Final puppy stages? Help and advice welcome.

[deka]

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Shes 24 weeks old now, she still doesn't hold it in during the night though even when I take her out she rarely actually does a pee or poop or if she does its like a split second wee and a tiny poop like smaller than a meatball.

Her zoomies in past few days have changed from running about a lot to spending most of evening barking, I can sometimes lure her up for a cuddle and she sleeps in my arms.

Small improvements in most other areas, she improved with her biting feet greatly to pretty much never doing it, as well as not chewing wood furnture to going back to doing so as she is losing baby teeth but not on same level as before but sometimes can still bite furniture for 30-60 minutes with me trying to distract her.

She knows many basic commands now and listens/does them unless shes hyper and I have noticed if I look her in the eye she obeys even when having zoomies.

I have a word for her to calm down even when having zoomies (though a treat works best still) as "settle" which I originally intended to mean have her lie on a rug/blanket but she interpreted it as sit next to me and calm down and await a cue.

Shes having accidents still she may have up to a week of maybe 1 indoors poop (on her tray) to lucky to get her to go once outside for almost another week

She wees a lot during day and doesnt seem to hold it long.

 

[Hemlock]

Normal puppy. 24 weeks is very juvenile. Relax and enjoy her.

 

[deka]

Well I more meant how do I deal with her barking? it now seems to be every evening and she stands by the hall door and stops barking if I open it only for her to go into kitchen and want to jump up and look for food.

For her toilet training I have tried being less reactive to her when I am in bed, this meant she had a poop inside Friday night but then slept the rest of night without waking, Last night she didn't go her normal one before bed so I was worried, she was restless as usual and woke around 5am so I took her out and she did a wee even though she settled down before I took her out, then she woke around 7 and she still didn't need to go so was worried, then woke at 9 normally and she succesfully did it and did quite a few today.

I think going forward she will be fine going most of if not all the night, I think its more as she lies next to me on bed if I turn it wakes her and things like the neighbour who wakes at 6am she hears and when it gets light arohund 7.30 she notices.

 

[Blue8961]

The bladder issues must be frustrating but it would worry me a bit as constantly needing toilet or small bladder is not normal. I'd ask a vet about it.
You need to be the leader of the pack. If you aren't its harder to train.
The barking might be stopped by taking for a walk?

 

[deka]

Ok so since yesterday I have been giving her food 30 minutes earlier and this has made her evening poop a little earlier too so I'd say thats a good thing as means she is more likely to want to do her wee right before bed rather than around 12.30 at night.

I'm taking her to the vet tomorrow anyway just for a checkup as 2 different people have mentioned to me shes small for her breed and another person said she looks skinny.

Also I have noticed shes getting more vocal during night i.e she wakes and barks if she hears something outside i.e a fox wailing or a neighbours dog even if to me I have to strain to hear it.

And today out of the blue she went for a nap after walk then a storm came on and she barked, then climbed on edge of sofa looked out of window for a minute then decided to sit in her hidey corner where she almost never goes, about 20 minutes later I stood up and so did she but I just went to get something from jacket and sat back diwb and she went back in corner and only sounds I heard for next 20 minutes was very very faint whine like sounds then I sttod up and she was back to her normal self and barking for attention and even wanting out.

 

[Feverfew]

First, please don't attempt to be 'leader of the pack' in any shape or form, - this approach has been thoroughly discredited in the past 10 years. Just keep on being a kind and loving companion to your dog, as you are doing.
I would say you are exceptionally observant of your puppy's moods and behaviour, which is a really valuable quality to have, so well done you.
It will be interesting to see what your vet says, but it seems to me you are figuring things out well, such as feeding her earlier and therefore toileting earlier. Good result.
The zoomies you mention can, in my experience, indicate that a dog has tummy ache or is over tired, especially if they tend to occur at the same time each day or shortly after eating. If the latter, you could try giving her a raw meaty bone to chew on after she has eaten her meal, as some dogs need this to produce digestive enzymes (it is normal eating behavior in the wild too).
Finally, if she goes into the kitchen looking for food, the most likely reason is just the same as it is for us: she's peckish - so give her a healthy snack such as a carrot or hard boiled egg.
The barking could all be wrapped up in some of these issues (digestion, tiredness, hunger) or could be more of an emotional response to something that worries her. You are the best person to figure out which, and my advice is to view barking as your puppy trying to tell you something. Your job is to find out what. Good luck!

