[jemjabella]

Hello all - hope everyone is having a great Monday

I have a few questions. I've read some older threads but always helpful to know I'm getting up to date advice! Thanks in advance for any / all input

1) Sherbet will have his second jab on Thursday 1st - how long before he's safe to walk where other dogs have been? I've seen everything from 3 days to two weeks online! We've been doing some in-arms walks and some very short walks on the lead where I know his risk is low, just to get him used to 'life outdoors', but am keen to go other places.

2) I'd like to set him up well to avoid separation anxiety. Although I work from home, when 'normality' is restored I will likely be going to the gym for anything up to an hour and (once my husband goes back to the office) Sherbet will be alone during that time. At what point should we start leaving him - Sherbet, not my husband - alone in the day e.g. for a minute or two, slowly building up? How frequently should we do this - daily or less often?

He currently follows me around everywhere like... well, a lost puppy, so this seems very far away!

3) Sherbet now sleeps (more or less) happily in his crate overnight, down to one toilet trip wake-up (although we're gradually moving this later and later as he is getting more annoyed at being woken than anything else) but will not tolerate being in it in the daytime. Do we need to fix this before we can work on leaving him in the day? We've started feeding him in it once or twice a day to build up 'good associations' - is this enough or is there more we can do?

4) We have a chiminea / log burner thing in the garden which I'd like to light occasionally of an evening now that the weather is starting to improve. The cats are sensible enough to stay well away from it while lit, is Sherbet likely to be as sensible? Obviously he'd never be left alone with it, but this pup is as daft as a bloomin' broom...!

5) Sherbet is kibble fed but I'd like to give him the occasional chew bone or similar (from a dog specific raw feeding site). Is it OK to 'mix it up' like this?

Thanks again!

 

[Tarimoor]

Hello all - hope everyone is having a great Monday

I have a few questions. I've read some older threads but always helpful to know I'm getting up to date advice! Thanks in advance for any / all input

1) Sherbet will have his second jab on Thursday 1st - how long before he's safe to walk where other dogs have been? I've seen everything from 3 days to two weeks online! We've been doing some in-arms walks and some very short walks on the lead where I know his risk is low, just to get him used to 'life outdoors', but am keen to go other places.

2) I'd like to set him up well to avoid separation anxiety. Although I work from home, when 'normality' is restored I will likely be going to the gym for anything up to an hour and (once my husband goes back to the office) Sherbet will be alone during that time. At what point should we start leaving him - Sherbet, not my husband - alone in the day e.g. for a minute or two, slowly building up? How frequently should we do this - daily or less often?

He currently follows me around everywhere like... well, a lost puppy, so this seems very far away!

3) Sherbet now sleeps (more or less) happily in his crate overnight, down to one toilet trip wake-up (although we're gradually moving this later and later as he is getting more annoyed at being woken than anything else) but will not tolerate being in it in the daytime. Do we need to fix this before we can work on leaving him in the day? We've started feeding him in it once or twice a day to build up 'good associations' - is this enough or is there more we can do?

4) We have a chiminea / log burner thing in the garden which I'd like to light occasionally of an evening now that the weather is starting to improve. The cats are sensible enough to stay well away from it while lit, is Sherbet likely to be as sensible? Obviously he'd never be left alone with it, but this pup is as daft as a bloomin' broom...!

5) Sherbet is kibble fed but I'd like to give him the occasional chew bone or similar (from a dog specific raw feeding site). Is it OK to 'mix it up' like this?

Thanks again!

1 - I take my pups out and about after a few days settling in, but I carry them, and avoid popular dog walking areas.

2 - mine get left for various amounts of time, sometimes I trust them in the main part of the house, other times they get shut in the dog/utility room where there's plenty of space for them to sleep/play etc. I would start leaving a pup quite early, again, after they've had a few days to settle in and adjust to their new surroundings, it's most likely that they'll just sleep anyway.

3 - I crate three of mine when I feed them, so they are sat in the crate whilst fed, and then depending on chores (feeding chickens, cleaning dog yard etc) they end up there for a while, until I get round to collecting dog dishes and letting them out. Again, it varies so there's no set time they get put in and let out, they get fed around about 7:30am and 5pm, and start to pester me around those times if they feel their throat's been cut, but I don't stick to times religiously, so that they don't expect to be fed spot on that time and no later. I have a job which means I work odd hours so flexibility around feeding time is a must.

4 - my old girl now sadly gone, used to walk under the BBQ and singe the hair on her back, so possibly not sensible enough to know it's going to be too hot, so definitely supervise any introductions and discourage him from staying too close.

