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 😂

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding
Yes, also using Simple Solution, getting through the bottles!

Me too on the Simple Solutions cleaning fluid. Think I’ll have shares in the company soon! 🙄

My puppy was at least 4 months old before she was reliable. My friend said hers was nearly a year old!
How long is she spending in the crate during the day time? That might not be helping. Can you use stair gates or a play pen to separate her from your oldie, rather than crating her? It can become a viscious circle. She's boisterous, because she has energy to burn off as she's been crated, so she gets crated because she's boisterous.
My puppy had supervised periods of access to my oldie to begin with. She annoyed the shit out of her and was frequently told off to begin with. But by day 9 they were inseparable.

Wandering if toilet training and bladder control has anything at all to do with the size of the pup?? I wondered this with Pablo as he can hold it quite a while - bigger pup = bigger bladder? But then you’d think bigger pups would need to drink more water as well so I might be talking absolute shite 😂

Pablo will nearly always go a good ten hours or more over night now he’s sleeping with me (apart from one random 3am request for a toilet break the other night) but he will still have a bit of a leak if he’s excited - a friend came to visit yesterday who he hadn’t met before and he woke up literally to the sound of her knocking the door so I didn’t get chance to take him outside first.

@VanGoSunflowers P was 3.5kg when I got her. She woke during the night for months to toilet, but was reliable during the day in two weeks.
K was 2.5kg. Slept through the night from day 2, but took 4 months to be trained during the day.
So I'll say no. 😂

@SpanielsGalore yes I have gates, a large pen, and spend a lot of time in the garden. The oldie is blind and deaf and beyond having to deal with a pup - probably not with me much longer, she only lives to eat and look for food!
Pup is only crated for naps because she doesn’t settle anywhere else

Pup just needed to go out at night the first week, and has mostly slept right through. She has been squeaking if she needs to go and I am a light sleeper. Thought I’d cracked it!

Reflecting a lot on my puppy this week as I’m three months in to having him now 😱 and he will be 5 months old on Monday. I was looking back at pics of him when I first got him home and I can’t believe how much bigger he is! I know that’s a daft thing to say because of course they get bigger 😂

Did one of our longer walks this evening- lead walk up to a field a bit further away with a path around the outside of it and tall, long grass in the middle and he’s definitely getting more confident as he has started to run in and out of the tall (chest height to me!) grass whereas before he would only walk on the path. He was really enjoying himself and it was lovely to see but he seems almost quite powerful now if that makes sense? Like he’s quite a strong dog for one so small! Wondering what the next 3 months will bring and if it’ll be easier or harder 😂

But the biggest surprise for me is how much I wouldn’t be without him. I had moments in the early days of thinking I had made a huge mistake but I was not prepared for how besotted I would become. I’ve always loved dogs but never knew what it was like to love my own.

Sorry for the waffle 😂

@Lavenderdog Sorry. From your previous post I thought puppy was being crated a lot to keep her away from the older one. She sounds like mine then. Good at night, but takes ages to get it during the day. I'd make mine have a wee before I sat down to eat, but she'd still wee on the carpet before I'd finished. It's very frustrating.

That blows my not very scientific theory out of the water then 😂

Exactly that, @SpanielsGalore !
Never a meal in peace unless she is in a crate 🤣

Takes me back to when DC were small. And there are similarities in the despairing feelings of “will they ever be able to…..”!

But Landsharks and I would have agreed with your theory about large bladder capacity @VanGoSunflowers 😁
One of my boys was dry through the night and fully reliable by 10 weeks. Brie took longer with night time wees but we were all done by 4 months. Poo was never an issue with her, it was always outside apart from one single time when I was vacuuming and didn't hear her ask to go out.

