I will be bringing our new pup Bonny home on the 29th September and I just want some advice on things to do when we first get home. To begin with, it's a 2 hour drive home so I'm wondering how often we will have to stop? I have 2 children (4 and 2) so I'm wondering whether to limit their interactions to begin with? We are going to crate her with a Vet bed and some blankets but I was going to put the crate beside my bed for a couple of nights - is this okay? (She's going to be a third baby, I can see it now!) We also have a cat (as does the breeder so probably won't be a problem for Bonny) Anyway - any help appreciated, this is my first ever puppy! (I used to be assistant manager in a Pet shop and fully understand what taking on a lab means and it's taken us 11 months to choose the right pup and breeder)
Re: Bringing my new pup home Sounds like you have done your research really carefully You can definitely start off with the crate beside your bed - this is how I would do it Two hours is not too bad for a trip home. One option that would be safe would be having the pup in a lined box (open top) or pet carrier at you'd feet in the front passenger footwell. Some people would travel with a pup on their lap but I don't think that is safe. I'd probably stop at least four times on a two hour trip with a pup. Try to stop in places that won't have lots of dogs around and keep her on the ground only as long as she needs to wee or poo. Take plenty of replacement bedding, towels, baby wipes etc in case there's an accident in the car (and don't worry if there is).
Re: Bringing my new pup home Welcome to the forum. How exciting! I remember it feeling to be such a looong wait to bring Tatze home, every day dragged Here is an excellent article on Labs and children http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-play-safely-with-a-labrador/ My Tatze was an absolute crazy crocodile as a pup, but Gypsy (12 weeks today) has a really soft mouth already. They are all different Stock up on lots of kitchen roll and Simple Solution! (Other household cleaners smell like wee to the pupster) Enjoy! The best ever cuddles are puppy cuddles!
Re: Bringing my new pup home So exciting, I bet you can't wait! I would buy the 'Happy Puppy' book by Pippa Matthison, it has soooo much useful info in there from before you get your pup, to them arriving home, to the first few weeks. Wish it was available when I got my pup (she's just over 1 now)
Re: Bringing my new pup home Greetings from me and my 11 month old yellow Lab Molly. We borrowed my daughter's cat carrier for the journey home and I sat in the back with her with my hand inside the carrier. She was so laid back she fell asleep. I asked the breeder NOT to feed her before the journey home, this lessens the chance of vomiting and we had a clean dry cat carrier when we got home (about 1 ½ hours) I nipped the ends off my cat's claws before my last pup came home. She still had enough to to climb etc, but I was concerned about her raking them across protuberant puppy eyes. I frequently ran my hands down the sides of the cat then down the sides of the dog then back down the sides of the dog to mix their scents. Not wishing to 'rain on your parade' but, Labs are very boisterous large puppies and they tend to nibble people for the first few months. With 2 little one you will need a crate, baby gates, a house line and lots of training for both children and dog. All the best.
Re: Bringing my new pup home Thank you all for your lovely responses! I have done my research really carefully and have read just about every article on the labrador site and watched hours worth of clicker training and recall videos!!! Haha Currently waiting on the happy puppy handbook being delivered from amazon An open top box with lots of blankets is now added to my list it's like making a list of all the things you need before you have another baby lol. Where would I buy simple solution? Mollly, thanks for the advice! I'm in all day (partner works 5-5, I work 6:30-10) and will definitely be keep on a close eye on my 2 little ones. I've let the older child know that the puppy has very sharp teeth and may want to play but told him to just say "NO" and instead give Bonny a toy or a chew bone, is this the right thing to tell him? Thanks again ;D
Re: Bringing my new pup home https://www.dropbox.com/s/0cxp0ef9phopmh9/IMG_9113.jpeg https://www.dropbox.com/s/cvr25f890eu31or/IMG_9604-1.jpeg https://www.dropbox.com/s/j8943f7sejxoaa3/IMG_2608.jpeg Here's' a few photos of my little bonny when we went to visit last Sunday at 1 week! Just for good measure
Re: Bringing my new pup home Also - very much looking forward to the winter! A new sling just came in the post this morning, i told scarlett it's a special one for walking Bonny (She's almost 2) as we usually use a longer wrap and it gets dirty when she's going up and down all day!! https://www.dropbox.com/s/vnfil4t6spfuv5h/scarlett sling.jpg
Re: Bringing my new pup home Hi & welcome I have a 15 week old yellow lab called Ash (our first dog too) and I also did many months of research before choosing a lab and a breeder (you sound just like me as I also watched/read everything). My big advice for the journey is to take at least one towel with you. I took an special expensive dog towel to the breeder and rubbed mum & the other puppies all over, so that he could have their scent. On the way back (70min journey) he threw up and the only thing to hand was that special towel. I ended up throwing it away lol. I wanted to take his crate with us but the breeder said he would do better on my lap so I sat in the backseat with him. I didn't feel very safe with him and he was very very heavy, so I wish I had put the crate on the back seat next to me. Loads of people successfully have their puppy sleeping in a crate next to their bed but it didn't work out for us. Ash went berserk and the noise was so bad it was making the children cry. Our bedroom is also very warm and he was panting as well as screaming and thrashing about. After a few hours I took him downstairs and he ran into the playpen area we had set up and instantly fell asleep on a blanket. I ended up sleeping on the sofa for a week until I had the clever idea of buying a baby monitor. It was quite a few weeks of getting up in the middle of the night every few hours before he finally started sleeping through and I thought it would never end but it didn't last long. I'm pleased to report Ash now sleeps all night until 7-8am and is still very happy in his playpen. We only use his crate in the car now but he's almost outgrown it. My top-buys are: A proper dog collar & lead. The puppy ones I had bought weeks in advance were much too small so I couldn't use them. I was disappointed as they don't come with a warning they won't fit all puppies. Ash went into a regular medium dog collar at 12 weeks (but he is a big lab puppy). I also recommend the cosy-dogs harness (recommended by our vet puppy class) as it has been brilliant. Ash started off in size 2 at about 10 weeks old and is now in a size 3. Our other top buy would have to be the safety gates to stop him going upstairs and getting to the front door. I only had the stair one to start with (and had trouble answering the door till I got a second one). Good luck. Labs are hard work but I have to say I wouldn't swop a single second that I've had with him. He is the sunshine of my day. Carnie xx
Re: Bringing my new pup home Welcome from me and my yellow boy Dexter who will be 2 on the say you pick up Bonny! You've had lots of advice for some of the other members so I just popped by to say hi Angela x
Re: Bringing my new pup home Thank you everyone! LAdyrattlesuk - I've ordered Bonny a jazooli collar in size small - I don't suppose that will last long? Lol.
