Puppy Survival Thread Autumn 2025 - all welcome!

[VanGoSunflowers]

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

I agree more than 3 hours in a crate seems unkind in the daytime when they are not necessarily asleep most of the time.

When mine was about 15 weeks old I would be leaving him in a room (not a crate) with a floor that could be easily washed in case of accidents, like the kitchen. With water and some chew toys, teddy etc.

Once he was reliably house trained I just let him have the run of the downstairs when I went out. We had a child gate for a few months to stop him going upstairs and even after we took the child gate away, he still never went upstairs.

We just did dog gates right through from 8 weeks @olivehater , day and night. It can depend whether your house is open plan or will enable you to puppy proof an area and gate off the kitchen or even a utility.

Agree with @Twiglets1 and @CoubousAndTourmaIet about the puppy proof room with a baby gate! I couldn’t use a Pen with Pablo as he was already too big at 10 weeks to climb out of one and definitely would have hurt himself if I wasn’t there.

I am having work done in the kitchen at the moment - only a few days work - but I am missing having a puppy proof room. Poor Pablo is literally having to come everywhere with me - on every school run/scouts run. We did a total of 8 car trips yesterday! Luckily he travels fairly well but when I got back from the school run this morning, I discovered he had quietly chewed through his seat belt thing 🤦‍♀️ it’s bloody lucky he remained on the back seat! I have one and a spare arriving today thankfully! Same day delivery!

Just come back from a walk and had Pablo sit and stay on the way back while the same two pugs (I think they were, or French bulldogs maybe) pulled towards him and snarled and growled at him. He did me proud this time and just sat watching them 😊

He also threw up on his walk today, hopefully it was just a one off! He seems fine in himself and hasn’t eaten anything out of the ordinary that I know of.

Thanks for the replies.

Re him not weeing on my bed - he will and he has, 3 times already 🤣. And I’ve intercepted him getting in position to empty his arse on it too. But that aside, my other dog is really sweet with him and humours him with hours of play fighting, but there comes a time when she just wants to chill but he doesn’t know when to stop.

I had a brainwave 2 nights ago of putting the t shirt I’d just worn into his bed in the crate, and he settled down without a single whimper! Thought maybe it was a fluke, but did the same again last night with the same outcome. Luckily I don’t have nice clothes 🤣. So it’s the crate for now, I feel bad as it goes against my attachment puppy parenting instincts, but it seems to be the best solution for everyone at the moment.

@VanGoSunflowers Rory has never swum either, he thought about it once but decided against it. It’s a surprise as Billy loved to swim.

Rory has turned 7 months today and seems to have entered adolescence 🙈🙈 he pulled in his walk for the first time ever today and is generally becoming more demanding, pawing at me when he wants strokes or dinner. Then he fell asleep like this to prove that he’s just a baby 🥰. Arghhhh MN won’t let me upload a picture, I’ll try again later!

I hated that phase @Idstillratherbepaddleboarding , 7-10 months. Hated it! That was when I ended up calling a sodding dog trainer out because my beautiful well- behaved puppy became a delinquent on the lead. It is a horrible age! But then by 11 or 12 months she was lovely again 😁

All ours have loathed water.

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding ah yes, I remember that age. M turned into a lead biting, hand and arm attacking monster. I was very tempted on multiple occasions to leave him in the park. I had so many bruises. After one very painful occasion when he jumped right up and caught my upper arm I did walk off in the moment fully intending to leave him there. The little sod trotted after me and was all sweetness and light so I forgave him and relented.

If Rory does turn into a lead and hand biting monster I would thoroughly recommend carrying a tug toy in your pocket to whip out. I still carry one now as sometimes the little bugger will get ‘that look’ in his eyes, so I produce the tugging and shove it in his mouth. It really helps to diffuse the situation.

Yes I remember chasing Billy into the pub car park (you go through it to get to the field) manically screaming, “Right, that’s it you’re going back” in front of about 4 bin lorries of bin men who were eating their lunch! Hoping for an easier adolescence with Roo since he’s been such a good puppy 🤞.

