Hi all, This is my first post. Today will be a week since we got our new Lab puppy. She is 7 weeks old today. Her mother was a rescue dog and the family who took her in took care of the puppies until they were six weeks. I'm not exactly sure why they let the pups leave the mama other than that they were a strain on her health and I think since the pups were all doing so well, they thought they'd be ok. I, on the other, am not so sure. I know the 7th and 8th week are weeks where they learn so much about bite inhibition with mama and siblings so I'm a little concerned about that. She bites everything! It's been a long time since I had a pup. The last dog I had was an Airedale Terrier and she died at 10 in 1998. So, it's been a long, long time. My Airedale did not bite quite as much. My Lab, Ellie, chews on everything, the carpet, the chair legs, the coffee table, the walls, the cabinet door handles, shoes, et. Iif it sticks out, she chews it. I take her outside and she chews even more out there, pine cones, magnolia tree buds, patio furniture chair legs, rocks, sticks, everything. She also seems to eat everything. She'll eat dirt. In the Fall, we had one of our trees cut down and the stump ground. So, there are bits of stump that have been ground down mixed in with some clumps of grass and she'll find the clump and eat it. Is this normal? My Airedale ate her food and I remember that she bite the blades of grass when they were long but I don't recall her eating dirt and everything else. Please tell me she'll out grow this!
Re: Re: Welcome to the puppies board Hi Newlabowner and welcome! I read your post quite quickly and may have missed your puppy's name. Ah - Ellie! Lovely name. Yes, we would probably all say the same as you: she could have stayed another 2 weeks with mum, just for the reasons you have said. I think it's fairly normal for puppies to be chewing and biting but not so sure about dirt! Maybe someone else will have had the same experience. I think I would offer her a toy to distract her when she starts eating dirt. You may find that one of the moderators will move your post to Introductions, so check there for other replies. Looking forward to some photos of Ellie!
Re: Hello Hi Newlabowner, I hope you don't mind but I moved your post as Jane suggested. Welcome to the forum to you and Eliie! jac
Re: Hello I did a quick google search for "lab puppy eating dirt" and the return was that it can be a nutritional deficient, a poor diet, a behavioral issue or even parasites. Ok, so now I'm concerned. My husband thinks I'm over reacting and that she's not eating the dirt but rather the tree roots that have been ground down because of teething. I don't know. She's never outside unsupervised. We do take her for walks but I do watch to make sure she isn't sniffing other dog feces since I know she hasn't gotten all of her vaccinations yet. I'll have to call the vet tomorrow and make an appointment. I'm not sure when she's due for her next round of vaccinations so I might as well call and get her seen. This site has already been a huge help to me as I learn about my new Lab puppy. Lisa
Re: Hello Hi and welcome to the forum to you and Ellie. I think she may be too young for her first vaccinations as they are usually administered at around 8 or 9 weeks and then the second dose at 12 or 13 weeks but if you are concerned about her trying to eat everything in sight pop along to the vet for a chat. Has she been recently and regularly wormed? Did she have a health check from a vet before you collected her? Here in France the preferred age for them to go their new homes is 10 weeks so they have had their vaccination and have their health records for all the flea and worming treatments they have had and when the next are due. The norm is also that they have a full health check with a report signed by the vet when they have their vaccination.
Re: Hello At 7 weeks I don't think Ellie doesn't need to be going for walks at all. I think rule of thumb is about 4 months. I didn't let Monty go on outside floors until he was 12 weeks and fully vaccinated - I carried him everywhere in the meantime to experience it all. Just let her play around the house and garden.
Re: Hello Welcome to Ellie! We got our Bella at 7 weeks, and the only time she was outside was for her potty breaks...the rest of the time she was inside - either at home or at work with my hubby. She got all the exercise she needed being inside and playing...and it was far easier to supervise her and her access to weird things like tree roots! We let her chew on cardboard - it's very soft and shreds easily, and it's not a worry if they eat some of it...She also had a few soft cuddly toys that she would chew on a bit. It takes a lot of supervision for a puppy the first several weeks, as they learn what they should and shouldn't do...and test our limits of what we consider appropriate. Good luck...post pictures soon - we love puppy pictures!!!! ;D ;D
Re: Hello Hi and welcome to the forum Personally, I wouldn't be going for walks at all until Ellie has had all of her injections, especially in areas where lots of dogs walk. There are a lot of people who don't immunize their dogs which makes it more dangerous for yours. Have you got any puppy teething toys or something she can chew on? Ice cubes are really good for them to munch on.
