Hi All, I collect my puppy on New Years Day and I'm very excited! She is a black lab, will be just shy of 8 weeks and will be called Rio. I have a question about socialising I hope someone can help me with please? I have a body harness style carrier to transport her around in while we embark on socialising. The thing is, what do I do about toilet breaks? I've read the Happy Puppy Handbook and know I will be setting my alarm for every 30 mins for bladder emptying, but socialising trips are going to take longer than that and she won't have had her jabs at the beginning. Is it just a case of popping her down every 30 mins or so to relieve herself wherever I can find that seems appropriate? I don't know what else I can do really, but would like some reassurance that it is the right thing to do. Thanks for your help and Happy New Year! Pawsie
Re: Toileting during socialising Hi Pawsie! You must be so excited, only 1 day to go! You will no doubt be posting a lot, just like the rest of us new mummys and daddys, even if its just to swap stories! My Izzy is 10 weeks and im waiting till shes had her jabs to do proper socialising. I have taken her to my dads and she toilets in his garden. You dont really want to be putting her down just anywhere as she may pick up a bug from an unvaccinated dog that may have been there. Good luck woth Rio, make sure you give us a pic!
Re: Toileting during socialising Hello!!! My puppy is ten weeks old and we've been out a lot- always in her carry crate but I take her out when we are inside, friends houses etc and she goes toilet in their garden, I follow her closely and as soon as she's done I scoop her up, so I've been a bit more relaxed, she's had one injection now and and been on grass verges , in pub beer gardens, for example my dad lives in an apartment and today I took her out front to toilet, she seems ok and I know there's a risk... but I want her to toilet outside as much as poss but socialise at the same time :
Re: Toileting during socialising I have a thing about socialisation. I have a nearly 8 month old labrador Cupar and I planned some socialisation every day. i still do. When he was small ,like you I wondered about the toilet, but as parvo had been in the area, I would never have let him down anywhere except our garden. So As he wasn't toilet trained anyway I reasoned better he pees on me , as catches parvo. So he was taken to school gates, school sports day, vets , stood next to roads, I took him to the playgroup I carried him through the nearest town into shops and where ever else would allow. I had him in a handbag at one time but he got too big. I still persevered as I really believe it is so important to introduce as many different people, places oh and I arranged to meet up with vaccinated dogs. I even stopped a neighbour of mine who is 6ft 6 in has a beard, wears a hat and has a big walking stick and wears combat gear. That has been so many boxes ticked. As soon as Cupar could go walkies he was introduced to it all again as it looks soooo different from ground level. Enjoy Rio when she comes home and take loads of photos, they grow so quickly.
Re: Toileting during socialising Hiya! I bet you are so excited! We are picking up our new black lab bitch in a couple of weeks. Murphy our golden lab is 20ish months. Anyway when we were out and about before he was fully vaccinated i took puppy pads around with me and would put him on one of those on the floor. Id only do that if he was fidgety and i thought he needed to go. I think i will do the same for maisie. X
Re: Toileting during socialising Hullo! So exciting! When we had Willow, before her vaccinations, we took her out to loads of places, all sorts of sights, sounds and smells. Some of these trips were over an hour long. She didn't need to go down once. Puppies have an instinct not to go to the loo while being carried, so as long as you make sure she goes before you go out, you should be fine. Even on the four hour trip back home from the breeder when she was 8 weeks, she didn't need to go. I was very protective of her and she didn't go down on the floor except at home until she'd had her second jab. I tell you, she was heavy by the 13 week mark!
Re: Toileting during socialising Thanks everyone - I won't delay the socialising but will hope she can hang on a bit whilst I'm carrying her and if not I'll try the puppy pads! So nice to have advice, much appreciated x
Re: Toileting during socialising Hi! Like Fiona, I took Maisie everywhere to do socialising and we never had a problem with need to wee or poop whilst out. Interestingly she would start to whine a little of we had been out for more than an hour and on returning home would be desperate for a wee!!
Re: Toileting during socialising There was actually one occasion where we got caught in traffic and were gone too long. Willow was very whiny in the car and we knew that she needed to go, so eventually, we pulled off onto a "road to nowhere" on a roundabout (they haven't finished it yet), so we knew there would be no traffic and the chances of any dogs ever having been there was tiny. We covered a large area of floor with newspaper we had in the car and popped her onto it. Ten minutes later, she still hadn't gone, so we gave up and took her the extra twenty minutes home. She had the biggest wee when she got onto our terrace, poor little sweetheart!
Re: Toileting during socialising Hi How exciting picking up your new puppy this week. I have an 11 week pup Amber. When out and about being carried or in the car crate she manages very well. We have been lucky over the christmas period with lots of visitors of all shapes , ages and sizes including walking sticks, glasses, beards and all manner of hats with the cold weather.
Re: Toileting during socialising Just thought I would mention that puppy pads ddint work with Bouncer. He just shredded them in seconds then sat there looking smug.
Re: Toileting during socialising [quote author=Leanangle link=topic=9280.msg133348#msg133348 date=1419970972] Just thought I would mention that puppy pads ddint work with Bouncer. He just shredded them in seconds then sat there looking smug. [/quote] I only used them as a last resort when out and about to prevent him from having to be on the floor and never just left them on the floor for murphy to destroy.
Re: Toileting during socialising Thank you everyone for your comments. Day one has been a success, she is delightful, playful and loves cuddles! She didn't wee or poop and wasn't sick in the car on the way home (yippee) and all toileting has been in my garden - no accidents indoors - I'm stunned!!! I am about to put her out again now, then pop her in her crate and set my alarm for 4am - eek! My cats aren't impressed but I think given time it will be ok. First vet visit tomorrow then we start socialising - I'm convinced now that she'll hold on whilst I'm carrying her .
Re: Toileting during socialising Hello there! Sounds like you're doing good. Best of luck for the night. Jac and lilly.
Re: Toileting during socialising First night was good, thank you for asking. Second night wasn't as good - lots of crying but I think this was because she needed a poop and I hadn't realised - I was ignoring the crying! Tonight I will give her longer in the garden at midnight so I can be sure she is empty. She is not quite 8 weeks yet and I'm getting the feeling 4 hours is about her limit for holding on. We had the first vet visit though and that went well - she had her first vaccination and managed to mostly sleep through it - very chilled!! Wondering how long she should nap for - first day she hardly slept but today has been long nap, short play, long nap repeated. She probably didn't get enough sleep last night either but I don't want to pay for it tonight by her not being sleepy? Should I be trying to wear her out or should I just let her sleep? Thank you!
Re: Toileting during socialising Puppies do sleep a lot, so I wouldn't worry about how much sleep she's getting. Even at nearly 5 months, mine sleep for most of the day and all night, just waking for walks, training, meals and the odd play. You'll get used to the different tones in the whinging and will know whether it's an attention whine or a "I need a poo" whine. I never succeeded in always ensuring mine "evacuated" before bed, so once I'd passed the stage of setting alarms, I just made sure I could hear them so they'd wake me if they needed. I had a little while where Willow (when she was an only pup) had a bad belly, and I ended up sleeping on the sofa in the living room during that time, because it was imperative I got to her quickly when she whined - if I didn't, well.... three bed changes in one night was enough to convince me to sleep on the sofa Just keep repeating ... it will pass. It WILL pass!
