Puppy advice urgently needed!!

emsywoo123

So, bit of background......
12/13 week black lab girly, breeder saved a bit of money by not giving first vacc, we got her at 10 weeks, was booked for vacc, but had cough so delayed.:o
At 11 weeks she saw fit to run head first into a wall (laminate flooring!) and temp had eye issues-opacity etc. This is all now ok.;)
Cough remains. she is on her 3rd course of treatment for this, with no obvious improvement.
We REALLY need to get her out and walking. Although we have an ok-ish size garden for her to do her business, she is growing and desperately needs more excercise than our area can give her.:o
Now this course of drugs is for another 10 days......then, assuming the cough has cleared (which I do not think it will be) she will need 1st vacc then gap then 2nd.....so we are realsitically looking at a min of another month before she could theoreticlly go out.:eek:
She has FAAAAR too much energy for this..............HELP!!!!
P.S. Seeing behaviourial changes in last week or so...........barking to play more etc, she just not doing enough. We play in the garden with her, but its so limited!!

cinderellacomplex

First thing.. do you have any rope toys? A lot of puppy 'coughs' do seem to end up being related to bits of rope toys being stuck in their throat when they try and swallow them. It might not be the case here but it's worth a mention.

Hide and seek is a good puppy game.. hiding yourself works well at first, and then you can do it with toys etc. At her age I wouldn't have her running too much anyway, so as long as you keep her stimulated then you should be okay. Maybe get a puppy games book, or even google some?

What I am a little more concerned about is her not experiencing traffic at street level until she is so old, if you could find a way to expose her to that at least a little without risking being near other dogs then personally I think that it would be beneficial

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

Why not take her in the garden and run around like crazy with her, with a ball and tire her out for about an hour a day - it should do the trick, just takes the motivation. I find i can never be bothered at first but once mine are running and playing (usually playing short distance fetch or chasing one another for a ball, lol) i really get into it and can play for ages with them...even with my big pregnant self, lol - they come in, drink and then sleep for quite a while...and i end up crashed on the sofa but always feel much better for the exercise, and it's prob why i stay so slim, lol :P !

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

I have to second the rope toys though, and tennis balls (which you must never ever leave them unattended with) - these do create coughs!

emsywoo123

cinderellacomplex wrote: »

First thing.. do you have any rope toys? A lot of puppy 'coughs' do seem to end up being related to bits of rope toys being stuck in their throat when they try and swallow them. It might not be the case here but it's worth a mention.

Hide and seek is a good puppy game.. hiding yourself works well at first, and then you can do it with toys etc. At her age I wouldn't have her running too much anyway, so as long as you keep her stimulated then you should be okay. Maybe get a puppy games book, or even google some?

What I am a little more concerned about is her not experiencing traffic at street level until she is so old, if you could find a way to expose her to that at least a little without risking being near other dogs then personally I think that it would be beneficial

Hi, thanks for the response.
no, no rope toys. Puppy kong and a plastic bone thingy
We live on quite a quiet estate, so could take her out there, easy to avoid other dogs, but can she pick anything up without direct dog to dog contact?:o

emsywoo123

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle wrote: »

Why not take her in the garden and run around like crazy with her, with a ball and tire her out for about an hour a day - it should do the trick, just takes the motivation. I find i can never be bothered at first but once mine are running and playing (usually playing short distance fetch or chasing one another for a ball, lol) i really get into it and can play for ages with them...even with my big pregnant self, lol - they come in, drink and then sleep for quite a while...and i end up crashed on the sofa but always feel much better for the exercise, and it's prob why i stay so slim, lol :P !

We do do this for quite a bit, with large plastic footballs to stay safe, but it does not seem to be enough.:o She just wants to keep playing and will bark quite a bit now.......my parents babysat last night for us, and said DD was grat, but tehy would not babysit again cos of Puppy.........:eek:

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

She can pick something up but it's unlikely. Truth be said, and no i don't agree with it at all...but i do know alot of dog owners who's dogs have never had vaccines and are perfectly healthy. If she needs to get out and about then i'd suggest just avoiding 'doggy areas' - any area where dogs often go, that kind of thing. It sounds like you have a hyperactive pup that needs training to keep her mind occupied - you might find the walks help but might still not be enough. Hide and seek with toys is good, as you have said a kong is fab for a while. Also teaching her little tricks like hi5, paw, lay down, roll over and getting her to find items hidden on you (like a treat in a pocket) to keep her attention might help.

How is her cough, have you tried antihystamines incase it's due to allergies and not a viral thing? (never tried myself, just something pet shop owner was talking about the other day)

sarabe

Your puppy is missing out on vital socialising.