Pablo will obviously get a lot bigger and stronger than he is now, he'll be building muscle all the time. I'm not an expert on Labs and all dogs grow at different rates, but with Brie the most noticeable difference came at 8,9,10 months. Technically the fast growth period is done by then, but for me that was the time when she seemed to no longer feel like a puppy on the lead and I could sense her power. Strangely, it felt less daunting than 5 or 6 months old had, that was the scary phase when I could hardly hang on to her and felt I was going to be pulled over. So for me, bigger was easier if that makes any sense.

I know you love Pablo very much already, but it gets better. The bond will go on strengthening. Puppies are undeniably cute, but honestly, adult dogs are amazing. They understand so much and you know them inside out. If you think you're besotted now, it'll be at another level entirely by this time next year, the year after. You will look back and think that getting a dog was the best decision you ever made.

@Aubrielle that’s another thing I can’t wrap my head around! I saw a friend last night who has a dog she’s had for 13 years and they lost their other one at Christmas time whom they’d had for 15 years, too. It’ll be a whole other level once he’s been with me for years, as you say!
They change so much as pups in short a short space of time, don’t they? Some days I feel like he even looks different after a particularly long nap!

Yes my baby seems bigger every morning. And through the fog of puppy exhaustion & anxiety, sometimes I look over at her sleeping and I can see a glimpse into the future of adult dog calmness. Or maybe I’m just fooling myself! 😆

Mine went backwards @Houndymumma 😆
At 4 months she was like a mini adult, at 17 months she is like a ginormous overgrown puppy 🙄Hence why I'm back on the puppy thread.

Oh don’t tell me that!! I’m desperate for my puppy to become a proper adult Basset where they just lie around on the sofa like a huge cat! 😂

This is a wonderful picture ❤

Hi all. After lots of lurking I am finally feeling brave enough to post!

I’m goodbones and have a 7 month old cockapoo (W).

My question is about letting W off lead. We have worked with a couple of trainers and he is doing brilliantly with training. One trainer advised we let him off lead as early as possible to work on recall from day 1 (using a long line). This is what I did and up until recently he has been very well behaved off lead and his recall has been great. Of course, he’s getting older and testing boundaries, so now we are having wobbles with behaviour/recall. I know this is to be expected but my question is do I restrict off lead time or continue with it but hire a field where we can work on it until he is more reliable? To be clear I only let him off currently in two specific locations where I believe it’s safe (can provide more details if necessary.)

Any advice please?

*just to add - from following this board for the last 8 months or so I am well aware of the ethical issues relating to poodle crosses and know I was incredibly naive. I would go for a standard poodle in a heartbeat next time knowing what I know now.

Now he is here I can’t imagine life without him
so just want to do the best by him.

edited for formatting

@GoodBones85 Welcome to adolescence. 😁
Mine was off lead from day one and had perfect recall until about 7 months old. I have still allowed her to be off lead, as I can usually still see her even if she won't come to me. (She did bugger off for 5 minutes the other night, but that was an exception and there was something highly exciting involved.)
I find calling "this way" and changing direction to be more effective at the moment. I also reward all recalls and voluntary check-ins with treats to encourage her to come back.
There is an adolescent thread/support group running too if you want to join that one.
And these two threads are supportive ones, so you shouldn't get any negative comments about having a cockerpoo. You might get a negative comment for not posting a photo though. 😂

Thanks @SpanielsGalore that’s appreciated. I’ll try and find the adolescence thread too - I do remember seeing it.

Thanks for the helpful advice.

Picture attached (although he’s been clipped since this was taken!!)

@GoodBones85 it's easily done - particularly if you're new to dog ownership or unsure about what to go with. What matters is you're trying your best by your dog - so you won't find any judgement here!

@SpanielsGalore has given excellent advice.

At seven months old, if they have been showing good behaviour so far it's very easy to fall into the trap of not rewarding them when they come. I'd do the above, as Spaniels suggests, but also remember to give fusses and lots of food rewards when he comes when calls. Ultimately, what you want is for him to find you the most important person/thing around him.

