# 16 week old pups



## Puzzle (Oct 17, 2015)

Starting to worry about Christmas! Puzzle will be 16 weeks old then.

We have been invited to my father in laws on the 19th dec for Xmas dinner with them. We were very surprised to be asked as we had assumed no one would want a little puppy in their house quite yet and had decided we would do all the entertaining this year. We can't decided whether or not to accept their invitation as we don't know what Puzzle will be like then.

Secondly, my sister and her family are due to come to us for Xmas eve. This has been a long standing arrangement since before we knew we were getting Puzzle. My sister has 3 young children none of which are comfortable around animals of any kind let alone an excited bitey puppy. They are due to spend the whole day with us, lunch and tea. I can of course put Puzzle in his room if/when he gets over excited but I am not prepared to leave him there all day!

Having some idea what Puzzle might be like in 6 weeks might help us decide how to handle this years arrangements. I suspect you are going to tell me that all pups are different and there is no way of knowing but I thought I would ask anyway.

How have you handled social occasions with your poos? Particularly one where there were 5 excited children in the house! Argh!


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## Sueoverend (Jul 13, 2015)

Poppy is just over 4 months old. She is adorable, very affectionate and social able. She still bites, but it's gentler than when she was younger, and when I say no she usually stops. She does need watching though, as she loves chewing toilet rolls, ear buds, slippers etc, so your visitors will need to be briefed not to leave anything within reach. My only concern with Poppy at this stage, is that she still does the odd wee in the house, which is frustrating, but I know they are all different, so hopefully Puzzle will be better trained by then. Hope this helps.


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Chance was around 4 months at Christmas the year I had her, we did visit my cousins briefly as she wanted to see the pup, I recall a few baubles being knocked off the tree and one retrieved to me (at which point I realised they were glass ) a slight rampage round the room and both dogs then being put back on leads and me leaving fairly quickly 

is Puzzle crate trained? if so taking a crate would give you a chance to let him say hello to everyone, have frequent trips to the garden in the hope of no accidents and settle in his crate with a king while you eat for your father in laws - assuming they are relatively pet friendly.

For your sisters children will they be meeting the pup before this day? Otherwise an entire day with three additional dog wary christmas excited children sounds like a recipe for disaster and I would expect the grown ups to be rota'd to look after the pup and give him some time to sleep away from the mayhem.


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## Mazzapoo (Jul 28, 2013)

Hmmm....16 weeks for us....let me try and recall....oh yes, that was the time of my first grey hair  the words that spring to mind are manic, bitey, deaf, chewy, destructive, weeing, hyper....did I say manic?...you get the idea. 

Certainly not an ideal background for entertaining, the house was a mess and I was stressed and whacked anyway. Poppy needed so much sleep and couldn't switch off with visitors, so personally I'd go low key for this year, and be kind to yourself for Christmas. Three children who aren't keen on animals for a full day visit with you fussing around cooking twice and making sure everyone's happy PLUS the full time job of caring for and toilet training your pup sounds tough to me. I also wouldn't have relished the idea of a visit to the in laws (mind you, I don't now either ha ha!) I must admit, in those early days I kept house visits short, sweet and positive for me, the host and Poppy! But saying that, Poppy is a lunatic and Puzzle may not be and I found puppy days particularly demanding and stressful so I'll finish with a disclaimer: the views expressed in this post are personal and may not reflect anyone else's experience


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Actually - just remembered the first year I had Molly - bearing in mind I adopted her as an older dogs - she penned a short poem just after our first Christmas 


I love to go out visiting, I'm really very sweet,
My coat is brushed, my collars clean, so I'm all nice and neat.
And as for my behaviour, it's really very good,
And if it's not, it's not my fault, I'm just misunderstood.

I'd never seen an indoor tree with lights on it before,
I only thought the balls might look better on the floor,
And sparkly bottles are such fun when pushed over and rolled,
With humans moving very fast when I pick them up to hold.

