Hi all so we picked up bruce from the breeder yesterday and he was very well behaved in the car he didn't howl but he did wee in the footwell. Luckily we had put newspaper down so it wasn't a major disaster. It was an hour journey back so was expecting him not to last in-between bouts of sleeping he's a very boisterous little chap and has been trying to destroy his squeaky pheasant or chasing his tennis ball with a lot of gusto! I've given him his first kong but i had to hold it for him while he licked the peanut butter off the end. We've been taking him out every one to two hours and giving him a treat every time he wee's or poops. We thought he was doing really well with this but as you'll read further on i was being a little over confident! After he watched eurovision with us we took him upto bed around midnight. I was thinking as he'd already wee'd and pooped his little tank would be empty. oh how i was very wrong. For the first night we planned to put him in large plastic shipping crate with no lid by the side of the bed with some vet bed and his blanket. Placing him in, he immediately decided he didn't like his bed for the night and started to cry and howl then worked out if he launched himself at the side of the crate he could climb out. after placing him back in several times the poor boy then wee'd inside in the crate. In hindsight at this point we should of taken him outside but i switched the plastic crate for a larger higher side cardboard box. He didn't like this much either and decided to launch himself at the side of the box trying to jump up and howling at the top of his lungs Ignoring him at this point was extremely hard and i was expecting the neighbours to bang on the door at any moment about little bruces singing addition for eurovision 2016. I think the root of the problem was he needed to poo and he promptly did in the box. Poo all cleaned up and I eventually got him to settle by setting next to the box and stroking him in between howling attacks when he was quiet. Luckily this only lasted for twenty minutes and he fell asleep Thinking i was being clever i set my alarm for 2.00am ready for him to relieve himself again. After being rudely awakened by the alarm i promptly discovered bruce was still snoring him head off. I transported him downstairs and took him out ready for him to relieve himself. In the howling wind this is a case of bruce 1 - Chris 0 as he refused to go and sat down on the grass and fell asleep. I did have alot more luck at 5:30am The only thing i am slightly worried about is he's very tentative with his kibble and hasn't been finishing the whole amount. The breeder has him on three meals a day but i'm wondering if we should change him to four meals a day. this photo should make you laugh though. he's picked up a little bit of bad habit about being on the sofa. I was explaining to my wife that while it's nice for him to cwtch down on the sofa while he's a happy when he's fully grown it can be a bit problematic. She was reading part of the happy puppy book got up to check something and look who appeared on the sofa and started chewing the remote
Re: Bruce survived the first day! What a super photo; Bruce seems to be settling in well. I had Bess in a cardboard box next to the bed at first. I found she soon went to sleep if I led on the bed and had my arm trailing in the box. When she woke in the night I got up straight away to take her outside being careful not to talk apart from give her toilet command. I'm not sure if you should change him back to 4 meals as it is early days in his new home. Are you giving the kibble dry or moistening it? Hope you have a good day. Alice
Re: Bruce survived the first day! Good laugh at the photo - perhaps he can't read yet? We also didn't use a crate but did have a low sided plastic dog bed for Molly, with soft mattress, which I taught her to sleep in during the day. In the first few days if she fell asleep somewhere else I would pick her up and put her in her bed. Then at night I carried the bed upstairs and she slept in my room in her familiar bed. Soon during the day she chose to go to her bed when she wanted to sleep. (I have no problems with dogs on sofas but I do think they need their own bed too.) I didn't set my alarm during the night but took her out if she cried. This was only for about 3 nights and then she slept through - till about 5.30 / 6 which I considered morning and got up. When she got too heavy for me to carry upstairs (at about 15 weeks) I simply left her with her bed downstairs one night and she was fine. I would say 4 smaller meals would be better. Hope this might be some help.
Re: Bruce survived the first day! Oh Chris, we feel your pain! This made me roar with laughter though: [quote author=chris link=topic=5887.msg75979#msg75979 date=1399806445] Thinking i was being clever i set my alarm for 2.00am ready for him to relieve himself again. After being rudely awakened by the alarm i promptly discovered bruce was still snoring him head off. I transported him downstairs and took him out ready for him to relieve himself. In the howling wind this is a case of bruce 1 - Chris 0 as he refused to go and sat down on the grass and fell asleep. I did have alot more luck at 5:30am [/quote] ;D ;D ;D (Does that make me a bad person? So much funnier when it's happening to someone else!) And the pic was so cute! Sounds like you're keeping your sense of humour- hang on in there! We will eagerly await more stories and pics
Re: Bruce survived the first day! Pleased everything is progressing wonderfully normally. Welcome to the forum. I'm sure wee Brucie's antics will afford me great amusement in the coming months.
Re: Bruce survived the first day! Glad you all survived the night I never set an alarm, I would take Harley down if she woke up in the night, then straight back to bed. She slept through from 12am-5/6am quite quickly I would change him to 4 meals a day. He might eat it all then Love the photo
Re: Bruce survived the first day! Sounds like your doing well, and you have the right book. I would take Bruce out every half hour to forty five minutes during the day, he will last longer at night. This way you will you will avoid accidents, and will have more success in the long run. As he gets older he will have a bigger bladder and will be able to hold on for longer. Maybe get some chews in , and chewable toys if you dont already have the, will save your stuff from getting ruined. At this age, Bruce should be on four meals a day, small ones. Bruce sounds like he is going to be a bundle of fun, enjoy him ! Maggie xx
Re: Bruce survived the first day! Love the photo - what a brill first day too. You have made my mind up - I will get a small crate for the bedroom, for the first few nights, when (if) the puppy comes (we have applied to be guide dog puppy walkers, assessment tomorrow)
Re: Bruce survived the first day! Sounds like all is normal then!! I'm sure you'll do a great job with him. Lovely photo ;D
Re: Bruce survived the first day! Hello there! Sounds like Bruce is doing well. One thing that helped my new pup eat is to soak it in a bit of water. She will eat it dry but she goes after it more when wet. It's a learning curve, you'll get the hang of it!
Re: Bruce survived the first day! Thanks for all the advice guys. he settled into his box much better last night and slept from 22:30 till 4:30 when he woke up and i took him out for a wee trying to settle him into sleeping in his bed at the moment as he either prefers sleeping on the floor or sleeping on either of our laps on the sofa i'm going to change him back to 4 meals and i am moistening the kibble but i think it's still very crunchy for him. we put some scrambled egg in the kibble for his lunch and he wolfed it down We did think about applying to be puppy walkers too boogie how have you found the process so far?
Re: Bruce survived the first day! Hi Chris and welcome. Bruce is adorable. Sounds like you're doing the right thing. Meg is 14 but when she was a puppy our vet at the time told us to give her either ready brek or weetabix with semi skimmed milk for breakfast. Don't know if this will help Bruce. Meg loved it. She then had kibble for the rest of her 3 other meals.
Re: Bruce survived the first day! Ah Bruce is very handsome and sounds like he is settling in OK. I still have 4 weeks to go until we get our pup but I think I may sleep downstairs with her for the first few nights so she quickly get used to her crate but will go with the flow when she arrives as you never know what will work best for your pup.
