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 😂

@JuicyDrop my pup is just coming up 21 weeks, so 5 months. We found she lost interest in her second meal (11am) when we were doing 4 feeds a day (7.00am/11am/2.00pm/5.30pm) as she approached 4 months old. We are now on three meals (7.30/12.30/5.30pm) and already she’s requiring a very slightly smaller meal at lunch or slightly less enthusiastic for lunch compared to breakfast/dinner. So seems to be transitioning herself. However we’ve not had any tummy issues like you. I have introduced a little wet food during teething (Hills science puppy) as the kibble was hard for her to eat on certain days, but she’s been absolutely fine on that. As adults I’ve always fed my dogs a mix of wet/dry food anyway and also fed my adult dogs at 7.30am and 5.30pm, so once my girl reaches 6 months hopefully we can just faze out the lunch meal. It’s what we did with my previous pups, they obviously have training treats too. However my Basset Hound probably has lower energy levels than a lot of other breeds! She’s already acting more like a typical laid back adult basset. 😂

Thank you that’s helpful.

He does seem very hungry but with all the tummy issues we’ve had with him it’s been a big balancing act. We’ve been adding a little rice to each meal, suggested by the vet, and along with switching his food he does seem to be settling.
I think we will stick with the four smaller meals a little while longer as he’s just starting to come back round to normal poos. He was so poorly at one point and I would hate to have him back there by changing things again. He’s putting on a good amount of weight - he’s a really big lad.

I’ve heard people say he will naturally start to show less interest in one of his meals but yet to see that yet. Haha.

Thank you for the advice.

It is a massive balancing act with his poor tummy being so poorly for a few weeks. He has yet to show any disinterest in any of his meals at all. He is still ravenous at each meal and eats them ridiculously quickly despite having a slow feeder. In the 10 weeks we’ve had him he has never left even a morsel of food, even when he was poorly with his tummy.

I will leave it a bit longer on the four meals and see if he starts to show less interest in one of his meals.

I stay on 4 meals with mine @JuicyDrop partly because of having a giant breed that's prone to bloat, but I also find that they're much calmer for never reaching the point of being hungry. I feed at 7, 11.30, 5pm, 9.30 or thereabouts. It can vary depending on what times we walk.

But really, it's about finding what works best for you and your own dog.

Switching to a food with lamb as the main source of protein is sometimes helpful for runny bowel problems.

@JuicyDrop I think that’s the right approach. If he starts getting overweight then you know it’s time to cut back but with his tummy issues he’s probably a lot better on smaller more regular meals than giving too much in one go. There are all these rules of what you should be doing at certain ages/times, but I’m a great believer in what works for you and pup individually. They’re all very different. My late female hound had a slow feeder and was a total food hoover, saying that, she was on steroids for Addison’s Disease so I think that made her very hungry. However my late boy could be a fussy slow eater. If your pup seems happy and his bottom is firming up, that’s all positive in my opinion.

@JuicyDrop my lab is exactly the same. He will eat a whole meal in about 22 seconds. And yes, I timed him. He’s never left food in his bowl and I think if I fed him 20 meals a day he would be the same 😂

Can second what @Aubrielle has said about switching to lamb. Mine is sensitive to chicken - although not as bad as fish - and I switched to Lamb on @Aubrielle’s advice and it made a huge difference to bowel movements and wind!

Same here - W can’t have anything chicken based or upsets his tummy. We are lamb based and have very few tummy issues now.

In other news @LandSharksAnonymous his giant sex elephant is arriving today - I’m excited for him 🤣🤣🤣

Can I join
my puppy is nearly 12 weeks, we have had him 2 weeks, he’s a beautiful boy, loves cuddles, doesn’t cry at night, he goes to his bed himself when told and goes to sleep.
we was doing brilliant at the puppy pad/outside toilet training but we’ve hit a stump the last few days, quite a lot of accidents inside, I clean the areas but he’s still going back to them, sometimes I don’t catch him in time.
he has a puppy pad by the back door and I take him out every 1-2 hours and take him out after he eats.
other than that I feel very lucky as he’s been a breeze really, I know it’s early days still.

Welcome @ThatNattyPlayer

With regards to my own experience of toilet training this time round, I haven’t used pads as I was worried that would give her the idea it’s ok to toilet inside. We weren’t making much progress for a while, although dry at night in the crate, so I went back to every 20-30 minutes outside for a wee/poop when awake but instead of verbally rewarding, I now included a small dog treat. For us, that changed things almost immediately (obviously my verbal praise wasn’t enough! 😂).

She now sits by the door. We’ve only had a couple of puddles in the last few weeks and that’s usually because I’ve missed her sitting next to the kitchen door. She doesn’t bark, but has now started to whine thank goodness. I’m still taking her out every 40 mins when awake, but that’s because my breed is known to be a bit lazy/not great at toilet training and hopefully over the next month or so I can start to trust her to ask. We’re also beginning to trust her/get her use to the few carpeted areas downstairs if she’s just been out for a wee. (I’m planning on new carpets at some point anyway, so not a total disaster if there is an accident).

