Hi all,just joined this website,really impressed.So in 4 weeks time we will be picking up our new little fella Bentley.To say we are excited is an understatement!!Cannot wait to have him home.As first time dog owners though i have a couple of questions.When we pick him up its only a 25 min journey home so I am planning on just having him on my lap while my boyfriend drives.We do want to get him used to the car early though so would you recommend that while he is still young,he gos in a crate in the boot.....or are harneses better? At what age should they stop going in a crate in car or should this be all the time? Would really appreciate advice.Also,between 8 weeks and 12 weeks before 2nd jab, we want to get him used to the outside world n not keep him couped up,we will carry him around,but did anyone take their pup to other people's houses n if so did they have any accidents??i would obviously try n get him to go before we go in but i guess if they are still not fully house trained n they need to go then they need to go....?Lastly,does anyone have any advice on.puppy classes n when is a good age for them to start?We have puppy school near to us n they do one for under 20 wks so we were thinking 12 wks or is it better to start straight away at 8/9 wks?Thanks in advance.x
Re: New Puppy Hello! Welcome from me, Julie, and my chocolate boy Charlie. So exciting for you! New puppies - so lovely. I can't answer all your questions, but have experience to contribute to a couple. I brought Charlie home on the Saturday and had him in puppy class (with vaccinated puppies only) on the Tuesday night! Good points of doing this - he met lots of puppies and people and got his socialisation off to a flying start. Bad point was that he was too young to learn much, and we repeated the class when he was 12 weeks. I'd find puppy parties instead if I do it again (hope I do!) but so long as you don't expect too much, it was a fine was to get him out and about. Getting Charlie used to the car was a challenge! At first one of us had him on our laps as he wasn't used to a car crate and it took a little time for him to get used to the crate. He actually got comfortable with being in the car before the crate! So we didn't use it much in the end. I use a back seat hammock with seatbelt harness now, but it's taken a long time to get Charlie used to the seatbelt harness (the proper crash tested ones are thick, big, and quite heavy) and I wouldn't think they are much good (or necessary) for a very young pup.
Re: New Puppy Hi and welcome from me, Hattie very nearly 6 years and Charlie 2 1/2 years. I took Hattie to puppy classes when she was about 15 weeks and she did really well and Ray wouldn't take puppies before that because they don't tend to learn as much. As for car crates I have never used one so sorry can't help with that. I bet you can't wait to pick Bentley up. How very exciting Helen xx
Re: New Puppy Welcome from me and Lilly - 3 year old black labby girl and my first dog. We didn't get Lilly until she was almost 12 weeks and probably didn't socialise her enough as it was another 2 weeks after that before she completed her jags (long story) and we hadn't discovered this site at that point for advice!! We have never used a crate in the car, just in the house where it was essential for both Lilly and ourselves (no problems at all with it). I think in the early days Lilly was with someone on the back seat for short journeys. For longer journeys, we popped her into a soft dog bed in the boot (hatchback ) and had a dog guard. No problems at all doing this ourselves. Lilly is a pretty good traveller. Never had any problems at all with her Excited for you in your preparations. Any pictures yet? ;D Jac
Re: New Puppy Welcome to the forum from me and Dexter a 10 month old yellow boy and for sharing your preparations for Bentley.....exciting! Gosh,lots of questions,not many of which I can help with as Dexter came to us at 5 months on a plane and is our first dog but I will try and help as best I can ! I think you can manage a short trip with him on your lap,but have towels around as he might wee or be sick,with the excitement of it all.that first trip home with you must be such a big deal for them I dont think that I could have done anything else but had my puppy on my knee as comfort to them.has Bentley been crated with his breeder?Dexter was crate trained when he arrived but he did do his first trips in the car in the boot in his crate.....after that we just lifted him into the boot that has a dog guard and he just sits down and looks out the window........caveat to that is the longest car journey he does is 15 mins on quiet roads...... we would have continued to crate him if we were on long journeys or on fast roads. Before he has finished his jabs a Great way to socialize him and get him used to the car is to give him rides out in whichever way you decide ie crate or harness .....you can open the