Puppy Raising during COVID-19 Information Hub

[clothedinsalvation]

@detawar567 Hi - just a dog lover here, I’m no expert, but I wonder if a “thunder coat” might help? To help him feel more secure? Just an idea! I would also make sure to not let people / kids approach him (you’re prob already doing this) bc if he’s scared of strangers or kids, when they approach, that fear is actually being reinforced! From what I’ve read. Better for him to see them as benign, non-threatening elements..

 

[aajjsister]

@seek2bboldwitness Two more weeks till he can get his rabies and Lyme. Yes live in an area with heavy deer population. I’ve been wanting to go running with him and now with this extended quarantine, I’m feeling the cabin fever with him. We finally leaned SIT the other day. Lol I had to teach him more advance commands at first because he is a climber breed and would escape his play pen. Right now I’m frustrated because it’s raining and I just realized April is coming. He still is not house trained but he understands he can pee outside but not poo

 

[auntjenny]

@seek2bboldwitness I have an 11 week old Jack Russell puppy and my city is in a total lockdown (meaning: no going outside AT ALL). My puppy is due for his rabies vaccine on April 3rd.

Will we get rabies if he bites us? He bites a lot at it causes us to have minor scratches that bleeds and doesn't bleed. Will he be safe if his vaccine gets delayed?

 

[seek2bboldwitness]

@auntjenny Firstly, call around to see if a vet office is taking callz and ask that way you have a professionals advise.

Non vet advice: your dog doesn't mysteriously have rabies to begin with. They would need to be bitten by a rabid animal in order to contract it. You will be fine.

 

[thomasj18]

@seek2bboldwitness Okay, I have a unique situation on my hands because I just got done quarantining my puppy from parvo, and NOW we're quarantining for COVID-19.

She's a 4 month old heeler pup. She's been in quarantine since I've had her a month and a half and I'm so so worried I'm ruining her. I need advice. I posted to r/australiancattledog and got nothing, so I tried to crosspost here but it got deleted because it mentioned "virus" in the post.

Here's a link to my original post if anyone wants more information:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AustralianCattleDog/comments/fo5on2/lack_of_socialization_during_covid19

Any advice?

 

[jason76]

@thomasj18 My brother has an Australian cattle dog. We tried socializing from the time we got him at 13 weeks, to now at 2 1/2. Honestly, he is just such a home body and hates being around other dogs or people. It makes him nervous. I’ve heard that with a lot of my friends who have heelers. If you can’t socialize her right now, maybe she’ll still be ready for socialization in the future. Or maybe she’ll take after our heeler and just feel more comfortable at home and on isolated walks. As long as the puppy is happy, that’s all that matters.

 

[thomasj18]

@jason76 Yeah, you're right. I realized later that my post made it seem like a dog that didn't like other people or dogs wasn't a good dog, and that most certainly isn't the case! I don't know what she's mixed with but she absolutely looooves people. She's definitely as stubborn as any heeler though. Guess we'll see

 

[jason76]

@thomasj18 Good luck with her! Ours was super stubborn too. After about a year and a half he really calmed down and became a great family dog. Although he is VERY over protective of my mom. Like sometimes I can’t even hug her without him getting in a defensive stance, which I’ve heard is also common with heelers. Just something to watch out for! Other than that, he’s a blast and LOVES to play.

 

[stormylady]

@seek2bboldwitness Me and my partner are picking up our 8 week old retriever on Sunday we are worried that we can not introduce him to family/friends due to the current virus situation. Is this going to be an issue as I know socialisation is important?

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@seek2bboldwitness Is this where I can rant about raising a puppy during a pandemic?

I got my puppy about two weeks before my country got hit by COVID. I had everything lined up. I had purchased everything I needed. I took a week off of work. I had my dog walkers, doggy daycare lined up.

The first week was difficult because my puppy was diagnosed with coccidia. She had a hard time adjusting to coming home and cried a lot at night. She woke every hour and a half and was constantly peeing and pooping in her crate.

Two weeks later things were somewhat better, and then my daughters school got shut down because of the risk of covid. It has been all hell breaks loose since then! I'm a single mom caring alone for my daughter, two cats, a bunny and a dog, all while working full time with school and doggy daycare closed.

My mom has been watching my dog, and since school is closed she's also been watching my daughter. Everyone is exhausted. My puppy doesn't nap during the day when she's with my parents so when she gets home she's a nightmare. My daughter has been stuck on screentime since school ended and she's been acting out. She's obviously confused and probably a bit scared with what's going on.

As for me, I work in an essential services so I still have to keep trucking along. Had I known (and yes the signs were there but I didn't really fully grasp what was going to happen) that a full blown lockdown pandemic was coming to Canada I would have never gotten a puppy!

I cannot get anything done. Every second is spent working and caring for my daughter and animals. There's no time to cook, clean, or even train my dog.

