Is there a new puppy survival thread?

[Isadora2007]

I could only see one from Autumn so assumed it was older?
Anyone with a new pup wanting to share the trenches?

We started softening kibble with water but I soon realised DH couldn’t be bothered and when he fed him he wasn’t doing it so we both stopped pretty early on. I think you’d probably be ok to stop when you feel like it to be honest!! We do feed PieDog vegetables every day though, DH watched a TedTalk where a cat who had veggies daily lived healthily until 34 so now PieDog has 3 or 4 different veggies with his tea every night 🤦‍♀️🤣

Any tips for whirlwind devil snarly bitey overtired puppy? If he goes in his crate he bites the bars and goes wild but he won’t chill enough to relax and has been wild most of today. Dd(16) is dog mum and she’s overwhelmed and tearful. She tried all the normal tips but is at a loss.

How old is the puppy? I felt really overwhelmed and tearful (as an adult) in the first couple of weeks about this but as dog and I got to know each other better, I got better at reading him and knowing when to put him in the crate to avoid him getting into that state to start with - the breeder advised me to put him in there with a safe chew to settle with. He has a stuffed toy that goes in with him and we do a Kong with a bit of Greek yoghurt so he has something to lick which calms him. If he was biting the bars, I would sit there with him but not open the door until he calmed down. It's so difficult because when they're in that state, the only cure is sleep but they are so wired they find it hard to calm down. I would time how long he's been awake and if it's approaching an hour he goes in the crate (at 14 weeks he can do 90 mins). Don't wait for him to seem tired as there is just no window - they go from fine to crazed in a split second!

@RaptorShark he is 11 weeks old nearly now, and only been here a week (it’s me who started the thread under another name, shhh). Poor dd also got her period tonight so I suspect she was just overwhelmed and premenstrual. But we are looking at his schedule too and going to catch him earlier for sleep windows.

I'm just posting to say it really does get better! I dreamt about leaving the front door open accidentally on purpose so she could run away and find a new family 🤦🏻‍♀️

when you speak 'the language of the eyebrow' as I call it - things improve so much!! She's 1 now and well - perfect 😍

Awww @OhFuckyNell how cute!!! But don’t say “it gets better… she’s one now” as that makes me worry I’ve a long 9 months to survive lol.

Currently lying on a zed bed trying to ignore pup and say “shhhh” to make him sleep… failing as he is chewing the bed and whining.

@TappingTed I really do feel for your dd. I'm only on my second night with mine and she won't sleep on her crate in the daytime, just last night and I hope the same again tonight. During the day she almost howls like a wolf if she is put on there. I know she will get it, but it will take time and patience. I've just put her in now as she was fast asleep on the floor, and she is still in there. When she is crying and screaming I wait until there is a split second of silence and then I let her out, just with the tiny hope she recognises that being quiet gets her out.

The amount of accidents I've had to clean up...well I've lost count. But, I have been trying to watch her tells and have noticed she gets really stressed about having a poo, and starts to rush back and forth. This happens approx 2 hours after eating. Now when I take her outside, if she doesn't go, when we go back in, I keep a close eye, and if she starts stressing and rushing about I take her straight back out. It worked this evening, but I was still out there almost half an hour.

I started doing a bit of training today, just getting her to sit. This is something she does anyway, she likes to sit and observe things which is just lovely, so she is getting a treat quite easily. She also does the little head tilt when I'm talking to her. She is learning her name and comes when called. We've renamed her, even though we like her kc name, I have a lisp and it would be made worse having the say this name. We also had a good run up and down the kitchen/dining room area, which I think she really enjoyed. Probably something she would have done with her siblings.

I hope tonight she is a bit more settled and we get longer between wees. I'm pretty sure I didn't soften the biscuits when my previous dog was this age, so I will reduce the amount of water I add. I also think she needs 4 smaller meals a day instead of three, and gradually reduce it back to three before going to twice a day. Anyone know what age they start having just two meals?

Sorry I had to giggle when reading through this thread it came up in active threads. Breeder here with eight 7 week old pups how do you think we feel lol sorry I know this thread isn’t for me but yous have one pup think about us poor breeders 😭😅

You’re on the countdown to getting rid of them and peace!!! 🤣 but hats off to anyone who can cope with more than one land shark!

We're collecting our new lab in a couple of weeks. We survived puppyhood with our last lab - hope the new one is as good! Thanks for the thread.

We're picking up our first puppy on Tuesday.
Not sure if reading this thread as made me more worried or excited. Don't think DD realises quite how needy they'll be at the beginning 😬
Just hope that she's a good sleeper, not sure I can cope with baby stage sleepless nights again.

It’s not for the weak I can tell you 🤦🏻‍♀️ holiday is needed for sure

My breeder had a litter of 11, and kept them until 10 weeks. I’m pretty sure she had a party on the day they left 😂

Dpup is snoring on the couch.

I’m finding it a little bit easier every day, and we all love her

I joked ages ago that with my last litter I was literally throwing them out the door on collection day. Last litter was 11 puppies 😂

Hi we have got a 10 week labrador puppy. Lots of biting, eating everything in the garden. Shrubs have been put in prison so he cant get to them.

Sleep ok but his hours are a bit different to mine 9.00 - 5.00.Athough I have seen some lovely sunrises in the last few days. Youi forget how tiring they are when the are small. Everyone else is out thi afternoon so I am enjoying a bit of a chill time while puppy sleeps this afternoon!

I aso have two other dogs so they are all getting used to each other.

