Hi everyone, I've just joined this board recently as we got our first puppy last Saturday, a gorgeous chocolate boy called Rollo who was born on 6th September so 8 weeks to the day when we got him. Anyway I've been reading posts and comments on here which is lovely but I thought it would be nice to do a quick wee introduction and would be lovely to hear a bit about everyone else too if anyone would like to comment below. So, I'm Lorna, 34 years old (not sure how that happened, I'm sure I was only 21 yesterday?!) and I live with my partner, Gordon, and our two gorgeous kiddies, Isla who is 2.5 years old and Adam who is 9 months old. And off course now our latest addition to the household, wee Rollo. Although I had a family dog when I was growing up, my mum got him when she was pregnant with me so I have absolutely no experience of the puppy years or training etc, just the experience of growing up with an adorable, loving, family dog which I hope we will replicate with our kids and Rollo. So as you can tell, I'm a complete novice at this. I read Pippas book (The Happy Puppy) and also The Perfect Puppy by Gwen Bailey and am currently reading a month by month guide to labradors but I have to admit that now Rollo is here it's a challenge finding the time to read along with looking after the kids. At the moment it's obviously only been a week so I'm just working hard on toilet training and getting Rollo used to us and our home. Thankfully he seems to have settled extremely well. I know socialisation is a major aspect at this stage so I am making a point of taking him out a short walk each day (carried at the mo as still has 2nd vac to get) which luckily means he meets plenty friendly people as we live in a small village as well as having plenty visitors at home (loads of kids). We live on farm land so he also sees plenty animals on a daily basis (horses, cows, cats and even our resident donkey & llamas!!!) and I am also gradually building up to getting him used to the car and being left alone for short spells so have been taking him on the nursery run (only 5-10min drive each way) twice a week and leaving him in his crate for short spells during the day which I have been building up. We went out for an hour today which is the longest we've left him and thankfully he seemed totally fine when we got back. I'm at home all day with the kids so never really actually NEED to leave him apart from the odd short period (swimming lessons for an hour etc) but I don't want him growing up having issues with being left for short periods so working on this anyway. The only slight issue we're having at the moment is the biting thing as obviously with having 2 young kids, we have to be really careful. I've been using Pippas technique of squealing loudly when he bites too hard & redirecting biting to his toys and when it's getting a little too much I put him in the utility room (which is where hiss crate is) & give him a toy to chew. The room opens onto the family room & kitchen (it's open plan) where we spend the vast majority of our time so even when he's put in there he can still see us through the stair gate so hopefully he doesn't feel isolated. At the moment I feel so guilty any time I put him in there or have to leave him but keep having to tell myself it's fine and it needs to be done when I have to get things done meaning I can't keep a close eye on him and the kids. I really hope to incorporate other training too as it's important to me that he's well trained, particularly recall and not jumping up. We've no intention of showing/working so it's not important from that point of view but as we have young kids & many friends with the same, the jumping up issue is important as I don't want him knocking any wee ones over when he's bigger and recall is obviously really important. Other aspects are also important but these ones I think are my priority for now. I have to admit I'm finding it a little overwhelming trying to remember everything but I'm hoping we'll get there. We all absolutely adore him already which is a great start so we now just need to try to train him as best we can. Anyway sorry, I'm rambling now, but hopefully that's a good introduction for everyone and as I said at the start, I'd love to hear from you all to get to know you all better too..... Oh & we live in a small village in Scotland, just outside Dundee
Re: Introduction Hi Lorna, I'm Fiona, mum to 13-week old Willow, a black working-type girl (and shortly her brother, Jebs, a pale yellow boy). We live in Andorra, although I'm currently from the UK and the pups were born in France. I live with my husband, John and our two ferrets, Fidget and Twitch, who are still a bit bemused by the whole puppy thing and are probably silently praying she'll be taken away again soon It sounds like you have your hands full and are working on the important things. I would add in some heel work on and off lead as soon as possible to try to pre-empt any pulling issues that may arise later, which would be no fun with two youngsters in tow. It only needs a few minutes each day at this stage, although I know that's easier said than found when you have kiddies! Anyway, welcome. Everyone here is very friendly and generous with their time, so ask whenever you have questions and you'll soon be part of the furniture
Re: Introduction Hi,Lorna, Lovely to meet you here,welcome to the Forum I'm glad you've found us. We have Dexter who has just turned 2,he's our first dog.we live in Dubai but are originally from the North of England. You sound like you have made fantastic progress with Rollo,you've obviously been really well prepared and organised for his arrival and I think you settling him in really well. I agree about the jumping ....good manners were always my ambition and goal...I realised though with my dog's breeding and temperament I had to set myself some further goals,he's tested me at times for sure ;D I. Haven't got my own children but I have a niece and nephew that visit nearly,everyday...they were 18 months and 3 when we got him.i always monitored them carefully,even now they know never to lock themselves in his room with him or go in his crate.we constantly told them not to run and if and when Dexter did jump they were to stand still,turn their backs and fold there arms.....Sophie was a little young so we had to take responsibility but george got it at 3.... Keep your puppy news coming and let us know how your first walk goes when it comes around x Best wishes Angela x
Re: Introduction Hi Hi Lovely to "meet" you. I'm Julie, forty-something , mainly live in London where I work, but go to Cornwall as much as I can. Charlie is a total hooligan choccie lab (people keep telling me he isn't, but he is - I've just walked round a hugely busy Wimbledon Common with him and boy, he kept me on my toes). I'm really keen on training, although you wouldn't know it to meet my dog! But he has come a long way - he used to be shocking on his lead, and mad to play with other dogs, and so ball obsessed I couldn't take him out in public. We still have problems with people using tennis ball launchers, but everything else we can cope with.
