Wow, so much great advice already! Thank you!! My husband bought a book called "The Family Dog", not sure why he got that one and frankly I didn't love it at first glance, so I'll check out some of these other ones. As for vaccinations, we plan to follow the breeder/vet recommendations, I just wasn't sure if he should go to the vet right away (like how a baby goes their first week home from the hospital) not for shots just to see if they're growing or whatever. I'm trying to figure out socializing him while carrying him, we live in a small town so stores are rather far away (20-45min) and it'll still be cold here (SE Michigan, early March).
This forum is amazing and I spent ages browsing through all of the posts and learnt so much. Our Maxx is 12 weeks old and more than a handful but we love him to pieces. Two weeks back at the end of our Christmas holidays we were so overwhelmed that we briefly discussed taking him back to the breeder or to a shelter. It didn’t help that we had inconsiderate (lazy) visitors staying with us meaning we had that on top of an out-of-control biting crocodile to handle. Only such a short time later we can’t believe we even considered it! He is still biting like crazy but each day he improves. He already sits, stays and waits by his food until given the command to eat. Recall is proving a lot harder but we will persist. The best best best thing we bought was the big play pen that has panels that turn into baby gates, thus enabling us to step away for short periods without losing furniture, plants, washing etc to his incessant chewing. It was A$150 on EBay. Maxx is our second lab (and second dog) and our first boy died 7 years ago but we really don’t remember him being this much of a handful as a puppy but perhaps we have just forgotten . Take heart and a big dose of patience and keep telling yourself (as I do) that he isn’t doing it on purpose nor out of spite. It’s just what puppies do!
Yes, I carry mine to the vets within the first week. To register them and to let them get used to going (being sure not to put them down ‘tho). I put a blanket on the scales and weigh them too. After that I take them to be weighed once a week until they are 16 weeks, then once a month.
You sound pretty well organised already @eileen2664 . I wish I had been able to visit my girl when she was a tiny pup but due to the distance involved the first time I saw her was the day we collected her from the breeder. I had received lots of photos in the interim and little videos but not quite the same as puppy cuddles . I was wondering which 'The Family Dog' book it is you have. Is it the book by Richard A Wolters or by David Taylor? I don't know either book but my concern is the actual age of them - Wolters was published in 1999 and Taylor in 2002. Puppy and dog training has moved on a lot since then so some of the advice may not be as up to date or positive as you would like. My other advice would be to start looking into trainers for your puppy to either attend classes or have 121 sessions - never to early to start to make sure you choose a positive, reward based trainer.
It's the book by Wolters, I didn't look at the date but it was obvious from the cover and photos that it was old. But I did look and Pippa's books are available online at our library so I think I'm gonna check them out before he comes home, I'll probably end up ordering them as well As for training and classes, we'll do it if we must but we living in the middle of nowhere, the nearest classes are 45minutes away and that's at Petco/PetSmart, the others are even further. So for now the plan is to do it ourselves and if we need more then we'll go from there.
Classes can definitely be useful but if they’re not practical then you can muddle it through for yourself; that’s what I’ve had to do as there are no suitable classes in my whole country You’ll find a wealth of knowledge on this forum to help you through when times are tough.
I haven't read it but quite a few reviews I read online do say it is rather dated so perhaps the book could sort of disappear just to be safe. It's a shame if you don't have any local classes but I do know how hard it is sometimes because of distance. There are some really good videos on YouTube that can help with training and we all tend to muddle through somehow . If you can in the future it may be worth joining a class just for the opportunity to be around other dogs but ignore them and settle quietly. As @snowbunny says there's lots of help on the forum for both the good days and the more challenging days
Haha, I didn’t actually mean to type “when times are tough”! I am in the middle of baking brownies and my finger went into auto-pilot at the end of that sentence! I meant to say if you have any questions or need advice
Not sure I believe you . I think we need the forum even more on the tough days - It's how we stay sane
Oh, I already know there will be lots of tough times That's part of why I posted this, so when I come crying after cleaning up puppy pee and pillow stuffing at 2 am you all will already know me Right now I'm starting to train the family.....it will be a toss up to see if puppy eats older son's basketball shoes or younger son's Nerf bullets first (please, let it be the Nerf bullets, they're sooooo much cheaper than the shoes). A puppy has to be easier to train than a teenager, right? right?
@eileen2664 training the puppy, or dog, is the easy bit; training the humans is so much tougher So when someone complains because the puppy has stolen/chewed up something try to be diplomatic in how you tell them you told them so
Many U.S. breeders require a visit within 48 hours of your taking your puppy home. It has a lot to do with the state laws that puppies must be "fit for sale". Those same laws require that the Breeder give the first round of vaccinations and receive Health Certification within 5 days of the puppies going home. Asking the owners to have their puppy seen within the first 48 hours protects the breeder from being responsible for diseases that the puppy may be exposed to AFTER they have been taken home. We have always taken ours to the Vet within the first 48 hours just to be sure that there is nothing there to worry about. We put them on their flea meds and heart worm meds at that first visit.
My vet recommends taking the pup to see him straight away, but he waits a week for them to settle in before vaccinating.
Hi and welcome - gosh I wish I was as organised as you before I got Bailey. This time two years ago a lot of changes were happening in my life - changing my work, homelife changes etc and nothing in the plans was about getting a puppy. In April 2016 after 30 years of wishing it finally happened - I went and saw a pile of puppies, oh my I was in heaven - and when my OH put down the deposit on the wiggly licky little bundle that I couldn't put down I cried all the way home! We had 1 week to get organised and prepared (OH had sorted out the visit, and did the checks behind my back!) and then we were coming home with Bailey. We started out with a beautiful cream fluffy bed (which is still in Bailey's favourite corner of the house - his head fits in it now although sometimes he does just about manage to curl up in it or rather around the rim of it!), a long legged monkey (sadly gone to toy heaven after being shredded well beyond my repair skills), an Eyore cuddly toy from my collection (still here, battered and almost unrecognisable with his battle scars, oh and the "loving" dished out regularly), a puppy blanket (in cream, what was I thinking!), food and water bowls and first lead and collar. Since then we have added, about a million toys, chews, kongs (although he's not that into them), Perfect Fit Harness, long line and extendable lead, an adult lead and various collars as he grew. In the UK all dogs have to have a tag with contact details and I have the words "scan me" on the other side as Bailey is chipped and our details are registered so if lost and found we can be traced. Such an exciting time for you - please just remember to try to enjoy the puppy times as they really do go so fast and take a zillion pictures - and post some of them here! Good luck from me and Bailey.
