Hi all, We are due to pick our beautiful little puppy up in a couple of weeks. I thought we were really prepared but am starting to worry im missing obvious things and was hoping you could all calm my nerves/educate me. Ive had a few dogs before but never a puppy and never a lab. So here goes: 1) We are planning to crate him in the day but put the crate inside a dog pen and leave the door open so that he can still move around but has less chance to chew our new kitchen. The plan is to put a puppy potty training pad inside the pen but obviously outside the crate. Does this sound like a good idea? Or are we going to delay house training by doing this? (We work alternating shifts. Im always on earlies, generally getting home around 3. My partner alternates between earlies and lates, so one week will leave the house at around 11 leaving him alone for just 4 hours, but the other will leave at 7 leaving him for 8. We have got a dog walker who is going to come in and let him out for the toilet during these days so he isnt alone all that time, and my rest days in these weeks fall during the week so he wont be alone for too long.) 2) Should we follow the same process at night re. leaving crate door open so he can use the pad if he needs and roam around, or should be completely crate him at night? Im not sure if this will confuse him if its constantly changing between open and closed. 3) Major worry is what to feed him, ive looks at dogadvisor and just cant get my head around the site. Do you just go down the list of 5 star foods and try to find one your local shop sells? i cant recall seeing most of the brands before. 4) My parents have a 4 1/2 month old sproodle bitch who is very energetic, are we best keeping them apart until he is a bit older or should we let puppies play and just keep an eye on them? We will most likely have them round with their pup until he is vaccinated rather than go to theirs with him, so would always have the pen to seperate them if they got the boisterous. If i can find out how to attach a photo later i will. Im very biased but think hes a little stunner! If i think of any more questions later (very likely) ill come back but any general advice is greatly appreciated
I already have another, ive seen people mention loose lead training when they cant properly go on walks, what is this?
Hello and welcome to the forum! What an exciting time, waiting for your puppy. Let's go through your questions one at a time. 1. A crate-in-pen solution is absolutely fine. It's your choice whether to use puppy pads or not - the alternative is to be super vigilant and take him out every 20 minutes or so, and after he eats, drinks, plays and wakes. My concern from your description is that it sounds like he's going to be alone for a long time from the day you bring him home? I wouldn't advise this at all - he's going to be very scared and lonely being left for any length of time (more than a few minutes at first), even with someone popping in during the day. He really needs full-time company until you've trained him to be alone. Most people would take a couple of weeks off work when they bring a puppy home. You could split this with your partner, so the puppy gets a week or two with you followed by a week or two with your partner. 2. This is your choice. If he's crated through the night, you'll have to get up several times to take him out until he's old enough to hold it. If you use a pen, he can go in the designated toilet area overnight if he needs to, so you get uninterrupted sleep. 3. He should come home with a bag of food from the breeder, and you should keep him on that for at least a few weeks while he settles in. After that, if you want to change, then just go for a good quality kibble that you can find locally (or buy online) and can afford. 4. I'd wait a week or so until your puppy has settled in, but there's no reason why he shouldn't then meet the other puppy. Just make sure that they're playing nicely - that means make sure the larger puppy isn't bullying him - and don't let it get too boisterous for too long. Separate them when it gets too much. 5. Loose lead walking is simply when your dog is walking on a lead without pulling. Not necessarily in a "heel" position. Here's an article on how to go about training it: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/walking-your-labrador-on-a-loose-lead/. For a puppy, you'd want him to be in a harness (probably a mesh harness), rather than a collar, to prevent him hurting his throat.
Thanks for your reply. Sorry, i should have said that between us we have the first 10 days off, and then my partner will be on lates so he wont be alone for the longer period straight away. Worst case his dad can work from ours for a few days a week until he is settled. With regards them meeting, she is a bitch and obviously hasnt had her first season yet, will we need to watch them at this age? Or is that just an issue as they mature?
Welcome to you, exciting times! I love preparing for a new pupster. Tatze had two puppy friends when she was a puppy, my niece's Springer and another black Lab. She's quite a sensible 3 year old now but turns back to a pup when she meets either of these two! Puppy pals seem to remain puppy pals
Ive just ordered the book, look forward to reading it. Good to hear about puppy friends for life, it would be great if they got on as we could help each other out with pooch sitting We have an ex-police dog trainer as a dog walker and she has offered to do basic training with him. This sounds good, but i was wondering whether it would be worth doing a training class anyway so he sees us as leaders aswell. Or am i just wasting money when i can just practice the training myself at home?
Ive just ordered the book, look forward to reading it. Good to hear about puppy friends for life, it would be great if they got on as we could help each other out with pooch sitting We have an ex-police dog trainer as a dog walker and she has offered to do basic training with him. This sounds good, but i was wondering whether it would be worth doing a training class anyway so he sees us as leaders aswell. Or am i just wasting money when i can just practice the training myself at home?
