Puppies

[heidijY]

I have a 8 month old cockapoo, such a good boy in most aspects and i've really invested in his training and behaviour. However there is one thing I need help on!
On walks when we're close to walking by another dog, he is so reactive. He wants to run up to them, say hello, very excited, pulls on his lead and jumpy. When we get past, a few looks back then he carrys on with his walk.

He's walked on a collar and 1M lead, then transferred to a long lead clipped to his harness as his 'off lead' alternative, when we arrive at a field/green.
I have a slip lead, although i lack confidence using it as it doesn't stay up high behind his ears.
He would ignore if i lure with a high value treat such as cheese shoved by his nose as we walk lol - should I keep doing this?
Or any other advice? Thank you all

 

[Bleurghgram]

My rescue is lead reactive, she’s big and appears very aggressive. It’s a nightmare and just as we make progress with it, another dog gets too close to her and it sets us right back. Google the engage disengage game, it’s really helpful.

 

[Saddlesoap]

No but my husband has!!

Good luck! 🫣
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My rescue is lead reactive, she’s big and appears very aggressive. It’s a nightmare and just as we make progress with it, another dog gets too close to her and it sets us right back. Google the engage disengage game, it’s really helpful.

Same. So frustrating that people let their dogs run up to others.

 

[Bleurghgram]

Good luck! 🫣
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Same. So frustrating that people let their dogs run up to others.

Yup. She’ll be on lead, muzzled, and wearing NO DOGS sign, and other owners pay no attention at all. How much more obvious can I make it. She mostly ignores dogs when she’s off lead but will probably never have a reliable recall so I’m damned if I do, damned if I don’t

 

[S4buk]

I have a 8 month old cockapoo, such a good boy in most aspects and i've really invested in his training and behaviour. However there is one thing I need help on!
On walks when we're close to walking by another dog, he is so reactive. He wants to run up to them, say hello, very excited, pulls on his lead and jumpy. When we get past, a few looks back then he carrys on with his walk.

He's walked on a collar and 1M lead, then transferred to a long lead clipped to his harness as his 'off lead' alternative, when we arrive at a field/green.
I have a slip lead, although i lack confidence using it as it doesn't stay up high behind his ears.
He would ignore if i lure with a high value treat such as cheese shoved by his nose as we walk lol - should I keep doing this?
Or any other advice? Thank you all

bless you, my cockapoo is 18 months and it really does get easier. She used to be so excited around any dog/person/child (drove me nuts) but she’s definitely settled down. Also, it amazes me how intelligent she is and she understands if a dog doesn’t want to play then she will walk away and find one that does!

don’t worry, it gets easier!

 

[jayne2240]

Well, she’s finally been spayed at 14 months old, and she is FURIOUS about it honestly I’ve had dogs before but it never ceases to amaze me how intelligent and expressive Cockapoos are. She tells you everything you need to know via her eyes.

 

[OhDearFords]

We collect our miniature labradoodle on Friday! Anything I absolutely MUST have to prepare myself?! Not owned a dog before, but plenty of cats.

 

[Elle Woods]

We collect our miniature labradoodle on Friday! Anything I absolutely MUST have to prepare myself?! Not owned a dog before, but plenty of cats.

Plenty of patience and wine, the puppy stage is HARD WORK

 

[Hamburglar]

We collect our miniature labradoodle on Friday! Anything I absolutely MUST have to prepare myself?! Not owned a dog before, but plenty of cats.

A few decent nights sleep and lie ins

It is HARD (and in the grand scheme of things I’ve been blessed with a relatively “easy” one but I haven’t had a solid nights sleep in 8 months ) but it gets easier and they’re worth it!!

 

[Murphygirl]

We collect our miniature labradoodle on Friday! Anything I absolutely MUST have to prepare myself?! Not owned a dog before, but plenty of cats.

Don’t wear any expensive clothes, those baby shark teeth are sharp and will rip them to shreds. I felt like a bag lady for months!

 

[epl000]

Lots of sleep! Good luck, but enjoy it too

 

[S4buk]

We collect our miniature labradoodle on Friday! Anything I absolutely MUST have to prepare myself?! Not owned a dog before, but plenty of cats.

It’s hard work , really hard work but absolutely worth every second. My pup settled down (sleep wise) really really quickly. But there were still a couple of weeks of early mornings and late nights. Now she takes herself off to her bed at 10pm every night and sleeps through.

My pup is 18 months and currently going through her second season (also a cockapoo) and then getting her spayed once she’s done. Wish me luck - also how long should I leave it after her season to get her spayed? I’ve read varied opinions online - and I trust you guys the most!

 

[aidil]

It’s hard work , really hard work but absolutely worth every second. My pup settled down (sleep wise) really really quickly. But there were still a couple of weeks of early mornings and late nights. Now she takes herself off to her bed at 10pm every night and sleeps through.

My pup is 18 months and currently going through her second season (also a cockapoo) and then getting her spayed once she’s done. Wish me luck - also how long should I leave it after her season to get her spayed? I’ve read varied opinions online - and I trust you guys the most!

I’m a vet nurse and we always say three months post-season is the general rule of thumb! Enough time to let the blood supply settle down in that area but not long enough for her to start another season!

 

[S4buk]

Thanks, will book her in for November

 

[vanilla cupcakes]

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!

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

@vanilla cupcakes we are definitely the same person also have cockapoos.

Im in work atm but will come back later. They are definitely v v v bitey pups.

 

[vanilla cupcakes]

@vanilla cupcakes we are definitely the same person also have cockapoos.

Im in work atm but will come back later. They are definitely v v v bitey pups.

Haha I was thinking this when I was reading through the thread

 

[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.

 

[vanilla cupcakes]

@Elle Woods that’s so helpful, thanks so much! Mines goes next to the pads too, we had 3 out yesterday and he did a pee beside each one

 

[S4buk]

I’ve got a Cockapoo and she did exactly the same with the puppy pads, would pee or poo next to them - I always thought it was because she didn’t want to ruin them so went on the would floors instead.

She was also very bitey as pup but only when you played with her.

Trust me, they grow out of it very very quickly, she will still bite occasionally (when playing) but it’s not hard…more of a clamp haha.