Re: Introduction Hi and welcome I'm Ternaya and am very late thirties I have Harley who is a 15 month old red fox lab and she is my first ever puppy/dog. Most of my family are scared of dogs. I spent the first 8 months of having Harley trying to persuade my mum and brothers to come to my house - I had to work on the jumping and have this down to 90% of the time having all paws on the ground my mum now visits at least once a month I have a 19 year old daughter in uni - enjoy the time when your children are young......they grow up quickly I have young nephews and god children so got them involved in her training such as 'sit, wait, paw, down, drop the ball'. This really helped them and her. You will find everyone on here really friendly and helpful and they never make you feel bad if you are asking for help
Re: Introduction Hi Lorna. I'm another newbie and not that far away either - we stay in Forfar! Which village are you in? My name's Laura, I'm in my mid 20's and owner to Inca who is now 13 weeks old. Inca is a black lab of working lines and as my boyfriend is a keen shot we will look to do gundog training with her once she's old enough. Both of us have grown up surrounded by dogs but this is out first of our very own. Absolutely love Inca to bits but have to admit the first few weeks were hard work what with lack of sleep and toilet training but things are already a lot easier. Inca is now vaccinated and able to go out and I'm really enjoying being able to walk her - even though it's just short distances. I've found the forum incredibly useful - hope you do too
Re: Introduction Hi welcome to the forum! I am Kate, cough..late 40's! We have a lovely black lab called Casper, nearly 6 years and also a chocolate lab called Benson 1 year old.
Re: Introduction Hi Lorna, Lovely to meet you... & welcome to the board! I'm Louise (40 ish), I live in West Sussex, England with my boyfriend Paul, our little boy Arthur and Bob, our 12 week old black labrador puppy! Bob is from working stock so is quite a spindly little thing at the moment, he seems to be growing up and not out! His legs seem to go on forever! It's been a lot of fun so far.. we've had one or two issues with my little boy being too rough with Bob and feeding him things that he shouldn't. But generally it's happy times and when I watch them running round the garden together it puts the biggest smile on my face. Training wise I'm a complete novice but we are taking Bob to puppy training classes and he's learnt SIT, DOWN, COME and I'm working on loose lead walking as well. He's a pretty good little boy all round actually. Sleeping wise he's going from 11pm to 6.30am now without too much trouble - would love to push for an extra half hour in the morning.. hopefully that will come soon! I hope you find the forum to be helpful, I certainly have!