I feel like by the end of this my dog will come out for the worse. Before this I had time to train a little bit everyday and I had reprieve here and there with babysitters for my daughter and doggy daycare for my dog.

Now my puppy is hyper, biting, resource guarding, etc. I feel like I'm in over my head

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@seek2bboldwitness Do not knock online puppy classes either!

I know many many trainers(including myself) are trying their hardest to put together comprehensive resources for dog owners during this time. You can train dogs remotely and it's really not that different from training in person!

 

[tucansam93]

@seek2bboldwitness My miniature poodle is currently about 9 months old. She was doing amazing with her training, stopped having accidents about 2 weeks into having her. Now because my boyfriend and I have been home quarantining, the 1st time we left to go grocery shopping in 2 weeks, she acted out completely. She pee’d and poo’d on the floor, pee’d on our bed ( which she’s been done ) ate my jimmy choos (she’s never chewed on shoes) , climbed onto our desk and got into our stationary ( luckily she only chewed on a ruler ). Im not sure how to help her with this as we have to quarantine for possibly another month where I live. Im completely frustrated because, while she usually doesn’t have many accidents, we recently switched her from the potty patch back to pee pads and she’s been having a bit of troubles converting back.

Any ideas on how to re train her on the pee pads ( i’ve been giving treats when she gets it right and punishing when she doesn’t but she only gets it 1/2-3/4 the time... and its been 2 weeks... ), and how to stop the tantrums?

 

[1daysoon]

@seek2bboldwitness Thanks for putting this together! I have a 6.5 month old Rottweiler who is the most well behaved puppy I have ever had, and the quarantine combined with him coming into adolescence and my own suddenly high-stress behavior (really abrupt change from how I am normally) is bringing things down. His training has gone so well - loose-leash, socialization, potty, basic commands, left and right heels were all tackled like a pro. Now our routines have just turned around, and we’re feeling it. I’m trying to take up indoor hobbies with him that are fun - photography where I teach him to pose for the camera for rewards and praise, he is very good at that, lots of new “just for fun” tricks. Some things seem like his training is going backwards, and I just keep trying to reinforce it, but I have to be honest, it’s hard to stay my normally upbeat self when I can’t go out as much, staying on the phone with distressed family members who live alone, living with a nagging teenage daughter who is fighting me because I won’t allow her to see her boyfriend, and just worrying about what we are all worried about right now. I know lots of you guys are in the same boat. I was buckled down bracing for the “teenage puppy” months, but never in a million years did I imagine something like this would happen during this time, definitely shook up my idea of how I was going to raise him.

 

[linc92]

@seek2bboldwitness We pick up our beautiful German Shepherd girl in two weeks. I've been trying to research as much as I can, and like everyone else I'm a bit nervous when it comes to socializing her during these times.

We're fortunate that the puppy school in our town is offering virtual classes and a puppy-only playgroup so I hope this fills in parts of the socialization gap.

I'm so happy to have found this community. I'll definitely be frequenting this sub every day. Good luck everyone!

 

[pekasig345]

@seek2bboldwitness Feeling puppy blues during covid 19. Our puppy has been home for 4 days and I keep reading it gets better. I am still dealing with it better but my husband is going through it much worse. He has this overwhelming sense of responsibility and is worried of losing some of our independence like just going for dinner or movie whenever we feel like it. Also he isn’t exactly what my husband imagined he would be.. he’s never had a puppy before so he didn’t expect this. Also we haven’t slept properly in 4 days and he is really bogged down with a lot of work. I am loving him but even I have phases where it dawns on me thay this is permanent and we have to take care of him for a long long time. I’ve had dogs before but never actually felt this way.. any advice is so much needed. Thanks.

 

[keakim]

@seek2bboldwitness I’m so worried about this. I pick up my 8 week old Saint Bernard puppy this upcoming weekend and WA state has officially closed all dining/breweries and is strictly limiting social gatherings. I’m hoping after a couple weeks things will be a little better, I really want her to get the socialization she needs in the crucial time frame :/ will be following what I can on the list

 

[sallama]

@keakim Hello fellow Washingtonian!

Fortunately, in regards to socialization - there is absolutely no need for your pup to directly interact with the things that she'll need to be exposed to. Unfortunately the puppy socialization group classes might not be available, but between the resources here and our socialization section on the wiki you can see linked in the sidebar, there's a lot you can still work on during this time.

Consider this the perfect time for spot on potty training though!

we'll get through this

 

[allaloneuk]

@keakim I'd also add the breweries and restaurants are generally not good choices for puppy socialization. There is way too much going on and too many people moving around. Better to do your puppy socialization in ways that you can easily control, like meeting up with one or two people at a time (when restrictions are lifted) or going out for a walk or drive where you have control over how much your puppy is exposed to the world.

IMO, the trend toward "socializing" by taking puppies and adolescents to breweries and restaurants is leading more to behavior issues than it is helping with socialization.