I doubt if not going for a walk is entirely to blame for the problems you are experiencing. She is just being a normal puppy.

Assuming that the cough isn't contagious after all this time your pup needs to meet some dogs pronto. If you contact a reputable trainer via the APDT they may be able to suggest a solution.

If the dogs are vaccinated then there is no risk to your dog.

If she was mine she'd be out and about now.

My youngest had met in excess of 100 dogs before her first vaccination.

She doesn't really need to go on a route march, that isn't terribly good for puppies, she needs to go in the car and taken somewhere where she can run and play and explore the environment. The beach is a good place as this gets a wash twice a day. A quite corner of a country park perhaps.

Meanwhile at home play constructive games. Don't just run about trying to tire her out or she will become over stimulated. Tug is a great game to play or retrieve games. Start to incorporate sits, down and waits into the game as this teaches self control. It sounds as if she has learned to bark to get what she wants so she obviously learns really quickly, even if you didn't intend to teach her to do this. It will be just as easy to teach her other stuff too with games and/or treats as rewards.

Mental stimulation and the chance to experience everything that she is going to have to cope with throughout her life is more important than exercise for a young pup.

What are you feeding her on? This may be relevant to her activity levels.

emsywoo123

sarabe wrote: »

Your puppy is missing out on vital socialising.

I had been advised by Vet and other dog owners that she should not socialise before her 2nd Vacc?

I doubt if not going for a walk is entirely to blame for the problems you are experiencing. She is just being a normal puppy.

Assuming that the cough isn't contagious after all this time your pup needs to meet some dogs pronto. If you contact a reputable trainer via the APDT they may be able to suggest a solution.

If the dogs are vaccinated then there is no risk to your dog.

If she was mine she'd be out and about now.

My youngest had met in excess of 100 dogs before her first vaccination.

She doesn't really need to go on a route march, that isn't terribly good for puppies, she needs to go in the car and taken somewhere where she can run and play and explore the environment. The beach is a good place as this gets a wash twice a day. A quite corner of a country park perhaps.

We are a bit far from the beach, but have taken her to a small country park at the end of our estate earlier today

Meanwhile at home play constructive games. Don't just run about trying to tire her out or she will become over stimulated. Tug is a great game to play or retrieve games. I was advised against tug, something to do with control......not sure about this? Start to incorporate sits, down and waits into the game as this teaches self control. It sounds as if she has learned to bark to get what she wants so she obviously learns really quickly, even if you didn't intend to teach her to do this.We do isolate her as soon as she barks It will be just as easy to teach her other stuff too with games and/or treats as rewards.

Mental stimulation and the chance to experience everything that she is going to have to cope with throughout her life is more important than exercise for a young pup.

What are you feeding her on? This may be relevant to her activity levels.

We are feeding her on Bakers Puppy dry.

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

Good thought Sarabe, big warning signs flash!!!! Thats like feeding a toddler skittles sweets all day long. I know i used to feed my two on that some years back when i was none the wiser - you could try feeding James Wellbeloved, it's about £7 for a big bag. That lasts my two dogs (westie size) a week between them so effectively works out at the same cost as it did feeding them Bakers. Plus they poo less now (always a good thing) and are much calmer. They also get any pot leftovers of chicken, rice/pasta or veg throughout the week to keep their meals interesting!

Sorry thought i'd edit to explain: Bakers contains alot of colourings, additives and fillers of no nutritional value - so basically it looks pretty and appealing to us owners and makes us pick it off the shelf. The good stuff admitedly always comes in boring looking bags - It's all a big marketing ploy from the larger companies

emsywoo123

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle wrote: »

Good thought Sarabe, big warning signs flash!!!! Thats like feeding a toddler skittles sweets all day long. I know i used to feed my two on that some years back when i was none the wiser - you could try feeding James Wellbeloved, it's about £7 for a big bag. That lasts my two dogs (westie size) a week between them so effectively works out at the same cost as it did feeding them Bakers. Plus they poo less now (always a good thing) and are much calmer. They also get any pot leftovers of chicken, rice/pasta or veg throughout the week to keep their meals interesting!

Sorry thought i'd edit to explain: Bakers contains alot of colourings, additives and fillers of no nutritional value - so basically it looks pretty and appealing to us owners and makes us pick it off the shelf. The good stuff admitedly always comes in boring looking bags - It's all a big marketing ploy from the larger companies

Oh I just kept her on it as we think she was on it before she came to us.........
I have to say we have been back a couple of hours from our 30 min exploration of the area and she is so much better-calmer.
I know a long way to go though.
I did have a trainer lined up, recc by friends etc who have labs, but she won't take them til they have had both vaccs apparently!!:eek: