Puppies

[Elle Woods]

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24 hours in it’s not been completely plain sailing, but she’s absolutely gorgeous and very affectionate so that definitely makes things easier.

Omg adorable!
The puppy stage is hard work, but it is sooooooo worth it in the long run!

 

[Saddlesoap]

Would not go near a French Bulldog personally. Money pit, the average french bull dog lives to be just 5 years old.

Labrador - make sure you get hip scores. Lovely dogs, can be easy to train as they are so food motivated. Cons - food obsessed, will eat everything and can get chonky quickly.

Beagle - can be difficult to train, known to be stubborn, if youre a first time dog owner Id be wary. Great dogs though very loving.

God I sound so negative I think 10 and 6 are great ages to get a dog. V similar to my own family and they really encourage us to get out and about.

@37BBL this

 

[Mermer89]

Anyone else’s pups teething just now. Got a teething ring I can freeze and some frozen cucumbers and carrots but would welcome other suggestions. He’s a little terror when he gets bitey but hate seeing him in pain as he’s so sweet and loving the rest of the time

Milo is lab/cocker so chewing is their favourite thing anyway! But he’s obviously teething too. I find when he gets too nippy he’s ‘bitey tired’ and needs a nap more than anything else

 

[AladdinSane]

I wouldnt leave a pup all day initially Im afraid. Its far too long.

If between you, you can take a good 2 weeks annual leave to bed pup in, work on the toilet training, settling them and then Id get a dog sitter to pop in, in the day. Initially pup wont be able to go for a walk so youre just looking for someone to come in, check on pup, let them out to toilet, have a play/cuddle. If youre likely to be gone 9 hours I would say youd want someone in at least twice in that time with a young dog.

Doggy day care wont take a dog that isnt fully vaccinated and will need some initial getting to know you sessions with the pack. So Id definitely look at someone coming in for now and look at day care as a future option.

Do you have a family member or friend or anything who'd be willing to do that or even take the dog to their own home on office days. Appreciate thats a big ask though.

We do have some friends who once we said we were getting a dog wanted to puppy sit luckily my boyfriend will have the 6 week holiday coming up so we should be OK for 6 weeks. His parents live in the same town I work in so we're planning to see if they can support one day a week. Pup will be fully vaccinated when he comes to us.

Honestly I don't know how people did it when we didn't work from home. It's crazy how much you have to think about.
My boyfriend thinks I'm overthinking things but I just want to make sure everything is right and we do the best by the puppy and the cats that we already have.

 

[Former_Antelopee]

Sorry I haven't replied back sooner, it's been really hard for me, the meet didn't go well, every dog i've ever had I've kept, but to re-home puppy, and they have treated us like shit, has been soo hard, it's the not knowing how he is, what he looks like, all my other dogs are buried here, and also to know I can't have another dog whilst I got the one the I have, who is such a lovely boy, but I've always had 2 dogs, the puppy months aren't that bad, stick with it, it's only temporary!

Could it be a puppy was too much for your older dog? Maybe an older rescue could work with him? You could foster and see how they go

 

[Former_Antelopee]

Honestly that's the dream for us. Just a pup who is happy to entertain himself as and when he needs to.
To be fair, after messaging, I got a frozen Kong out of the freezer and put it in his crate. That kept him busy for 20 minutes so much better than expected!!

If the weathers fine and we are gone we usually just keep the back door open as our gardens secure and no one would be able to get in. So he just takes himself out when he wants, he usually spends most of his time out there just lying on the grass chilling. I think it’s important they get used to being alone, even if you don’t plan on doing it often because what if there is an emergency and you have to leave the dog for longer than normal at least then they’ll be used to it

 

[S4buk]

We brought our 8 week cockapoo home yesterday and am struggling already with his constant howling. He seems to have developed an attachment to me already (maybe because he sat on my lap for the 5hr car journey home) and howls every time I am more than 1 step away from him. As soon as I go over to him - even if just going close but not touching he calms down instantly but howls as soon as I step away again. I keep thinking he’ll tire but he doesn’t and just keeps going and going. I’m trying to crate train so ended up sleeping on the floor with my face super close to the door so he could see me/hear my breathing as it seemed to be the only thing to stop him howling all night. I was hoping he would be better today but keeps howling constantly when I put him in his playpen. We live in an apartment so am waiting on my neighbours banging on the door!

Do I need to just keep riding it out and hoping he’ll get used to me stepping away from him eventually? I’m trying not to give in to him too much and comfort/pick him up/cuddle him but it’s so hard

I really feel for you, we’ve had our cockapoo for 3 months now (she’s 5 months old) and I can assure you it gets much better, it is still a case of good days/bad days but it is so worth it. This thread was so brilliant during those early days, so if you need a place to vent!

our pup was incredibly needy (couldn’t leave the room unless one of us there etc) but she’s slowly growing out of that and starting to be a bit more independent.

but yeah, I feel your frustration and worry but remember it does get better

Also it is difficult, its hard and there will be *so* many times you want to take him back. I have been there x 2. It is normal, the puppy blues I call it. Youre doing a great job

yes definitely - we called it pawsnatal depression, it is so exhausting and life changing and I don’t think anyone really knows (or talks about) how difficult it is having a puppy so you should feel absolutely not shame or embarrassment there. Again, this is why I found this thread so helpful, a total safe place to rant and be open.

