Hello my name is Amber Nuxoll and I have 4 kids and I'm getting a puppy for a companion for my anxiety and depression and it's a girl and she is pure breed chocolate lab I have picked a name yet so I need some help plus I will be getting here in one month she was just born on the 19th of this month
Welcome to you from Mags, Tatze, Mollie and Keir from Manchester UK Tatze is my pet dog, a black Lab and she's four years old. Tatze means 'paw' in German. Mollie is my fourth Guide Dog puppy, a black Lab who is eleven months old. Keir is my fifth Guide Dog puppy, a yellow Golden Retriever/Flatcoat cross and he's twelve weeks old. The Happy Puppy Handbook is a must for all new puppy parents, I read it again before every pup (you forget very quickly!) .
Hello and welcome to the forum from Fred (3), Annie (1) and me. Lots of great information and friendship on the forum for you.
Hi Amber, and welcome to the forum It's very exciting to be planning the arrival of your pup! Pups need to stay with their litter mates and mothers till 8 weeks of age. So that means you would be getting your pup in mid October. Is that the plan?
Hi Amber, and welcome to the forum. Labradors are amazing dogs and my three make me more happy than I can express. I hope you don't mind me saying, though, that I am a little concerned that, if you're vulnerable with anxiety and depression already, you may not be entirely prepared for the rollercoaster of emotions you'll experience for the first few months or longer with a new puppy. I'm sure you've already read about how much hard work puppies are, and you obviously think you can cope, but it is very, very hard, even for someone without your challenges, and without four children to have to care for, too. I don't say this to scare you, or to be judgmental in any way whatsoever, but I really hope you have some extremely robust support systems in place for the first year, because I would otherwise be very worried that a Labrador puppy might prove too much. Even for someone with very robust mental health, the "puppy blues" is a very real and very common problem. It can be debilitating. You don't say how old your children are, but if they are young, you will have the added challenge of having to keep watch on all their interactions, separating them most of the time, until the children can be trusted not to behave inappropriately towards the puppy (the videos on this site are brilliant for teaching kids how to behave around dogs: http://stopthe77.com/) and the puppy has grown out of its biting stage, which might be at four months, or might be closer to a year. Add in sleep deprivation and the feeling you'll never be able to pee alone again, and it can leave you feeling very low indeed. So, please look after yourself by putting together a very solid support plan, where you can utilise friends, family, puppy sitters etc to get yourself some distance if you need it. I wish you all the luck in the world, and hope you stick around to share your journey with your new puppy.
