Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 9:42 am Post subject: Good Morning!
Hi all,
I'm a total newbie to forum posting so please excuse any glaring errors!
We brought Lyra home on Tuesday morning and wow how much your life changes in a short space of time! My poor hubby is back in work today with bags under his eyes and was so tired this morning he put three contact lenses in the wrong eye one after the other.
The litter all had diahorroea last week and Lyra still has it, as well as the most AWFUL wind! We went to the vet yesterday and she has given us some prescribed diet until things firm up a bit, Lyra is still loose but no 'death farts' as yet! She was on James Wellbeloved and hopefully we can go back to that once she has settled into a routine of feeding,'hurry up' in the garden and then into her crate.
I know its normal for puppies to get anxious and whine during the night and when I go to make dinner/a cuppa/to the garage and so we have tried positive association with the crate and tiring her out before bed/using the loo and so on. We are opting for the 'tough love' option and not going down to her until 6am...however she is waking up after an hour or so and SCREAMS and barks constantly from midnight right through the night...not whining-screaming!! We both have earplugs but it is worrying me about how long this is likely to last-is this normal??? We really dont want to have to sleep in the same room or come to her during the night as I feel this will just re-enforce the behaviour. She then spends most of the day asleep-I know thats what is meant to happen but she cannot stay awake beyond 9pm ish and is then up all night.
I hope the picture of her comes up...she really is adorable and so much fun.
Any hints/tips are soooo welcome, Im also trying to find my way around the site so if there is an easy way of finding existing posts about the above issues please let me know!
Welcome to LF. Your pup is very young still, so you are still very much at the hands full stage.
Whilst you are right to pay as little attention as possible to the night time barking, she probably does still need to go outside to toilet at least once during the night, so you may have to give just a little there (tis very difficult to balance it though).
Have you tried leaving her with a night light on, a radio on low volume and perhaps a worn article of your clothing in the crate, so that it smells of you and she maybe feels less alone? It all might help her to settle.
I do hope the tummy problems/wind settle down soon. Not uncommon in a young pup. If all the litter had the squits then maybe they had a slight bug which was doing the rounds and may fizzle out soon. However, I have heard some of these complaints in association with JWB food, so perhaps when she is more settled you could consider selecting another good food to swap her onto (slowly, over perhaps a couple of weeks). In the meantime, activated charcoal biscuits can help with the wind.
Oh, and by the way, we MUST have some piccies to see. We all love a cute pupster on here.
Yes we have tried the radio as thats what the breeder had and I have it on a lot too. Same with the light. Today I thought I would move the cover on her crate so she can see more and maybe this will help
Should I be trying to keep her awake during the day as much as possible so she goes longer through the night?
Great tip on the charcoal biscuits..will have to try that. Although....progress-no stinky wind so far today!
Will get photos up asap...having problems with file size at the moment!
You'll probably find the most useful posts for you, there. I would do as Helen said and try getting up for her at least once in the night, especially as she's got a poorly tummy.
Minnie never took to her crate, she hated it and I gave up with it quickly, so can't help there.
Ditto Angela - please read all the stickies at the top of the puppy section they will answer all the questions you ask there - they were so helpful to me when I got mine.
Here's a few quick thoughts for you in the meantime -
When's she's got a poorly tum she probably will need to go out more and won't settle as well so this will disturb her sleeping routine and I do believe it will get better once the tum is settled.
The most important thing with ongoing diahorrea issues is making sure she keeps drinking pups can dehydrate so quickly especially in this weather. If she won't have her water sometimes a little bit of honey in it makes it more enticing (you don't want her to gulp loads either though!).
Keep her food the same and in small portions, give her it in a quiet place where she won't be disturbed and if she's a gulper then slow her down by adding some water if its dry food or using a kong wobbler or a 'dog-pause' bowl. If she's still going a lot when the medication is finished you may want to look into other foods but if its an infection then its best to try to settle that first else everything can just make it worse. I did find JWB made mine windy and have large very frequent poos but there are lots who's labs it works really well for.
Labs, especially puppies, do want to be with you and of course she's had lots of new things to get used to in the past week so she's anxious and clinging to you to keep her safe. She will settle, give her time.
Crates day/night - try a tv on low on a news channel or a radio or a ticking clock, make it dark but not too hot, take her water up an hour before bedtime and always take her out for a loo break before and after crate time, make it comfy - mine loves vet bed on the bottom and a fleecy blanket and a towel to snuggle his head on. I do let mine have a tuffy toy as a 'friend' too and a nylabone to chew so he can amuse himself although it depends how much of a chewer she is whether you should or not.
They do take a lot of time at first and sometimes you do wonder if you'll ever get any sleep ever again but you will, enjoy her, its a cliche but they really do grow up so fast.
Hi and welcome to LF, I can`t add to the advice already given so will just say, I hope Lyra is feeling better soon.
Remember you`ve only had her a couple of days, you all have to adjust to each other, her most of all because she suddenly finds herself with no siblings at night, it will get better I promise, in a few months you and your OH will have forgotten about these sleepless nights and the triple contact lens thing
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Good Morning!
Your pup is very young still, so you are still very much at the hands full stage.
I think mine just slept through things!