boot and let him see what is going on,if you take him to a park car park,loads of doggie people will come and talk to him so he will make lots of friends and get used to people approaching him.We took Dexter round the block in the car from the word go,he didn't half whine at first....but as soon as I stopped fussing him and talking to him ,he zipped up and there's not a peep out of him now! In my experience a young puppy will have wee wee accidents ANYWHERE if you aren't taking responsibility for their wee wee timetable so if you are visiting another home with him,make sure that you put him out the same as you would in your own home.....also take some of his toys and don't leave him unsupervised as he will probably chew and you don't want to be embarrassed by him eating their iPad or chewing through the phone wires ( Otis! ) a friends house is still a foreign environment too while he is having his injections so there is that to consider too. Puppy classes.....I live in Dubai and there is such limited training resources ,I'm not qualified to advise....suffice to say I haven't been happy with anything I have found.I basically train Dexter the best I can with the help of Pippas guides and advice on here,and from people I meet who I discern to know what they are talking about ;D ;D hence it's a long process for us!there will be a lot more available to you and I am sure other members will be able to share their experiences and thoughts. Are you visiting Bentley much?hope you have got breeders that let you go and see him LOTS ;D What color is he? This forum is so helpful and friendly as a first time owner you will gets lots of help and a fair few laughs,I promise! Best Wishes Angela
Re: New Puppy Thank you all for your replies, this has helped a lot!!! WE have been to visit Bentley quite a few times, the breeders are so lovely and friendly and dont mind us popping in any time. Its so good to see him growing and developing. Although on the few times we have gone, he has been the only puppy (There are 9 of them) that is wide awake exploring around the kitchen, in his pen, while the others are fast asleep!!!! Hope this isnt a sign of things to come. Bentley is a Chocolate Lab.......how do I post pictures on here?? Cant seem to work it out. Thanks. L
Re: New Puppy We drove all the way from Wiltshire to Frankfurt with our Poppy in the footwell of the car, when she was just eight weeks old. She was perfect, no problem at all, slept the whole way. I didnt take her to puppy classes, but there are lots of nice dogs in our street, and she did a lot of getting to know them, first through the garden fence, and then as soon as she was old enough to be out and about, then actually in the woods. But in retrospect I should have taken her into town more with me, as she was quite nervous about strangers for a while, though that seems to have calmed down a lot now (she is a year and a half old). Oh - sorry - welcome to the forum!
Re: New Puppy Hi Lorj2000! Welcome to the forums, I'm new myself and learning each day Our 10 week old pup Dexter has been home with us just over a week now. My fiancé and I (Karl) have walked him around the block a couple of times in our arms so he can get used to the sound of traffic and any Police/Ambulance sirens. He's met neighbours along the way too who make a fuss of him. He's the talk of the street at the minute! On Saturday I took him to the local shops with my Mum, again carrying him in my arms (not sure how much longer I'll be able to carry him ha ha). I sat on a bench outside the shop with him whilst my Mum went off and bought what was needed. All good, we've found, for his socialisation skills ;D We were probably out for around an hour. Just give Bently lots of reassurance and hugs to know he's safe and I'm sure he will be fine ;D You'll be amazed how many people come up to you to see him! The subject of being around other dogs before a puppy's 2nd vaccine is a bit of a, not touchy subject, but I've found many people have different opinions and views. At the moment, Dexter has been by a few dogs (we went to the vet last week) but again, he was in my arms the whole time and in all honesty he wasn't to fussed about the other dogs there. I took him to my Dad's for the first time last night I was really worried about him having an 'accident' in the house. We just kept the back door open, took a few of his toys and his water bowl and thankfully, no accidents indoors. He got excited about being in a new place with many places to explore and have a sniff about but being a puppy, he was soon asleep on the door mat : I know its cheesy but I couldn't think of a better place for advice! I've kept in touch with the owner of Dexter's brother (Samson) and reccomedned her to the main website and this forum ;D
Re: New Puppy Re puppy classes, I think it depends on what kind of puppy class it is, a free for all is not a good idea. I took my puppies at about 10 weeks old.
