Life with a 3 month old Cockapoo Puppy - What's it like?

Fozzy is now three months old. Obviously, every dog and circumstance is different but I wanted to write a few updates as to what life is like with a puppy as there isn't really much out there about what to expect. You can read about our Gotcha Day here and Life with a 2 month Cockapoo Puppy here. 

Sleep 

Fozzy continues to be a brilliant sleeper which I am super thankful for. He now tends to settle down at around 9pm at night - he'll usually go in the garden for a last wee at around 8:30pm, snuggle into me for a bit watching tv then jump down and take himself into his crate himself. We just close the door on his crate when we go to bed (usually between 10 & 11pm). 

He doesn't cry and only wakes up when we get up. We usually get up between 7am and 8am and during the week in term time, Dee and Harry are in charge of going down and taking Fozzy for a walk etc.....before school (alternative weeks). Fozzy hasn't really impacted our sleep routine at all which has been great. 

Crate Training 

Crate training has been an absolute godsend to us and I would highly recommend. Fozzy definitely sees his crate as his den, he has never gone to the toilet in there and if he's given a particularly special treat he runs straight into his crate with it which he sees as his safe space. 

He sleeps in there at night and a few times during the day. We have left him in there a couple of times to go out too and he's fine, he just sleeps which is what puppies like to do. I'm grateful for this as I was worried about separation anxiety. 

I mentioned in my last update that Fozzy is pretty bad for greeding, he still is but it's getting better. Sometimes he doesn't bother with us at all if we are eating but other times he's crazy and won't take no for an answer. Because of this, we now tend to put him in his crate when I have breakfast (he is usually very excited to see me in the mornings and won't let me eat in peace) and if all five of us are eating in the living room.

If we are just having snacks/lunch etc or eating at the table.... we don't put him in there and the compromise seems to work well. 


Eating 

Fozzy was weaned onto Harrington's Kibble by his breeder. I did read up about various feeding methods before he came home but I wanted an open mind and to be led by him. At first, he loved his kibble and seemed to like it but as the days/weeks went on, he wouldn't go to it when we put it down for him and would just graze a little throughout the day. He seemed to be eating less and less as the days went on. 

Then when we looked after Ollie (who eats freshly prepared food similar to Butterbox), Fozzy went absolutely crazy for his food. I want Fozzy to be happy and to enjoy life / his food and to me, part of that is providing meals he likes and are the most beneficial to him. So after knowing the benefits or a raw diet, we switched him to raw feeding at around 10 weeks. 

Raw feeding means that your dog absorbs more nutrients from their food than a kibble diet (as a generalisation) which was a big reason I chose to switch to this way of feeding. 

Raw feeding is actually really easy and there are lots of FB groups / advice online to help. We feed 80/10/10 (80% raw meat/10% offal /10% bone) or complete raw which is very readily available online, from pet shops, raw food suppliers and I even got some from Morrisons too.

With raw diets, you can't just feed raw meat straight from the fridge and if you do want to prepare your own, you can but to me, it's a pretty lengthy process making sure you have the ratio of meat, offal, bone and supplements etc..... correct plus keep everything safe. For us, buying something that has taken all the hard work out for us is much easier. 

You can interchange brands with raw feeding too which is another selling point. 

80/10/10 or completes are usually sold frozen in larger packs and you can partially defrost and seperate into individual portions then freeze and just defrost the individual portions overnight ready for the next day (we do this with Sistema food boxes which are easy to stack and freezer safe). Or if you want to pay a bit more, you can buy pre-portioned food too. 

Anyway, I will probably write more about raw feeding once I'm a little more experienced but Fozzy absolutely loves it. It has been such a change for him. He is so excited when the food bowl comes out and licks it clean / never leaves a scrap.

He loves it! Since switching to raw he hasn't had a single toilet accident in the house either which may be a coincidence due to his age but who knows AND he only poos once or twice per day (compared to six times per day on kibble) now as with raw, they absorb so much more nutrients and literally have less to crap out. 


Car Travel 

Fozzy has been on a few car trips now and is no bother, he just settles down in his crate in the boot and I assume goes to sleep. 

Routine 

Fozzy is in a fab little routine now. He gets up with us and goes out for an early morning walk with Harry or Dee. Then it's back home for breakfast. He has a nap in his crate at 9am ish for around 90 minutes while I have breakfast / work then we go out for a walk and he comes back for a snack. 