The idea of your dog seeing you as a leader is very outdated. I believe some police handlers still subscribe to this, but it's been proven to be incorrect thinking. You should be looking at positive reinforcement training instead, and forgetting any ideas of "being the boss" or dominance. Here's an article that explains more: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/is-your-labrador-in-charge/ At this stage, you won't have to worry about the bitch coming into season. That probably won't be for a while anyway, although some do have early seasons, but your puppy won't be sexually mature. I've read that male dogs are able to sire litters from about 5 months of age, but he probably won't be interested in "doing the deed" until he's a fair bit older than that. He may well display humping behaviour as a puppy, but this isn't sexual (or about dominance). It's just excitement and general goofiness. They can normally be easily distracted so it doesn't become a habit.
@Aimee Lawrence Your numbers 1) and 2) are exactly what we did. IMO not having the puppy locked inside the crate enables you to get him outside faster when needed and might actually delay potty training, not aid it. Puppies that young have no control, when they gotta go, they go. We did not use puppy pads and like you ours was a winter puppy. We kept mittens, tall boots and a coat for us by the door 3) Your breeder will most likely send a bag of food home with you and he should stay on that for a while. It's about the only thing you can keep the same for him at this time when his life otherwise is turned upside down. If you have to change food (can't buy it where you live or something) ask your breeder for help in finding an alternate. Not sure where you are but I will assume N. America if you are looking Dog Food Advisor. Persoanlly I am not a fan of any sites that rate food. That one is just the opinion of a Dentist, why would I trust him over my breeder who actually knows my puppy? I do like http://www.dogfoodproject.com/ which teaches you how to read labels, understand ingredients and explains dog food legislation; then you make up your own mind. That all said I did at one point (after two years old) decide to rotate food and since the breeders food worked fine I kept protein, fat and kcal/cup numbers as close to the same as I could. 4) I would introduce them and supervise closely, maybe after letting puppy adjust to just you for about a week. It would be nice for them to grow up to be good friends.
What breed are the Police dogs? There can be substantial differences in how breeds take to training and in my experience the dogs here are imported from working stock German lines of GSD and are very intense dogs. I wouldn't handle a Lab the same way, not even a field bred Lab. You'd learn a lot by taking classes with the pup yourself. ANd practice at home. Can you go to observe your friend in training ahead of time? I know for me, it's MY puppy and I want to do the training. With help from an instructor to guide me.
I have a friend who is a school teacher so had to leaver her pup, much in the crate and pen area you are choosing. However, she used a piece of turf in large cat litter tray, so that the pup was used to peeing on grass. I train with an ex police dog handler, but he is an exception, he doesn't believe in punishment but believes in giving them confidence. We reward with a tennis ball and that has been a very powerful reward. I should be wary of your trainer until you know what methods he/she uses.
4) My son has a Boxer, Hank, who spends a fair amount of time here. We took him with us to pick out Libby so he could 'approve'. Then we took them both camping for the weekend where they really got to know each other. They are best friends and both of them get so excited when he comes over. We still monitor their play but she is getting bigger all the time so this is becoming less of a problem. But sadly, Hank was recently diagnosed with lymphoma so he won't be with us long. I'm not sure how she is going to do when he no longer comes over with my son. It will be a sad day.
Oops. Up above I meant to say being shut in the crate might delay getting puppy out and thus delay potting training. It came out the wrong away around up there.
Congratulations on your almost-home puppy! My very favourite puppy trainers always said that the training classes aren't to train the puppy, they are to train the human. 99% of your puppy's learning will occur the other 23 hours a day (minus sleeping time). So yes, get thee to a puppy class - lots of them. Plus they are super fun, you wouldn't want to miss out on that.
So this is the week we bring him home! Everything is now bought and ready for him, I ordered the happy puppy handbook and have almost read it all, have to say its a great source of information! Total recall is on the way in the post aswell so i look forward to giving that a read. One more (probably not the last) quesiton. When it comes to clicker training, how does that work with house training? Do we click whenever he goes for a wee or poo outside and then treat, or just do that as normal without the clicker?
Good question, I didn't use the clicker when house training, just lots verbal praise and 2 or 3 small treats when I was pretty sure they had finished weeing. I tended to rely on a happy voice and the pups anticipation of some treats, rather than the clicker marking the desired behaviour and then run the risk of the pup not emptying their bladder completely. When I use the clicker to mark the desired behaviour I treat or use a reinforcer (toy etc.) 2 seconds later, they are used to this timing so another reason for me personally not to use the clicker.
Yes, I agree that the clicker really isn't appropriate for toilet training. Just a few treats and lots of praise for going outside.