I only soften kibble when they are about 8 weeks old. It can encourage reluctant dogs to eat as it smells a bit more and if they have sore teeth can help them. However chewing on harder kibble will also help teeth pain. So if it works soften it but if too much bother I would not do it.

What beautiful puppies! I will give puppy tax but dont want to disturb the puppy by going to get my phone...when he wakes.

Are your vets encouraging 3 vaccines and not letting the puppies out on the ground until 16 weeks ish! Not sure my back will survive

Re feeding. I fed 4 meals a day until they are about 3 months. I gradually make one meal smaller but use the allowance throughout the day for short training sessions.

Then 3 meals a day until 6 months ish.

If poo stays nice and firm and they dont wake in the night hungry then I know it is working

Does depend on the dog.

I am sure everyone does it a bit differently

Rightly or wrongly we went to two meals a day pretty much as soon as we brought DDog home because of life really! Although he does get a decent amount of goats milk in the evening and did as a small puppy - he now pesters us if he’s not had it at 9pm!! He also gets natural snacks after a walk when he’s back in his crate as he’s usually had to be hosed down and we contain him as his coat is wet! He gets something like a hairy rabbits/goats/lambs ear or two and a duck neck. So whilst he doesn’t/didn’t get 3 set meals he does get plenty of food during the day between meals. At his 8 month vet check we were told he’s doing well and to keep doing what we’re doing.

Re vaccines our pup only just got his first set at 10 weeks so second will be at 14 weeks, then we can let him go out. Vet actually said many people are letting them out for walks two weeks after the 1st vaccines. But as there has been a local parvo outbreak we will
not risk it. Thankfully he’s small enough to carry easily lol

I have cut down the amount of water in her food so it's still quite solid and she seems to prefer it so from tomorrow it'll just be the dry kibble. She drinks a lot of water so I have no issues on that front.

I wrongly thought cat milk would be ok for her, but it appears it's not. She's fine and her poos are fine so no ill affects. I did wonder if goats milk would be ok so I shall get some and see if she likes it.

Toilet training and turns out crate training, two in one today. I was looking at how to toilet train and read an article on Vets 4 Pets about how to do it and so far it seems to be working. It is taking time, but more time spent on this now sooner I'll see results. I hope. Basically, it's ten minutes outside, carried so less likely to have an accident. If they don't go it's 10 minutes in the crate and back out again until they go and then if they do, reward with play, if they don't kept going until they do. We were into our 3rd 10 mins when she went and then she had a good play, which seemed to stimulate the other end. Thankfully I realised what she was getting frantic about and got her out there in time. She was then very good and did tell me she needs to go out, but I didn't realise as it felt too soon after her previous wee, but she did.

Does anyone know if you let Kennel Club know about a deceased dog if the whole of that info is removed? I'm worried about doing it for my previous dog, as it's nice having them side by side on my profile

@longtompotI know I’ve already said but Goats Milk is a HUGE hit for PieDog and it’s now part of his routine, he gets it and then knows it’s bedtime. He’s also pretty active and helps get additional calories in him! “Is it time for your milk?” gets the BEST reaction from him 🥰😂

Oh can I join, had 9 week pup two days now. We lost last dog a year ago at 18 so it’s been a lonnnnng time since we had the puppy stage. I was prepared and do remember it didn’t last but I’m seriously doubting what I am doing even though I’ve researched so much. I failed with crate training last time but she cries so much still unless we are right next to it. I don’t want her to get anxious as she’s just arrived but I need her to sleep in longer stretches. Anyway, she’s a sweetie thank goodness.
Never heard of the goats milk thing. Might look at that.

Awww @NaturalBlondeYeahRight it’s so sad when they cry. Could you make a bed next to the crate? Start off the night there or spend a few hours and move away? Or some people say the crate can go in your room and move it away a metre each night once they settle in? (Not sure how that works for toileting though).
But you're more than welcome and hopefully someone more knowledgeable than us will
come along soon!

Our 11wo cockapoo is in full on ankle biting mode. It is so annoying. And can be quite painful. He actually ripped my thin, cotton PJ bottoms this morning. We are trying to distract him with a rope toy or a chew toy but ankles & hands seem to be his preference. I can’t work out if it’s better to be in wide leg jeans so he gets the material but not me but possibly damages the jeans or if it’s better to be in skinnies where there’s less material flapping around for him to attack but it means he’s straight onto my legs. If he is as bad as he was first thing this morning, I might be going up to the loft to get my sallopettes! In the end this morning, I spent ages in the garden throwing toys for him and, in doing so, completely forgot to make the DC’s packed lunches.

DPup is also growing rapidly so one of my tasks for today is to do another level of puppy proofing. I think we’re going to just put the coffee table in the shed for a couple of months as nothing on that is safe but we keep forgetting and putting stuff on there. He also really likes chewing the rug in the sitting room so that might be going up in the loft too.
Other than the biting, things are OK. He’s been for his first walks now and it was so sweet to see how excited he was. So much to sniff! He was quite well behaved too but I think that that might have been the novelty of being out.
I need to have another look at the socialisation check list and make sure we are doing everything on that. He’s been out a lot in his sling but often that’s doing the same sort of routine things.

The early mornings are killing me! I am a lightweight. He sleeps well from 8.00-4.00 or 4.30 so about 8 hours but not at the right time for me.

I have tried waking him up and taking him for later wee but he is too tired to do one. so I get even less sleep.

This too will pass.......