Future Chocco Boy (Welcome Hugo Bear! )

HAH

Moderator
Location
Devon, UK
Egads you’re doing well Kelsey! It sounds like a brilliant set up, and you’re giving him all he needs - love how you’re already spotting some patterns in his behaviour, and he’s clearly very comfortable with you. Making you his safe place is key to everything else!
He’s absolutely adorable ❤ Is it too soon for him to be teething? Because holy moly he wants to chew everything and you can just see if on his face that it feels oh so good to do so. Poor boy. He’s very gentle when he mouths me though, really hope that continues 😆
Firstly, he’ll do most of his exploring with his mouth so I think chewing everything is really standard at this age. It’s a good point to review what you can live with having a few teeth marks, and what needs to be shifted out of the way - our old piano has had a proper working over, and frankly we were too late to save it from gnawing! (With Kipper we used bitter orange spray but I’m now not keen to use that sort of thing).

Secondly, puppies develop their baby teeth from 3-8 weeks so he might still be developing the last of his baby teeth. I found this timeline really helpful with StiltonWhen Do Puppies Stop Teething? Everything to Know About Puppy Teething | PetMD - Stilton is 22 weeks and has been losing baby teeth for about 6 weeks, he has all his adult incisors, has 3 baby canines still and a few molars still coming through.

It’s probably a good time to start introducing him to lots of different legal chewing options and reinforcing when he chews on these. Again, I’m wise after the event…
 
Egads you’re doing well Kelsey! It sounds like a brilliant set up, and you’re giving him all he needs - love how you’re already spotting some patterns in his behaviour, and he’s clearly very comfortable with you. Making you his safe place is key to everything else!

Firstly, he’ll do most of his exploring with his mouth so I think chewing everything is really standard at this age. It’s a good point to review what you can live with having a few teeth marks, and what needs to be shifted out of the way - our old piano has had a proper working over, and frankly we were too late to save it from gnawing! (With Kipper we used bitter orange spray but I’m now not keen to use that sort of thing).

Secondly, puppies develop their baby teeth from 3-8 weeks so he might still be developing the last of his baby teeth. I found this timeline really helpful with StiltonWhen Do Puppies Stop Teething? Everything to Know About Puppy Teething | PetMD - Stilton is 22 weeks and has been losing baby teeth for about 6 weeks, he has all his adult incisors, has 3 baby canines still and a few molars still coming through.

It’s probably a good time to start introducing him to lots of different legal chewing options and reinforcing when he chews on these. Again, I’m wise after the event…
Thank you! Yes I think he’s just learning the world with his mouth after all! I’ve removed what I can but some things I just can’t so I have to pay super attention.

He has this obsession with his reflection, I actually think he thinks it’s his siblings. He whimpers and runs to my huge mirror and licks it and brings his toys to it. Makes me kinda sad 😢 hope that stops any time now. I redirect every time but he is so adamant about running to that mirror which is not close to our living space.
 

HAH

Moderator
Location
Devon, UK
He has this obsession with his reflection, I actually think he thinks it’s his siblings. He whimpers and runs to my huge mirror and licks it and brings his toys to it. Makes me kinda sad
If it’s upsetting (you and/or him) could you tape some newspaper or a towel over the lower half of the mirror as a temporary measure just while he’s settling in? Just a bit of an easy way to manage it early days.
 
Thank you everyone for all the great tips! It’s hard to reply to each person individually but just know I appreciate all the words of encouragement and not to stress, and how it may just take time, truly it helps!

Last night ended up being just fine, minus the crate, but that’s ok he slept beautifully beside me on the couch, I was scared to have him on it with me incase he tried to jump off. But he slept beside me on the floor because why would he want to sleep in any of the dog beds I bought for him 😂 I gave a few gentle strokes and said it’s time to sleep and he passed out for three hours, woke up to some whimpering so scooped him up and brought him outside. I placed him on the ground and he didn’t even move, he just squatted to pee and then finished but still didn’t move, he just have been so sleepy lol, scooped him up again with a quiet ‘good pee Hugo! Then put him in the same spot beside the couch, couple more gentle strokes on his chest saying back to sleep, and he slept another 3 hours. Thennn 3:30 he woke up with full blown puppy energy so we played until 5 then he passed out until 730 🥰

He’s absolutely adorable ❤ Is it too soon for him to be teething? Because holy moly he wants to chew everything and you can just see if on his face that it feels oh so good to do so. Poor boy. He’s very gentle when he mouths me though, really hope that continues 😆

He whines loudly and urgently and runs for the door when he has to do a poo, so that’s wonderful. When he has to pee he runs to the door also, and sometimes whines and twice I missed his cues but that’s ok, he was a very good boy and ran to the right spot. Quick tidy up and back to playing!