 

[deka]

I posted on my other thread, yes I notice zoomies or the current incarnation of them are often when she hasn't pooped in a long time i.e hours and poops shortly after having one.

In the morning, of course especially pre breakfast she is so calm and obedient, any thing I ask of her i.e sit/down she does , and until lunchtime she willingly would be quiet and if I call her into my arms she just sleeps.

I have noticed its not just the kitchen she wants access to she keeps going into the bedroom and hiding under bed or jumping on it and chewing her toys (she rarely plays with toys in living room) so I was hoping that means she likes there to relax but if I leave her in there alone she barks for me, if I am in kitchen or bathroom she will happily be in bedroom alone.

Not sure if she has any major worries, often now when I cook she has decided that she will lie down in the bedroom or living room doorway and wait rather than disturb me.

Other issues she suddenly has though is in heavy winds especially during night a gust of wind will make her jump up and bark and run around bedroom, this can be countered with putting radio on but that doesn't fix the problem and it affects my own sleep, she also since Christmas especially is more reactive to outside sounds like last night she heard a dog barking and she jumped out of bed and barked a few times over a hour until again I put radio on.

 

[Hemlock]

Sometimes we are so close to a problem that we can't see the obvious. Close the bedroom door and that particular issue goes away.

 

[deka]

Well I should of wrote, the door is closed but doesn't always "click" shut so can be pushed open if not closed properly, normally the only open door is kitchen door and that is in hall, and the hall access is via a closed living room door.

In mornings I normally keep the bedroom door slightly open as it gets condensation in there and as its not the warm part of year I can't open a window.

 

[Feverfew]

Maybe you can use a heavy doorstop to stop the door self-closing?

One thing that strikes me in your posts is the emphasis on your puppy being calm, obedient and quiet. While those are all good qualities to have, she is a very young dog, and obedience and calmness are not the only things we need to have from our dogs, at any age.
My two areas to look at would be a) loneliness and b) food and digestion. I say loneliness in a particular sense, because although we can be physically with our dogs, we are often not emotionally available to them. For example, I work from home at a computer, so I'm physically with my two dogs all day, but am conscious that I am not emotionally with them - and they are very aware of that too.
This does not mean I correct this by giving them things to do, eg brain puzzles, enrichment etc - which tbh are too often just used to pretty much ignore a dog's real need for connection and attention. What they really want is us, not peanut butter in a kong , however useful that strategy may be sometimes.
What I do is have parts of the day and the week when I really am with them, fully and properly attentive to them, even if we aren't doing anything more interesting than sitting on the patio. I also make it a point of principle that when I walk with my dogs, I am with *them* - not with other friends, not on my phone, not listening to music, and certainly not with a load of other dog walkers. This is always their time *with me* (I nearly always walk with each dog individually, even though they are very good friends, so that we get 1-2-1 time, which is absolutely lovely for me - it's a great privilege to share the environment with a dog).
What I have seen from this approach over many years is a quiet confidence in my dogs, a sort of certainty that they will have all my attention without having to do anything to get it, and also that they can ask for my attention (usually this takes the form of staring at me) and they will get it, even if I sometimes have to explain they will need to wait for a while.

All this is to suggest you might want to think less about how this puppy fits into your life, and more about what this puppy is asking from you. Less about your expectations, more about her hopes. In my experience, this can not only smooth out the sort of behaviour issues you are experiencing, but also deepen your understanding and connection with your puppy - and I'd even dare to say, far more effectively than any amount if training can.

