I'm getting a new puppy in less than two weeks

Discussion in 'Labrador Puppies' started by Amie, Feb 8, 2016.

  1. MaccieD

    MaccieD Guest

    Hi @Jasehoek and welcome to the forum. It's perfectly natural to feel nervous in the weeks waiting to collect your puppy, and when you get them home even if you've had puppies before, so welcome to the pre-puppy nerves club :D. Best advice I can offer is to invest in Pippa's book The Happy Puppy Handbook and read it several times before Jax arrives. It's full of helpful information and advice to help prepare you and get you through toileting, biting, teething etc etc. I referred to it a lot while Juno was little, and of course you have found the forum.

    Pop over to the introductions board to say "Hi" and introduce yourself and Jax, and you'll soon be getting lots of advice
     
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  2. Amie

    Amie Registered Users

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    Hello everyone. Well Jasper is now very much a member of our family. And don't we just know it. He's had 4 nights with us. First night was a bit tricky as we chose to go "cold turkey" as Pippa would say, and we left Jasper in his crate downstairs.. Well he cried and he howled just when I thought we were doing ok.... After two hours of his crying he woke my 5 year old whom had school the next day and this was way into the AM. So I had no other choice but to go into him (I must add I waited for that silent pause before I entered) and that night I slept on the sofa and Jasper at first did not want to go back in his crate so he fella sleep on the floor next to the sofa once asleep I put him back in his crate. However after the first night and speaking with the vet at his check up she said no matter how hard it is I must persevere in not going into Jasper so I was all prepared for a sleepless night listening to heartbreaking sounds of puppy cries to my astonishment after 20 minutes there were no more cries! I set my alarm and got up at 3.30am to let him out and that was that. And these last two nights he's gone right through from 10pm until 6am and no accidents in the crate! He's done so well with his toiletting I'd say he has done 90% of his business outside with the odd accident inside. Not bad for a 9 week puppy hey?

    However... He's very much so becoming more and more of a character as each day passes, chewing and biting!! I think if I hadn't read pippa's book and been pre-warned by you guys on here I'd of been in such shock at how bad his biting really is and his jumping up especially at the kiddies in fact my 5 year old boy whom was so excited to get Jasper and have a new best friend has for the time being decided not to go anywhere near Jasper he gets so scared which has really shocked me because Jake is normally such a outgoing crazy child anyhow. But on the other hand my 21 month old Lilly well she is in her element she loves Jasper so much and they really seem to have formed a close bond already. Lilly is very stern with Jasper and if there's something she doesn't like she lets him know either via a Yelp or a stern "no" and jasper seems to of taken this on board as he seems to have really settled down when playing with Lilly.

    Also he appears to have a habit of eating anything in sight from the garden!! Stones and plants mainly. I'm so worried that he's going to swallow a stone soon and cause himself damage. My tactic at the moment for this behaviour is distraction with a Chew toy but I can see this is wearing thin with him as he'll often ignore my offer of a toy if he thinks what he has in his mouth is better.

    Other than all that he is settling in well to our family life and we are all looking forward to sharing many memories with him. ☺️
     
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  3. Amie

    Amie Registered Users

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    Also I'm trying to add pictures to show you all but my phone isn't letting me for some reason?
     
  4. MaccieD

    MaccieD Guest

    Sounds as if Jasper is settling well and really becoming a member of the family and has mad a special friend of your daughter :).

    Currently as a forum member you need to host photos from a site like Flickr, Imgur or Photobucket ad then copy and paste in the bbCode. Details on how to can e flund on the Technical and Help board. Ignore the posts for Forum supporters and uploads

    http://thelabradorforum.com/forums/technical-help.18/
     
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  5. Jasehoek

    Jasehoek Registered Users

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    Just placed my order for The Happy Puppy Handbook - thanks for the warm welcome, @MaccieD!
     
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  6. Boogie

    Boogie Supporting Member Forum Supporter

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    They all do this - I'm glad to say they grow out of it. I offer a treat as a swap - just make sure he's dropped the stone before you give the treat as, when they see the treat they sometimes forget the stone is there lol!

    .
     