Re: Introduction Welcome, Lorna! I'm Nancy from Minnesota in the dear old USA, and I'm in my early 60s (how did that happen??). I have a 6.5 month old pale yellow named Daisy and an almost 4 year old Golden mix named Henry. You'll find lots of friendly and excellent advice on the forum, and lots of great stories! As far as your puppy goes, keep reminding yourself that he will learn how to be a great dog, as long as you keep working on it. Puppies are wonderful and exhausting, and he'll be big before you're ready (where'd that cute little furball go??), so enjoy this baby stage as much as you can. Lots of photos and videos!! Here we are a couple weeks ago during a walk with my sister. Gorgeous day! Walk in LSwamp with BLC.3 10.2014 by carpenternp, on Flickr
Re: Introduction Hi Lorna! I am Jacqui, and I have Lilly who is a black girl, age 4 and a half, and we live in NE Fife. Being 40something, I have a 19yr old son off at Uni in Glasgow and a 15 year old daughter, Sophie, at Bell Baxter, who would dearly love to be a Vet. Also at home is my OH who is another Gordon. I don't spend nearly enough time training Lilly, who is a dyed in the wool wildlife-chaser, but most of the time is happy to chill out on our bed, watching the world go by. Lilly and Sophie at Kinshaldy
Re: Introduction Hi Lorna, I'm Helen 51 years old but I feel 31 married to David, we live in a beautiful village in Hampshire and have 4 children Sean 28 years old lives/works in London, Grace 19 at Cardiff University, Joseph 17 at College in Winchester and Thomas 14 at Secondary School. We have two dogs, Hattie our very first dog is a gorgeous Labradoodle 7 years and our very crazy rescue boy Charlie 3 years and he is a Labrador x Pointer and he has certainly kept us firmly on our toes as a reformed absconder who just goes on little 5 minute 'excursions' now : Training, training, training 7 days a week here!! xx
Re: Introduction Thanks so much for all the replies, its nice to hear a bit about everyone. Lovely to see a few 'locals' too . Laura, I'm in Longforgan, just outside Dundee so not far from you in Forfar at all!! Jacqui, where abouts in Fife are you? I'm looking forward to getting to know you all better
Re: Introduction Hi Lorna, my name is Kris I have a 15 week old chocolate lab named Rolo and have 2 children Freya 10 and Joshua 6 my husband is Gavin and we live in Lincolnshire. I am 31 years old. Rolo is my first ever pet let alone dog so sometimes feel so overwhelmed with everything but this site has saved me on several occasions! Both me and my husband had 'bad' experiences with dogs when we were younger and in turn made us anxious around them which was passed onto our kids. I think things are improving in that department, both kids are much more confident with Rolo, puppy classes can worry them a bit tho, especially last week when we met a huge rottweiller with a burping problem lol. Well it is nice to meet you and I look forward to hearing about Rollo's adventures. Kris
Re: Introduction Hi Kris, your post made me giggle as we clearly have similar taste in names as well as Rollo/Rolo we had both Freya and Joshua on our list of potential baby names!! It's nice to hear I'm not the only one feeling a bit overwhelmed as so many people sound very knowledgable on here whereas I feel like I'm just kinda winging it a bit at the mo..... We're starting puppy training classes in a couple of weeks, the week after Rollos 2nd vac so I'm hoping those will be useful and I plan to try and re-read the recall and walking nicely parts of the book this evening once the kids are in bed to refresh my memory then going to start a little training on both of those things too. I'm sure we'll get there and I can already tell this site is going to be invaluable as everyone seems so lovely and very very helpful.
Re: Introduction Are you clicker training, Lorna? I did it at the suggestion of Pippa's book and I love it! It makes things so much easier, I think. Once you've associated the clicker with good things coming, you can then use it to "take a picture" of the good behaviour. It's amazing how quickly they catch on. I started Willow doing it as soon as we came home at 8 weeks and she very quickly learnt a basic sit and heel walking.
Re: Introduction No I don't have a clicker Fiona, I've just been using voice cues at the moment although to be honest I haven't really started training at all yet. The only one I've been doing is always saying "hurry up Rollo" when he's doing the toilet then giving him a treat & lots of pats when he's done and when he's biting, giving him a toy to chew instead and the times it's been a bit too sore I've 'yelped' then put him in the utility room with one if his toys. I didn't really understand what a clicker was or how it worked (that probably sounds really stupid!!) and figured it would just be yet another thing to carry round so thought just going with voice cues would work best for us. Maybe I'm wrong though? I need to re-read the sections of the book on other training as I can't remember the detail and also going to try and watch a few of the you tube videos which I *think* you mentioned?? Apologies if that wasn't you though, baby brain (x 2) combined with puppy brain now is making my head pretty much mush.....!!!
Re: Introduction Yes, that was me! You can find the videos here : https://www.youtube.com/user/kikopup/videos They're not in any particular order, so flick through and see what ones are of interest to you. I'd recommend the ones aimed at puppies to start with (puppy safety etc) and then "stop mugging", sit/stay and whatever else. Lots of the videos have links to other videos. You'll see the clicker in action in the videos. It's certainly not absolutely necessary - lots of people on here never use one - but I do think it creates a clearer picture for the dog than I could manage with voice alone. I have a little CLIX treat bag that has a pocket for poo bags and one for "other stuff", so I put my clicker in there. The treat bag is then hooked to my waistband and makes it a lot easier to treat good behaviour throughout the day, rather than scuffling around in a pocket or something which can make her break the behaviour, or make me too late in my reward. Works for me, anyway.
Re: Introduction Hi Lorna. I'm in my 50s and live in East Suussex. I have a black Lab cross called Molly who is 14 months old. My last dog (choc Lab) was called Rolo!
