Hi everyone! New puppy parent here and I'm stressing! Yesterday, I put a collar on my 9 week puppy and he kept leaning on one leg to scratch the collar off with the other. He jumped and twisted a lot when I was trying to do leash training and he's just very energetic. I think he may have pulled some muscle in the past week or yesterday or something because he's limping a little when he's walking. He's running and jumping all fine and acts like nothing is happening but at times he's limping on that rear leg. He isn't showing symptoms of pain when i touch the leg or rub it but I'm scared he's going to get something like hip dysplasia! Please give advice!!
Rest!!! No jumping (not for a good few months) and just have a few days of rest. It's hard with a pup so try to engage their brain a bit more which will tire him out. Try to avoid any full sprints and once the limp is gone then wait one more day and carry on as normal
It's very very hard to stop him from jumping, he's very hyper sometimes! Any ideas on how to engage their brain? Thank you!!
If you have treats handy and can anticipate the jump then drop them on the floor just before he jumps, then hopefully he'll pick up on four paws on the floor equals treat. Have a look at sniff mats and treat balls, both are good with the treat balls they have slots where you can put treats in and then make them work to get it out. Find as many ways as possible to get his nose working it will tire him out a lot more, scatter feeding in the garden is good. Show him a treat then go into another room and hide it so he's got to find it
thank you!!! Is it normal for lab puppies to bite you a lot? My hand has a scar! Also my puppy has a habit of running away from me with sticks in the yard because he knows I'll take it from him. Does that mean he doesn't like me?
And my puppy has started running to places in my yard where we cannot supervise him properly..how should I stop that behaviour? We've started putting him on a leash inside with a door to the backyard so he can come in and out but he's been pulling and running from the leash. How do I stop this? Managing him is so difficult as he's very energetic!
The biting is very normal and it would be stranger for a pup that age not to be biting, he's teething as well so his teeth are causing him pain. With regards to the backyard problem you will probably need to get a long line, you can buy varying lengths but I'd go for a 5 or 10 metre one which will make it easier for you to get a hold of him. All this should settle down in time but it does sound like normal puppy behaviour
Thank you sososo much for all of your help! Is it okay if some days we can't play for a very long time? How long did you let your puppy play inside when he was 10 weeks old? Our puppy when let inside runs wild amok and chews everything, and pees (since he is not fully housetrained yet)
I would not give him free run of the house just yet, confine his spaces but puppy zoomies are common. It might sound weird but mental work will tire him out a lot more whereas physical exercise can sometimes ramp up their energy. At the same age my pup would be up for about 60-90 minutes then napping again for an hour or so. They honestly don't need as much physical exercise as you think, focus on the basics like toilet training and use a good portion of his daily kibble rations for training as well, not just toilet training but other things like sit stay down shake etc
Also phone your vets up and run it by them, is he due is second vaccination soon? Should have been the first thing I suggested sorry
Thank you! His second vaccination is actually this Wednesday! Our puppy's schedule is: 5:45- wake up, pee and poo, and I put him back into his crate for him to sleep/play (because the whole family sleeps and we are too tired to play with him) 7- breakfast (I train him for 10-15 minutes with some kibble and then give him his food while I get ready for school) 7:30- Pee and poo time and then some tug of war with his blanket 7:45- nap time And repeat He usually stays awake for about 20-30 minutes and then falls asleep, and he only plays for three hours during the school hours... is that normal??
On Wednesday definitely mention the limping even if it's gone. Do you wake him up at that time or is that his time to wake up? It all sounds fairly normal it is astonishing how much they sleep. With the tug of war make sure he let's go when you say otherwise it can become too much. He sounds like he does well in the crate which is brilliant because that's a hard thing to achieve
Yep definitely will mention it to the vet! It's reduced a lot now- he only does it on slippery surfaces and not on the grass. He wakes up at about 5 but he waits for me to get up at 5:45 silently. Only if he can't hold it will he whine for me to wake up. With the crating, sometimes he does bark a lot to be let out because he wants us to play with him, but we just can't at the moment because we are doing work (very rare though). You're right, it's so astonishing how long they sleep! Thank you so much for your help!!
