Puppies

[Caffeine Fiend]

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.

Youre definitely not over thinking. Much better to be over prepared than underprepared. If your partner will be home for 6 weeks thats brilliant. Definitely approach a dog walker or day care for when they go back to work.

From reading posts here youl see theyre still v wild until at least 6 months but can take them a good 18 months to fully mature and stop doing really silly things

Id agree with a metal crate for now if you plan on using one. Wood is too easily soaked with piddle or chewed. They do love a good chew on wooden things

 

[Maid22]

Thanks everyone for your awesome advice (and more importantly support and reassurance). It's still a total rollercoaster, I think I've got somewhere and then boom, she shits all over the place or chases the cat. It is so exhausting and she is needy but I adore her. In other news, myself and the OH are on the brink of breaking up over her (after 9 years together). So everything is still very stressful!

Just wondering how you're getting on, felt so sorry for you after reading this?

 

[Be creative]

Thank you for all your replies! I got two crates last night from family (one large and one smaller for pup stage) so they are sorted. Beginning to feel real now
At the weekend I’m going to head out and get other stuff, toys, pads, a bed, bowls, treats etc. I’m getting a bag of food for him from the breeder so that’s one less thing to buy straight away.
Regarding insurance, is there a specifically well renowned company any of you use?

 

[AladdinSane]

Thank goodness it isn't just me our boy has taken a massive step back with everything. He's reacting to everything outside the house, will bark at one of our cats and has really regressed with his training. The only thing that has stayed consistent is his recall!

 

[CarCrash22]

Puppy training is just like toddler trainin

 

[Former_Antelopee]

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!

We have a bed in our crate but I don’t think it matters either way. Some dogs can’t have a bed or blanket as they’ll chew/eat them and are crated for their safety, so imo either is fine.

 

[Pesky Tarian]

Hi all, first time dog owner of a 9 month old cockapoo. Approx once every 10 days we are woken in the early morning by him retching, all that comes up is a little clear, odourless spittle. I have googled this and advice is gas/hunger but he is fed correctly . Nothing out of the norm diet wise when this happens. Is this something I should flag my next vet check or just part of growing?.

Also whilst I am here are mud daddy's any good? Thanking you.

 

[Padfoot]

I've posted in here before about our spaniel, she's a 19 month old show cocker and ever since the clocks went back her early morning starts have just gotten worse!

it's been the odd 4 am, sometimes it's 5, or after 6am. she used to get up for 6, do everything eat then backup for a couple of hours.

now it's go out for a wee, back up for a bit then back down for breakfast, then back up, we can't do the clock method as it's so in consistent 🥲 (if it was always 5 am then we'd push the time but it's not ) she gets a good walks, mental stimulation, play time, sleep time (she is very FOMO and likes to be with you or on you) very food motivated. (we have switched from Ava to Millie's wolfheart)

but I guess if you need a wee, you need a wee. there have been times where she got up at 7 even 8! but she has always been like this as a pup, she never liked her crate , (even though we made it the best thing ever!) she had beds but doesn't use them (sleeps upstairs with my mum)

just wondering if anyone else is going through similar/any tips? 🥲

 

[AladdinSane]

This may be a daft question but hoping for a little advice!

How do you know when your pup is ready to be left home alone? We're currently doing desensitising training with him and, if he's fed, watered, fully stimulated etc. We can leave him in his crate and he will drift off to sleep. He's stopped panicking so much when he wakes up as well and more often than not will wait for us to let him out. He does have the odd day where he loses it if he's not let out straight away but I'm guessing that's to be expected. He currently sleeps for around 1 hour at a time.

Do you think he's ready to be left? My biggest concern is him waking up and losing his mind but I'm not sure how to work that out of him without just taking the jump?

 

[Maid22]

They do..Ours growls at us a lot at the minute..I hope he grows out of it …

It's upsetting when they do that, but he should grow out of it, what breed of dog have you got?

 

[Former_Antelopee]

Yesss I forgot about these love them too.

I think they are great family dogs as well, don’t think I’ve met a nasty one. Not really a terrier either.

 

[SugarHutHunnie]

Can anyone advise on the lepto 4 vaccine? Due to take our mini schauzner to the vet's next week for her final jabs but our breeder made us promise we'd say no to the lepto 4 as apparently it can kill them?! She did tell me to "do my research on Facebook" though so she could just be an antivax (she had a live laugh love sign and some crushed grey velvet furniture in her living room).

Obviously I will be asking the vets but I'm going to assume they'll tell us to get it. What I found said it only protects from things caught in tropical countries so I'm not sure.

Thank you!!

 

[Curly]

Our vet recommended pet plan insurance for us as they deal direct with vet.
we also signed up to our vets plan to cover vaccines, worming, check ups etc

 

[Snowjoke]

Was your other dog nasty to pup? My other older dog is active, and pup is picking up good stuff, he'll bring ball etc! But I've never known the older one to be aggressive but he's really quite nasty to pup, which is a problem, as pup being a Jack Russell , will one day think, I've had enough and will have ago back,as he's not afraid of anything! I'm quite upset over situation, it's hard enough having a pup, but with this issue too, I'll do anything to keep him, but I really never thought our dog would be like this.

He did snap and growl at her the odd time but that was mostly around food lol he doesn’t do that anymore at all thankfully. How long have you had your pup?

 

[S4buk]

I definitely need to book mine in! She finished her season in January and still hasn’t been done 🫣

 

[AladdinSane]

Does anyone have any tips on how to repair a hole in the carpet? My little land shark has decided at 5 months old he's going to turn into a carpet shredder. I've ordered a cheap rug from Dunelm to at least cover the whole until I can fix it (we're looking to move so could do without a massive hole in my carpet )

He's never been crated when he's asleep as he's always slept through and has always barked whenever he's woken up for us to take him to the toilet. However he's now decided that he wants to quietly eat my carpet when he wakes up so I think we are going to have to get him to start sleeping in a crate. Any tips on making this as smooth as possible would be helpful too!

 

[N0sey.P4rker]

Are they ok with her being older and bigger than the other pups? Isn't ideal really. Although I'm on the fence about puppy classes, depending on the format they can do more harm than good.

Their classes are for pups under 6 months old, so hopefully they’ll allow her, she’ll be just 17 weeks when we start.

My parents never took our dogs to pup classes, but I’m hoping it will help her particularly with socialising.

The couple that run the classes dog is often used in my local area to help in the search of missing dogs, so I’m sure they will be really helpful!

 

[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.

 

[S4buk]

Sounds like you’re doing an amazing job!

 

[Purple star]

I can totally appreciate that. Who would want to spend time with anybody or any living thing if theyre behaving in such a way.

I know it makes me feel sad..We got a puppy and some days we don’t enjoy him at all..Todays 1 of them ..Someone has posted about it being resource guarding and it does sound like that after I’ve just googled it..I might have to get a dog behaviourist ..I was thinking if I had him done but that help?