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  7. jessieboo

    jessieboo Registered Users

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    Aw sounds like he is settling really, really well! My older child (6) was also the more wary one. 6 weeks into puppy ownership everyone loves her. The jumping and biting has calmed down. We even survived a play date with six, 3 and 4 year olds and she behaved beautifully!? It does get better! As does the eating everything, although we've had a scary tummy upset along the way to keep us on our toes. And on Friday night she ate a live mouse the cat and brought in, which was pretty horrifying, especially when she sicked it back up! Blergh.But apart from that things, much, much better!!!
     
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  8. Pilatelover

    Pilatelover Registered Users

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    Welcome to the forum from me and my 15 month old choccie girl Mabel. Not much I can add others have it pretty much covered. Enjoy little Jasper he will grow so quick. Xx
     
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  9. Cath

    Cath Registered Users

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    Sounds like Jasper is a normal little puppy, please can we have some photos of him :D
     
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  10. Amie

    Amie Registered Users

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    Hi guys. Just a quick query I'm finding Jasper to snap and growl at me and its at me mainly. particularly if I say no when he nibbles me or the kids. I find that when my partner gets home he's absolutely fine with him. Today he went a bit mental when I said no and he jumped up on the sofa which is the one place we don't allow him to go. It was so difficult to get him off because he wouldn't listen to me and every time I went near him to attempt to get him off he growled and had jaw wide open as if to go for me? He can be a very friendly dog but then there's these times where he just goes a bit mental at me. People are telling me it's because he's trying to be the leader of the pack when my partners not about? But if this is the case how do I show him authority? That I'm boss. He doesn't seem to listen to my firm voice but he does my partner? It's very frustrating at times because it's always when the kids are about then they start screaming and running around which seems to also make him worse. For the sake of keeping the children safe when this behaviour occurs I've been sending him outside until he calms down. Please help....
     
  11. JulieT

    JulieT Registered Users

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    Hello there

    Please ignore everyone who tells you to be 'leader of the pack', 'show authority' and so on. These people are misinformed and very much out of date.

    This article explains why: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/should-you-show-your-labrador-puppy-who-is-boss/

    This article addresses your concerns about your puppy being aggressive: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/help-my-labrador-puppy-is-aggressive/

    I should think that your puppy is just being a puppy, and you'll get over this time without too much trouble - it's unlikely that your puppy is showing signs of aggression, it is much more likely that he is growling and snapping in play. :) But trying to train, or manage, a puppy using dominance techniques (showing a puppy who is boss) makes it much more likely that you'll end up with a dog that is actually aggressive - this is because using techniques that cause a puppy to change his behaviour through intimidation etc makes a puppy fearful, and fear is the motivation for aggression.

    If you are struggling to understand why you so often hear this advice of 'show your dog that you are the boss' this article might help:

    http://www.dogdecoder.com/red-zone-dog/

    Best of luck with it.
     
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  12. Newbie Lab Owner

    Newbie Lab Owner Registered Users

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    Mine use to do that to me. He's not trying to be dominant, I tested that theory out before I found this site and forum. Don't go down that road, trying to show dominance made mine worse. I found that not saying anything but calmly putting him in his crate for timeout worked really well and mine still loves his crate. Any talking just makes them get more excited I found.
     
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  13. Boogie

    Boogie Supporting Member Forum Supporter

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    Saying 'no' is just getting him more excited, your tone of voice and any anxiety on your part will add to the excited mix too.

    My pup (ten months) can still be snappy and growly from time to time when over-excited/over tired.

    Here is a great article - http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-cope-with-an-overexcited-labrador-puppy/


    Screaming and running around shouts PLAY to a pup, your kids need some training too. ;)

    Here is an article which will help with that - http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-play-safely-with-a-labrador/


    Dealing with this over-excitement calmly is key to them growing out of it without you causing more problems (it doesn't stop it happening, they just grow out of it - but dealing with it appropriately is key)


    .
     
  14. MaccieD

    MaccieD Guest

    Just wanted to say there's some great advice already given so I haven't anything much to add except it sounds as if your puppy is being a puppy and perhaps getting a little over excited at times. I've also recently found a good article around so called dominance in dogs but the link is on my tablet so I'll add it later
     
  15. MaccieD

    MaccieD Guest

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