If your puppy is less than 6 months, what have they been up to today?

[Lostearrings]

We’re about to get our first family
dog. DH and I both grew up with dogs but that was a long time ago and we weren’t primarily responsible for them. I’m booked onto training classes, have various books and am speaking to friends who have recently become first time dog owners to those who have geriatric dogs. Everything I do at the moment, I am thinking “how will this work with the puppy”. But I am still struggling to work out what the day to day looks like! So what has your puppy been up to today?

My puppy is nearly 13 weeks amd has got a lot easier the last week or so!

Slept 10pm-6am in his crate on landing, got up when we did. Outside for wee & poo then had breakfast.

Playtime & 15 min walk. Brushed him.

Slept 8-9.45

Toilet & 5 minutes training.

Laid under table chewing his rope toy 10-12 while I did something work. Then had 5 minute walk and lunch.

Slept/laid around 12.30 til 2.30 then toilet and had his lickmat with food on.

Played with some.toys/5 mins training.

Slept until his tea at 5 and now playing with DH. Will have another 10/15 minute walk before crashing out on sofa.

I"m going to meet a 3 month old puppy that needs adopting later this week so watching thread! It's been 15 years since we had the puppy stage so I think I've forgotten a lot of the reality.

Yesterday was a frustrating day with my 3 month old puppy.

He sleeps well in his crate 9pm to 5.30am. But during the day, he either wants to nap on my lap or across my feet so I can't get anything done. Or else he is awake and wants to play or he goes into the garden to potter on his own (bliss!) but then he brings sticks and vegetation back in and spreads them all over the carpet. Or he doesn't go in the garden and then we get wees on the carpet.

I love him but I miss my house being tidy. Sigh ... I know it's just a phase.

Mine is seven months now, but I routinely have puppies so hopefully the below is helpful.

Wake up. Walk. Then training around food. Adult dogs usually sleep or pootle around the garden so puppy follows. Then sleep. Another walk. Training around food. Then either sleep or pootle around garden. And repeat.

Puppies really don’t need much attention or stimulation. They sleep 20+ hrs a day. My days probably easier as I have adults dogs and I am a big believer in not overstimulating and making a rod for my own back - kongs, lick matts etc, are unnecessary. Dogs should learn to settle without them, and ‘settle’ can be taught in a few days if your puppy is smart.

Definitely teach settle and focus on sleep.
our dog struggled to settle at times and he would turn into a raging monster, much like an over tired baby,
so prioritise sleep.
ours is a Weimaraner so took a long time to reach maturity, he’s only really getting there at 3!
the first few months were a haze of eat sleep & poop, for us too!

Came on the school run with me in the car first thing because he likes to do that 🤷‍♀️.

At some point had a crap on the sofa.

Came to work with me between 11.30am-2pm (I’m a dog walker). He’s nearly 6 months now and will be more or less fully grown so I’m not worrying so much about keeping walls super short for him, but I do make sure he gets a good rest in between walks.

Just been mooching around the house since then, he’s been chewing on natural treats, and napping with me and annoying my other dog 🤣

I do agree with @TheHungryHungryLandsharks here, I didn’t give loads of attention to my lab when he was a young pup and he’s very calm and settled in the house despite him being firmly in adolescence. I always made sure he was safe of course but he’s had the whole run of downstairs from early on and he hasn’t displayed any destructive behaviours and will mainly just sleep
while I work from home (with the occasional attempt to climb on my lap for a cuddle despite him being nearly 30kgs 😂)

Thanks for all of this, the good and the bad! It’s all very well ready the books and watching training videos but I didn’t have a timeline in my head and this has helped with that.

I'm a bit confused. So, we didn't end up with the original puppy (she had way too many issues at 12 weeks than we wanted to take on). But through another really amazing rescue, we have found a puppy who will be around 13-14 weeks old when we get him. Now, I literally remember walking my (now dead) dogs as puppies at that age but a lot of the stuff I'm reading suggests you don't take them out until 16 weeks. Isn't that AFTER the key socialization window closes?! What do you all think? I was planning on taking him everywhere with me for the next few weeks and have already got him booked in for puppy play classes.

Re-reading, I should emphasize they didn't die because I took them out early. They died of old age!

I think it depends on vaccination schedule? Our puppy had his 2nd injections at 10 weeks and vet advised can fully socialise 2 weeks after that, so.he was 12 weeks old.

Before that we carried him.places to introduce the world to him.

Yes it depends on the vaccination schedule.

By the time our puppy was your puppy's age (when you get them) they had all their vaccinations, though we picked ours up at 8 weeks which is common with Labrador puppies. A good breeder or rescue centre will do the vaccinations for you if you aren't going to collect the puppy until 12/13/14 weeks because as you say, it has implications for the key socialisation window.

I would ask the rescue whether the puppy will be vaccinated sufficiently to walk outside by the time you collect them.