 

[deka]

Well when I WFH, she just sleeps in my arms all day bar the 30-45 minute walk on my break and the rest of my lunchtime. and the toilet breaks for her in between so gets less attention then which is why I hug her.

Walks are one on one as I hate using my phone, we do stop if another dog walker passes and we talk and the dogs play with each other.

I just use dry food and treats, I did change her treats 2 weeks ago, she was fine on doggy chocs but poops more on the dry meaty ones.

Havent taken her to park in 2 months, that used to calm her and make her nap as I don't drive and have woodlands/fields next to me.

 

[deka]

She was ill Monday night, friend was taking care of her as I was at work and not sure exact reasons why she was ill, friend accidently left her in my living room and when I came in I noticed this overpowering horrible smell, couldn't see evidence of wees and not right away did I see slight discolouration of carpet, so I just continued as usual, got my jacket off put bag away gave her a treat for being a good girl when left alone and took her outside for a few minutes..

When we came back in I gave her dinner and right as she finished she went behind my armchair where the rug is and I smelt a even stronger overpowering stench, I saw a huge runny black poop and I rushed to bathroom to grab toilet roll and by that time she had pooped on carpet as well and most runny though a small amount of normal but darker poop.

I wiped up as much as I could and used a mop to soak up what I could as well and then sprayed some air freshener around, as I hadn't eaten myself in hours and was exhausted from work I first just put kettle on and cooked food and put washing powder and boiling water into a container and soaked the affected areas with it and left it until after my eating, went over it with my carpet cleaner and some more washing powder in hot water, took a few attempts but cleaned it all up, the worst of the smell was gone but took overnight to get rid of the majority and in the morning I used scented carpet shampoo to go over the area one last time.

Shes been fine since I was worried about it being blood, she has mostly been her normal self though with less energy i.e she still wants to bark and play and jump at me just wants to nap more.

 

[Feverfew]

Sounds like it could be parvo to me - I would get her checked with a vet. Hope she's okay - what a worry.

 

[deka]

Shes been fine since, apart from taking about 2 days to recover she was sleeping a lot and since then her toilet pattern has been great she went 4 days without an accident (on her indoor mat) and even then it was my fault as I took her out and she did a wee and wanted to come in and rather than let her walk in garden for another minute or two I came straight in and she did a huge poop on my bedroom floor.

Today she had an accident when friends were here, probably due to excitement but otherwise behaved very good and just wanted cuddles, when we ate she did try and jump up but went back down when the word "off" or "down" was used and even near the end of visit was lying down on her bed relaxing, she was actually more relaxed than with just me.

 

[deka]

Updating a little, I thought I had the worst of it over as for about 2 weeks she only had the rare accident then in past few days had a few again though I will admit I still had that fake turf mat by door to stairs, I removed that last night to test if she would hold it in, seemed ok to start as twice in day she stood at door turned to look at me and barked and I took her out, but after her evening meal thats when things got bad, was out for at least 10 minutes with her and she did her wee which she never has problems doing, but the usual just sniff around for a while so took her in, about 15 minutes later I turned and saw her poop in the area where the mat used to be even though I wash it regular and when she had an accident earlier I used enzyme cleaner.

2 hours later I was having a shower and left the living room door open as giving her some more freedom now as she tends to not bark as much when I do that and as I was finishing I smelled something bad came through and saw no poop but she was eating something off the ground and the area around it was damp.

The annoying thing is for past few weeks she goes regularly on walks in fact I have an area she walks where especially on her lunchtime walks she goes almost straight away, and she wees normally seconds after she goes outside even if I take her outside twice in under a hour so she knows she should wee outside.

She has only pooped once in bedroom in at least a month, she has weed on the hall rug maybe 3-5 times normally first thing in morning when I haven't had a chance to get changed yet in bathroom.

She still wants out once a night for her business but doesn't always do a poop, sometimes just a wee and those times she will happily do both in garden pretty much straight away.