|
So, my family has had two dogs for years and years now, but on Christmas morning out older one died (internal bleeding, we didn't know it was more than a stomach ache until it was probably far past too late). The younger dog has not been without a companion canine since she was 8 months old, so getting another dog was looked into. Personally I would have preferred an older dog, one that might have been housetrained already, or at least one who wasn't either 100% active or crashing hard, but I wasn't really involved with the choosing, so... Unfortunately this 2 month old English Bulldog is kind of still a baby. We're up in an area that up until the last day or so has routinely been experiencing 0 degree F weather, which this puppy would not be able to stand, so we must make do with pad training rather than house training right now. She's extremely cute, yes, and can be entertaining with her antics, but I have a hard time keeping up with her. More to the point, I am of a somewhat nervous disposition, and have a bit of anxiety about taking care of this puppy and raising her right. As such I would really like some advice. Currently she spends most of her time in her kitchen, baby gated off from things that she could damage/hurt herself with. She has some toys (including what seems to be her favorite), two pads with newspaper on them for her potty (near the door to the backyard), a water dish and her food dish, and her crate that we try to leave open (it has a tray that we put a towel in, she likes it enough). When there's enough people to watch her/play with her we let her out onto the main floor to run around and explore. The older dog likes her well enough, even if she seems confused by the smaller dog. Older dog is a Boxer, doesn't really roughhouse with the puppy, sometimes pulls it around with her front paws, mostly just stands over top of the puppy while wagging her tail. Two of our household have full time jobs, myself a part time, and one is currently unemployed. I myself tend to be a night owl, so can check on the puppy up to 1 AM on a night when I need to get to sleep early, or 3 AM most other nights. The full time workers are typically able to look after her from around 5-8 AM, while myself and the last member can look after her during the day, and the whole family is there for the evening (typically). Right now I'm trying to harden my heart so that I don't go down and sit the puppy on my lap if she's crying out at 3 AM, if only so that she starts to figure out that night time means less people will be available and able to help her. I will probably check on her to make sure she hasn't soiled her crate or the rugs, but I won't be sitting with her in the middle of the night any more. I have no real idea how to keep her from trying to use her teeth on me and the family, or the furniture and the rest of the house right now. Those are really needle like at this point. Please keep in mind that I am writing this in a fairly mild panic after we have had the puppy for less than a week. Intellectually I know that things will probably turn out fairly well, especially since we are likely sighing her up for a training course within the next few weeks, but the part of me that feels like I need to control everything in her environment and have a 24/7 monitor on her does not see it like that at all, making me feel like I'm taking care of a human baby instead. I have more experienced people who are giving me good advice, but for the sake of my heart I would like some advice from Goons as well.
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2018 05:54
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 10:58 |
|
|
First of all, it's going to be ok. You're going to be alright. You are not going to ruin this puppy. It is not a newborn human baby. You have created a safe place for the puppy and you're doing good. She's a super young puppy and she's just going to bite everything at this point. My 10 week old comes at me with an open mouth constantly. They just like to do a bite. Cram something appropriate into her mouth whenever she goes for your hands/cloths/furniture and tell her how amazing she is for biting the right things. If she won't stop biting you just get up and leave (with her in a safe place). She'll learn that she has to play appropriately or not at all. Sometimes they get all bitey and crazy when they're over tired so a nap in the crate couldn't hurt anyway. A quick potty trip out in cold weather isn't going to kill a puppy unless it's a toy breed that can't regulate it's temperature. Go ahead and start working on house training and socializing with things outdoors. Again, you aren't going to ruin the puppy. I think puppy classes are going to be great for you and your pup. Everyone gets the puppy jitters and it can be really reassuring to know everyone in the class is going through the same thing. Plus all that learning wears a puppy out like nothing you. Just hang in there! And know that this puppy will be grown before you know it so instead of stressing try to enjoy her being a tiny baby while it lasts.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2018 23:50
|
|
|
Thank you. I am a lot less anxious now, a day later, especially after seeing her adjust to a similar sleep schedule as our older dog (ie: 16 hours sleep, 8 awake). Last night she only woke up when I took the older one to go out to pee, so the puppy also did her business, and quickly settled once I left. The advice on biting is really drat good, thank you for that. We will probably try to get the pup out more often now, since its not getting to -15 C during the day for the next little while... Mostly. Still going to be highs of -8 C for the next week or so though. Today was a spot of positive temperature, so she did finally get to see the outside world, hopefully we can get her out more soon. Work has actually helped the last couple days, as its something I can focus on so my brain doesn't just go back to the puppy for the hundredth time in an hour. And thankfully the older dog has learned how to play tug with the pup, using one of her favorite toys. The older one can't deal with too much concentrated puppy time though, so peaced out after a bit, but now we have a very good way of playing with and tiring out the pup.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2018 03:16
|
|
|
Definitely agree with the biting advice, I have a ~20 week Kelpie X rescue pup and he’s only just slowing down on that this last week from doing very similar things to the previous advice. It will get better!! Also puppy classes will help you as much as the dog, they are invaluable for understanding how differently they perhaps see things than you, if that makes sense? Again, it does get better and easier, there are ups and downs but it’s very much worth it.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2018 12:56
|
|
|
I've owned like 500,000 dogs in my lifetime and I'm getting a newfoundland puppy soon and I am 100% convinced I'm going to break it/be a terrible owner/etc, etc. I think it's just normal at this point. Chill and pet the doggo.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2018 14:03
|
|
|
How are we this far into the thread without any pictures of said puppy
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2018 21:54
|
|
|
Youth Decay posted:How are we this far into the thread without any pictures of said puppy Mostly because: I do not like to share pictures and most personal info with the internet. I do not know how to get the pictures off my phone. I have like two decent shots of her total. Sorry, but until I figure out how it may take a while. E: figured it out, here's a link to pictures of my dogs. The first is the one who recently passed away, the second is the one who is still with us, the last is obviously the puppy. https://imgur.com/a/Veuz8 Ashsaber fucked around with this message at 23:59 on Jan 12, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2018 23:44
|
|
|
Okay, a week and a day in and this seems to be a lot more manageable. The puppy now sleeps pretty much the whole night through, except when I take the other one out through the kitchen to go pee. She tends to spend an hour or two playing before getting tired and needing a nap. We've started letting her go around the entire first floor, though she usually sticks to just the living room. She can't really do stairs yet, and we're working on exposing her to the outdoors now that the weather looks to be getting a little less crappy and we've gotten her a coat. On the negative side she's started using her nails and sometimes clings to us. Since the nails she has are really sharp we actually find that to be kinda painful, and she has drawn blood a couple of times now. Puppy classes start tomorrow,hope they go well.
|
|
#
?
Jan 16, 2018 05:39
|
|
|
Hey Op how’s the puppy going?
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2018 14:39
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 10:58 |
|
|
Twat le Piss posted:Hey Op how’s the puppy going? Despite my family not being the best at actively training her shes doing very very well. She's grown to over twice the size she was when we got her within the first month. She is mostly house trained, but hasn't really learned to let us know when she wants out yet. Shes gotten a fair number of her adult teeth in so far.Spends a lot of time playing with the Boxer, who seems to like her quite a lot. She is getting enough attention and seems to be very happy with us. E: She is probably the most food oriented dog I've seen that isn't a retriever of some kind though.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2018 16:29
|
|