Puppy Survival Thread Autumn 2025 - all welcome!

[VanGoSunflowers]

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

Don't feel alone whatever you do. I'm 2 days in of bringing home a ten week old doodle. She's not bitey (yet?) but oh my God she is everything else on the lists of "what a new puppy will do that will cause you to think you are the worst puppy owner ever to walk the earth ". Gearing up for night time and dreading it...

@ItWasNotConvenient We've all been there. Hang on in there and it will get better.
I hated my 4 year old as a puppy. She was awful for biting. She ripped loads of my clothes and my arms were covered in cuts. She'd be up at 6am and spend the next two hours attacking me, before going back to sleep.
I spent many a morning in tears, sitting out of reach on the kitchen side, telling her how much I hated her.

Once she'd lost her puppy teeth, she completely changed and became a lovely dog. She never had a naughty adolescent phase.

@ItWasNotConvenientoh no I’m sorry you’re feeling that way. Don’t beat yourself up. I’m a first time dog owner and winging it 🤣

I read a puppy book, watched some YouTube videos but mainly spoke to friends. The main thing they said is that almost from day one they left their puppies alone for a short space of time and built it up. So I followed the advice, at first it felt awful like I was abandoning my baby! But it did work. I try to be as unemotional about it as possible so Ellie doesn’t feel my anxiety. As a result Ellie doesn’t have any separation anxiety.

I do recommend that you start from tomorrow leaving your puppy for short spurts of time and build up fairly quickly. It’ll be good for your puppy and your health.

For biting I bought one of those plastic bones which taste of chicken, I think it’s a nyoprone bone which I got from Amazon. And just give it to her every time she tried to bite me. I just tell myself it’s normal and she’ll grow out of it!

From what I’ve read it does get better ❤️

@ItWasNotConvenient I don’t know if you’ll believe me but we’ve all been there & felt how you’re feeling tonight.

Puppies can make you feel awful - then you feel guilty for feeling like you’ve made a mistake which just adds to the stress.

There are so many conflicting theories out there about everything which doesn’t help. And you do feel trapped when at the stage of not feeling like you can leave the puppy for long. Maybe try leaving the puppy alone in the house tomorrow for half an hour and see how they react. They may react just fine in which case you can extend the time the next day. I bet the puppy loves you … that’s because you’ve been kind to them. We’re all just doing our best & muddling through. Your puppy won’t expect you to be perfect but we put a lot of pressure on ourselves 😀

It's so horrible! I feel like I can't play and do nice things with him because it so quickly turns into biting and pulling on clothes. Then I feel terrible for not providing him with enrichment (he has plenty of toys and chews). I am so sick of wearing old jeans and jumpers instead and feeling like a scruffy wreck, and I am dreading nice spring weather when I can't protect my skin from his teeth with thick layers. I really identify with your description of sitting out of reach and crying!

Toys & chews are enrichment. And puppies are bloody annoying when they keep biting & destroying things.

I’ve been a scruffy wreck too since I got B in January. But I do know it gets better once they lose their baby teeth. I’ll still be scruffy but at least my hands won’t have little bite marks on them and maybe I’ll be able to spend more time caring for myself not just him!

I got one of those chews and he does like it a lot. Always good to find something that keeps his teeth busy!

Thank you, you are absolutely right. It is all a stage and will pass and hopefully I won't ruin the dog in the process! There is probably too much information out there and so much if it is catastrophic in tone and does create a lot of anxiety.

@ItWasNotConvenientif it makes you feel any better Ellie loves to eat her own poo. I spent half the day chasing after her with a poo in her mouth, she thinks it’s a game. I’ve actually had to stick my finger in her mouth and pull it out 🤦🏻‍♀️ absolutely gross. But I can laugh at it too 🤣 BtW I do wash my hands VERY well afterwards 🤣🤣🤣

It used to be easier to raise a puppy before the internet ( yes I’m old).

Can you imagine not being bombarded with videos constantly about what you should be doing? It was great. The dogs weren’t as well trained but so what? Who wants a boring, perfect dog anyway. You will find what works for you and your puppy once you get to know them better and it helps when you can get outside on walks etc & have a nice time together.

Haha I’ve had to do that too 🤢

And our previous puppy ate slugs too - disgusting creatures they are. The funny thing is when we worry so much about feeding them high quality food & they’re snacking on the most disgusting things!

I am looking forward to walks! Roll on second vaccinations!

Yes to the eating disgusting things, he is definitely pretty interested in his poo. There is always horse poo aplenty round us so I'm sure that will be a delicious temptation too.