5 - a lot of people will say no to the last one, I'm a raw feeder but at the minute mine are on kibble as I've got an enormous chest freezer that needs defrosting completely. I'm not fanatical about raw feeding and happily use commercial food when it suits me, so I'd say absolutely fine, a nice raw bone, even a frozen one, will be a good chew, and keep him busy and hopefully out of mischief.

 

[JohnW]

OK.

1) Sherbet will have his second jab on Thursday 1st - how long before he's safe to walk where other dogs have been?

Even vets cant agree on how long. Some say a week, some say 2 weeks. The thing is, puppies are protected from birth by their mother's immunity. But the immunity gradually subsides. If it is still strong when the pup is vaccinated then this immunity will fight the vaccine, effectively killing it off. Usually this inherited immunity is pretty well gone by around 8 weeks old, so the first jab takes. On rare occasions there is still too much residual immunity left at 8 weeks, hence the second jab at around 10 to 12 weeks, aimed as a top up if the first jab did not do the job. But in all honesty the first jab should do the job so I never wait long before taking my pups out. Just remember only short exercise periods, gradually extending with age. A good rule of thumb is 5 minutes for every month of age.

2) I'd like to set him up well to avoid separation anxiety. Although I work from home, when 'normality' is restored I will likely be going to the gym for anything up to an hour and (once my husband goes back to the office) Sherbet will be alone during that time. At what point should we start leaving him - Sherbet, not my husband - alone in the day e.g. for a minute or two, slowly building up? How frequently should we do this - daily or less often?

I start leaving my pups literally the day after they arrive. Very short at first, out the front door round the house and back in the back door. I dont want to leave them long enough for them to start getting worried. After a while of this I start leaving them for just a little longer, while I walk the lawn on "Poo patrol" The next stage is a walk to the corner shop to do a quick shop, and so on, gradually increasing the time left. But it's only ever just a little longer than what the pup is use to. As to how many times a day, I'm not too consistent. I might start with 2 or three times a day walking round the house, As things progress I might go on Poo Patrol in the morning and to the corner shop in the afternoon. When I've stretched it to a trip to ASDA it's probably only once a week but it's still Poo Patrol in the morning and the occasional trip to the corner shop, so most days my pup will be left at sometime during the day. When Chloe was a baby I developed Prostate cancer so she was having to be left for up to 6 hours a day every day while I was going for treatment. She was around 9 months old at the time and took it very well. (Though she did have Amy with her at that time so she did have the company of another dog.

3) Sherbet now sleeps (more or less) happily in his crate overnight, down to one toilet trip wake-up (although we're gradually moving this later and later as he is getting more annoyed at being woken than anything else) but will not tolerate being in it in the daytime. Do we need to fix this before we can work on leaving him in the day? We've started feeding him in it once or twice a day to build up 'good associations' - is this enough or is there more we can do?

I would personally recommend using the crate when you go out. Before the days of crates I twice lost my kitchen floor and my kitchen door is more filler than wood! I always feed in the crate to build up a nice association. These days I dont pack the crate away until my pups are a year old.

4) We have a chiminea / log burner thing in the garden which I'd like to light occasionally of an evening now that the weather is starting to improve. The cats are sensible enough to stay well away from it while lit, is Sherbet likely to be as sensible? Obviously he'd never be left alone with it, but this pup is as daft as a bloomin' broom...!

On that you will have to find out! I'm a fully paid up member of "The Royal League Of Arsonists" I love a good bonfire! I've had dogs who keep well clear from day one, dogs who have learned after dabbing their nose on a smouldering ember, and dogs who retire to the other end of the garden the instant I light a match!

5) Sherbet is kibble fed but I'd like to give him the occasional chew bone or similar (from a dog specific raw feeding site). Is it OK to 'mix it up' like this?

Yes. I'm a great believer in a mixed diet. Lets face it, were he in the wild he would not get the same thing every day. He would eat what he found when he found it. I regularly add a little of my leftovers to my dog's kibble. And that includes such things as Spag Bol and Chinese Sweet & Sour. My dogs now have cast iron stomachs and can eat anything with no bothers.

 

[jemjabella]

Thank you both - really appreciate the benefit of your experience! Feel like I know what direction I should be heading in now

 

[Maddie]

I’m closest to Tarimoors answers so I won’t write it out again (thank you Joanne 😉). I have gas bbq and an insert (wood burner to you Brits) and none of my dogs have been near either, not enough to do damage. I’ve got 4 at home,