Hi there Amie, Welcome to the Forum,I'm glad you've found us now as planning is key,especially with you having little ones.I don't have children myself but my niece and nephew are at my house most days ...Dexter was 5 months when he came to us as we live in Dubai and he wasn't allowed in the country until then,George and Sophie were 18 months and nearly 3 .......we had definite private areas for Dexter where the children knew they couldn't go like his beds,his crate and the utility room which was gated off from the kitchen..it gave all parties a breather at times.They were never left alone with him either ...in all honesty they aren't now when he is 3.If I leave the room i take Dexter with me,not because he has ever given me a hint of not being trustworthy ,I just think children and dogs should be supervised to prevent any actions between them being misinterpreted. It's pretty full on at the beginning.....Julie has pretty much predicted what your posts could be about if you stay with us,and I hope you do They are puppies for such a short time ,you are giving your children the opportunity of a wonderful experience growing up with Jasper x (Jasper was our second choice of name....but the tv serial killer character got it!)
Wowsers I didn't expect so much response thank you so much to you all for your help and advice it really is very much appreciated. Can any of you recommend a good crate to use for jasper? Also in terms of his first few nights at home. I have read on this site about having him in a box next to my bed? Would any of you recommend this method? And if we have the crate would you recommend using that instead of a box? Jaspers current home the lady has said she is going to try and get him used to a crate before he leaves her. Thanks in advance.
I bought the 24"inch Ellie-Bo crate for Juno and just added some vet bed to make the base warm and cosy (she also ended up with my jumper but that's a different story ) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ellie-Bo-Pu...=1455026775&sr=8-4&keywords=ellie-bo+dog+cage You can also go for a large size but then you will want to have a divider so Jasper learns one area is his den for sleeping and resting, not for toileting. My plan was that Juno would sleep in the kitchen in her crate, as it was we popped her in her crate with no problems she was happy to go in and curl up. The we turned off the light and walked out of the kitchen, and she cried. That was it, couldn't have my new baby girl crying so we took her out of the crate, my OH carried the crate upstairs and I took Juno up and popped her in her crate. She was a little bit whimpery when the light was turned off, but no cries, so I just stood by the crate with my hands on the crate so she could smell me. Gradually moved away and got into bed talking to her quietly al the time, and gradually just stopped talking and didn't hear a peep from her until she started getting restless and needing a wee. Took her out for a quick wee and just popped her back in the crate and she settled (as little interaction as possible is best). So Juno spent around 11 nights in the bedroom and then I switched her into the kitchen and never had a murmur out of her. I know other member will be along soon with how they coped in those early days, but all I would say is that there isn't a right or wrong way, just what works for you and Jasper - and even when you think you have a plan something comes along to change it
This. Be prepared, definitely. It's great that you're asking questions now and want to get as ahead of yourself as you can. I did the same. I'm pretty sure I'd read everything on the internet about bringing up a puppy, as well as The Happy Puppy Handbook twice before Willow ever arrived. I then found this forum and started posting, just like you have. I knew it all. Then this bundle of mischief arrived and my world was turned upside down. My preparation made things better, no doubt, but you will honestly never be fully prepared! And this was with Willow, who was pretty angelic compared to some Butter wouldn't melt... So, read as much as you have time for, especially on this forum and the main site (www.thelabradorsite.com). On other sites, if you read anything about "being the boss", "dominating your dog", "pack" or similar, then close that page and find something else - dominance theory is outdated and you don't need to confuse yourself with old methodology. I agree with Julie that clicker training is awesome, so read up on that - there are plenty of articles on the main site to give you a start, and it's worth having a look at the videos by Kikopup on Youtube to see it in action. Please stay in touch and post lots of pictures, please!
Hello! I am new to forums and puppies too! We have a 13 week yellow lab called Jessie and 6 year old and 4 year old. I don't have much to add. The crate is a godsend! Jessie is VERY chewy and nippy. I have banned the kids from touching the crate as this is her space. As well as the crate I have a baby gate on the kitchen door and she is only allowed in there at the moment. Partly as we have a cat, but also because the kids drop 101 things all over the house that could harm a puppy! They are doing very well at not bringing bits of lego etc into the kitchen. So this works well for us. We quickly had to teach the kids to stop playing with the dog and stand up and turn away if she started to bite or get rough and this has worked well, she is already considerably calmer. We also taught her sit quite quickly as this calms her down and stops her jumping at them so much. It is a good idea to prepare the kids for this even before the puppy arrives, as my 4 year old took her nipping really personally! Lastly. enjoy! She is hard work, but completely worth it. She has already enhanced all our lives so much, I can't believe it. Also they improve so much faster than babies!
