Puppy Survival Thread Autumn 2025 - all welcome!

[VanGoSunflowers]

Hello everyone! Won’t tag you all as you know everyone is welcome 😊

We wouldn’t have dogs in the bedroom. The landing would be ok. Dh is going to put a stair gate at the top of the stairs today. So I’m in two minds of either the landing which is closer to us and puppy proof and closer to us.

Or try with the crate in the sitting room overnight, I’m just worried if he’s upset he’ll get negative connotations with the crate. Alternative is let him sleep on the sofa with the living room door shut. He was good last night but he could potentially wreck/chew the sofas and I wouldn’t hear him.

This was pretty much my experience! Although I think I cracked sooner! 7 weeks sleep on the sofa, and then more broken sleep while he was in the crate downstairs. Started bringing him to bed with me at 5 months old and it was the best decision ever. I haven’t used the crate once since then, collapsed it and put it in the spare room not longer after and have now had nearly 5 months of no crate and haven’t needed it since.

@NorwichMom welcome!

@sunshineandkindle I am still feeding my nearly ten month old 4 times a day as well. He eats far too quickly! Plus it’s 4 chances in a day to get him to sit/stay/break so I reckon it helps with training impulse control too.

@VanGoSunflowers ha, yes. Midge would have been like that too given the chance! Like Pablo, he’s always on the lead around other dogs. He’s getting so much better at doing the sniff and move on though, and if he’s having a sniffy day he’ll ignore all the dogs. It must have been something particular about this dog, as he’s still does get playful if the other dog does all the play signals. I think the goldie missed out on the ‘flirting’ stage and went straight for the jump straight on top! What annoyed me was the owner’s attitude when I was being M’s advocate.

@Twiglets1 did l read that you are getting the new pup in January? How exciting!
Midge cried for the first couple of nights (when he was first put to bed) For the first month or so he would wake up in the night needing the toilet usually about 5 am and I would stay downstairs with him. It got later and later, and now we have to wake him up. If I hear him in the night now, I know he’s got an upset digestive system and it’s get downstairs as quick as possible to let him out!

@Nella68 ah, to be fair to Pablo he doesn’t jump all over other dogs as such. But he does bolt towards them, has a sniff, and then goes back and forth between licking their faces and barking in a play stance. If the other dog barks, growls or even snaps at him it just seems to encourage him!! He will back off for a split second and then try again 🤦‍♀️ on the odd occasion, if I don’t manage to put him on the lead and he does run up to another dog and doesn’t recall (which he will do maybe 50% of the time?!) I will always apologise to the owner. It’s a hard time at the moment because I am extremely reluctant to keep him on a lead 100% of the time, but he is only ‘half’ trained so I can’t always trust him. I’m hoping some of it will come with age as he calms down. I’m obviously trying to train him how to behave around other dogs but it’s so hit and miss because I don’t want to subject unwilling dogs/owners to him in order to do that! That’s why I swapped numbers with that other lab owner so we could train them around each other! I must admit I am finding some walks quite stressful at the moment, unless there is absolutely nobody around. I find Pablo can be quite unpredictable!

@NorwichMom my pup was crated from day one. He’s absolutely fine with having the door shut at night time but not so keen in the day. He’ll take himself off to sleep there in the daytime but always with the door open. I think daytime crate training and nighttime training is quite different, it has been for us anyway. He’s never been a destructive dog so there’s no need to crate him.

I would love to get rid of the crate but when we have tried he’s on alert all night, woofing at the cats and foxes and any random noise. We don’t hear a peep out of him when he’s crated, even though he’s in the same room and can obviously hear the same noises. I guess he doesn’t feel the same need to alert us when he’s in his safe space.

This is the same as our experience - W was crated from day one and wasn’t bothered about it one bit. In the early days he would let us know when he needed the toilet overnight and we would let him out to the garden to go then he would go straight back in. In the early days we also used it to enforce much needed day time naps. I think we just got lucky though that he liked the crate - I don’t think it was anything we particularly did, Agree with the advice to go with what works for your pup.