With his (beautiful) colouring and the colour of your floors I'm surprised you haven't tripped over him yet (or have you)?! I have a golden/brown sofa in my house that DMums Cocker, who is a similar colour to your dog, often sits on - I've lost count of the times I've accidentally sat on her without realising.

@GoodBones85 he is sooooo cute! My cocker (now 15 months) had excellent recall and then hit the teenage stage at 6 months and it all went backwards. We worked really hard on it and it’s been slowing turning back around. Unfortunately sometimes if he catches a scent of something then his ears completely stop working 🙄

I’d keep him on a longline and maybe avoid places which are a trigger for him. So mine goes absolutely nuts in the woods so I stopped walking there for a while and stuck to a playing field with short grass instead.

Defo post on the adolescent thread as you’ll get lots of support! It’s been a life saver for me.

He's gorgeous @GoodBones85 ! I have a nearly 6 month, 9kg cavapoo, not the plan at all but here we are and I'm besotted (mostly!).

We walk in a country park. B will stay close by on footpaths but is getting more confident at running in front rather than behind me and recall from other dogs is turning dicey now. I'm trying to find another treat he likes to see if that helps as even cheese wasn't enough to get him away from a pack of playmates yesterday!

Thanks all for your kind and helpful replies.

@LandSharksAnonymous yes I have tripped over him a few times n the kitchen, not only with his colouring against the floor but also he’s always at my feet hoping something will drop!! He’s hugely food motivated. We haven’t been in the house long so the kitchen will be changing soon so I will have to remember to get a contrasting floor 😂

@YorkshireFelix thanks for the advice and always good to know we are not alone - definitely sticking to off lead in places he’s more trustworthy only. We went on holiday with him recently so obviously walking in unfamiliar places and I used the longline there.

@widewomanofthevillage other dogs is my biggest concern truthfully. He wants to play with EVERY dog we encounter and if they don’t respond he barks at them repeatedly trying to get their attention. 🤦‍♀️ Mostly it’s older dogs who just want walk on in peace…..

He is absolutely gorgeous though ❤️

@GoodBones85 welcome!

I have a 19 month old poodle cross. Recall is improving but he’s still on the longline so I can give him a tug so he remembers to return. Smells are his downfall. His nose goes to the ground and his ears are set to the off position.

Thinking about the greetings; is this when he is on lead or when he’s allowed off? Does he do it from a distance or just when he’s in close proximity?

The trainer I used suggested a rule of letting my dog meet one in three dogs but that was the absolute maximum. During the meeting let them have a sniff, count to 3 and then say ‘let’s go’. Midge is getting pretty good at being able to walk past dogs that ignore him - he’ll have a look/ quick sniff and then be on his way. It’s the bouncy dogs that rush him and do play signals that get on my nerves as M then gets all excited. We can move on but then he’ll start lead ragging.

This morning a beautiful flat coat retriever bounded up to M as he was having a poo. I repeatedly asked the owner to call him off (which he couldn’t). It ended up with one of the dogs growling and the flattie having raised hackles. I thought it was so rude of the owner letting his dog bother mine mid dump!

@Nella68 That’s incredibly rude!!!

So the greetings are on the lead currently. I only let him off if we are alone and then if we encounter other dogs or people I’ll call him back and put the lead on which so far has been fine, no problems. That’s why I only let him off lead in two specific places, as well as being fairly secure I have a clear view of who is about but there is also plenty of space. I’ve had a couple of instances recently where he’s gone further than he should or been reluctant to come back (although ultimately he does) which is where I can see him starting to test the boundaries…..

When hes on the lead we have been working hard on rewarding him for walking past people and other dogs and ignoring them. We have definitely made progress particularly with people. But with other dogs he will greet nicely/sniff but then after a few seconds will start to bow and jump about and bark wanting to play….he desperately wants to play EVERY TIME…...counting to three and then moving on sounds like good advice I will definitely try this. Thankyou