Re: Hello Here's Ellie the first day we picked her up trying out her crate. https://www.dropbox.com/s/v2gkf9zc241g6vv/20150308_141815.jpg?dl=0 And this is her just the other day sleeping in my daughter's arms https://www.dropbox.com/l/yxuOYh9rPwNonfTJsaQFSn Lisa
Re: Hello Ellie has had her first round of vaccinations and worming right before we picked her up. She's due for another round in 2 weeks (3 weeks from the last). I've been thinking about what everyone has said about walking and taking her outside and I'm trying hard to remember how I did things with my last puppy but it was so long ago. I'm pretty sure we started house training right away, first on wee wee pads and then out to the yard. Ellie was already going on wee wee pads at 4-5 weeks and was already transitioning to going outside during the day. At night was still the wee wee pads. First day with us, she went outside only during the day and then on the floor at night - missing the wee wee pads entirely. I wouldn't say she's housetrained just yet but she's well on her way. I take her outside after every nap and after every meal. She gets up once during the night and we immediately go outside. She's really getting the hang of it. The walks, well, I started doing that only because we take her out to the soccer fields a lot. It's not a dog park or anything like that but I'm sure there have been some dogs around. I even saw two while we were there jogging with their owners. Ellie was safely in our arms. I started the leash because with all the activity on the soccer field I was concerned she would run off following the ball or kids that may be nearby. She LOVES the soccer ball which is great since she'll spend a good deal of her life around soccer. While on the leash, we keep Ellie directed at running (toward our van) so it's not exactly "a walk" like to go potty. The walk is more for exercise. I walked her down the block a few houses to get a little run going.. not to sniff around though she would stop every now and then and do a little sniffing until I started jogging and then we'd be off. Then she's tired and sleeps really well later. I've been watching her very close when we go out in the yard and after doing so, I don't think she's actually eating the dirt. I think she's just biting it. There are lots of bits of ground stump and clumps of grass and she just bites it to shreds and while some gets in her mouth, I really think she's just chewing and not actually eating. That is a relief because I was beginning to worry. I posted some pics of Ellie also in another reply. Lisa
Re: Hello The issue with Ellie going on the ground outside the house at the moment is that you don't know what other dogs have been there and there's a risk of infection from diseases such as parvovirus, which is a puppy killer and can live on the ground for up to a year after an infected dog has been there. So, most people choose not to take that risk and keep them off any unknown ground until they have had their final round of vaccinations (usually at 12 weeks). At Ellie's age, there is no need to exercise her. She will get plenty from just normal puppy playtime. It is important to socialise her, though, which you can do by carrying her to places to see different things, different people of all ages and sizes, vehicles of different types, dogs that you know are fully vaccinated of different sizes and ages etc. She is a beautiful little girl. I know how excited I was to take mine for a walk for the first time, but to my mind, it's not worth the risk doing it until she's fully vaccinated.
Re: Hello Juno was 10 weeks when we collected her and had received her vaccination and we didn't put her on the ground outside until she's had the 2nd vaccination. In fact our vet here in France said to keep her of the floor in the clinic even after she'd been vaccinated to be on the safe side. Her concern wa very genuine because she had just been with a client whose puppy had contracted parvovirus.......
Re: Hello [quote author=NewLabOwner link=topic=10225.msg150374#msg150374 date=1426689541] She LOVES the soccer ball which is great since she'll spend a good deal of her life around soccer. [/quote] With regards this, just be careful that the behaviours you're accepting now are ones you'll accept when she's fully grown. If she's going to be around people playing soccer a lot and now she's enjoying playing with the ball, you may want to nip it in the bud. JulieT has a dog that's obsessed with soccer balls and she's had a hard job to train out of him running off and disrupting games when he's out and about.
Re: Hello Oh my battery went and so did my reply! Just to say hi and welcome and you've had some excellent advice re keeping Ellie safe until she has protection from her vaccinations.You can still take hermit and about carrying her to meet and great folk and experience some socializing opps Best wishes Angela and Dexter my yellow 2.5 year old boy x
