Hello all! New lab puppy owner here Just picked up my boy Cash last night, he is 7.5 weeks old. When we got him poor thing was shaking really bad after we got in the car. When we got home all he will do is lay in his kennel...even if we take him out the kennel he just crouches down and shakes or curls up away from us in a corner. Guess I expected a playful pup nipping and running around! My friend actually has his brother (same litter) and she said he is running and jumping everywhere and loves playing with the kids. I am sure he will warm up to us soon, I just didn't expect this! This is actually my first puppy ever so it's all very new to me. Excited to have this forum, I've been reading up for weeks now.
Hello there and welcome to the forum. Your puppy may well be a bit scared having been taken from his littermates and mum in a bumpy car to a strange place. Is he eating? And peeing and pooing normally? Most new owners will take their puppy to the vet within a few days of them coming home but of you are concerned you should take him for a check up sooner rather than later. Jac
Patience! These guys are all different. Just because they come from the same litter does not mean they are carbon copies or clones. If it were me, I would not force him out of the kennel. But that is just me. I would plunk myself down alongside the kennel and talk with him. Maybe see if he was interested in my fingers. Some of these guys are really, really sensitive. Murph over there is like that. Maybe think of it like this, put yourself in his shoes. New place, new people, litter mates gone and there you are. What would you like have happen to you? Would you want to be picked up by a biped? Maybe not. Think about and pay attention to how he reacts or fails to react to things around him. His curiosity will eventually get the better of him. Then we will be reading about "how do I get him to stop taking everything and running away with it". LOL.
Ditto. You want him to see his crate as his safe place, where he can go to if he doesn't want to be disturbed. When he's in there, he should be left alone. Give him time to settle in, it's early days.
Wanted to write a bit more earlier but Murphy wanted to go out and play, I can pretty much set my watch by it. This is a very good time to figure out what kind of dog you want for the long haul if you have not already thought about it. Remember that you may never reach your goal, there is a give and take that occurs. A dog that is predisposed to being very active will not become the perfect laid back individual and vise versa. You also need to think carefully about what you would like him to be in the house. An example of this is furniture. If it is ok with you for him to be on the furniture parked next to you, then so be it. But if you do not want him on the furniture then you need to have a plan for what you do with him in these formative weeks. Thinking he is all cute and cuddly right now and you will leave the furniture issue to late is a mistake. We did not want Murphy on the furniture. So when he was small he stayed on our laps and never slept on the furniture. Of course, now when he wants to chew his bone he drapes himself across a handy lap and chews away with his back feet on the floor. See what I mean? I do not have any advice to give for someone who wants a well trained dog. The kind that heels, stands when told, etc. That is not the dog we wanted so we did not do it. He does the normal things like sit, stay, lay down and he walks well on a loose leash. We wanted that happy go lucky companion and he is exactly that. BTW, a new puppy? We want PICTURES!!! We love puppy pictures!!!!
Thanks all! It was like he knew I wrote this post LOL...as soon as I shut the computer down he came out and got a little frisky trying to nip at my socks and bite the kids clothes haha. We do not disturb him in his kennel...I am happy he seems to like it in there. He just ate for the first time this morning. He was a little shy about it, but after me making the kids get out of his face he did eventually eat. He is peeing and pooping like a champ...he poops almost every single time we take him out. We have a vet appt tomorrow bc I see worms but I am hoping that should be an easy fix with meds! Thanks again, I am excited to have this forum to come to. Trying to post some pics...my photobucket is saying to upgrade to allow 3rd party hosting when I link it. Let me do some reading and I'll figure out how to post some
You could try using flikr, very straightforward. To upload directly from your PC means upgrading your account. More info here in "Technical and help" https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/posting-a-photo-from-flickr-update.10872/
Yeah, Photobucket changed their policy a few months back and now no longer allow sharing of photos hosted on their site, unless you want to pay them a small mortgage
Lets try this from Flickr! Nice instructions! First pic is when we first picked him out at 3 weeks. The rest are all from last night when we picked him up (7.5 weeks) IMG_0668 by Kristin Bryant, on Flickr IMG_0959 by Kristin Bryant, on Flickr IMG_0960 by Kristin Bryant, on Flickr IMG_0970 by Kristin Bryant, on Flickr (this last pics shows where I put the divider in my big 42" crate....hoping I didn't make the space too small)
I might give him a little more space. . .so he can lay on his side and stretch those legs out fully and then some. He is going to grow yanno! Darn cute little guy too! You do not stand a chance, he is yours forever! Ok, a tip on using a crate: When you are home and he is in there leave the door open when you can. No need to close it if it is ok for him to come out and about. That way he gets used to going in and out all on his own and does not think it is a big deal when you get him to go in there.
He’s cute!! I’d recommend that you put a cover on your crate (at least the sides, back and top) which will make the crate even more safe and secure feeling for him. You can start by covering the top, then add the back, then the sides. Use a blanket or old towels or something like that.
Perfect, thank y'all!! I wasn't sure if he might try to pee in it if it was bigger. He does love to stretch completely out so I just moved it back from your suggestions
Ah Cash is a real cutie. I'm glad he's out and causing mischief. I guess he was just a little overwhelmed.
Bless him. It's probably very overwhelming at the minute. Give it a few days and you will be on here saying 'how do I calm him down'