 

[Elle Woods]

Hi everyone, I’ve read through this whole thread and there is so much amazing advice here! I have a couple of questions if anyone wouldn’t mind answering them. So we got our first wee puppy the other week, he’s doing really good with his training, but there are a couple of things I’m not sure on.

1. Biting - he bites a lot, we are working at redirecting with toys/praising him when he plays with toys and he’s doing well with this. I’m wondering if we should do the same when he bites his bed or if we should just let him?
2. Toileting - he rarely uses his puppy pads, we have a shared openish garden and he’s only had one set of vaccines so I don’t really want to take him outside to toilet, I’m wondering if we try and persevere with the pads or just accept he will toilet all over the floor until he’s allowed out?
3. Constipation - he seems to have a wee bit of constipation, I’ve been adding water to his kibble and taking him to the water bowl more but is there anything else more effective? He is managing to poo but he strains a lot before he does it so I don’t want to do anything that will go to far the other way and give him diarrhoea.
4. Crate - he was doing so well with his crate training, he howled for the first two nights and only slept half the night in the crate, but after that he’s been doing full nights in there with no issues (getting out for toilet). I feel like we take a middle ground with it, he’s not left in another room to cry it out, he’s beside our bed within touching distance and he gets calming puppy music beside him, but we don’t talk or interact too much with him while he’s in there. We’ll give him the occasional pet/touch so he’s aware we’re there but he’s not getting loads of attention. Last night he was howling every 2 hours, let out to pee then running around mad not wanting to go back in, and then awake for the day at 6am. Because of how good he was doing I’ll be honest we have let the positive reinforcement of the crate slip, before we were randomly putting treats in, giving him his meals in there, and moving him during naps so he was sleeping in there for short bursts through the day, but yesterday we did none of that, it wasn’t even in the same room as him all day if we do all this again should it help him more at night?

Thanks so much if anyone has made it this far lol, any help would be so appreciated. for reference he is a 9 week old cockapoo!

Hey! The puppy stage is soooo hard, I don't envy you one bit

Biting - it sounds like you're doing exactly the right things. My puppy was sooooooooooooooooo bitey at times it felt like nothing was working. I lost count of the amount of dressing gowns/hoodies/dresses etc he put holes in! The one piece of advice I have is perseverance! Keep doing all those things you're doing, eventually the biting will subside. My pup bit holes in about 9 beds in the space of 7 months - he was an absolute nightmare. To start with we used to let him because we thought "at least it's giving us a 5 minute break" but I think that taught him to just bite the bed to shreds, so we used distraction etc when he was in his bed too. Eventually it stopped and he's now had his current bed for over 1 year. Hallelujah (my purse is much happier)

Toileting - my boy didn't use the puppy pads at all. In fact, he used to go NEXT to them and it felt like he was scheming against me Sometimes he would even shred the puppy pad as if it was a protest. It took us a couple of months in all honesty to get his toilet training sorted. As soon as we saw him circling like he was going to do a number 2, or about to squat for a wee we would guide him closer and closer to the back door, so even when he was going indoors it was in the same spot close to the door (meaning we got no nasty surprises accidentally stepping in it as we always knew where it was!) eventually we could then guide him outside. After that he picked it up really quickly and had minimal accidents.

I can't help with the constipation unfortunately, or the crate as we failed miserably and he never used his crate.

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

We WFH however will use licky mats, frozen kongs etc if I have a meeting and dont want disturbed.

The most important thing is building up the time slowly so get a pet cam and leave for 5 / 10 minutes, increase this gradually until you reach your desired length of time. Im sure the rescue will have told you the 3-3-3 rule. Get a good walk in before work, lots of sniff work, this will actually tire your dog out more than walking miles so even if you only have 30 minutes before work youd be better covering less distance but allowing your dog to sniff for those 30 minutes.

Dont make a fuss when you return. I am so guilty of this as I'm as excited to see them but you want to make you returning a non event. Another thing Ive been taught is you want to do the triggers over and over so put your coat on, lift your keys but dont actually go anywhere. Open the door. Open the gate. Put your shoes on etc. To desensitise the dog to you leaving.

 

[Monkeymagic85]

We do have some friends who once we said we were getting a dog wanted to puppy sit luckily my boyfriend will have the 6 week holiday coming up so we should be OK for 6 weeks. His parents live in the same town I work in so we're planning to see if they can support one day a week. Pup will be fully vaccinated when he comes to us.

Honestly I don't know how people did it when we didn't work from home. It's crazy how much you have to think about.
My boyfriend thinks I'm overthinking things but I just want to make sure everything is right and we do the best by the puppy and the cats that we already have.

Re crates, while pup is toilet training, I would go for a metal cage, they have a plastic base and easy to clean, they also fold down and can be used for holidays. We still use our cage at night as she has always slept there, it's in the dining room so I don't have to look at it .

