Hello all, We are new parents to a 7 week old pup (thought we were getting him at 8 weeks! Bit of a surprise! Breeder typoed the date on the litter info, but he's settled in well so no harm I hope?). We are following the advice to carry him to new socialisation experiences but the problem is he whines and cries (extremely powerful lungs I might add!) and struggles to be put down on the ground after a few minutes. I'm not sure how we manage this? Would he be happier in a baby sling? Or is there something we are supposed to be doing? This is our first puppy at this young age, so we are a bit lost. We've had several dogs prior but they have all been older rescues. I attempted a search for info but couldn't find anything relevant, apologies ahead of time if it has already been posted. Thank you very much.
Hello there, and a warm welcome to the forum. It might be the case that your puppy isn't used to be handled like this, or carried - perhaps the breeder didn't do this kind of handling with your puppy. Being carried means the puppy is restricted (imagine being the size of a human and the puppy) and not all puppies are happy with this until they get used to it. So you can get him used to being held, and restrained slowly, using loads of treats - being restrained requires a degree of frustration tolerance by the puppy. My new puppy distinctly disliked being picked up, and would back away from me if I went to pick her up. A puppy backing away from humans is an awful habit (just think of how many ways that is going to get in the way of training later) so I had to spend ages getting her to be ok with it. It might help if you sit down with your puppy for socialisation, that seemed easier for my pup than walking with her (she also got really heavy, really quickly!). So perhaps you can drive to be close to benches etc which is what I did with a puppy that didn't like being picked up, I just parked near the entrance of the park and then took her straight to a bench so she only had to be carried while I was walking for 30 seconds or so. All the kids, people etc. came to me....with my puppy magnet.
Hi there and welcome! As Julie says, it's quite possible your puppy isn't used to being handled and picked up by the breeder. I'd have a few choice words anyway for a breeder that tricked you about the age of your puppy... but I'm sure you will be able to manage. It's only for a few short weeks that you have to carry the pup around. We used a large leather bag to carry our pup around in, as she soon became too heavy to carry for any distance. Good luck, and don't hesitate to ask any questions!
You could try a sling or backpack, but carried in front so you know what's going on. Many of them don't like to be carried, it's scary for them way up off the ground. Do you really have to carry him everywhere? We had what I considered to be relatively safe places where few dogs went and I allowed feet on the ground. My Aunt's nursing home, the ski resort parking lot and foyer, the bush. It was winter with Oban so not as many dogs out (where do they go? How do they exercise? In winter I see lots fewer)
Thanks so much for your replies and welcomes! We're going into town today, we'll spend as much time as possible sat down with him so hopefully he won't fidget and complain too much. Will report back on how it goes I was thinking maybe distracting him with a rawhide chew might help? We'll have to pop him on the ground every so often to toilet while out, is that just the compromise we have to make between safety and socialising? In the meantime we will work on him getting used to being restrained. I think the age misunderstanding was not malicious. The breeder seemed quite responsible with providing all of the relevant health test results and so forth, but also very full-on with working her dogs in the field etc so it's possible she made an honest mistake (our microchip info says my husband is a "Ms."!). She initially wanted us to collect him a week later than we did, but my husband had booked time off work as we were thinking the puppy was older than he was, so he would have time with him (I work from home). So we asked if it was at all possible to have him sooner, as her suggested collection date would have placed him at 9 weeks according to the listed info. She replied the earliest she could let him go was the date we ended up picking him up, which we thought was 8 weeks but turned out to be 7! I suppose in her mind that was the earliest she was comfortable with since he would have been weaned for a week by that point. I'll try popping him in a large crossbody shoulder bag and see how he takes to it (wow autocorrect kept wanting to change crossbody to crossbow). And that is a good point about it being scary for them Maybe a bag would feel more secure than being carried in arms, I hope. Regarding having to carry him everywhere, if it's possible not to in certain situations that would be great, I'm just worried about Parvo as I read it can survive up to a year? So chances are no matter where you go a dog has likely been there in a year's time, or am I just being overly cautious? We also have another older dog who goes off lead so isn't it possible she could contaminate him by bringing it back with her on her paws, even if I were to never let him on the ground outside the home/garden? The internet searches makes it sound like if I let him on the ground outdoors he's going to die. Of course the internet makes everything infinitely scary, but then there is our vet also telling us not to let him out until he's 13 weeks. But perhaps they're just being 100% cautious? Apologies for the long reply, I just want to take care of this little pup as best as I can.
