Mummy and Puppy - Honey and Lottie

[Maisie]

When we went to pick Lottie up on Friday, the breeder said they weren't going to let her mother have anymore litters. She is 4 and has given birth to 3 litters.

They asked us if we were interested in taking her too so we asked for a few days to think it over. They didn't want any money for her but asked that we have her speyed within the month. She gave birth around 9 weeks ago and is rather underweight. The breeder said its normal for a mother who has just finished feeding pups and she will gain weight soon.

We talked it over and went back to collect her today. She is called Honey and is a Golden Labrador. Lottie is thrilled to have another dog here but poor Honey is a bit shell shocked. She was reared on a farm in the middle of nowhere and isn't used to any of the normal noises. She lived outside with about 9 other dogs and was apparently the bottom of the pack. She is very quiet and extremely shy.

Does anyone have any hints and tips on how to settle her in without stressing her out too much? She has never been walked on a lead (although she doesn't leave my side) and I need to get her used to that too.

Thank you

 

[Maisie]

....

 

[Maisie]

Please excuse the scary eyes! It was the flash on the camera!

 

[Lorelei]

Oh Bruddah....she is so beautiful!!!!

Time and patience and lots of love and reassurance, then she will be absolutely fine! Start as you mean to go on so she knows her place in her ' pack', she will gain confidence and be a wonderful dog!! Feeding puppies can take a lot out of them, so she will gain weight back, but watch her carefully as the stress of the move could possibly make her lose a little more - however don't rush to overfeed her. Also take your vets advice on what would be a good weight range for her, take her down for a once over to make sure her vaccinations are up to date, worming, and to make a plan to get her as fit as possible for her spay.

Also find a dog training / obedience class in your area and take Honey to that, this would be a huge help in getting her acclimatised to new things and ultimately well trained.

 

[Dogmom]

What an adorable pair they are! I second everything Lorelei has said. Dogs are amazingly adaptable and she will soon find her place in the "pack" and relax.

 

[Maisie]

Thanks Bruddah! I sure know how to pick the attractive dogs don''t I?! I will do as you say and let her settle into her place in the pack. She is already trying to go through doors in front of Lottie so I think she knows where she stands there. She seems very respectful towards me which is great. She did bark at me when I came outside after changing my top. I told her to shhh and she submitted immediately. When she was eating she kept taking a mouthful and then looking around nervously. I think she struggled to get enough food when she lived with her other pack.

Thank you Dogmom. I am really looking forward to her settling down and realising we are actually rather nice people! I am determined that she will know her place in the household. I don''t mind her being ''above'' the puppy, but she needs to know from day one that the humans are her superiors! Once I am certain of her temperement I will let the kids feed her so she knows they are in charge too. I did take her bowl away from her a couple of times when she was eating and she backed away immediately. No aggression over food which is great!

 

[Linda W]

Maisie, Honey is so beautiful. I agree with everything Dogmom said. She will adapt. You have such a loving home for Lottie and they both will be so happy. Does Lottie remember her mommy?? Just wondering.


Linda

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/24/2008 1:18:12 PM
Author: Maisie
Thanks Bruddah! I sure know how to pick the attractive dogs don''t I?! I will do as you say and let her settle into her place in the pack. She is already trying to go through doors in front of Lottie so I think she knows where she stands there. She seems very respectful towards me which is great. She did bark at me when I came outside after changing my top. I told her to shhh and she submitted immediately. When she was eating she kept taking a mouthful and then looking around nervously. I think she struggled to get enough food when she lived with her other pack.

Thank you Dogmom. I am really looking forward to her settling down and realising we are actually rather nice people! I am determined that she will know her place in the household. I don''t mind her being ''above'' the puppy, but she needs to know from day one that the humans are her superiors! Once I am certain of her temperement I will let the kids feed her so she knows they are in charge too. I did take her bowl away from her a couple of times when she was eating and she backed away immediately. No aggression over food which is great!

You are welcome Bruddah and thanks DM!

Another thing you can do to help Honey know her place, make sure that she always moves out of your way, never move out of hers. Like with going through doors, make sure you go first, also the children can do this as this will help make it clear to her concerning her status in the pack. There are many little things you can do all the time to reinforce this, and she will be the happier for it once she knows she has firm leadership.

You will do fine with her Bruddah, she is going to be special!!

