The Puppy Diaries at 12 Weeks

Herbie’s had a busy week! Now that he’s old enough at 12 weeks, he has been able to have his first walks and attend his first puppy class. It’s all go now!

You can check out last week’s update here, or pop to here for all puppy posts.

Herbie the Miniature Dachshund at 12 Weeks Old

Herbie has settled into our new routine very well. He has clearly missed having the kids at home as they’ve returned to school, but he’s got used to our new normal again. We tend to be up at 6.30 all getting ready and then he comes on the school run in a bag (he protests, he wants to walk!). On our return, he settles quite quickly into his crate for a nap whilst I work. On waking he eats, plays, trains and goes for a walk. He then needs more naptime before we play and then get back on that school run. It’s a busy life for a puppy!

Training and Behaviours

Housetraining is getting there. We’ve definitely had fewer accidents this week, and Herbie is going towards the back door when he needs to go nine times out of ten now. We are also familiar with his routines and can guess when he’ll need to go out fairly accurately now. It’s all going in the right direction.



Crate training has much improved this week, as I’d hoped. Herbie is now regularly napping in his crate and takes himself off there with food and toys often. He’s clearly comfortable in there and hangs out in there whilst we’re all busy in the mornings. I’ll continue to encourage this behaviour with a view to starting to close the door soon.

Our clicker training has revolved around Sit, Stay and Leave each day, and we’ve tried Legs a couple of times. Herbie is also learning to walk on a loose leash whilst we’re out, so there’s been Heel training too. He’s doing well with all of it and I can see the improvements practically daily.

We have attended our first puppy class. I really didn’t know what to expect or how Herbie would be. It was really good, the ladies running it were lovely, as were the other owners and puppies, and Herbie was an absolute superstar! They all commented on how confident he is – yes, I know it! I left feeling that I was doing all of the right things for Herbie and looking forward to next week’s class.



Out and About

Herbie has been out for walks, hooray! He absolutely loves being out and about on the ground. Over the weekend he visited his first National Trust property, Shugborough Estate, and ran about there.

He has also been going for short daily walks with me, as he can only walk on lead for 15 minutes at the moment, due to his age. He likes them, though I’ve noticed that if we encounter people, he wants to stop and meet everyone!

For the school runs, Herbie comes along in a lovely new bag. It seems comfortable for him and it’s easy for me to carry, but he tends to want to get out. Especially when he sees the kids come out of school, I can feel his legs going mad to get to them! He’s in a bag as dogs aren’t allowed inside the school gates and also for his own protection as there are lots of scooters, bikes, pushchairs and people rushing along at this busy time and I know he’d get tangled up and hurt if on the ground at the moment.

Fun and Favourites

Herbie likes people. Anyone and everyone, I think. He’s used to having friends and family come over to ours and loves greeting them and sniffing everyone. He’s then happy to go up to people on walks and will pop his head out of his bag on the school run to say hello to as many people as he can.

The washing continues to be of great interest! When he can steal it, he will, so we’re getting good at distracting him when needed and getting it out of his reach as quickly as we can.

Herbie has tried tuna for the first time this week and he’s definitely a fan. I need to remember that I now cannot open a can of it without him expecting it, quite eagerly.

Over the weekend the Husband and I went out to see Avengers Endgame, so his parents came round to look after Herbie and the kids. He loved having them here and napped soundly on grandad. He then had my mum looking after him midweek as I was at a school workshop with Boo and he loved that too. He misses us for a moment, I think, then is just delighted to have doting grandparents for company.

Herbie has discovered that he can jump in and out of his toy box. And so he does so. Frequently!

You can pop over to my Amazon Best Buys for Puppies store for recommendations of products that have worked for us or that Herbie has loved.

What do you think of Herbie’s week?

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