We brought Xena home at 7 weeks, and apart from a couple of car trips she didn't leave the house until her 2nd vaccinations at 10.5 weeks. She's now 19 weeks and loves every man/woman/child/baby/dog/new place equally. Parvo is a horrid disease and it's just not something I'd risk until the 2nd jabs. I'm sure that Xena was born bomb proof, but keeping her at home for 4 weeks certainly didn't hinder her socialisation.
I had a puppy who HATED to be held (would violently jerk and growl) but did just fine in the sling for some reason. I think he felt more secure in the sling than just hands/arms. It may be worth improvising one with an old bedsheet and see if your own puppy tolerates it before investing in an actual baby/puppy sling. Not sure where you are, but I wouldn't mess with the parvo thing. It's also not "just" parvo as there are other nasties such as giardia (sp?). Despite all precautions from a very responsible breeder, my first puppy came to me with giardia and not only did it nearly kill him, it affected his health life long. I also had several fosters who came to me sick with things picked up off the street (less serious than parvo) - it's bad for the poor pup and a ton more work for the human than just carrying around the puppy as a precaution for a few weeks. Overall to me it's just not worth the risk. It does seem that attitudes and actual risk of letting a not-fully-vaccinated puppy down vary by geography. In California, it was well-known that the sand on the dog-friendly beaches was particularly risky and by consequence pretty much the whole area was a bad bet. Where I am in Germany, they don't seem to care all that much. Even the vets are kind of "meh" about the risk. I'm quite sure when I finally get my own puppy here people will think I'm a stark raving mad Yank for carrying my 10 kilo puppy around in a baby sling. A question for Boogie/Mags if she sees this: what is the official stance for guide dog puppy walkers? I met a beautiful black Lab pup in Ireland last spring and his walker had him out in a Cork shopping mall walking on his own four stubbly legs at eight weeks old, the day after he'd been sent home with the walker. The walker wasn't a novice as he said this was his third guide dog puppy. Lovely pup and friendly walker, but I did kind of wonder about why he had him down on the ground in a busy shopping mall.
Guide dog pups are allowed down from 8 weeks in shops etc where no other dogs are allowed. We carry them into the shops etc. No slings, bags etc allowed and no harnesses, just a flat leather collar. They are vaccinated at 6, 12 and 16 weeks. Kennel cough at 7 months. From 13 weeks they can walk on lead on pavements etc but not grass. First free run and allowed on grass etc from 17 weeks. If mine need to go to the toilet I put a puppy pad down by the car. Here is a link to the GD puppy development documents if you are interested - https://www.guidedogs.org.uk/suppor...ion-point/puppy-walking-development-documents ....
I used to take puppy pads out and pop him on those if he needed to go to the loo. That stopped him having to put his feet on the floor
Thanks! That does make sense. Definitely no other dogs in the shopping mall in Cork. If I was in the US, I guess I'd still be concerned about possible bad stuff getting tracked in on people's shoes, but that doesn't seem to be really an issue in UK/Ireland/Europe and that's a good thing. As an aside, the little guy was having a wee right in the middle of the hallway when we saw him and the walker did an excellent job of completely ignoring the little puddle. It was only a TEENY WEENY puddle, to be fair.
Being practical, you just don't have to carry a pup round so long that a toilet break becomes a problem. A tiny puppy doesn't need to be overwhelmed with too much for too long. I never carried Betsy for longer than a few minutes at a time. Her socialisation outings were things like: Standing by the busy road at the top of my street - for 2 to 3 minutes at a time. Sitting on the bench by the school - for 5 to 10 minutes. Sitting on a bench in the park - for about 15 minutes. Standing outside Waitrose - for about 5 minutes. Walking around Pets and Home - took about 10 minutes. Walking up and down my street and listening to the crash and bangs of a scaffolding being taken down - about 5 minutes. And so on. None of these were long enough to worry about the puppy needing a wee.
