Ok so most of you know that we are getting a puppy next week... Does anyone have some good puppy advice for me??????
I do I do!!! Don't let it sleep with you no matter how much he/she may cry at night. We made that mistake with my little dog and now she has REALLy bad separation anxiety. She goes wacko when we leave or even pretend to leave!
She figured out who the is boss that very first night!!
oh yeah what kinda puppy are you getting? a_nut
When we got our toy poodle we hooked bells to the slider for him to ring when he need to go out. We would take his nose and have him nudge the bells every time we took him out. It took a week but he got the hang of it.
I also agree with the crate. It's their little den where they can feel safe. To this day (he is three now) he sleeps in his crate. When its time for bed we let him out and when he come in he goes running to our room and waits for us to open the door. As soon as we open it he goes straight to his crate and sits and then we give him a milkbone and he goes in and we shut the door and off to sleep he goes.
good luck with your new pup
Yeah, if you do get a crate, get one big enough for a full grown lab. They come with partitions so you can make a smaller area for him when he's little. Ours cost I think about 80.00 for the Golden. A big box is definatly more affordable!!
ap~my mom used to breed english bulls. They're great dogs!! Great name
a-nut
thanks everyone for the advice...im trying to convince hubby that the crate thing is a good idea....but so far its no working.
apeanut~ We are getting a 7wk old black lab...theres a pic of him in the chat thread
Shannon, what will you do with the puppy when you aren't home if he isn't in a crate (or box)? We put Charlie in the laundry room at first. BIG mistake. He ate the walls. My husband had to install new drywall. Even if your pup doesn't eat the walls, I guarantee that when he gets lonely or bored he'll scracth up the door.
a-nut...the male was red brindle and white like yours and the female was blond brindle (I don't know if thes the official name of her color) she was small and had a lot of problems with allergies when she got older, but a sweeter dog you could never find. The male, Elliot, was very stubborn, but a good dog. He wouldn't even get out of bed till 3 in the afternoon!! He snored like crazy too.
Kel. I am making my way to see the picture's lol. Nothing warms my heart more than puppies Have you named he/she yet?
Cletus, has some prblems I have to clean his tail and wrinkles every day. They are alot of work. That getting out of bed till 3am is so Clet. He is the most patient dog I have ever had he is so good with my grand daughter. We wanted to breed him still could , just never found Mrs. Macdaddy lol.
a-nut
No we havent named him yet...He is going to be a surprise for my daughter so we are letting her name him. My hubby asked her today what she would name a dog if she had one and the first thing she thought of was ToTo from Wizard of Oz....so we told her to give it some time and think of a good name....Kel, I can see why you are so excited it's so cute.
a-nut
a lab puppy is really cute but unless you want your house chewed up when you leave a crate is the best place for him. Kwwp him on a leash when he is not in the craye until he is house brokenMarch 18th - that the ETA of our puppy/puppies! Our daughter's dog, Capone is the daddy, and my dog Ozzie is the mommy!
I can't wait! We already have 5 dogs, so I probably won't be able to convince hubby to keep a puppy - will I????
Here is a photo of the expectant parents!
Oh your daughter is going to be so excited when she sees that puppy! Make sure you take pics, the look on her face will be something you never want to forget. We have a yorkie and she is just the sweetest little girl. She has become a very special part of our family and we love her dearly! There's nothing like the unconditional love of a dog. Here are a few pics of our Mia. The first link is the pic I took of my daughter when she first saw our puppy. Of course, she was in college and didn't live at home anymore but she still feel completely in love with her! I hope the links work as I am new to this.
Lori
Shannon, I forgot to tell you how adorable your puppy is! Your daughter is going to be thrilled! Congratulations!
Kel- Your little puppie looks so cute, Kelsay is going to be thrilled to bits. We have a golden retriever and a westie, we made sure as pups they had plenty of toys to chew on and lots of puppy training pads for the accidents ( it was winter so the door to the garden wasnt always open), they both now scratch the door when they want out.
Our retriever slept in the kitchen as a new pup, she had a dog bed with a blanket that had been used by the mother dog and we just had to ignore her cries at night, it took about 4 nights before she stopped .She wasnt left on her own for the first few weeks during the day but the first time we all went out we shut her in the kitchen with her bed and toys for an hour, then gradually 2 hours, she has always been good about chewing the furniture. When we got the westie, she had the other dog for company and never fussed.