If they put things on a table, and then don't let me see,
Who wouldn't pull on the cloth to make them nearer me?
And who would keep food scraps in a bin upon the floor,
If they did not want me to keep dipping in for more.

So now when we go visiting lots of people are not in,
Seems very odd, mum says they are really just hidin'
Mum says it's all my fault, and I must learn to be more good,
And I tell her I am angelic, and I'm just misunderstood!

by Molly - aged 2 and a bit


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## Puzzle (Oct 17, 2015)

Thanks everyone! I think we will definitely have a rethink about Christmas Eve. Perhaps they could just come over mid afternoon, we could all take Puzzle for a walk to feed the ducks, then Puzzle would sleep for a while when we do presents. They could still have tea with us but perhaps a cold finger tea with no actual cooking involved making it easier to keep an eye on Puzzle. Actually now I have typed that out it seems like the perfect solution!

As for going to father in laws, they are very good pet people so will understand Puzzle more than non pet people would. Again we could just go for lunch and then a walk rather than spend the whole day there.

I think it will certainly help that Puzzle will be able to go for short walks then.

I think my plan will be to keep every visit short and sweet this year. Sound better?


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## Mazzapoo (Jul 28, 2013)

That sounds like it's getting closer to something doable but I'm smirking at the phrase 'Puzzle would sleep for a while when we do presents' ha ha ha - have you ever opened just an envelope with him being uninterested?  I'm such a negative Nellie aren't I?!


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Sounds much more doable  

He may or may not sleep while you do presents but it all sounds much more doable


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## Puzzle (Oct 17, 2015)

Mazzapoo said:


> That sounds like it's getting closer to something doable but I'm smirking at the phrase 'Puzzle would sleep for a while when we do presents' ha ha ha - have you ever opened just an envelope with him being uninterested?  I'm such a negative Nellie aren't I?!


Ha ha that's true! Hadn't thought about that! I think we will probably have to involve him in the opening. I just know he's going to be very excited!


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

I suspect Puzzle will have the most presents under the tree 
It is not all gloom gloom and despondency... Dot was angelic at 16 weeks - as long as she was fully involved in everything that was going on. Trouble really occurred when she was left to get up to mischief on her own.
I recommend lots of lovely walks - not for too long, although frankly an off lead gallop through the local wood or park for 40 -60 minutes would be wonderful and as a one off will be fine. Then a bath and blow dry to get rid of the mud and then some of his new exciting toys to destroy and all will be well. 
One thing do not give him too many weird and wonderful christmas edible treats you do not want a puppy with a grumbly upset tummy. keep food absolutely as normal.
Try some 'settle' command training now.... honestly it is possible. Google settle command for dogs and do some research - I find this much easier to teach this with a clicker, but you can do it without.
It is possible 
Pic from Dot's first Christmas - she was 5 months - waiting for everyone to get up so that she could open presents 
The other benefit of having a puppy (or dogs) in the house is when you have had enough you can take them out for a walk to escape


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## lady amanda (Nov 26, 2010)

poos love wrapping paper!!! lol enjoy. Marzi hit the nail on the head of what a 16 week old puppy is like! lol. maybe bring an extra bottle of wine with you. lol


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

My nieces and nephews are/were very skittish around dogs. So when we would have family get togethers, I would have them help with training. Even the smallest of kiddos can do a 'touch' command. Of course with supervision but it kept the kids and the pups busy. And bonded them too. I used their kibble at the time as treats to avoid bad puppy tummies. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## bearthecockapoo (Mar 17, 2015)

Bear was around 3 months when we had our big Christmas get together at my parent's. We brought his crate for the period that we were sitting at the table eating, when I knew I couldn't supervise him. He was quite bitey and over-excited by all the new faces so not listening very well. Even when I brought him upstairs to have some quiet time, he would not settle down because of all the excitement. Everyone did love seeing him though, so that was a plus!


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