Hi everyone! My names Gemma I’ve just joined this forum today and I have found it so great reading all your advice. We are getting a 8 week old male lab puppy at the end of January and I’m trying to do as much research as I possible can to prepare. My main concerns are: Biting? I have a 5 year old daughter and a 10 year old daughter (worried about them both being bitten, I obviously know this is done in play but they might not and become upset) I’m a nurse working shifts which is great as my main long shift at the weekend will be when my husband is home, but there will be a few hours probably only once a week where I need to go to work or sleep after a night shift. What do we do? Do I put him In a crate? Or a play pen or a crate inside a play pen? Also what do you do when they are a lot bigger but not quite able to be trusted to not injure them selves or your house when you’re out! he really won’t be left barely at all but the occasions I can’t take him with me I’d like advice. If I need to go food shopping for example? Obviously a baby is fine you can put them in a sling, maybe a puppy sling is an idea hahaha Also could I have some positive puppy stories, I’m getting a bit worried If I’m doing the right thing now where as I wasn’t before (probably a bit naive ) people like to tell you all the negatives I find! Apologies for the long message... thank you if you made it to the end ! Gem hello to you all!!
Hi Gem, welcome to the forum. Look forward to hearing all about your pup. It's great that you are getting prepared already. Here are a few articles that I think you might find helpful. The first is to really what to expect of a brand new puppy, the second looks at ways to combine puppies with work, and the last sets out what is involved in crate training a small puppy. Those should give you an idea of the time commitments etc involved. https://www.thelabradorsite.com/8-week-old-puppy/ https://www.thelabradorsite.com/combining-a-labrador-puppy-with-full-time-work/ https://thehappypuppysite.com/crate-training-a-puppy/
Hello! I’m also new on here and have a 10 week old puppy, young children, and I’m a nurse too I have no idea of what we are doing at the moment is correct or not, but during the times when our puppy is excited and prone to nipping, i say no biting and try to distract her with toys. So far she’s not been too bitey and the toy distraction works well. I’ve noticed she’s more likely to try to bite when she wants them play. My youngest child is two and the puppy pretty much leaves him alone when she’s excited, but if he’s eating Cheerios as a snack she’s his shadow We have a crate in a pen which is working well. She is getting happier to spend more and more time in there (often of her own choice) every day. It’s helping with housetraining as I put her in there after feeding and have pads on one side of the pen. She’s had many many accidents outside of the pen, but in there she always goes to the pads. So far we’ve not had to leave her alone but once the kids are back to school she will be left for about 30-40 minutes twice a day. I just work weekends so there’s always someone home in the day. I don’t know how we will get on for those school run times so watch this space! I’m enrolling in puppy training classes starting in a couple of weeks. I’ve never had a puppy before and it’s so different to living with an adult dog. Everyone I’ve spoken to recommends training classes!
I put a house lead on my pup and it’s really helped a lot. It’s just him and I most of the time and he was always getting into something when I was otherwise occupied. If he gets something he shouldn’t have I can step on the lead to get it away from him without playing a game of chase. If I have to do something where I need his roaming space limited I just loop the lead handle to a doorknob. I also learned about lickimats on this site. They are wonderful! It was hard for me to have a peaceful meal with a pup around, but putting his soft food meal on a lickimat keeps him occupied so I can eat and he eats his food without gulping it down. Kong feeders are great for kibble.