Re: Bringing my new pup home Welcome to the forum! It's so exciting bringing home a new puppy and the wait is unbearable! We were lucky that we only had a 15 minute drive to get Penny home and I just had her on my lap - she snuggled into the crook of my elbow and went to sleep! She was a really tiny pup so wasn't heavy at all, and was actually too small for the small collar I bought for her - we stopped in the pet shop on the way home and bought another one! I took a blanket with me when we went to pick her up and put it in with the litter whilst we did paperwork etc to get their scent for her. It might be worth checking with your breeder as sometimes they will provide you with a price of the old bedding - even if it's just a small scrap cut off the blanket it's enough to hold a good enough scent for the pup to smell. In hindsight I wish we had put Penny in our bedroom for the first few nights, but I was of the mindset that letting her cry it out was the best thing for us. This resulted in at least a week of sleepless nights before she started to settle and I feel we could have avoided that if we had had her upstairs with us. Stair gates are brilliant. We had one for the bottom of the stairs and one for the kitchen doorway. Penny now has free roam of the kitchen when we are out with her crate left open as she's now 18months old and somewhat trustworthy. The only issue we had with this was that she learned very quickly how to get over a regular sized baby gate so we had to get a special extra tall pet gate that is 1.4 metres - she still figured out how to get over that but luckily this seems to have settled down once she realised she was supposed to stay in the kitchen and not come and visit us at 4am! Do you know if your pup will have had any vaccinations before you pick them up? Even if they have it's a good idea to schedule a vet appoint for the same day or soon after getting them home so your own vet can give them the once over and advice on vaccination, worming and flea treatment schedules. I don't have any real experience with raising dogs and children together but the main thing is to teach the children to respect the puppy (which I'm sure you will) and to make sure puppy has a private place to escape to where the children know not to bother him/her - a crate is ideal for this. Good luck! You will find a wealth of advise on this forum so don't hesitate to ask questions!
Re: Bringing my new pup home Hello! Yes, she will have had her first vaccination, been wormer regularly and have a microchip with my details I'm really enjoying everyone's advice, it's very much like bringing a new baby home! Next Saturday (we all have a day off) we're going to the pet shop to get some bits, what am I missing? Crate and vet bed Cuddly blankets (not buying because I have millions) Collar, lead and tag Bowls Chewy toys (nylabone, kong etc) Noisy toys/cuddly toys Food (another post for which one lol) Clicker (already got) Brush I saw on pippas website that a grooming set is on the list but there's a mobile groomer that's around this area often (and i can't for the life of me cut nails or anything.) Thanks
Re: Bringing my new pup home I would add to the list Simple Solution for cleaning us the inevitable accident. Lots of kitchen towel (see above!) Optional extra. Bitter apple or similar spray for spraying on things that they really must NOT munch like cables and wires. I got Molly a treat ball. It gave her something to do, rolling it around to get her food out and I would expect the children will think it's great fun. Wear close fitting clothes, pups tend to grab at anything that wafts past their noses. It was several months before I could wear my dressing gown.
Re: Bringing my new pup home I've got another thing to add: if you don't wear jeans I'd purchase some cheap trousers. At puppy class there were three of us with a multitude of holes in our trousers. Ash was so bad I darned a load of the holes in all my jogging bottoms as I refused to buy any more. The 10-12 week age seemed to be the worst for him grabbing our clothes if we walked past him. Thankfully he grew out of that after a few weeks. Carnie x
Re: Bringing my new pup home Ahh I knew id missed something haha. Simple solution - where's that from? Also - what's the best thing to put on chair legs/wires etc? I'm a jeans wearer but also love my dressing gown dearly, going to miss it haha x
Re: Bringing my new pup home I never had any grabbing of clothes I think all pups are different. Just be prepared is all you can do