The wooden ones are really pricey, I wouldn't bother unless you're having it somewhere where the look would bother you. I would also imagine the wood could be chewed

 

[Mariamariamariarose]

Any tips for Schaunzer puppies and barking

 

[WilmaHun]

My little cocker was being soooo naughty when i got home from work yesterday! Biting the sofa cushions, biting my hands, and my feet as I tried to walk. Barking at everything, digging in the garden, chewing his bed. The list goes on, if there was something he shouldn't have been doing - he was definitely doing it!! Anyway, we sat down at about 8pm and he was chewing on my dressing gown and suddenly a tooth fell out into my lap and his mouth was bleeding. I gave him a frozen chew toy and a couple frozen carrots and the bad behaviour completely stopped so I wonder if he was playing up because his teeth were hurting him!

 

[strawberrysunshine_x]

I’ve met tons of border terriers doing my job and I haven’t met a bad one yet !! Think they are the softest of the terrier breed? I actually really want one .

 

[Kim Mild]

Hi, not a puppy post but dog related! After a bit of advice. So I am a mom to a gorgeous very spoilt little Pomeranian, after losing my last dog at 13 last august. I have become friendly with a girl who lives near me who also has a dog. I pass her home each day walking mine. As she works long hours and is always out socialising and has a busy life she asked me if I wouldn’t mind letting her dog out when she’s out and I’m passing (she gave me a key). I said of course not a problem and have been doing so for a few weeks now. I already know she doesn’t bother with vaccinations or vets for her elderly dog. Yesterday she admitted she doesn’t worm or Deflea her and I’m really angry. I was collecting her dogs poo when I let her out as it’s on a playing field. Now I know this, I’m neither happy to let her mix with my dog or let her foul in a public area even though I do pick it up. I’m so angry at the irresponsibility but it’s not my dog and I don’t want to ruin a friendship. I feel like she just goes off and does whatever and I’m left checking on her dog. Help! Do I say anything or carry on doing it?

When a dog is in public, onlookers have no way of knowing knowing if that dog is up to date with vaccinations , or if it has had recent worm or flea treatment. All other dog owners can do is take these preventative measures for their own dog, to reduce their own risk of catching anything that may cause them ill health.

I would just say you don't have time to check on her dog as much anymore , and ask to return her key.

 

[Curly]

Does anyone have any experience of dogs and artificial grass? Thanks

Only experience is my puppy shits and wees all over it

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

This is so reassuring thank you! how long roughly would you say it took them to be comfortable with the crate? I’m happy to stay beside him while he’s in but I hate seeing him look sad in there a lot of the time he’s okay in there but without fail as soon as the door is opened he’s out

Thats ok, I honestly wouldnt stress about it. If he goes in at night and is happy to be comforted through the bars work with that.

Dog Training Advice And Support on facebook has some great activities for training a dog to like the crate. Ultimately you want him going in there of his own accord in the day so throw a treat in, if he goes in and gets it and comes out great, if he stays in give him another treat. Create a positive reinforcement from it. At night Id just stay close and comfort.

All my dogs have been different with the crate. One has never liked it and wont go in now. The others have grown to see it as a safe space. I didnt do anything different with either of them.

 

[Saddlesoap]

@37BBL
What about a Staffie? Great family dogs, don't think they will shed as much as some breeds.
Bedlington Terrier?

This sounds crazy, but avoid 'unusual' colours in breeds. And I put fox red labs in this category currently. They are too intensively bred to get to this point. And anything with a red cocker spaniel 🫣

I’ve got a cavachon. SO CUTE. Doesn’t lose hair Very chilled. My BFF

Oh Cavachons are lovely! I wish Cavaliers were cross bred more than Cockers. They are much better suited to family life.

 

[S4buk]

I had a few weeks of thinking I’d made the biggest mistake ever, I would literally sit on the living room floor crying because I never had a single second to myself. I knew that if I gave her up, despite considering it numerous times in order to save my relationship (I chose the dog) and actually sleep again - I stuck with it. Best thing I ever did. To echo everyone else here (who were literally my saviours during this period) it gets better and is so worth it. In a few weeks time there will be another poster with the exact same story as yours and you’ll realise how far you’ve come and be able to offer that first hand advice. Stick with it, it’s all worth it x

 

[Snowjoke]

Re: Crates, we've also kept our puppies bed in there but its now taking up quite a lot of space and the dog tends to sleep half in and half out (she's grown a lot!) do you all have beds in your crates or is it fine to just have blankets, which will give her more space and means she can relax in her bed outside the cage? I think we may need a bigger cage!

One of the flat bed type mattresses you can get might work better in the crate and then maybe have the bed outside her crate aswell for chilling

 

[Former_Antelopee]

Don’t they have problems with their brain as well due to in breeding? Something to do with their skulls

Yeah chiari-like malformation (brain) and syringomyelia (spine) are two conditions that are common in them and they can have both, they believe CLM can be a cause of syringomyelia