He isn’t crated in the day at all now at 10 months, if I have to pop out he has run of the kitchen, my small office and hallway. He’s only crated from about 11pm ish to 7am ish. I am keen to transition him to a dog bed overnight now in the same spot as his crate (landing) but it works so well that we are scared to mess with it!! We don’t hear a peep from him all night and usually have to wake him up 😂

@Nella68 and @GoodBones85 thank you, I’ll try the crate tonight then and see what happens. He’s now fully going in for food in the day which is more than yesterday.

other good news, dh has said he can wfh those 3 days I need him to. So that’s Jan and Feb sorted. Which buys me some time to investigate the doggy daycare centre in the village. If it’s small enough groups I might think it’s ok, I just don’t want him in a room with 30 dogs tearing about.

That's great @NorwichMom

Here he is snoozing on the sofa

Oh he's so cute!

Is he a border terrier?

@NorwichMom That’s good news about your husband. I started working part time when M was about 4 months old and my husband wfh on those days. I was really worried that he wouldn’t get any work done but Pup soon learnt that when my husband was in his laptop then it was his time to sleep.

@NorwichMom That’s good news about your husband. I started working part time when M was about 4 months old and my husband wfh on those days. I was really worried that he wouldn’t get any work done but Pup soon learnt that when my husband was in his laptop then it was his time to sleep.

I thought the clue was in the name...Norwich? Aren't they quite rare these days? Very cute pup.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet I thought it was Norwich the place, but then got confused with ‘Mom’ as that’s a very Brum/ Black Country term and thought that Norwich mom must have moved to Norwich. I didn’t even consider the dog breed!

I only learned that recently about the Midlands Mom, I'd thought it was purely a US thing. I used to live in Cumbria and up there it's 'Mam' so I don't know why it hadn't occurred to me that it might be a regional term.

Yes a Norwich terrier, think they are quite rare. Approximately only about 80 puppies born a year in the uk. They’re even rarer than Norfolk terriers which are also quite rare.

He’ll hopefully help out with the breeding programme when he’s older. His breeder has 3 bitches who he’s not related to and I said I’m happy to offer his services if it helps the breed 🙈.

And my dad was born in the black country, so yes am used to “mom”. 😆

Interesting @NorwichMom so I presume it's on the Kennel Club Vulnerable Native Breeds register...? I'm not sure I've ever met a Norwich or a Norfolk.

It's lovely to see another pup from a numerically small breed. There is also a Basset puppy on here, although that of course, is a French breed, so not on the KC list.

Yes, the Norwich terrier is on the list. Norfolks aren’t.

Think Norwichs are much more common in the USA though. But aren’t registered with the kennel club I guess.

They’re very similar but Norwich have pricked up ears and norfolks have droopy/flopped ears. But for some time it was thought they were the same breed I think.

the vet today had never seen a Norwich before.

edited to add, just looked up USA puppies, only 201 litters were registered in the US in 2019. Litters are often just 1 or 2 puppies so guess not many in America either.

That's interesting ... I assumed you were from Norwich @NorwichMom 😂

@NorwichMom well he is really very gorgeous isn’t he ❤️

W goes to a doggy day care one day a week. Mainly for him to play/socialise but also so I can pop to the office if needed, although I’m home based.

He didn’t start till 6 months and is in a specific puppy section so doesn’t mix with the older dogs at all. I visited with W before and we spent some time getting to know how the place runs so I could work out if it was right for him. Might be worth seeing f you can do similar?

@GoodBones85 yes I wouldn’t send him without being happy it was suitable. Plus they do a one hour free taster session to make sure they also think the dog would be ok with it all. 😀

I also assumed you lived in Norwich 😂 . I’ve never heard of a Norwich or Norfolk terrier so I’ve had a google. They are so cute!

They really are. I am expecting a lifetime of him being mistaken for a Cairn terrier though 😁

Well I put him in his crate about 10.30. With his new heartbeat toy puppy. He whimpered for about thirty seconds. Then i didn’t hear a thing all night. Came downstairs just before 6 and he was still asleep. I woke him up and took him out, had a wee and a poo and is now eating breakfast

You & pup have nailed it.

I’ll be asking you for advice in a few weeks. I’m getting the nerves now as we’re paying our deposit today & I’m thinking, “what have I done??”