Separation Issues - New Pups . Some Discussion...

[The Spotted Devil]

I've been fortunate to not have to leave pups for longer than 3-4 hours due to the nature of our work hours but I have a few things I do:

Alone time starts as soon as possible.

Pups/adults taken out and left at home individually and together so this is seen as normal. I can now tell say "Zig, see you later. Em, come with me" or vice versa and there's no whining.

Pup left at home has lots of play, training and free running before I leave (even if that means getting up at 5am) and is provided with stuffed Kongs or scattered food or RMB. I swear my pups breathe a sigh of relief when I leave the house as they finally get some sleep!

[persephone]

I swear my pups breathe a sigh of relief when I leave the house as they finally get some sleep!

LOL

[Sheridan]

I felt awful because Ian Dunbar told me that if he even thought about having an accident on the carpet he would toilet all over himself forever,

I was a failure because I let him sleep in the bedroom next to our bed cause he screamed all night the first three nights and I was tired.

and I stressed because I didn't know 100 people to introduce him to in his first few weeks, and many of the dogs in town were not very well mannered, or farm dogs who could have any response to a puppy, some of whom I doubted would be vaccinated at all (on top of that there was parvo going around the town.)

I also felt very guilty cause I could not stay at home with him, or visit him at lunch time) entirely on the first few weeks home. (I work three days a week 50kms away)

I was proud that I made it to 2 (out of 4 that I paid for) puppy school classes an hour away with him screaming and barking in the back seat of my car.

I was petrified that I was "ruining" this dog who was in my care. All because of things that I had read or been told.

I admit that Digby still needs some work (he is 8 months old and a nutter still), but he is toilet trained, is well on the way to being crate trained (after 3 days) and he has met a few people who love him, and we have successfully worked on car obsession and a few other ticks he had. He sits and does a few other tricks to hand signals. We even have a second (older rescue) dog now to keep him company.

Edited quote above.

I think this post really speaks to me as a new double puppy owner. I took my puppies to my sister's house yesterday and her dogs barely told them off when they went over the top. Bunny did a poo in her crate and Roo did a wee on the way home. I don't know people to introduce them to in safe territory nor people with dogs to meet and greet. So whither socialisation?

[Sheridan]

One of the things I always tell my puppy owners is to leave them by themselves in their pen for a period of time every day. They are used to being without human companionship before they leave home. They spend time by themselves (albeit with littermates) and are used to being confined in a puppy pen - while alone and when we are home. Just recently a new owner was telling me that she had to leave her pup in the pen and go out for half an hour. She was worried that he would cry ect. She had painters working outside and when she got home they said the pup didn't make a sound. Early routine from the breeder I think helps establish settled well adjusted dogs - (if followed through by new owners)

Bunny has complete meltdown hysterics.

[The Spotted Devil]

Where there are dogs I'm not familiar with I use them firstly as something "different" that the pup can watch pass by. Then if the pup is fearful it might be about playing games at a distance the pup feels comfortable with. Similarly if the pup desperately wants to launch at the unfamiliar dog we can practice impulse control games under distraction. I prefer my dogs to see other dogs and be a bit "meh" about them.

[maxsash]

Hi,

I'm not sure if this is the right topic to be posting in however any advise will be greatly appreciated and I am aware this site is for the intended discussions of Purebred as I am a previous user of this site as I have always owned Pure Bred dogs and found this site very helpful however I have just welcomed a new 4 week old Mastiff X puppy into our family home alongside our 2 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (Max)

Now before all the negative comments; I know 4 weeks is way way to young to take a pup from it's mother, however the Mother did not want the puppies and stooped feeding and neglected them - there were 12 of them and whilst I do not agree with the owner of these dogs letting these pups go before 8-12 weeks, she was anyway and didn't seem to care where they were gong as long as they were gone which is really sad, I know me taking one of them she would be going to a caring and loving home and not someone that would get sick of its crying and dump it 3 days later, now that being said I want as much advise as possible to ensure I am doing the right thing by our new Family member and to ensure the best upbringing for this little girl.

I have raised 2 pups before, My first being a Maltese, I got from the breeder when she was 10 weeks old and 2nd my CKCS and he was 12 weeks old so I have had experience in raising puppies, just not from such a young age.

Large breed is new to me, I grew up with my family owning German Shepherds but I have never raised a large dog from a puppy.

The owner advised me they had not yet been wormed as she couldn't AFFORD it! which is ridiculous anyway I took her to the vet yesterday, got her worming tablets, booked her in for her 6 week vaccination and they weighed her and trimmed her nails etc, said she seems very healthy and a good weight.

Last night was her first night with us, lets just say I got no sleep, she doesn't want to be put down, and I know she will be missing her mum and brothers/sisters, I had her on the bed with me to keep her nice and warm, but she just layed there and cried the whole night.

I have not used the Crate method before, but would be interested in getting information on this, is she too young to be left alone in a crate all night?, should I bee keeping her with me?

how should I be approaching the toilet side of things etc, I have used Puppy Pee pads in the past and found them very useful for training.

the vet advised me to feed her 1 tablespoon approx 5 times a day, I have just been giving her soaked Kibble and puppy milk, she wont drink water so I will be buying a syringe today and administer it that way

My CKCS does not want a bar of her, She runs up to Max thinking he is her mum and tries to feed, however he just runs off and doesn't even want to look at her, not impressed at all!!

I don't want to force the new puppy on him and make him uncomfortable, also advise on how I can go about this as well would be great, should I be keeping them separated? He isn't aggressive at all, he is a very gentle dog, but I still don't want to risk leaving them alone.