Please do … I love puppy photos 🥰

@Theonewiththewagglytail I’m glad the t-shirt thing worked! I remember trying that with Pablo once but it didn’t make a blind bit of difference 🤦‍♀️

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding Pablo is 8 months old on Monday, it’s gone so fast hasn’t it?! He is definitely getting more of an ‘attitude’ as well. So far I wouldn’t say I’ve noticed a huge shift in his behaviour, he still does most of the naughty things he ever did (despite me trying to train him not to) but he either does it with more sass (barking at me if he doesn’t get what he wants) or it’s more noticeable because he’s so much bigger and heavier than he was! Has Rory changed on walks at all? That’s one scenario where I haven’t noticed any difference (yet!) if anything he seems to be responding to me better than he ever has. I really hope that doesn’t change but I can’t be that lucky, can I?!

@CoubousAndTourmaIet youre giving me hope that the phase is at least relatively short lived although it probably felt like a lifetime for you! I was worried he was going to have a personality transplant overnight and be this way for the next 18 months 😊

@Nella68 Pablo is definitely a bit more destructive than he ever was! Luckily he’s only destroyed his own toys so far and a few dish sponges 🤦‍♀️ I always thought the chewing stopped when adult teeth came in but apparently not 😂 he does seem calmer in the house again the past week though, so I suspect the demanding behaviour prior to that was down to me
working too many hours (I work in the living room so he’s always with me but he’s a very cuddly boy and will demand fuss from me fairly regularly 😂)

Obviously every dog develops at a different rate @VanGoSunflowers but for us, yes, adolescence was a short-lived phase with all of them. Brie is gorgeous now, at 20 months, and is pretty trustworthy in the house. She walks nicely on the lead most of the time, although her size and strength can still be a liability when she wants to greet someone 😳 But the worst phase, yes, from 7 or 8 months, so you and @Idstillratherbepaddleboarding are there now and you have my sympathies.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet hopefully it’ll be short lived for us as well although I understand every dog is different. He’s a good boy on the whole, I’m fortunate that most of the ‘naughty’ things he does are more annoying than anything. He’s nearly chewed through another car seat belt! Luckily I had ordered a spare and I’m ashamed to say I did spray it with anti chew spray. I can’t have him freeing himself while I’m driving.

Interesting walk for us this morning. I met a lady with a beautiful whippet. Her dog was 5 years old but she was telling me that her neighbour has a Labrador who is 4 and apparently, he trains him every single day and still doesn’t have recall?! I get a bit nervous when people say things like that as, although Pablo has excellent recall (so far) when there are no distractions, it’s certainly not ‘bomb proof’ because of his tendency to run over to other dogs! I mainly manage the environment to try and stop that from happening (walking at quieter times and in quieter places) I’m thinking I really ought to start talking him over the open field when it’s busier and putting him on a long line to try and get him to recall around other dogs?! I see so many lovely dogs just walking off lead and ignoring all other people/dogs and I really want Pablo to get there but understand it’s an age as well as training thing.

I also managed to lose his lead in the woods today 😩 luckily, he walked to heel back to the car (using treats of course!) no idea what happened to it, it must have fallen out of my pocket somewhere. I’m so scatter brained at times 🤦‍♀️

@VanGoSunflowers Everyone loses leads. It's very easily done. I'm forever seeing leads hanging on fence posts or gates, where they've been left for their owners to find.
P lost her collar in the woods once. I did find it again, but unfortunately the fastening had broken when it was pulled off. Saved me buying a new ID tag though.
I've also had a dog lose his harness on a walk. I didn't even realise it was missing until I went to attach his lead at the end of the walk and couldn't work out how to clip it on to black fur. 🤦‍♀️ 😂

And don't let other people and their dogs make you worry about Pablo. They aren't you and he's not their dog. You have done a grand job so far. Just keep on doing what you're doing and you'll both be fine.

@VanGoSunflowers Don’t be ashamed of anti chew spray- chewing through the seat belt is not good! We used the bitter apple spray when M went through a phase of chewing our wicker chair and rug edge. It worked and he hasn’t chewed anything since.

@VanGoSunflowers don’t forget it’s partly personality as well as training! Billy was exactly the same as Pablo and we did get to the point where he wouldn’t go up to other dogs without permission. I can’t remember at what age thought but it was over 1. Rory will never go over until he’s given permission and we haven’t down anything differently with him.

