Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum and am reading all your posts with great excitement. We have our black lab puppy arriving in two weeks so we are trying to read up on all the advice in this forum....theres alot to digest. hope everyone and their pups/dogs are well and managing to get out during this lockdown!!
Hi Alistair Our black lab, Reuben, is now a week shy of his second birthday. The memories of puppyhood are still very clear, though! Hope you have a crate? You can pop him/her in there when he gets too excited, or needs a break, and it will also keep your walls/doors/furniture a bit safer from chewing! Don’t use it as a punishment, but as his “safe place”. We kept our crate until ours was 18 months and totally trustworthy on the chewing front. Be prepared for nipping and biting - remember that this will fade away once his adult teeth come in. Give him a cold carrot. One of the best things we found was to get a kong and fill it with pouch meat ( we used Natures Menu puppy food) and freeze it, sealing the top with a bit of peanut butter ( Sunpat is free from all nasties). This will keep him happy and occupied for ages. But remember this is part of his daily food allowance. If you can afford them , Yak chews are excellent and last for ages. Full anther horns are good too. Don’t get split ones as they can splinter. Our puppy reduced me to tears after a week - I had forgotten what hard work they can be! Be very, very patient and give him, and yourself “time out”. He will be perfectly okay in his crate while you have an hour to yourself. Don’t encourage him to go up and down stairs - his joints are still very “loose” for many months and this could do a lot of damage. Be firm. Be clear. Love him! You have to invest a lot of time in the first 18 months to get the happy, biddable dog you want. Good luck.
