Crazy puppy time

Sharky looks fun Joseann

23 years OddOne!! Surely that must be a record. I hope I’m still around if my dog reaches that age.

Thank you for your words of advice. I feel very reassured to know that this won't last. I have taken on board many of your suggestions and am particularly grateful to Iam64 for suggesting Steve Mann's book. He makes everything sound so obvious. A man came into work today . He had his three dogs with him. We had a long chat and he suggested putting carrots in the freezer to soothe puppy's gums if they are sore.
DD has gone away for a few days so DH and I are in charge. Wish us luck. Xx

Sharky in action!

Yes, that's definitely "the zoomies". I had a dog who, as a pup, would have completely mad half hours, 2 or 3 times a day. He'd race round and round the room, over, under, and occasionally through, anything in his way (furniture, people or any inanimate object), until he exhausted himself. He was 23 when he died and he was still doing it, though in later years it was a "mad 30 seconds".

Georgesgran

Our dogs never wore collars and we used rope or leather slip collar/leashes when necessary.
Also beware those Kong things, where you put a treat inside and the dog occupies itself getting it out. DD2 showed me some horrendous pictures where dogs managed to get their tongues stuck inside!

My dog got her teeth stuck in one.

Our dogs never wore collars and we used rope or leather slip collar/leashes when necessary.
Also beware those Kong things, where you put a treat inside and the dog occupies itself getting it out. DD2 showed me some horrendous pictures where dogs managed to get their tongues stuck inside!

I’m another whose dogs don’t wear collars in the house

Our dogs have never had collars on in the house, but I have a friend who lost her Springer after his collar got caught on a door handle. She came home to find he had been strangled by it. Not a fate I'd wish on any dog - or their poor owner.

Blondiescot

Another word of advice I'd add, especially if you are using a crate, is never to leave a dog in it with a collar on. In fact, I'd go one step further and say never have a collar on your dog in the house, especially when you're not there.

Absolutely. Especially if the collar has one of those bone shaped discs on them. Not only can they get caught on them but they can get their jaw caught under the collar. It’s worse than having toddlers.

Another word of advice I'd add, especially if you are using a crate, is never to leave a dog in it with a collar on. In fact, I'd go one step further and say never have a collar on your dog in the house, especially when you're not there.

DonnaB5959

A tired dog is a good dog. Despite the long leash there are many running chasing games to be played outside as well as mental games inside. Get one of those balls that dispenses treats but they have to work at it. Good mental stimulation.

Crate training is a must. We always threw a small treat into the crate when then went in and repeated “bedtime’ while giving lots of praise. Dogs are dem animals and their crate is their den. If itan open wire crate put a dark sheet over it to create a quiet darker environment. Make sure it is a comfy place to be. Yes, THEY WILL SCREAM FOR A COUPLE OF NIGHTS. Get earplugs.

But, that is short term pain for long term gain. Again. At night, Take out regularly for potty breaks (every 4-5 hours) then ‘bedtime’ again.

Enjoy. My “pup” is 8. Wish he was a puppy again. So much to love. And yes, the cats will be the alphas.

But make sure, if you close the door on it, that the sheet is secured in some way. There have been cases of the puppy pulling the sheet through the bars of the crate and strangling itself. Mine has a fitted cover. I also hate to see crates with hardly any cushioning on the bottom. Having Whippets means mine have vet bed at the bottom and duvets to snuggle under( although duvets are not ok for puppies which will rip them up and possibly eat them! ).Puppies are just accidents waiting to happen.

I’ve been lucky , none of mine have cried at night. Routines and careful crate-puppy pen training plus the warm water bottle or heart beat snuggly job done. My current young lab slept 12-6am then 11-6 gradually going to 10.30-7am in a short time. We had one accidental wee but house trained by 12 weeks

I would never advocate leaving a dog to scream when there are ways to learn to be alone without it. That short term gain can also lead to separation anxiety with certain breeds. I slept downstairs with our pup gradually moving the crate over the floor and into the hall. Meanwhile, I worked on the crate being a safe space during the day. Other people start off with the crate in the bedroom and move it gradually out of the room.

No need for taps anywhere Just use your voice for commands and keep them brief. It’s all about tone. It’s a dog - so ‘sit’ is enough, not ‘why don’t you sit down for Mummy!’ My friends 4yr old enormous hound is out of control because she insists on a conversation with it - it’s one sided, I’d course!
All puppies have that mad hour - older dogs too. Some of our best dogs started off the wildest although with Springers, the mantra is ‘they’re born half wild and die half trained!’ When we had (very rarely) litters of puppies, we vetted those who wanted to buy them to ensure they were familiar with the breed and had owner a Springer before. Having said that, as adults they were the most laid back, faithful animals, ever.

A tired dog is a good dog. Despite the long leash there are many running chasing games to be played outside as well as mental games inside. Get one of those balls that dispenses treats but they have to work at it. Good mental stimulation.

Crate training is a must. We always threw a small treat into the crate when then went in and repeated “bedtime’ while giving lots of praise. Dogs are dem animals and their crate is their den. If itan open wire crate put a dark sheet over it to create a quiet darker environment. Make sure it is a comfy place to be. Yes, THEY WILL SCREAM FOR A COUPLE OF NIGHTS. Get earplugs.