Hi Shannon, there's a lot of info here. Your new puppy is so adorable! I bet you can't wait to get him home!
http://www.inch.com/~dogs/cratetraining.html
Thanks everyone!! Y'all rock!!! I cant believe i agreed to this LOL.... We asked Kelsay last night IF she had her own puppy what she'd name it and she couldnt think of a good one (i just cant name a black lab ToTo) so this morning I asked her and she wants to name him Finley (shes a HUGE WWE fan LMAO) I guess finley is more "manly" then toto
Ideally, as soon as you get up they go out for a pee (this might mean you have to get up a little earlier than normal) but that wont last for long. Then you take him out as soon as he's finished eating... basically they eat, they poop. Labs are really intelligent so it wont take long.
Kelsay is going to love him.
Definately get the crate we have a husky lab , she was an abused dog, loves my husband terribly. She is sweet but dumber then a box of rocks, we could never break her of pottyingi n the house at night or staying out of stuff. So she is put in her crate at night amd she is fine and no surprises in the morning. A friend of ours who works with dogs told us they won't pee in the crate at nigh( adult dogs) because it is thier sleeping spot, Also with a lab they like to chew chew chew a crate is good to have to make sure they don't eat the heels of your shoes and other things when you aren't there to keep an eye on them. Also it is good for time out. Puppys are just like human babies they get overstimulated and need a spot where they can rest and calm down too. Get a old blanket or towel get the mother dog's scent on it and put it in the crate too. this will help alot. Congratulations on your new edition!!!Our local Animal Hospital takes in stray dogs that our policemen find roaming the streets and the hospital trys to find their owners.If they don’t find the owners then they try to find new homes. Of course if they don’t find new homes for these dogs they go to the city pound. Also, people who cant take care of their dogs give them up to our local Animal Hospital as well.
So, Often they have an abundance of animals that are looking for homes. Our little yorkie passed away in June at 16 years old and we waited 6 months to find a new dog. I started to call the hospital every few weeks to see what if any females were available. We preferred a small to medium size dog.
Enter Dallas, our 1 year old 56-pound large dog. Anyway, large to us. She is the sweetest dog you ever met. So friendly and happy.
I couldn’t believe I didn’t have to pay a fee for this wonderful Dog. I offered to pay an adoption fee but they insisted it wasn’t necessary. They just wanted to find the dog a good home.
My husband calls Dallas the Dog that Costs Nothing
Oh, she has a few problems that we are working on. (Nobody’s perfect) Anyway we love her and think she is so adorable. She is my buddy and soon to be good walking partner. We are all in training.
When we got her we bought her a bunch of toys that she mostly ate. And later decided a crate (0.00) would be good for her because she ended up eating our Christmas candy and cookies when we went out for dinner. We bought her 3 different collars and now I found a collar that is guaranteed to stop your dog from lunging forward which was around .00 including shipping.
Our Dallas loves the yard which we have 2 large maples. I love to watch her dance around them and jump so high.
When it rains there is so much mud around the trees that poor Dallas is a real mess when she comes in the house, so we decided to get rid of the trees (,400.00) and grow more grass, probably a couple of hundred dollars.
So here you are, this is why my husband calls Dallas The Dog that Costs Nothing. I guess he is trying to warn people about getting a dog for free.
Every day Dallas is getting just a little better at being a dog. We found out she loves to go for rides in the car so, I take her where I can .She is earning the title of best friend. She is such a loving girl. And we all know, you can’t buy friends or love.
Get a crate for sure. And be prepared to clean up when it gets muddy.
Anyway, Have fun.
awwww She is sooooo sweet!!!!! yea im going to convince hubby about the crate thing..If im gonna be the one w/ him most of the day i want it as easy as having a puppy can possibly be That's true. My Basset takes every oppurtunity to go pottie in the upstairs hall. She only does it if she's home alone and we forget to close her up, but she always goes to the exact same spot. Remember that even though you can't smell it, a dog can. Take Anna's advice and pick up something like that from the pet supply store. You'll be glad you did. I wish i'd have done that.Thinkthinn She is adorable!!!!!!!
Find a puppy that isn't too active, so you know it will sit on your lap nicely and cuddle.
Those I find are great for those with RA.