If I tried anti chew spray with Rory, he’d probably be like that meme on FB where the anti chew spray bottle is all chewed up 😂😂.

@SpanielsGalore I did lose a lead once before and someone had done similar for me and left it for me to find on the way back. I was so grateful!
The attempting to clip a lead on to black fur thing made me smile as that’s definitely something I would do too! And thank for your encouraging words 😊

@Nella68 I hadn’t used the anti-chew spray since he was a baby and it did stop him chewing the corners of my rug! So it definitely has its place!

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding How are you feeling? I think you’re right about the personality thing. And I don’t kind of it takes Pablo until he’s 1 or over to get to that point as long as he gets there. The time is flying by as it is!

@VanGoSunflowers I’m struggling so much with this winter and the never ending rain 😭. But thanks for asking. I just let Rory out for his bed time wee and he’s come back in with the muddiest paws ever. I could hear him splashing as he trotted to the door. I was ready to wipe him as soon as he came in but he still managed to get mud all over the kitchen floor, all up the patio doors and all over me. I mustn’t have managed to wipe him properly as there’s now mud all up the stairs, in DS’s room, all over our bedroom carpet and in the bed. All from a 2 min trip to go a wee. It’s not Rory’s fault in any way but it’s just ridiculous 😭.

I'm having the same issue @Idstillratherbepaddleboarding , the rain is persistent here (East Lancashire) everywhere is filthy and our garden is sodden. When Brie gets wet and muddy she smells of wet wool and at the moment she just never dries out fully. I can't remember it being this hard before with regard to a permanently stinky, wet and dirty dog in the house, but she is particularly heavy coated and perhaps that doesn't help.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet we’re slightly north of you and everywhere is flooded. It’s horrible isn’t it? I suppose I’m lucky that Rory has waterproof fur and dries quickly. My parents’ spaniels are also permanently wet.

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding It's crazy! We were walking on a bridleway today and water was running down it like a stream. Brie's top coat is pretty weatherproof but she has very furry belly, feet and legs so she's permanently grubby underneath at the moment. It's also a nightmare trying to wash and dry wet grubby dog towels, isn't it? I don't think I've ever been more sick of rain.

Hi, I’m so pleased to have found this thread since we’ve just got ourselves an 8 week old puppy (my first dog, husband has had a few so he knew what we were getting ourselves into). This period is reminding me of the newborn years, when I was tired and clueless, desperately searching mumsnet for reassurance that things will get better 😂

Hi and welcome to you and your puppy @ZoomieGremlin
I hope you'll find the thread helpful. If you have any specific worries, don't be afraid to ask questions, because the chances are that most of us will have been through the same stage with our own pup.
Is your new family member male or female? Large or small? It's up to you as to whether you'd like to share pup's name and photo - some of us do but others choose not to.
Yes, it definitely does get better once all the vaccines are done and pup can get out for walks, but the early days are exhausting! Hopefully we can help you through it.

Thank you @CoubousAndTourmaIet! Pup is a girl, a whippet - and an absolute gremlin at the minute, now that she’s got settled and confident with her new home and family.
I think the most frustrating part (aside from being tied to my house, which is kind of miserable) is toilet training. She’s doing well, I think (?) - she runs straight up to me for her treat every time she toilets outside, so she has learned quickly that she’ll be rewarded - but not being able to take my eyes off her indoors is exhausting. How long does it take for them to be reliably toilet trained, on average?

And I have found out that I have unavoidable hospital appointments next week with no one to oversee her, and I feel terrible having to leave her alone for longer than I’d like.

Sorry, I have another question! When she’s not being a gremlin, all pup wants to do is sit or sleep on me. Are they like babies, in that cuddling helps to built secure attachment? Or will letting her sleep on me too much make her dependent and clingy?

@ZoomieGremlin Welcome. How big is a whippet puppy? I'm imagining tiny.
I have working cocker spaniels. One was reliable during the day within two weeks, but needed taking out at night for months. The other took about four months to train, but slept through from day two. Sounds like your puppy is doing well already though, so fingers crossed, she won't take too long.
Can any of your neighbours help puppy sit whilst you go to the hospital? My neighbours loved having puppy cuddles whilst I went to Tesco.