Hello My name is Jenny and we will be picking up our new puppy, Harvey, in just under 3 weeks. The breeder is holding him a bit longer for us as we are away on holiday for two weeks from Saturday (YAY ;D) and getting his first two injections and microchip done for us which is great. He will be twelve weeks when we collect him and ready to go out for walks. My husband is away on work the week after the weekend we bring him home (this is a sudden occurence and cannot be helped) so I am going to be dealing with Harvey (and two kids) on my own immediately. I want to be able to take him on the short walk to the school in the morning so he can have some exercise and I can start the socialisaton around the school gates but I will have the pushchair. I want to know if anyone has any good advice about training him to walk well with it? It is something he is going to have to get used to as our daughter is just 1 year old and something I need to get used to too! I have a clicker which we intend to use to aid training so can I use this to help with training him to walk well with the buggy? Any advice would be greatly appreciated Thanks ... Jen
Re: Walking with the buggy!? I wouldn't be attempting that buggy manoeuvre with a young child and a young pup or dog on your own. It's not worth the risk. Pups of that age don't need formally walked at all, it will get all the exercise it needs in the garden.
Re: Walking with the buggy!? Sorry to disagree, but I do At 12 weeks , your pupppy is just the right age to be meeting and greeting ,all about socialisation . I had two very young children and a Springer Spaniel puppy , I took him to school with me too, its an aquired art , this handling buggy and puppy but it can be done and they do soon get used to it . What I would do is to practice with him even before your husband goes away , just the buggy and puppy , just in the garden and then up and down the pavement so that by the time you are on your own , its not a strange thing for him . The only thing to bear in mind is the level of walking , the general guide is five mins per day for each month of life , so for your little one this is 15 mins , it is only a rough guide but I wouldnt want to bend the rule too much whilst he is little, unless he will fit in the buggy too, now theres a thought ;D
Re: Walking with the buggy!? Or a double buggy - one side for baby, the other side for pup! ;D I think school gates are just the best for puppy socialisation (I don't have kids, so sat on a bench outside the school at the top of my road, he met lots of kids this way). It might be a tricky thing to do for his first few walks though (I had trouble with a puppy and a pets at home trolley at first!). But with a bit of practice, I'm sure it will be fine. I met a bunch of mums power walking with buggies this morning - some had dogs on those jogger dog leads, the ones that end in a belt around your waist? You'd have to get him to a good walking nicely stage first, i guess, but it'd leave your hands free for the buggy.
Re: Walking with the buggy!? I don't think one weekend with a brand new puppy is long enough to train it to walk with a buggy with a 1 year old child in it. Of course at that age the pup will probably not be able to pull the buggy onto the road if some leaves blow up from the wind and it takes chase but it might hurt it's neck being restrained. The pup might not even have had a lead on it before for all we know and this needs time to be introduced also. Most people struggle to get a dog to walk to heel without it pulling full stop. I wouldn't advise it under the circumstances described.
Re: Walking with the buggy!? Hi again Jen , do you have a friend who could walk with you , another Mum maybe ? I still think that school runs ( or walks really !) are one of the very best oportunities to introduce your puppy to the wide world, like I said its something I have done , my daughters have also done and never had a problem but if you do feel nervous , another adult walking with you will be a massive help
Re: Walking with the buggy!? Thanks for all the advice. I am going to take it all on board. Will practice walking him up the road with an empty buggy before attempting the real thing for sure. I am keen to get him really socialised well with all aspects of our lives, and children are a massive part of that. Unfortuately so is the buggy :\ I will take it slowly and not presurrise him or me to gallop ahead in his training. I may just pop my lil one in the carrier for the first little while so I have both my hands free and introduce the buggy when my hubby is around! The school is about 10 mins away so I thought doing there and back once a day is only a little bit over the recommended daily walk time as I feel the socialisation he will gain from it will be so advantageou
Re: Walking with the buggy!? Hi Kate Unfortunately no one walks my way! I could ask my dad to come up but not sure if he would be up for that haha! I think I will try the carrier for that week I am on my own, which I think will be fine and then give the buggy a go when I know what he is like
Re: Walking with the buggy!? Hi Jen, It would be a real shame to miss out on the socialisation but I agree a puppy and a buggy is a recipe for disaster. If a front carrier is a possibility for the human pup, then that would seem like a good option. Just make sure you leave loads of time for your walk as it is likely to be a bit prolonged if you want to start as you mean to go on. Good luck ;D
Re: Walking with the buggy!? Thats a really good idea Jen , pups do learn fast and what will seem strange to him at first will soon become routine and you will be well on your way to having a well adjusted and sociable pup, enjoy your holiday, come back and get lots of photos please ;D
Re: Walking with the buggy!? Thanks Kate! I truly hope so! I want him to be really good so I have a lot of hard work to put in but it will be worth it! We will do - looking forward to chilling by the pool then the day after we come back we will be picking up Harvey! Pictures will definitely follow! Jen
Re: Walking with the buggy!? That sounds like a great idea. School gates are wonderful for socialisation, but, depending on his temperament, it may be a while before your pup is able to walk safely alongside a buggy. Worth bearing in mind that you don't need to take him every single day for socialisation purposes. Have a wonderful holiday Pippa
Re: Walking with the buggy!? Thank you Pippa! Yes some days I want to leave him in his crate so he gets used to being left for that 20 minutes or so as sometimes I will not be able to take him anyway if say there is an event at the school so will be good for him to get used to all scenarios. It's going to be a an interesting learning experience for us all but I am very much looking forward to it!
Re: Walking with the buggy!? Hi Jen, I have a 16 month old daughter and a 2 1/2 year old lab so as you can imagine the dog and the buggy have spent quite a bit of time together We worked really hard on our heel work and did exactly what you've suggested and introduced Riley to the buggy with no baby in it. We were lucky and he got the hang of it very quickly, hopefully your puppy will too but you'll need to be guided by his progress I think I'd have found trying to get the timing right on a clicker a step too far(not enough hands!) I used to put my treat bag on the buggy handlebars so it was easy to reward him. You'll probably find progress is slow but once your little girl is walking the roles will soon be reversed ;D Looking forward to hearing about your progress!
Re: Walking with the buggy!? Thank you Barbara! Lovely to hear another buggy / heel work success story! I have a treat bag and am going to attach it to the handle bar too! Great minds eh ;D I hope he is a good little learner but I am prepared for the long haul! My neighbours will probably think I have lost the plot when they see my wandering the streets with an empty buggy and a puppy is tow :
Re: Walking with the buggy!? welcome jenny, from me and jasper black lab 9 month old.......enjoy your puppy
Re: Walking with the buggy!? What a wonderful socialisation opportunity. The carrier idea sounds perfect. When introducing the buggy, take it slow. He may be cool as a cucumber about it, or he may be frightened of the noise it makes. Give him lots if treats for approaching the buggy and once he's happy with that move the buggy a bit and treat for a calm reaction. Then move it a bit more etc. Just have him off lead at first so he's not forced into dealing with the buggy. If he's a confident pup you should be able to build up from there and progress quickly.