Then we play / train for a bit and he potters around while I work. 

He has his lunch then again we have some play / training time and I usually set up an enrichment activity. Then again, he has a snooze until the kids come home from school and Dee or Harry (they alternate mornings and nights) will take him out for another walk. He plays with the kids after school then at tea time it's back in his crate for another snooze, he wakes up at 7pm ish and has a crazy hour with zoomies etc..... and goes out for a last walk with Steve before he falls asleep at 8/9pm ish. 

He does have 4 walks per day which is quite a lot but we keep them shortish / just around where we live and he loves them / it gets him used to different noises and dogs etc....... 

Once Fozzy is a little older, I expect our routine will change and I will take him out for a longer walk during the day. Will definitely be making use of my National Trust and English Heritage memberships. 


Training 

Training is going well, Fozzy knows 'bed', 'sit', 'paw', 'leave it' and 'down' (when he wants to). He also rings his doorbells to go outside for the toilet when needed and just sits there patiently until I come which is so sweet. 

We are working thought 'Total Recall' for his recall training too with a little each day but it takes time. He is doing so well and will come speeding to my whistle at top speed from anywhere in the house or garden now. I am looking forward to progressing through the exercises in the next few months. 

He doesn't seem to understand 'lie down' which we have changed to 'sleep'. We are just going to persist though and I'm sure he will get it eventually. Like many dogs, he doesn't always follow 'down' either, especially when there is food around. I know this is another one that takes time though. 

As mentioned earlier, since switching to raw feeding (or just his age??), there have been no toilet accidents in the house and he either goes on his walks or rings his bells to go in the back garden. It is a little trickier when we visit other people's houses which will be the next test. He hasn't visited anyone's house since he has stopped having accidents but I will be taking him to my mams this week and will see how it goes. I'm confident it will be fine. 

Walks 

Fozzy loves going for walks and gets excited when he sees his leader. He doesn't pull on the lead (yet) but he is only small. He likes to meet other dogs and other owners love to make a fuss of him when we are out and about which he laps up. Despite all of our socialisation efforts, he can sometimes get a little apprehensive/scared if there is a sudden loud noise but generally takes it in his stride.

 

For example there is building work in our street and if bricks are thrown into a skip as we are close by, he would hide between my legs at first. 

In these situations, I just stay confident / keep on walking and show that there is nothing to be scared of rather than picking Fozzy up and cuddling him etc..... and this seems to be working ok for us so far and now, Fozzy just walks past the builders no bother.

We do go for longer walks at the weekend and once Fozzy is fully immunised and as he grows,  I will be hopefully be taking him out and abou for longer walks. 


Two Dogs Together 

On Saturdays we look after Ollie, an 18 month old Cockapoo (through Borrow My Doggy). He is a calm and placid dog and has experience of being around puppies.  Fozzy is a little livewire and after Ollie has been here for around 10 minutes, the play fighting usually starts. If you aren't used to dogs play fighting, it can look scary but as long as you monitor them and check both dogs are still 'playing' rather than showing signs of real aggression, it's actually good for them to burn energy and learn how to interact with other dogs. 

Fozzy is relentless though and Ollie has the patience of a saint with him. After around 30-40 minutes of play, I usually put the dogs to bed for some chill time and when Fozzy wakes up, he is much more chill. It's like he's got it out of his system. They are great in the car together and on walks together too, in fact I am sure Fozzy feels more reassured when we are out and about with Ollie. 

Then later in the day, when both dogs are tired, they will both snuggle in, one on each knee which is lush. I absolutely love that Fozzy has a proper playmate and I always make sure Ollie is happy too - I want him to still enjoy coming here and ensure we have some nice one on one time with a solo walk and snuggles when Fozzy is in his crate too. 

So far, it has worked out great but two dogs is very full on compared to one. I would stuggle to get any work done for example. Once Fozzy is 4 months, that's when you need to monitor the play fighting a little more and nip it in the bud earlier. It is going to be nice seeing their relationship blossom over the years. 

The Bad Stuff

We have been lucky with Fozzy, he has been a dream, has fitted into our lives perfectly and hasn't really turned our life upside down. Honestly, I think puppies are so much easier than children so as someone who has raised three children, it hasn't felt difficult at all in comparison. Obviously, this does very much depend on your own circumstances but this is just my experience. 