Also to add, rainy days were total setback days in the early phase, so don’t get disheartened. I have found toilet training to be a daily journey of ups and downs in the early stages. And obviously using a good enzyme cleaner. 😊

Welcome @ThatNattyPlayer . I would ditch the puppy pads and take him outside more often. At least every hour, if not half hour. After every meal, every play session, every time he wakes after a nap, every time his nose goes to the floor and he begins to sniff.
Some puppies get it quicker than others. My 4 year old was trained within two weeks, but my 13 month old took 4 months to be reliable.
Good luck. Hopefully your weather isn't too bad at the moment. I think toilet training in the cold is harder work. Last puppy came home during a blizzard. I was tempted to let her wee inside on more than one occasion.

I will try getting rid of the pad and more frequent trips outside
bit wet and miserable here but I don’t mind as I hate summer, being outside at moment isn’t any issue for me.
my dogs a shih tzu, so was my last and he was toilet trained in a few weeks.
he has been getting up and going to kitchen to be let out but I work from home and sometimes I haven’t been quick enough so I’ll have to keep more of an eye out

@ThatNattyPlayer I agree about the weather. When we first brought pup home in August and had to stay home due to vaccinations it was during that last heatwave! It was absolutely horrific! I’m definitely not a summer person either.

I'm in the minority @ThatNattyPlayer , I did have pads by the back door for my pup and for us it worked well. She rarely had accidents in the house but when she did they were always on the pads; she was a free range pup, not crated at night. She toilet trained pretty quickly.

Mine has free range at night too, well within the kitchen, if there is accidents I can easily mop up, never had a crate for my last dog either and we wasn’t sure this time around.
as sleeping well at night we will probably stay that way.
the breeder chose to vaccinate late so he’s still waiting his second jab, I’m hoping things improve more when he can have walks

Again I think it’s trying different approaches and seeing what works positively for you & your pup. My breed is shockingly stubborn, so if my girl started doing something (peeing on a pad), it can be near impossible to train out sometimes. Bassets aren’t always the brightest, or possibly they’re so bright they just decide every command is optional. Never worked out which! 😂

It will definitely get easier when he can go out for walks @ThatNattyPlayer . Things will start to fall into place pretty quickly then, but as you've had dogs before you'll already know that. Our pup was in the kitchen/dining area too, they've all slept in there as babies.

I'd say the latter @Houndymumma ! The ones that don't blindly obey are the clever ones in my unbiased opinion 😉 With our PMD I just go with the flow, so to speak; they've all been very clean (despite their overall stubbornness) so I had faith that current girl would be too. Although our boys were definitely quicker to toilet train than our girls. Since she's been in season she is needing a 4am/5am wee, which is a bit tiring but we're going into week 3 now so it should be ending soon.

@Aubrielle I’ve always suspected the same as you! Too clever to blindly follow direct commands! 😂

I’ve always found the girls more difficult to toilet train and my last female was the one that could still, very occasionally have pee accidents although to be fair, I think that was possibly her Addison’s disease. Hopefully you’ll be through your girl’s season soon, bet that’ll be a relief.

Bit hectic here this morning as we’re having a couple of fence panels replaced. Pup keeps wanting out (on the lead whilst fence panels are down). So I take her out in case she needs a potty break, but she mostly wants to assist and hang out with the fencing man! 🙄

We really will be glad when her season ends @Houndymumma , she's clearly felt quite uncomfortable.

Ah, your girl sounds like a typical busybody female, they do like to be involved in everything that's going on, don't they? Brie "helps" with stuff too - I'm just thankful for dog gates or we'd get nothing done around house or garden 🙄

@Houndymumma How old were they before you could let them off the lead, I know you said 'older' and 'slower' but in my mind thats 9/10? I feel your pain about going to whoever has the best treats though...Twatdog was a bugger for it as a puppy. He's much improved now, but I think that's more because I walk around with a pocket full of roast beef than anything else

@GoodBones85 YAY for the sex elephants! I'm sure you'll understand what I mean (and won't think I am some creeper) but do let us know how he gets on with the sex toy! I just shoved Twatdog's toy at him and he's merrily humping in the garden (whilst making very creepy eye contact with Eris).

Welcome @ThatNattyPlayer (and I'd love to see a photo of your boy - I think Shih tzus have the most lovely little faces)! I don't use training pads as I think it encourages them inside (as others have said), but it is really hard when they are young, particularly if you don't always have that choice of being speedy.

All very quiet here this morning/early afternoon. DDs are out doing sports, and other than Twatdog humping his elephant and staring at his sister, everyone is asleep. I'm trying to psych myself up to cook a Moussaka (which I absolutely love, but which is possibly the most time-consuming meal to cook in the entire world...not helped by the fact I'm a massive snacker so half the aubergines that get fried up for it end up being eaten by me as I cook which means the entire thing takes twice as long 😳)

@LandSharksAnonymous I would say about 3-4 yrs old. Depends if I was walking them alone or DH or DD were there too. If I was alone it was older, maybe 4-5 yrs old. My female was the disappearing act, my boy was a bit of a mummy’s boy so stayed closer. Then from about 7-8 yrs old, you have to keep them on the lead as they’re so blooming slow you’ll get nowhere. There’s a thing us Basset owners experience called ‘Flat Basset’. It’s really a thing if you google it. Thats when they sit/lie down on a walk and refuse to move altogether. That can happen at any age! Honestly not sure why we bother! 😂🤣

Yes @ThatNattyPlayer welcome to the thread and please can we have a picture??

Here he is

OMG ❤ I don't think I've ever seen a cuter puppy in my life! He's adorable @ThatNattyPlayer !

Thank you, he’s adorable and has a huge personality