Also, some socialisation classes allow you to take your puppy even if they aren't fully vaccinated. We went to one of those at a vet's - the puppies only mixed with one another indoors. The socialisation period is so important - if you can't take your puppy on walks you could at least take him to cafes etc, as long as he sits on your lap. Or sit in your front garden/drive if you have one, so he can watch the world go by. Invite people to your house to meet the puppy and they can bring their dogs as long as they are friendly and fully vaccinated.

Also, some people are very cautious about taking puppies out. I'm the opposite and think it's vitally important to get them out quickly. The 16 week guidance you've read is not the approach that everyone takes.

17 week old puppy. Was up at 6am yesterday out in the garden and breakfast.
he snuggled on the sofa with me while I had coffee.
out for a 70 min walk at 7:30. Back a bit before 9am
i popped him in the puppy pen while I went to the chemists
back about 9:20 and went to work in the garden office, puppy came too and snoozed in his bed.
lunch time biscuits.
i went back in the garden office, puppy came too. Spent the afternoon snoozing and exploring the garden.
short walk at 5pm. Biscuits.
he goes a bit wild early evening. Was playing with the cat. Annoyed older dog a bit so I put him in his pen to calm down.
then back in the living room with us as we watched tv. He snoozed, watched tv, chewed various toys.
bed at 10pm.

I’d certainly be quizzing them about how much socialisation they’d done with the breeder. I think even 13-14 weeks is a bit late. I got my previous dog at 11 weeks and she was always a bit timid which I wondered was due to me getting her late….might just have been her personality I guess.

i got current puppy at 8 weeks. He had first vaccination at 8weeks, 2nd at 10 weeks and could go out walking at 11 weeks. I carried him about in a sling from 8 weeks.

Ah yes I forgot about the sling.

We also used a puppy sling to take our puppy on "walks" from a few days after he came home to us. Depending on the size of @EconomyClassRockstar puppy, that could be an option.

We got our 8 week old puppy on Saturday. Most days consist of toilet training, playing, sleeping, cage training etc and even though we are carrying her a lot of socialisation! Yesterday she watched the bin lorry, the high street, took her into John Lewis. The book Easy Peasy Puppy Squeezy was super helpful.

He's been in foster for the last few weeks and we have met him and he's a pretty well rounded little chap. Playful and chilled and cuddly, all wrapped up together. Could definitely fit in a sling so I'll get one to take him for walks in the park if he isn't able to actually walk in public yet. Although, where we met him was a big indoor market where the rescue was holding an event so obviously he could go there so maybe I'm worrying about nothing (not unusual!). Thanks all! We're so excited. Not in the UK if that sounds unusual btw.

My dpuppy is faulty. A poster above claimed they sleep 20 hours a day. Memo to my dpuppy said 20 mins...
Anyone recommend any companies that do ddoggy dna testing? We have been truly swizzed. She is a bloody cyclone.

Haha @Easterbunnygettingawrapping ours never slept for 20 hours either!

He does sleep well at night so that's about 9 hours. But during the day, he snoozes in short bursts but it wouldn't make up more than a couple of hours in total.

Well, this pup is fantastic. We love him. Took him to Puppy Playgroup today and he had a brilliant time wrestling other puppies. Came home, chewed on his puppy bone and is now snoring at my feet.

Potty training is going great. If anything, a bit too great as he doesn't seem to get the concept that he can go in other areas outside (like on walks, etc) and doesn't have to hold it to get back to our garden. Anyone else's doing this?

Our dpuppy used the garden on our recent trip away. Was a big moment!!

I asked the vet for a dna testing recommendation and they said none are reliable! Don't want a health one just breed ideas!! Convinced some unruly mix in there. Last night she scaled the high door gate... And today despite using a wide size ironing board as a blockade!

Our 4 months puppy had his first trip to a pub today.

He was well behaved in the garden chewing on the bone I bought with me while I had a drink with a friend.

He's shaping up nicely actually.

I'm currently fostering a 12 week old puppy.
His day was
Sleep 9-5 in basket next to our bed
5am wee/poo in garden, breakfast (DH gets up at this unholy hour so our dog is used to being fed then so everyone gets fed)
5.20, comes back to bed with me and sleeps
8.30 got up, wee/poo in garden, played
9.30 out, recall training on longline, general sniffy fun, talked to local dogs and neighbours
10.30 back for mid morning snack (is underweight so has more meals than normal) followed by nap
12 ish woke up, toileting, played in garden, lunch
1.30 on lead walk round town, practiced settling in coffee shop, lots of work on nice greetings to humans and other dogs,
3, home, snack, nap
6.30 dinner
Currently, fighting sleep and being a knob...

He's actually a fantastic little dog and by the time he goes to his forever home he will be through the worst of things, but the bitey phase is really very tiresome

This is good to hear as we are staying in an Air BnB at the weekend for a night to meet up with our kids and their dogs. Also, straight after I posted this, I took him for a walk around the neighborhood and he peed on that, but it was right outside our house so he was probably just attempting to mark his puppy territory, bless him.

We adopted ours at 13 weeks and I will be eternally grateful to his foster Mum before me as she did such a good job. Thank you for doing something so incredible. His future parents will appreciate the work you're putting in now, I can assure you.