hi Grey! Love your work <3 Thanks for writing!
May I as a Russian offer you my advice for Russian petnaming? if not, feel free to ignore this ask
So basically shchenok is correct translation for puppy, but we do not use it in affectionate way. It's more like established dominance, like old experienced man can call shchenok (щенок) the younger one. It's actually pretty contemptuous. Giving off army vibes, maybe bluecollar or "domineering dad" vibes. Grigory could call Ilya that, although only when he's angry at his son
The more suitable word is щеночек – shchenochek. They seem alike but trust me the difference is HUGE. Щеночек is sweet, affectionate and kind, but still a little condescending. So I believe this is the right word for your story.
Anyway thanks for reading xo
Oh thank you so much! I will always take corrections or feedback on things like this. I tried to do my research on petnames and that’s the one that came up, but like you said those sites are probably just giving technical direct translations instead of what is actually used
I will have to update the fic to use shchenochek, thank you so much for explaining the difference to me! That’s so interesting and I appreciate it very much <3