 

[iluvcarats]

I would get a crate and put some of her things , toys and blankets in there, just in case she wants a safe place to go. Our labs both would go in and out of their crates. It was like their safe place to go when they don''t want to be bothered. We only kept it closed when they were puppies. Now its open all the time - whether a dog''s in there or not.

 

[AGBF]

God bless you, Maisie! Your maternal insticts will probably do 99% of the job! Our last dog was a yellow Lab that we adopted at age two and I think he needed patience and reassurance. We have recently adopted a Cocker Spaniel puppy (not yet a year old) and he is a bit traumatized from being in several different settings; he is never sure if he is going to be left somewhere forever if he is left (as he had to be for two nights) somewhere overnight. It breaks my heart to think that these babies may think that they may ever lose us, their "real" parents! All we can do is to keep showing them that mommy always comes back and giving them every reassurance that we can.

In the case of our "new" Cocker Spaniel, Cookie, when we visited our house in Virginia with him I took all his toys and his bed so that he had not only us (my father, my daughter, and me-i.e. his pack) with him, but also his belongings in the "new" house to make him feel more at home. When we had to board him at the vet''s (where he had gone twice for medical visits in the past) there were a lot of other dogs to help the transistion, but I also left the afghan with which he had come to us from the rescue place to put on the bottom of his crate and a familiar toy.

It would be better never to leave a new dog...but sometimes that is just impossible. You are a wonderful mother. You will be a wonderful mother to Honey. Please let us know how she is doing. Lottie is beautiful, but so is Honey. I love Labs. Cookie is an adorable, foolish spaniel that wins everyone''s heart immediately, but I pine for my much more solid and smarter old friend, Biscuit, the big Lab!

Deb

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Oh Maisie, Honey and Lottie are such cuties!

I don''t have any advice you offer you, but do think that the transition will be an easier one since she has one of her pups with her. Kinda comforting when you think about it!

Please share their progress with us- I''d love to hear it.

 

[AGBF]

Date: 8/24/2008 1:39:20 PM
Author: iluvcarats
I would get a crate and put some of her things , toys and blankets in there, just in case she wants a safe place to go. Our labs both would go in and out of their crates. It was like their safe place to go when they don't want to be bothered. We only kept it closed when they were puppies. Now its open all the time - whether a dog's in there or not.

I agree with iluvcarats!!! I had never had a puppy since since crate training became fashionable. Our last puppy was a Golden Retriever that was born in the late 1970's and lived until around 1993. The next dog we had, a Lab, was adopted at age two and didn't need a crate. So when I was intoduced to the idea of a crate with our current puppy, it was new to me. I knew he was used to one, so I bought one. I have to say that I love the crate. When Cookie heard angry voices, he went right into his crate! It was, clearly, a place he liked to go, a place he looked to for refuge. I do close him in once in a while, but rarely. The door is always open. I play games with him and the crate, though. Sometime I take all his toys and throw them in the crate. Then he takes them out and I throw them back in. That routine is endlessly entertaining to both of us and serves the purpose of keeping the crate a "fun" place.


Deborah

 

[gemgirl]

Oh Maisie, I feel like crying! Bless your heart for bringing Honey into your family too! The poor baby looks tired. I think she snap right into shape now that she''s with you and your family. She won''t have to fight for food and she''ll have a very comfortable place to sleep and play, and she''ll be hugged and cuddled all the time. She''ll get all the attention she needs and deserves. What a really sweet thing to do.

You made my day friend! She''ll be fine. Just give her some time. Please take some more pictures!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/24/2008 3:08:30 PM
Author: gemgirl
Oh Maisie, I feel like crying! Bless your heart for bringing Honey into your family too! The poor baby looks tired. I think she snap right into shape now that she''s with you and your family. She won''t have to fight for food and she''ll have a very comfortable place to sleep and play, and she''ll be hugged and cuddled all the time. She''ll get all the attention she needs and deserves. What a really sweet thing to do.

You made my day friend! She''ll be fine. Just give her some time. Please take some more pictures!

That hit the nail on the head - she DOES look tired. But she has happy days ahead now!

 

[AGBF]

Date: 8/24/2008 3:10:33 PM

Author: Lorelei

That hit the nail on the head - she DOES look tired. But she has happy days ahead now!