Re: New Puppy [quote author=NNorris13 link=topic=2248.msg20822#msg20822 date=1376394733] The subject of being around other dogs before a puppy's 2nd vaccine is a bit of a, not touchy subject, but I've found many people have different opinions and views. [/quote] I found this too - the advice all seemed a little impractical and confused. Although it might just be me not quite understanding the risk factors. But since, I understand, parvo can stay in soil and the environment for years and years, and we were in London with known parvo in foxes, I thought that either I kept Charlie inside, and had a "disinfect your shoes at the door" policy or it was all a little pointless. (Confession: I did have a disinfect shoes at the door policy...). But, I followed the advice all the same - carried him around etc. His feet didn't touch the floor apart from in my house, garden and puppy school. It did make me laugh at puppy school - the pups who had their 2nd jabs were allowed out to wee, the ones who only had their first weren't. Then, all the 2nd jabs pups came back in and ran around with muddy paws on the same floor as the 1st jabs pups... I thought it was probably a bit pointless keeping the 1st jabs pups inside...but I still did it.
Re: New Puppy Welcome We soooo nearly called our dog Bentley - great name! Riley went to puppy class which was great the only downside was I think it encouraged him to play with any and every dog he met. This caused us some recall challenges but we're loads better now We used a crate in the back of the car as we wanted him to get used to travelling in the back from the beginning. We have an estate though and he'd have rattled around like a pea in a pod so we used his small indoor crate that he slept in each night until he was bigger. Now we just have a dog guard although I am think of a crate again so we can pack round it and keep him safe from flying luggage.
Re: New Puppy We're the same with Dexter, Julie. I read on a different forum of someone not allowing their dog out until the 2 weeks after their jab but then I read that up until 14 weeks, puppies have this 'window' were they take so much information in. I'm sure it was one of Pippa's articles. I think as long as We've not looked at puppy school or puppy parties but I think we're looking into a puppy class once Dexter is fully vaccinated. I suppose it just our peace of mind ;D
Re: New Puppy Hi there and welcome from Lisa and Simba (10 month old chocolate labX)! How exciting for you to be anticipating a new puppy!!! Simba came to us at 8 months old but I raised two other dogs from puppyhood, so just a couple comments from my experience.... I would think you could hold the puppy on your lap for the ride home, if it's not too long. Or just use a cardboard box with a blanket in it, put at your feet. Re: parvovirus - my first two pups actually got this, which was a horrible experience. First one just about died, the other was pretty sick but had rec'd his first vaccination against it so wasn't quite as bad. Still an overnight at the vets', though. Not sure but likely they picked it up from the soil. I had moved houses between 1st and 2nd dog, so didn't think there was a problem. But it must have been at the new house too! Needless to say, the advice is to be careful about this with new pups who are not inoculated yet!
Re: New Puppy [quote author=Lisa link=topic=2248.msg20842#msg20842 date=1376418174] Re: parvovirus - my first two pups actually got this, which was a horrible experience. First one just about died, the other was pretty sick but had rec'd his first vaccination against it so wasn't quite as bad. Still an overnight at the vets', though. Not sure but likely they picked it up from the soil. I had moved houses between 1st and 2nd dog, so didn't think there was a problem. But it must have been at the new house too! Needless to say, the advice is to be careful about this with new pups who are not inoculated yet! [/quote] Ah, how awful for you, really. You are lucky that both survived, it's a terrible thing I understand. If it's in the garden soil though (as it well might have been in my garden in London - but apparently not) I guess pups are going to be exposed to it. Unless we have them pee and poo inside between vaccinations... I did consider not letting Charlie even in the garden, but that just was totally impractical.
Re: New Puppy Yes, the whole toilet training thing means it is necessary for them to go outside, but like I said I hoped the new place would be free of it. However, we actually had Simba at our place when he was just a new pup going to his new owner (oldest's girlfriend) and I was worried about him going outside because of my old dog having had parvo at that house. My son took him outside anyways (grr) but Simba did not get it, thankfully. It HAD been 16 years since previous dog had been a pup, though, so perhaps it had all disappeared? Don't know enough about it but just glad he was spared it, anyways!!