However I don't want to give the impression that it's been a bed of roses as it hasn't. Fozzy is teething and can get very 'bitey' which is normal for his age but still annoying. We usually try and put a kong/chew toy in his mouth when he gets like this but it doesn't always work and he has nipped us all. I cannot wait for this stage to be over! We have used raw carrots / frozen kongs etc.... which do help a bit. 

Although he doesn't really get separation anxiety, he spends most of his time with me and is definitely the most attached to me. In the evening, he brings all his toys to me to play with and likes to climb on my chest and constantly lick my neck which is a bit gross! He doesn't seem to seek out other family members in the evenings, it's always me. 

 

After spending all day with Fozzy, I would love for him to go and play with Steve or the kids, but he always chooses me, even if I play with him and throw the toy to Steve, he will find a way to bring it back to me. I guess I should be flattered. 

Working from home with Fozzy has been good but it's different to before - I can't sit at my desk for 3 hours straight and really get into a project for example as at some point I will need to let Fozzy out / he will need my attention. I can get longer bits done when he's asleep in his crate but when he's awake, I don't want him in his crate. Work life just feels very bitty at the moment and by the time the kids come home from school, I am often still working / feel like I need to do more which isn't normal for me. 

This work/puppy balance isn't too bad, I can still work with Fozzy around but it is harder. I expect this will get better with time too. My brother is going to take Fozzy out on Monday afternoons too once he can walk for longer periods which will be a good help. 

I also struggle with things like phone meetings with a puppy around. How do people do this? I usually just schedule them in for Steve's breaktime or day off at the moment as can't trust that Fozzy wouldn't wake up and need my attention (fyi I don't have an office - Steve works in our bedroom upstairs and I work downstairs with Fozzy). 

We bell trained Fozzy and he picked it up straight away. He runs to the back door, rings his bell and sits there patiently until one of us lets him out. It works so well and he is so clever. However he does abuse this system, especially between 7-9pm when he is being extra playful and he will sometimes constantly ring the bells to be out when he doesn't need the toilet - he just wants to play.

This does seem to be getting less and less often now but it still happens. He is only a puppy who wants to play so we can't be too mad. As he's doing so well with toilet training, I don't want to get rid of them just yet but I imagine I probably will in a couple of months time. 

Puppies constantly get under your feet and I have stepped on Fozzy's paw once which made him cry out in pain and I felt SO bad. Trying to do the washing with the help of a puppy is certainly an experience. I have also tripped over several of Fozzy's toys which are generally scattered around our floor during the day now. I have changed the way I walk around the house now and it is kind of more of a shuffle. Hilarious. 

Finally, Fozzy has wrecked our garden. I don't think we did a very good job puppy proofing it. He loves to dig in the dirt, tip over plant pots and drag our compost all over. We are spending some time this week trying to sort it out and be better prepared. 


The Good Stuff 

Harry said to me that getting Fozzy was the best thing we've ever done and I agree. I 100% made sure we were ready (and mostly that I was ready as I knew I'd be his primary carer) and I know that we got the timing right. It's been lovely seeing the kids taking responsibility and taking him for walks etc...... and although Jack is too young to be trusted with this, he has taken on more responsibility for our Guinea Pig now to keep things fair. 

I feel like I have such a strong bond with Fozzy, I love cuddling him and making him happy. There is more laughter in the house and he makes us smile with his silliness every single day. 

It's a cliche but having Fozzy means that I am forced to go out for a walk every day now too. There have been lots of times, especially during the pandemic where I haven't left the house for days but getting a daily dose of fresh air is no bad thing and good for both my physical and mental health. I cannot wait for our adventures later in the year and getting out and about a little more. 

I also love that Fozzy has brought joy into other people's lives too. His grandparents love him and everyone he meets can't help but smile. How lovely is that. 

I don't feel like my old life is over now we have a dog, he happily stays at home for a few hours in his crate but it is lovely if he can come along and join in too and we try to bring him when we can.

Steve and I have enjoyed a night out in Newcastle and I feel happy leaving him in the care of Harry and Dee at home. We don't have a shortage of dog sitters if needed too - with both our parents and my brother keen to help out when they can. In fact they are all desperate! I want to wait until he is a little more trained and not so little first though. 

Fozzy is ridiculously cute. How could you not love him.