Puppy Survival Thread Autumn 2025 - all welcome!

[VanGoSunflowers]

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

@VanGoSunflowers yes she’s in it right now! It seems a shame because she’s still a baby to me! I think she’s ok, in fact her behaviour has improved hugely. Maybe a sign of maturity?? She’s a bit more affectionate and seems to have a bigger appetite. It’s a bit weird seeing drops of blood all over the place. My mop has never seem so much action - I am not noted for my housekeeping skills usually!

@VanGoSunflowers still a horrible little winky sucker! But other than that, she’s quite a sweetheart and DDs absolutely love having their ‘own’ dog (aka a dog that sleeps in their room). Honestly I do think having so many older dogs helps - that and she’s far less stupid than Twatdog who was an awful puppy.

I found Twatdogs vaccination book the other day. 6.4KG at first vaccination, 12.6kg at second vaccination (just short of 11 weeks). Eris was roughly the same, but Pen was much smaller, and I am now convinced Eris is probably going to be 35Kg+ which is faintly terrifying.

@Struckbylightning ah so she’s reacting the same way a lot of human women do! It’s good to hear her behaviour has improved too. Pablo just turned 9 months old recently and I would say if anything his behaviour is improving too. I can nearly always stop him running over to strange dogs now and he seems more chilled in the house, not as quick to get up and follow me everywhere. Still full of bouncy lab energy though ❤️

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks so she still has her bad habit then 😂 it’s very sweet that your DDs are enjoying having their own dog. I’m still thinking about getting another when Pablo is a bit older!

35kgs! Good solid dog size 😉 one of Pablo‘s brothers is already 31kgs!

My previous pup was 33kg by a year old ( male Lab). The weird thing was people were always mentioning how big he was but to me he always seemed quite small. I think because I raised him from 8 weeks I always saw him as the baby of the family.

@VanGoSunflowers I have to say, about three years age gap is perfect I've found for Goldies anyway...they're adults by about 3, before that you'd just end up with a teenager and a puppy and that sounds awful. And it means you get a good few years of them having similar energy levels.

Oh her habit is awful. I've gotten into recalling her if I so much as think I see another dog and making her walk to heel. It was one thing when she was tiny, but she's not exactly small now and it's just a bit embarrassing...

How old is Pablo now? Do you think he'll get that big? Labs tend to be about the same weight as Golden Retriever! 😀

@Twiglets1 I know what you mean! They seem to go from babies to adults in the blink of an eye...

Does the salt not bother their paws? We used to live in a country where it snowed regularly in winter and we had to get our old dog little booties because of the salt on the pavements.

I'd agree with the three year age gap. Based purely on P being 3 years and 3 months older than K. 😂 They get on well and have the same energy levels for playing and walks.
N is 9 years older than K. They do get on well and K adapts her play style for N's abilities. But their exercise needs are very different.
There was only a year between P and my sprocker and that was hard. He was an annoying adolescent and she was a vile puppy.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks agree on the similar energy levels thing! I guess that involves also getting a good match in terms of breed - don’t get me wrong, I’d probably get another Lab but I might do a little research in to potential others ☺️

At least Eris is well trained enough to stop her going up to other dogs! I’m only literally just managing that with Pablo 😂
He is 9 months old now, I’d say he will get a fair bit bigger? Maybe not necessarily that much taller but I think he will fill out a bit more.

@poodlepupmum the issue by me is that there was no salt on the pavements, hence the treacherous conditions 😂 luckily it’s all gone today and it’s a bit warmer!

@SpanielsGalore I can imagine having to deal with puppy and adolescent phase at the same time was difficult! I’m trying not to be on tenter hooks too much for Pablo’s behaviour going out of the window - this may just be a little sweet spot he’s hit and he’s about to go hard at being a teenager 😂

I’m trying to calm myself down. Just back from puppy having 2nd injection

1st injection of l4 and dhppi was a fortnight ago.

he was meant to just have dhppi today and then the 2nd dose of l4 in 2 weeks.

vet nurse gave him l4 today and I realised something was wrong when she said that was all his puppy vaccinations done. She looked panicked when I said no he’s back in a fortnight for his last one.

went to tell the vet who has tried to reassure me it’ll be fine. But also that he’s got to have another l4 shot in 2 weeks.

so he’s had them too close together and will have had 3 doses in 6 weeks I’m worried it’s too much

@NorwichMom That's terrible. I would be so pissed off. Google says the shorter gap might affect immunity. So would you need to leave a four week gap between the second and third doses?

