My husband and I picked up our new fox red lab puppy, Kona, last weekend. She will be 10 weeks old tomorrow. This is our first puppy, so we have are looking for some guidance on a few things. We are crate training her and have a few questions. I worked from home on Monday and Tuesday this week, and starting on Wednesday she has had visits from either my father-in-law or myself to go outside, play, eat lunch, etc. about every 2-2.5 hours. If we are not able to keep an eye on her when we are home, we put her in the crate until we can. We know to bring her outside if she starts whining. She has not had any accidents in the house the past few days, so she is learning! At what age can we reasonably expect that she can go with only 1 visit during the work day to be fed lunch and be able to go 4 hours without needing to be let out? Also regarding her food, we are feeding her 1/2 cup of Victor High Pro Plus mixed with warm water 3x per day (6am, noon, 6pm). At what point do we increase her food, and by how much? At what age will she switch to only eating twice a day? In terms of teaching her basic commands, what is the best way to do this, and starting at what age? Should we look into professional training, or is this something that most people can handle on their own? Thank you in advance for your suggestions!
Hi Joanna and welcome to this forum. Kona looks like an absolute beauty, congratulations on your puppy. I am a novice puppy owner myself so I can highly, highly recommend the Happy Puppy Handbook and the many comprehensive articles on the site that this forum is part of. I found that by googling my question and the words lab pup I would more often than not find a similar question and answer in one of Pippa's articles. And I truly have a very high standard for information provided on the internet, and not that my opinion matters, but I highly recommend the books and the website. I am sure others will answer your questions too, I live in a very temperate part of the world so puppies can spend time outside without suffering in severe weather so I am unable to answer your questions about crating a dog inside. Good luck and again, welcome.
Hi Joanna and welcome to the forum from me and my boy Bailey, a one year old nutcase! I can echo @Harley Quinn in recommending both the Happy Puppy Handbook, the main website articles and also this forum. There are loads of experienced people on here. Bailey is my first puppy too so learning as we go along really and people on here have been brilliant. At just 10 weeks old you really do have a new born baby on your hands, and although yes dogs mature a lot quicker than human babies, you must be ready for two steps forward and one step back. I am lucky enough that between my OH and I our boy is not on his own much at all, however, you need to train them to be on their own, and remember that human interaction is vital for a happy and balanced dog. Is it possible to have a pen with the crate inside with the door open so your pup has room to move about and play with toys if they want to when left alone? Re toilet behaviours - all pups are different and there is no one size fits all answer. Bailey was dry in the house during the day from around 3 to 4 months old, he slept all night from day one, but we still watched him like a hawk in the daytime as there was still the occasional accident until he was around 6 or 7 months old, but to be fair to him it was usually we had missed his signal to go outside rather than him not bothering to try to tell us he wanted out! Feeding guidelines are usually on the side of the packs or on the manufactures websites, but they are guidelines only - again each pup is different and some need more but most need less than the manufactures guidelines. The best way to judge is in the general overall look of your pup. There should be a tucked up waist when viewed from the side and a nipped in waist when viewed from above - however I have always judged Bailey by the feel of his ribs. If I can feel his ribs with very light pressure then I am happy his amount of food is right. If it feels like he has a duvet over his ribs I cut back on his treats and I can feel his ribs too easily then I up his food amount a bit. You will also find that if you are overfeeding the pup's tummy tends to be a bit upset, or you get soft poo's. We kept Bailey on four meals a day, as it suited us, until he was about 8 months old, then we slowly went to three and now he is on two meals a day - raw in the morning and kibble in the evening. Sorry for the long post - good luck and keep coming back as there are loads of experienced people on here - also take a look at the main website - tons of helpful articles on there from Pippa. Good luck and hope you are enjoying little Kona.
Hi Joanna and welcome to you and Kona. The Happy Puppy handbook is really useful and a good read. It will probably be a case of 'when she's ready' for leaving your puppy longer. It sounds as if you have a good routine which she's happy with already. It's important to socialise your puppy so, although you'll need to start training basic commands at home, it's useful to find a good training class. Your vet might have some suggestions and might also have 'puppy parties' where you could take her not just for socialisation but to get her used to the inevitable trips to the vet too. Do post some photos of Kona!