Hi and welcome to the forum - exciting times for you with a new pup. When Bailey was tiny he didn't mind being carried around, although he would wiggle to get down to investigate every interesting smell. After a couple of weeks I left the carrying to my OH. We socialised him with people and selected dogs (who are older and fully vaccinated) from day one mainly inside, but he did escape a couple of times with my friends dogs to "run free" like a lunatic on the rugby pitches. Gave me heart failure each time as there are wild foxes around the grounds and obviously they leave piles of poop which Bailey kept trying to eat - high risk of parvo from that! Luckily nothing bad happened to Bailey - my blood pressure on the other hand! Remember to enjoy these early days, take lots and lots of pictures as they go far too fast!
Thank you all for your responses. Our vet won't do the 2nd vaccination until he is 12 weeks. I called and expressed concern about him missing critical socialisation opportunities, and they said they "could" do it at 10 weeks, but that they won't. I think they are erring on the side of caution (?) but considering so many puppies get it at 8/10 weeks it seems unusual. I thought I would call a different vet today for a second opinion. (We are in England, btw). Our trip into town was a bit of a fail. He refused to stay on the puppy pad, kept struggling to bound off. Consequently he wouldn't go toilet at all. Had to pop him in his carrier and take him home but he wee'd himself in it, poor thing I'm going to do what you suggested, JulieT, keep it short and sweet! My main concern at the moment is I wanted to enroll him in a puppy course but that will have to wait until he is 13 weeks at this point! Unless the other vet is fine vaccinating him sooner. I'm definitely taking loads of pics of the little lad He's a treasure.
We got Stanley at 9 weeks, he'd had his first vaccination the day before we got him. Then due to the vaccination he was given we had to wait 4 weeks for his next vaccination then a further 2 before he could go for walks. So he was 15 weeks before he had his first proper walk.So I completely understand your frustration! I did used to take him out and carry him around but I also used to get people to come to us. My friends and family all visited, people who had older vaccinated dogs brought them around and people who had children. Stanley's had no problems with socialisation, he's a friendly little dog. If anything, he likes other people and dogs too much and cries if they don't want to play with him. He goes to doggy day care twice a week and he has the best time. We also did puppy classes and he was about 16 weeks when we did them, he picked it up quicker than all the other dogs still. I'd just try your best, I'm sure your puppy will be a completely friendly little guy. His health is the most important though
A bit like some toddlers, some pups just don't like being carried and are wriggle bums! I'm sure you will find other ways of socialising him, he could see traffic from his car crate, for example and short carries from home should help him meet new people/situations. ...
Don't worry too much, I'm sure it'll be fine. The main point of socialising dogs to new things at this stage is to teach them that new things are not scary, nothing to be afraid of at all. Including strange dogs. Well, if your pup is anything like both my puppies, being Labradors, it is not difficult to teach them that strange dogs are not scary. Most (not all) Labradors puppies seem to come pre-programmed to bound up to any dog, all excited, playing madly. With my second pup, I have spent 95% of my time getting her to ignore all other dogs, and just 5% of the time on allowing meets and greets for 'socialisation'.
@JulieT, I also stood for five minutes outside Waitrose with Lab when he was a pup, I saw a vet nurse approaching (could tell by her uniform) and asked if she would stroke my pup, she said "why, what for"! I was taken aback as she seemed so unfriendly and aggressive, takes all sorts I suppose! The rest of the people were friendly.
I have to say, @Stacia I do not find Wimbledon Waitrose very good for puppy socialisation - I found this with Charlie as well. I think London Waitrose customers are not the best for socialisation. Asda in Cornwall was much better!
Thanks JenB, that is encouraging I guess I am in worry hyperdrive, this being our first puppy xD Thanks Boogie, we definitely have a wriggler! This is our first Lab pup, is this a breed thing or just specific to each pup? JulieT, very true. We've already met two very aggressive dogs while carrying him around the neighborhood. They looked like they wanted to tear him to shreds. They were both on leads thank goodness but I figure it's a good experience to learn not all dogs are friendly?