This made me think of another issue! I wouldn''t take her to your house then have her spayed instantly! That would be traumatic! She should go directly from the breeder to the vet, then go home to you or else go to your house for a long while to get acclimated before being sent off! (I would opt for her going to the vet''s directly from the breeder, but it may be too late for that if she is already home with you.) The poor girl needs time to get used to being with you before she is sent off to another place and put through painful surgery! I would postpone the spaying!


Deb

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/24/2008 3:30:13 PM
Author: AGBF

Date: 8/24/2008 3:10:33 PM

Author: Lorelei

That hit the nail on the head - she DOES look tired. But she has happy days ahead now!

This made me think of another issue! I wouldn''t take her to your house then have her spayed instantly! That would be traumatic! She should go directly from the breeder to the vet, then go home to you or else go to your house for a long while to get acclimated before being sent off! (I would opt for her going to the vet''s directly from the breeder, but it may be too late for that if she is already home with you.) The poor girl needs time to get used to being with you before she is sent off to another place and put through painful surgery! I would postpone the spaying!


Deb

Yep, I wouldn''t rush to do it Maisie, get her to the vet for a checkup, worming, vaccinations if needed and to formulate a plan to make sure she is healthy and fit for the procedure, but let her settle in for a bit first.

 

[coatimundi_org]

Oh Maisie, she is so sweet! Mummy and baby together! You''ve gotten such great advice--just wanted to say that she''s such a sweetie, and I''d love to hear of her progress in the future.

 

[Dreamer_D]

She is gorgeous and I`m sure will adapt to being a wondeful pet!

Our little Dreamer was also adopted when she was already fully grown (though still only about 8 months old), and she too was a kennel dog used to living in a pack. She was and still is a very shy dog and there were some unique issues that we had to deal with. I think the best thing for the first couple of weeks is to try to give her a safe place (like a crate as others have suggested) and to try to give her peace and space most of the time. An anxious dog will prefer feeling like she is invisible, especially when new people are around, so altough it sounds crazy, ignoring her when things get busy, and instructing new people to not look at her and speak to her, actually makes shy dogs feel better. Then when she is comfortable she will approach the new people and they can pet her and say hi!

She is lucky to have one of her pups living with her, she will really benefit from having that companionship and it will make her feel safer. Being a good leader is probably the best thing you can do for her, as it will make her feel safe to know that there is a pack leader around. By that I mean being calm and assertive with her and not giving in to the instinct to feel too sorry for her and babying her when she shows anxiety or is fearful. She will want your strength and guidance more that she will want to be snuggled or babied when she feels scared.

As for learning to walk on the lead, you may have to teach you puppy that too

I`d probably wait a few weeks until you are totally sure she trusts you, then start out using it in the house or in the yard where she feels confident. You may find her anxiety is very high when you go for walks, it took months and months for Dreamer to start walking without her tail between her legs and without crouching in fear! It also took a long time for her to not run for the hills when she saw people, since she has a real people phobia! ''Making sure her little buddie Lottie is with her when you go for walks will probably help her, and if Lottie is confident and had good social skills that will model appropriate behavior for her too!

Patience and baby steps are best, I`m sure you will do a great job!

 

[Maisie]

Thank you for all your wonderful advice! I have taken everything on board. Especially the part about speying her. We will wait a few weeks till she has settled in better.

Her first night was pretty quiet. She slept most of the night... well until Lottie decided she needed the toilet at 4am! She is so clever. She cries at the door till we come and let her go. Then she goes back to sleep.

We are going to give Honey a new name. She doesn't respond to her name anyway.. I assume that she hasn't been called it much seeing as she lived in a pack. I will let you know what we come up with.

Lottie keeps trying to feed off Honey! We were told to rub something foul tasting on Honey to stop her. Any suggestions?

One thing that is worrying me a when I changed my clothes yesterday after a bath, Honey barked at me. She also barked at my daughter this morning when she came downstairs. Is this just because its all new and strange for her?

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/25/2008 4:17:58 AM
Author: Maisie
Thank you for all your wonderful advice! I have taken everything on board. Especially the part about speying her. We will wait a few weeks till she has settled in better.

Her first night was pretty quiet. She slept most of the night... well until Lottie decided she needed the toilet at 4am! She is so clever. She cries at the door till we come and let her go. Then she goes back to sleep.