@ItWasNotConvenient my sympathies ❤️❤️ as everyone else has said, you’re not alone in feeling like this and it WILL get so much better. One day you’ll say to yourself “oh, they haven’t attacked me in a while” and I honestly think it improves quicker than we think!
Is there absolutely nobody that would look after him for you so you can get a break, even if he is bitey? I would absolutely put up with a bitey puppy for a couple of hours to help a friend! I raised my boy alone and relied on friends to sit with him just so I could have a guilt free shower or indulge in a little self care. I also think leaving them alone for an appointment you can rearrange is one thing but leaving them alone, as long as they are safe, for your sanity is something you should absolutely do. You will not ruin your dog, in fact - if you’re more relaxed the chances are he will be too and it’ll be so much easier for you to tackle if you can get a short break.

Thank you. I rearranged the appointment, it was making me stressed and like I had a deadline for separation training the dog (a ridiculously short one). I have lowered the bar today; I don't know what I've been expecting of him and me but he is nine weeks old and I haven't even been a dog owner two weeks yet. I think we can both be allowed to make a few mistakes. And as if he knew he'd pushed it, he's been the most gentle and cuddly funny little pup today and the only thing that's been bitten is his poor hapless monkey toy.

That sounds good. I think diverting their shark teeth onto their soft toys or chew toys rather than our bodies is definitely the way to go!

@ItWasNotConvenientwe have definitely all been there. My puppy managed to put lots of holes in my coat, dressing gown, pyjamas and many tops during his teething stage - I am still wearing that coat, looking like an absolute scruff and looking forward to the day the coat can be binned!

I have a 7 month old miniature poodle and he still isn’t great at being left alone, although this is definitely improving with time. He hasn’t ever been left to cry if out and has only been left for short times but I can see improvements being made slowly.

I do have a question for anyone who can help. Our pup is 7 months and has been sleeping happily in a covered crate in our room until 3 nights ago when he started to refuse to go in. He has been used to falling asleep on our bed and being moved into the crate - he was aware he was being moved and went back to sleep happily. Suddenly he stopped settling in the crate and keeps getting back up. I have tried settling him back on our bed and then moving him, but it isn’t working! Is this a normal progression? Should I give up on the crate? I don’t really want him sleeping on the bed for safety reasons and I don’t sleep so well as l was!

@poodlebip I obviously have no idea as a total novice but would he sleep in a dog bed on the floor instead of the crate? If you could reach down and stroke him, would he get the closeness he wants without being actually in your bed? From other dog owners I know, some dogs do just decide on no crate anymore after a while.

I agree. I raised a guide dog puppy once and their plan is to get the puppies crate trained for about the first 6 months and then get them used to a normal dog bed after that, so they can cope with either.

It didn't quite work out that way in our case, as our puppy never liked his crate. But some of the other puppy raisers told me that their puppies made the decision themselves to stop using the crate at a certain point by just opting to sleep on the floor or somewhere else instead.

My puppy loved his doughnut bed so @PoodleBip I would try buying yours a lovely new dog bed of your choice and putting it beside your bed. Every time he jumps on the bed, gently put him back on his own bed. Maybe give him something to chew the first night in his bed to relax him.

Thank you. He had another happy night on my bed. I did bring his little bed up to try to encourage him to sleep there and will give it a proper go tonight. If it works I’ll definitely get something a bit better in place. He always has a few chews to settle with at night - normally on our bed - so will see if he chews and settles on his bed and stays there tonight. 🙏

Just looking for some advice about crate size. My mind is boggled by the information on the internet 🤯 How did you make the decision? Our puppy is a shihpoo so only small.

The breeder gave us advice on the size of the crate so you could try asking your puppy's breeder. I was equally confused by the sheer amount of choice!

@Tiredandannoyed2023 It's common advice to go for a small cage, with only space for a bed, to discourage puppy from toileting inside it. I don't know if there is any actual research or factual evidence behind this. Or if it's simply an old wives' tale continuously repeated.
Personally I went for as big a crate as I had the space for, so pup had room to move around. My most recent puppy weighed 2.5kg and was in a 42" crate. She whined the first night at around 3am and I took her outside for a wee. Popped her back in the crate until 8am. She slept through the night from day 2. Never once toiletted inside it.

I think the smallest crates seem very small. I might go to a medium size, maybe with a divider.

@Tiredandannoyed2023 I went for a sliding door crate which is handy and the puppy took to it, luckily. I got it in Large which was big for him at first, but he didn't toilet in it ever. If he runs out of space and still likes a crate we may have to buy another in extra large, but hoping to move him onto a dog bed once bigger.

My puppy is a Lab, I guess for smaller breeds a medium would be better.

www.lordsandlabradors.co.uk/products/lords-labradors-sliding-door-grey-dog-crate

We were advised to have a 30” crate with a pen around the outside for our miniature poodle. We also have a crate mat that fills the whole floor space and has raised edges. Our puppy has never had a toileting accident in there. He was quite small in it to start with but now fills the bed space when he stretches out!