Sorry for the novel, again any help appreciated :)

[Sheridan]

I think this would be better in its own thread rather than in this one.

[asal]

On 23/08/2015 at 1:52 PM, maxsash said:

Hi,

I'm not sure if this is the right topic to be posting in however any advise will be greatly appreciated and I am aware this site is for the intended discussions of Purebred as I am a previous user of this site as I have always owned Pure Bred dogs and found this site very helpful however I have just welcomed a new 4 week old Mastiff X puppy into our family home alongside our 2 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (Max)

Now before all the negative comments; I know 4 weeks is way way to young to take a pup from it's mother, however the Mother did not want the puppies and stooped feeding and neglected them - there were 12 of them and whilst I do not agree with the owner of these dogs letting these pups go before 8-12 weeks, she was anyway and didn't seem to care where they were gong as long as they were gone which is really sad, I know me taking one of them she would be going to a caring and loving home and not someone that would get sick of its crying and dump it 3 days later, now that being said I want as much advise as possible to ensure I am doing the right thing by our new Family member and to ensure the best upbringing for this little girl.

I have raised 2 pups before, My first being a Maltese, I got from the breeder when she was 10 weeks old and 2nd my CKCS and he was 12 weeks old so I have had experience in raising puppies, just not from such a young age.

Large breed is new to me, I grew up with my family owning German Shepherds but I have never raised a large dog from a puppy.

The owner advised me they had not yet been wormed as she couldn't AFFORD it! which is ridiculous anyway I took her to the vet yesterday, got her worming tablets, booked her in for her 6 week vaccination and they weighed her and trimmed her nails etc, said she seems very healthy and a good weight.

Last night was her first night with us, lets just say I got no sleep, she doesn't want to be put down, and I know she will be missing her mum and brothers/sisters, I had her on the bed with me to keep her nice and warm, but she just layed there and cried the whole night.

I have not used the Crate method before, but would be interested in getting information on this, is she too young to be left alone in a crate all night?, should I bee keeping her with me?

how should I be approaching the toilet side of things etc, I have used Puppy Pee pads in the past and found them very useful for training.

the vet advised me to feed her 1 tablespoon approx 5 times a day, I have just been giving her soaked Kibble and puppy milk, she wont drink water so I will be buying a syringe today and administer it that way

My CKCS does not want a bar of her, She runs up to Max thinking he is her mum and tries to feed, however he just runs off and doesn't even want to look at her, not impressed at all!!

I don't want to force the new puppy on him and make him uncomfortable, also advise on how I can go about this as well would be great, should I be keeping them separated? He isn't aggressive at all, he is a very gentle dog, but I still don't want to risk leaving them alone.

Sorry for the novel, again any help appreciated

I would be putting a clock under her bedding, with a stuffed toy for company as well, IN a crate. if you dont let her learn to sleep separately (the clock will remind her of mum and littermates). you will be teaching her separation anxiety from day one with you.

for various reasons Ive had to raise many a pup, foal, kid and calf and my worst failures were the ones I slept with as I raised them. they expect to be with you 24/7 as a result and that can get pretty stressful if they dont learn alone time.

an imprinted foal once its 15 hands and still wants to be in your lap is no joke. nor is it so cute when he is happy to hoon straight into the house even when he had to negotiate 21 concrete steps to achieve it. getting him back out was no joke. In his case he added something no books talk about, he fancied men. literally, chat them up and then try to serve them even after he was gelded.  the most amazing thing to me was he never made a mistake and tried to chat up a woman?  he knew which sex you were? In case your wondering, he lived to 36. Never lost his interest in men either. Dad had a sign on the gate. "trespassers will be persecuted"  wish I had a dollar for everyone who knocked on the door to tell dad he had spelled it wrong.  Dad would assure them, go in that paddock mate and you will be persecuted all right...

 

he also had another strange habit, he would eat, garden hoses, paper, clothing, lead ropes, bridle reins, girth points.  poddies can develop some seriously strange ideas and its no laughing matter when you go on a trail ride and someone ties their horse too close to your one that blind freddy can see is tied with a full chain lead with a sign , on him "do not tie your horse near me".  they would come back to reins gone, girth points and or saddle flap chewed and if they were lucky if the lead rope wasn't gone as well. naturally, if they had removed the tack, the lead rope was soon gone.

 

people forget when they read all the cutsie stuff about fur babies, what a disaster it can end up if you imprint another species that it actually thinks its a human too.

be kind.

let your dog be  a dog

as for an imprinted calf or foal...so cute when its little

 

but the amount of accidental damage that can happen to your belongings when they are all grown up and expect to do the same as when little can be mega stressful for you both.

 

best of luck with your puppy but 4 weeks and with no litter mates or mum is not going to be a fun time, its from its mum and litter mates they learn not to bite HARD, not to play to rough. When to have a break from playing when they say no,  you need to make sure you teach it when to stop when it bites too hard, plays too rough, one I had to hand-raise from two weeks wouldn't seem to understand no when she bit so hard the blood ran, and she was only a chihuahua baby?   my friend solved the problem, instead of saying no which got us nowhere... she began yelping and loud and as long as any littermate would have in the same situation... she stopped dead and let go...

 

until then she was doing some serious damage

 

no human mum allows her baby to bite either and they too you will find a percentage go through the biting stage. Even some skin babies bite and play too rough. They too need to learn no.

Edited February 10, 2019 by asal

[PANDI-GIRL]

@asal    Love your post,  fur babies  &   skin babies ,  how true both go thru  stages where they bite &  both have  sleeping  challenges   until you teach bubby what you want