@NorwichMom oh that's terrible! I'd be so annoyed. Have you spoken to a vet or was it the (rather incompetent) vet nurse who gave you the advice? I try and be nice about vets/vet nurses, but I have to say I would struggle to trust any advice one gave after making that basic of a mistake!

@VanGoSunflowers well...if you want a Golden Retriever, Twatdog is always available (free to a good home)! Cocker Spaniel is also a good shout. I always say if I was going to get any other breed it would be a little black cocker spaniel as I have a soft spot for them.

Oh Eris is very well trained - but that's nothing to do with me and all to do with her mother 😀

That sounds about right for Pablo in terms of height! Twatdog stopped getting taller about 9/10 months, but he only stopped filling out about 5/6 months ago.

The vet nurse went and talked to the vet who is the one who says he'll be fine and to have a 3rd injection in a fortnight

Just found this thread! I think I have the puppy blues 😫 when does it get better??

@NorwichMom that’s an awful mistake to make! I would have been annoyed too!

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks I will take Twat Dog 😂 do you think he would be able to put up with Pablo harassing him to play all day?

@zigazigahhhh hi and welcome! How old is your pup? Are you struggling with anything in particular? You’ve come to the right place! I’m sure most of us have felt it at some point or another!

Thanks @VanGoSunflowers
she is 13 weeks old. Mainly the peeing on the carpet, jumping up and biting. I just have a horrible restless anxious feeling all the time and a feeling of doom! It’s so odd I never knew puppy blues was a thing! X

Mine isn’t quite 11 weeks and the biting is awful. I take him outside every 90 mins at least and he still has accidents. It’s the relentless biting which is hard. He has so many toys, lick mats, snuffle mat, teething gel, snuffle ball, nylabones, puppy teething rings. Carrot sticks help as does puppy tv on YouTube

we also have a puppy pen and he gets put in there if the biting gets too bad and normally crashes. I think the biting gets worse when he’s tired.

I only just managed to stretch it to taking her out every hour and today I was silently celebrating that there had been no accidents and now there’s been 2 in the past couple hours!! I feel like I’m doing everything I’m supposed to but it’s not clicking 😭

the biting is so sore isn’t it!!!

Still early days. I keep telling myself this will pass, I might invest in gardening gloves in the meantime 😁. Looking forward to being able to go for a short walk with him in a weeks time.

@NorwichMom I can’t believe that happened!! I’d be so mad too……

@zigazigahhhh welcome! The puppy blues are definitely a thing. My boy is 11 months now - but there was a period in the early days where it felt like every waking minute I questioned what I had done and wanted to send him back.

But it passed. And he’s everything to us and doing brilliantly. If you need specific advice there is so much experience on this thread…….Ive had loads of excellent help and support here ❤️

@zigazigahhhh to add to what others are saying, I definitely had puppy blues and it was when mine was around the same age. I thought I had made a huge mistake! It started getting better not long after that, it does pass very quickly. I think once I could take him a walk, and he got a little more confident everything changed. He’s now 9 months and I wouldn’t be without him.

Thanks for this!! I just need to hear it wil get better and hopefully soon ❤️

It’s 2 steps forward and 1 step back with house training @zigazigahhhh but it sounds like you’re making good progress towards a wee (on the carpet) free day.

We’re picking our new puppy up on Sunday so I’ll be tearing my hair out by Monday I expect 😊

Well our 10 week old has decided to pee and poo everywhere all of a sudden. Utter madness. She was doing mostly on the pad but now it is wherever she pleases! It's driving me nuts! Why is this happening? Should we try and put her outside for wees? She was doing it on her puppy pad. It is not very nice out there. I am however slightly stressed on constant pee watch

Oh yes, you should definitely be taking her outside for wees and poos.

The puppy pads aren't doing any good, time to ditch them and go back to basics which - very unfortunately at this time of year - will mean taking her outside every half an hour or so, particularly every time she wakes up after a nap, has a meal or starts sniffing the ground - all signs she may need a wee or poo shortly afterwards.