them changed personality wise during their first one. Although P was more grumpy during her recent third one.

Hi 👋
just thought I would pop on and say hi…we have a 11 week old puppy, had her since she was 8 weeks…not our first dog but the first in 16 years and last time we did this we didn’t have children…
she’s doing well over all, does seem to doing the normal puppy biting, suddenly diving at our ankles etc this gets better though doesn’t it 😂

Hi @Autumnpumpkinspice101

Yes it does slowly get better as the weeks tick by, although there are still many moments of total exasperation and madness. Like you, this is our first puppy in 15 years and I’m feeling being 15 years older for sure! It’s a bit of a shock going to a puppy after having two very elderly hounds who slept 23 hours a day! 😂

Hello again @Autumnpumpkinspice101
Yes, it gets easier eventually...😉We were 11 years between pups and I'm a comparative oldie so yes, you do forget what the biting is like and just how exhausting it is.

Hello @Autumnpumpkinspice101 you have to pay the puppy picture tax 😂. The biting gets easier when their adult teeth come in. For both my labs it was 16 weeks 🙂.

Feel better knowing I aren’t they only one whose forgotten what a puppy is like, I knew it was going to be hard so I guess it’s not a shock but you forgot what it’s actually like when your in the middle of it all.
@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding 16 weeks doesn’t feel too far away 🤞🏻

Hi @Autumnpumpkinspice101
(also hi @Idstillratherbepaddleboarding - sorry I forgot in my last post I’ve been all a muddle lately 😂)

Mine wasn’t much of a biter but what biting he did do has settled down a fair bit, although he still play bites sometimes! What breed is your pup? Mine is my first dog so I had no idea what to expect 😂
Things get much easier as well when you can get them out for walks!

@VanGoSunflowers Hi! she’s a cocker spaniel (show) she’s a really good girl, I can’t complain but the biting is intense at certain points of the day

Hi all.

just thought I’d pop on and introduce ourselves. We have a 15 week old lab who we’ve had since 8 weeks old.
Honestly it is very hard work- our first family dog and my gosh it’s being a learning curve. I think the hardest thing for me is the biting- he is non stop. We’ve tried all the tricks and tips and not one thing is working. He gets sleep, redirection, kongs/lick mats, frozen carrots and not one thing is helping. He is awful with me in particular- his every waking minute he is biting and nipping me. I can’t touch him or play with him without him biting me. I move my hand away and give him a toy and he just ignores the toy and goes for my hand still.
He will be 16 weeks old on Sunday so just hoping this stage passes soon as otherwise he is lovely and doing well in everything else.

He's very handsome @JuicyDrop
He's likely to start losing his baby teeth any minute now, and once the adult ones are fully through, the biting and grabbing will lessen greatly. It sounds as if you're doing all the right things to help him through teething and it will soon pass.

@Houndymumma that sounds quite young! Mine have all had their first season between about 14-17 months. But that's possibly because Goldie's age far more slowly.

Welcome @Autumnpumpkinspice101 and @JuicyDrop 😊For the biting, if you're yelping (which everyone seems to suggest you do), when the puppy bites I would stop that and instead try a firm 'no' and turn your back. @SpanielsGalore and I have had this conversation a few times (I think - or have I confused you for someone else!?). But we came out in a place where we found that 'yelping' actually seemed to encourage dogs to nip - it seemed to stimulate them.

I've always turned my backs on mine and said 'no.' But sadly, retrievers and spaniels do seem to be terrible for it - possibly down to their breeding/purpose. I do agree with others, it gets better about week 20 - but they will still mouth and on occasion be a bit more forceful than they mean to be. Retrievers are particularly crap for it. Mine spend their time suckling on my toes, or wrist, or any other part of me they can reach. One of them spends most of his walks with my hand in his mouth 😕

Ooops, sorry @Autumnpumpkinspice101 if my "hello again" confused you - just realised I'm using my other name on your vaccine thread 😳Quite honestly I confuse myself half the time 🙄

It was me @LandSharksAnonymous , yelping made puppy Brie go potty with excitement, so did any sort of baby talk. We had to keep it very calm and low key or she was a liability. She is still mouthing and hand holding now at 18 months, and she's not a gundog or a toy carrier, but both vets say she's just a particularly tactile dog. The calm thing paid off though, as you know 😉

It can all vary so much from one pup to another though.

@Aubrielle oops sorry!

Someone else has said it too about the yelping though, possibly YorkshireFelix...?

@Aubrielle Haha it did confuse me, I even went to check if you were ok the other thread 😂

@LandSharksAnonymous totally agree, yelping does not work, neither does redirecting to a toy sometimes when she’s past herself. We find we have to say no and leave the room, not for long, come back in with praise for calm behaviour

@JuicyDrop aww what’s his name? We have a fox red lab too who’s called Rory. He’s 5 months now and wasn’t much of a biter but my last lab was as a puppy. It will get better soon when his baby teeth fall out I promise!

Thank you.

I’ve found redirecting to a toy is futile really - although occasionally it does work. I do ignore and move to another room but he just starts the minute I’m back in the vicinity.

He is not like it anywhere near as bad with anyone else in the household. If my husband says no he stops instantly. A no from me has no effect- similar to my 5 year old in that respect 🙄

I feel for you because mines the same, she’s far worse with me than anyone else in the house.

He’s called Freddie. Rory is just lovely.

Yes I’ve read it does get better so just holding out for that time. He hasn’t lost any teeth yet that I can see but I don’t think we are far off that stage now.

Our pup was far worse with me @Autumnpumpkinspice101 and @JuicyDrop and she still is. Often it depends who is the main caregiver or who they spend more time with and thus feel more relaxed around.
I ended up spending the whole summer in leather riding boots and long sleeved tees last year, because of the biting 😬

Yep, keep telling myself it’s because she loves me 😂

I’ve been telling everyone the same- it’s because he loves me the most haha.

I’m certainly the one he gets most happy to see but the one who also gets the worse deal with biting.

It would make sense as I’m the one who is home with him the most and did all the care of him in the early weeks.

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding Rory has reached that stage where he's all gangly. What a cutie 😍

@Aubrielle @Autumnpumpkinspice101 I found the same - dogs were worse with me (as primary caregiver) than with DDs or DH (when around).

The biting stage really is awful though - particularly if they do the vicious look as well as it can be a bit scary tbh. I posted a photo of one of mine doing it ages ago and, honestly, he looks like he's about to rip someone's throat out. He still gives the same look, even though he's almost three, but thankfully he just suckles now instead of lunges.

Even though everyone says 'the biting is awful' it's so easy to forget how bad it is. I've never been more than four years without a litter and I still forget how bad it is.