A couple photos from this morning ❤ I placed him in the crate once he was passed out and he’s stayed, I’ve left the door open for now. He is so adorably clumsy, hence the kibble everywhere 😆


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If it’s upsetting (you and/or him) could you tape some newspaper or a towel over the lower half of the mirror as a temporary measure just while he’s settling in? Just a bit of an easy way to manage it early days.
Ahh that’s brilliant, thank you!! I will do that! All I could think of was a sheet but that was too heavy for not wanting to put holes in the wall
 
We had an appointment at my own vet today, just a meet and greet and I was so worried I was going to cry today when I saw them all again but it was actually such a nice visit. They were so excited to see me with Hugo and said they were talking about us coming all day, and they just loved him, it was all very sweet ❤
 

Cath

MLF Sales Coordinator
Oh he is so cute, I could eat him. What a lovely little lad. I am so happy for you :penguinkiss: :happyfeet:

I would put a blanket over the crate to make it feel like a den for him. Give him a big soft toy for him to sleep next to like his litter mates.
Don't forget he's only ever slept in a heap of puppies so far - all alone is a big change
 

Jacqui-S

Moderator
Location
Fife, Scotland
So gorgeous. Looks totally at home in his harness too.
I would second the stuffies in the crate. Sophie's puppies always snuggled up better to them and mostly were unchewed and unsoiled.
Favourite was snake....
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Currently sleeping on our stairs after a wash a while ago..
Good to make into a little nest 🪹. I know lilly likes "edges" to snuggle up to.
Snake was an unwanted toy going into charity shop (toy clear out of a teenager). He was the greatest prop to be honest.

❤❤❤❤🐾❤❤❤❤
 
Oh he is so cute, I could eat him. What a lovely little lad. I am so happy for you :penguinkiss: :happyfeet:

I would put a blanket over the crate to make it feel like a den for him. Give him a big soft toy for him to sleep next to like his litter mates.
Don't forget he's only ever slept in a heap of puppies so far - all alone is a big change
Such a big change for the little babies! Hurts my heart when I think about it 🥺 I had a blanket over it but he kept managing to pull it and chew on it constantly so I removed it yesterday, I’ll try again in a few days! I do have a soft cuddly bunny I put in too when he’s not in super destructive mode 🤣 which he was right before he passed out here, which is why he’s moved his bedding over, knocked kibble everywhere too, silly boy! He was overtired and being ferocious 😂❤ I left the stronger toy in there so he had something at least which he did end up snuggling with 🥰

@Jacqui-S oh that snake is perfect! I’ll have to find something similar as I’ve noticed he does enjoy sleeping against longer things, such as walls, or the couch❤ Surprisingly Hugo took well to a harness and a collar thankfully 🙂
 
We had another busy day today. After many texts from co workers begging me to bring in Hugo, I took him into work this morning. I had grown men stealing him from me asking me to take a picture of them with Hugo 😆 He was adored by everyone and he did so so good. He was held the entire time, even though very minimal amount of dogs are in Emergency, there is still too many germs for my liking. So he was snuggled and passed around by many and he just relaxed in everyone’s arms like a cute lump of chocolate lab that he is. Patients loved looking at him through the plexiglass windows that separate us from the waiting room too!

Next I had to take him to a hardware store and once again just hung out in my arms like a star just watching everyone walk by and coo at him. Then we went to my parents house and spent the afternoon there. He was so tired from his adventures at the hospital and the hardware store that he napped for almost 3 hours at their house.

Today he seems to have caught on that his name is Hugo 😍 So that has been great and so adorable watching his reaction to hearing his name. He’s also doing very well at ‘sit’ and telling me when he has to go outside.

Not much puppy photos today unfortunately!

A snooze in the car heading to his grandpawrents

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Snoozing at his grandpawrents. How it started… BAC49AEB-F01F-4FDB-BFB7-831B7E266268.jpeg
How it went…8DA8A069-121C-40D5-A8A8-66DDA8AA9F58.jpeg

How it ended 😍

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Snooze on my lap..
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And playing with his Bunny
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oh what a good little boy Hugo! I remember Maxx the days after we brought him home and he was like an electric eel - never still unless asleep! The thought of him sitting quietly in people's arms is amazing and I think shows his future temperament :heart:
Awe could be! I was surprised how well he did, we were there for over an hour. He napped in my lap at one point there lol. When we are home he definitely is full on puppy mode when he isn’t sleeping though. He loves to chew everything, his favourite today was my couch and my curtains 🙃
 
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