But, that is short term pain for long term gain. Again. At night, Take out regularly for potty breaks (every 4-5 hours) then ‘bedtime’ again.

Enjoy. My “pup” is 8. Wish he was a puppy again. So much to love. And yes, the cats will be the alphas.

Your voice is good because you always have it with you snd you can’t loose it
As well as distracting when they wrap those needle like puppy teeth round your arm find something they dislike the taste or smell of to put on the bit of you they choose.

Sounds like most toddlers really.

If you've never had a puppy before, then you need to look at the videos for positive training. Puppies need 18 hours sleep a day. They are just like children, they get overtired and unruly! They also need to know that mouthing is not an option and they either need distraction techniques or removal from the situation. They do not need taps of any kind, not even gentle ones. Puppies need lots of chewing options (not you) as their baby teeth give them a lot of problems until their adult teeth push through. Nowadays there is so much out there but the one that we found that kept our little girl happy and occupied was a Yak bar. They seemed expensive but lasted well.
I don't know many people who get through puppyhood without having at least one moment of "What have I done, what was I thinking of!"

We used clicker training to start with for our pup and it was very useful because it let her know immediately she did something right and we could treat her soon afterwards. There are plenty of videos to help do the normal things and it takes perseverance. I've found "Look at me!" to get the pup's attention extremely useful.

If you want to train without a clicker, make sure you use a word the moment pup does what you want her to. "Yes!" is a good one because it is short and the s is very good for letting the pup know that this was the moment they got it right.

All the "your dog is a wolf" training has pretty much gone out of fashion and for good reason. You can train a dog with negative methods but you don't get the same rewards and it can cause problems. Far better to train it with positivity so the dog thinks it is doing what it wants to do so does it with pleasure!

Never ‘tap’ a pups nose
They need boundaries but never smacking or tapping especially on its sensitive nose

Most young animals have a crazy hour or half-hour just before settling down or the night - nature's way of making sure they are warm enough to make it through a night outdoors.

So this would be a good time to take him outside.

However, not even a young puppy should be allowed to bite or snap, so reprove him gently when he does so. The sooner he gets the message that biting and snapping is not acceptable behaviour towards humans the better.

"Bad boy!" said firmly may be enough, but you may have to resort to a light tap on his nose (not to hurt, ,just to make the point, although the cats, as you are aware , will slap him hard enough to hurt if he snaps or bites them)

As he knows cats hit out, and have claws, hissing at him as much like the dominant cat as you can manage, may very well be the best way of ensuring good behaviour.

A good friend's three month old labrador is unwilling to comply with commands such as "Sit!" when told to do so by us, but when my Tigger arches his back, fluffs out his tail to the size of a flue brush and walks sideways towards Molly, she sits down on her behind very promtly. And as yet neither Tigger, nor his sister Trubel has slapped or hissed at the dog.

Trubel just employs the look common to the elder generation of school-mistresses in my childhood.

It’s like horses that I’ve known that are quite dodgy, especially when in their stable but, once tacked up become totally well behaved and biddable.

It's just a phase and, when an evening walk is allowed, it should settle down. My JRT would nip ankles in the evenings, so we'd all be wearing boots! Her behaviour was (and still is) much calmer when she wore her harness.

I think the evening thing is more than just using up energy. There also seems to be some mental stimulation going as well. Apart from my first ever dog, all of my other dogs spent their puppyhood living with an older dog and lived in the kitchen. So this was my first experience of an only dog that was allowed in the living room and on the sofa. She’s also a it of a lockdown dog because although thankfully we did all the socialisation during her first year the next few years resulted in her being with us 24/7. For that reason, on the rare occasion that I do have to leave her on her own I put her in the kitchen where her crate is as there’s nothing in there that she can damage and no way that she can hurt herself. What is touching is that I leave her with a special treat but she doesn’t eat it till I return home. Previous dogs had permanent access via a hole in the wall to an enclosed dog/cat pen but I don’t allow it since my last whippet had a frightening reaction to a wasp sting and I’m scared of that happening if I’m not there.

My six year old border terrier goes into a crate for travelling and also if we stay at anyone else's home overnight. He wasn't shut in as a pup as the crate opened up into a large penned area in the kitchen, so he could go in and come out of his crate when he wanted to. Interestingly he still has the zoomies but it's generally if he comes into the house when he's wet and he'll also occasionally come upstairs (which is actually out of bounds) and go absolutely crazy. We think it's excitement. I think using the crate + pen was very helpful in toilet training, we had one wee in the pen on his first night and after that nothing. I did get up as soon as it was light to take him into the garden and he was taken out at very regular intervals during the day, but he was clean and dry from day two.

Crate training, done properly is helpful in so many ways. Of course, never use as punishment, don’t work and leave your dog crated all day etc
My older dogs always go into a crate that’s been put up for a puppy . My old dog who was suffering vestibulitis, so falling etc, went straight into the crate I put up, wondering if he’d prefer to be in a cosy bed on there. He did, it kept him safe in his final weeks.
If your dog has to go in for surgery etc, she will be crated at the vet. Much better if they’re at ease with that. I use them for about the first year by which time they’re ok to be left for short periods. Even my lab had stopped eating the skirting boards by 12 months. None of mine have continued any zoomies as adult dogs