We have a pair of six-year-old twin nieces, so they were two years old when we got Poppy. From the first, we had a rule that her bed was sacrosanct; to this day they are not allowed to bother her if she goes into her bed. Also they never ever go near her when she is eating. Otherwise, the three of them are delightful together, and Poppy is an integral part of their fantasy world - she is always being Dick Whittington's cat, or an evil stepmother, or a baby dinosaur. It's really sweet!!
To add on the topic of first few days... I had Jess in the kitchen in her crate from day 1, but slept on a blow - up mattress on the floor for a week, gradually moving further away. I contemplated crate by our bed, but was worried about this on a number of levels. Firstly, it is a fair distance from our bedroom to back door for night time weeing, it just seemed easier to get up and let her out the back door. I was also worried about waking the kids up as nights 1 and 2 were a bit noisy! This worked well for us. Night 1 was terrible and I had around 1 hours sleep! Night 2, she whined a bit, but did settle between being let out for the loo. After this she was fine and after 7 nights she was sleeping through from 12.30 - 6.00, which is far quicker than I had expected! Now at 13 weeks she will go from 11.00 - 6.30 (and would probably go longer, but the kids get up then!) . We have a 36 inch Ellie Bo crate with a divider. The crate is good, but I wasn't overly impressed with the fit of the divider, there is a massive gap at the bottom that she looses toys under and then goes frantic!
Hi and welcome. Very exciting times ahead. I had twin boys age 6 when we got Meg. We already had an older dog they had grown up with. I pretty much kept a good distance between Meg and the boys for quite some months. She was not a terrible biter but those little teeth and young children don't mix very well. It was not worth the fall out. We had child gates on main rooms and stairs. She slept downstairs in her crate from day one at now at 2 it is still her favourite place to hang out. She has not been shut in it for well over a year. Once your pup settles and grows through the teenage bit your dog and children will be inseparable. The boys and Meg have been playing outside in the snow this morning for hours. They all adore each other. Do read Pippas books and look at obedience classes. They help with the teenage fun no end. I look forward to the pictures
I too am new to the forum and can't figure out how to start a new conversation so thought I'd try joining an existing one. We have had our 9 week old yellow lab, Oscar, for a week now and although life is getting a little easier, we are having problems with him grabbing hold of our clothing with a vice-like grip at every opportunity. If I have a treat to hand the smell of that will make him let go but I don't want to seem to be rewarding him for this behaviour. Any suggestions would be very welcome. I have both the happy puppy and labrador books but can't find advice for this in them.
Hi and welcome @Oscar . the Forum is quite easy to get around once you've clicked on a few tabs. It would be great to go "Introductions" and start a new thread. To get there it's probably easiest to click on Home which takes your to opening page of the Forum where you will see all the various sections covering puppies, health, training and lots of other topics. If you scroll down you will see "Introductions", click on this and it will take you to listing of all threads within this topic. You can start your own introduction by clicking on the blue box at the top right which says "Start new thread" (near your Profile box).
Hi @Oscar. We have a 13 week old called Jessie. She did the same thing. We followed advice, I think found in The Labrador Handbook, for biting and stopped play immediately and introduced one of her toys to tug on instead, or a rawhide chew works well. This has worked wonders. She is not 100% cured, she still likes a dressing gown, but I have stopped wearing these around her for the time being. Teaching "sit" has also helped. I ask her to sit for the treat, rather than rewarding the bad behaviour, she gets the reward for sit. As I say we are not all the way there yet. but things are way better than they were in the first week! Good luck.
Hi @Oscar, try chapter 17 Biting and growling in the happy puppy handbook, particularly pages 142-143. The advice foes work, it just takes time and consistency.
Thank you all for your help. If it happens when we're playing I do stop play and give him a toy instead but when I'm just walking past him he suddenly grabs my trouser leg and won't let go. I'm not sure how to get him off to reach the toys or treats! Like Jessie he adores my dressing gown so I too have had to stop wearing it which means pjs with no pockets for emergency treats. The sitting is coming along very well though so I'm sure this will get better soon. I'll have another read through the books.
Quite normal for puppies, most of the advice is to wear tight fitting clothes leggings/jeggings instead of trousers - nothing loose that flaps for them to grab hold of. The good news is that it is usually quite a short lived phase
Most forum members always have a toy at hand ready to block puppy teeth. Usually the quickest way to get them disengaged is to ignore them (difficult when it hurts) or throw a toy or a treat away to encourage them to let go. Don't try to rise puppy jaws apart to get them to release whether it be your leg/hand or something they have picked up.