We are going to give Honey a new name. She doesn''t respond to her name anyway.. I assume that she hasn''t been called it much seeing as she lived in a pack. I will let you know what we come up with.

Lottie keeps trying to feed off Honey! We were told to rub something foul tasting on Honey to stop her. Any suggestions?

One thing that is worrying me a when I changed my clothes yesterday after a bath, Honey barked at me. She also barked at my daughter this morning when she came downstairs. Is this just because its all new and strange for her?

The barking is probably because things are so new and strange for her Bruddah, what I would do - and get the children to do the same - is to ignore her completely when she barks, then when she is quiet make a big fuss of her. This way she will learn that barking won''t get her the attention she wants, but being quiet will. Hang in there, it sounds like she is doing well for such early days!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 8/25/2008 4:37:24 AM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 8/25/2008 4:17:58 AM
Author: Maisie
Thank you for all your wonderful advice! I have taken everything on board. Especially the part about speying her. We will wait a few weeks till she has settled in better.

Her first night was pretty quiet. She slept most of the night... well until Lottie decided she needed the toilet at 4am! She is so clever. She cries at the door till we come and let her go. Then she goes back to sleep.

We are going to give Honey a new name. She doesn''t respond to her name anyway.. I assume that she hasn''t been called it much seeing as she lived in a pack. I will let you know what we come up with.

Lottie keeps trying to feed off Honey! We were told to rub something foul tasting on Honey to stop her. Any suggestions?

One thing that is worrying me a when I changed my clothes yesterday after a bath, Honey barked at me. She also barked at my daughter this morning when she came downstairs. Is this just because its all new and strange for her?

The barking is probably because things are so new and strange for her Bruddah, what I would do - and get the children to do the same - is to ignore her completely when she barks, then when she is quiet make a big fuss of her. This way she will learn that barking won''t get her the attention she wants, but being quiet will. Hang in there, it sounds like she is doing well for such early days!

Dreamer used to do this too... in all likelihood you will see lots of other odd behaviors appear in the next weeks as she gets more comfortable. Dreamer used to bark like mad when me or my hubby came downstairs after being up there for more than 30 seconds. It''s like she forgot we were up there and thought strangers were coming

She hates strangers and anything unusual freaks her out to no end. She stopped doing it after she got used to the household routines... but it took about 6 months!! Everything takes longer with a shy dog, really. You just have to have a lot of partience and know she will become a great, loving, wonderful dog, it will just take a long time, especially since she is older. Although shy dogs are a pain in many ways, they will ALWAYS listen to you and will behave well when you tell them too, so there are bonuses. More confident dogs are more likely to disobay and cause trouble, so the PITA balances out I think.

You can try ignoring her, but you may need to actively correct the behavior. The attention thing works if what she is trying to do is get attention, but Dreamer used to do this as a warning, like "Danger, Danger, Stranger!!!" Ignoring it didn''t stop it because then she just thought that we weren''t noticing the danger! Silly doggie. We find that saying "No Noise!" really loud and fast in a very assertive voice, maybe the voice you would use to stop your little son was running into the street! We dins it stops them from barking at the door or basically any time. I think she likes knowing we are in charge of the situation, and everytime we do it Dreamer comes over to look at us and see what the heck is going on! But she stops barking. We haven''t yet managed, though, to get Dreamer not to use her air-raid siren bark (Awooooooo!!!!) when people come to the door. She is a work in progress, even after having her for 2 years

 

[Dreamer_D]

I found this book really really helpful for learning how to handle a shy dog: Help for Your Shy Dog: Turing your Terrified Dog into a Terrific Pet http://www.amazon.com/Help-Your-Shy-Dog-Terrified/dp/0876050364

You may find after a few weeks that she settles down and doesn`t show any shy or strange behaviors, but if she does then this book is great.

 

[Lorelei]

Interesting, I was always taught to ignore the behaviour you don't want ( within reason!) when I was doing my training courses, and reward the behaviour you do want, and it has always worked for me - but each dog is different. Maybe try ignoring it to begin with, as to a dog, even negative attention is still attention and a positive reinforcement for them, then if it didn't work with her, then actively correct. But whatever you do Bruddah, allow plenty of time for training and using each technique, and be consistent.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 8/25/2008 8:24:12 AM
Author: Lorelei
Interesting, I was always taught to ignore the behaviour you don't want ( within reason!) when I was doing my training courses, and reward the behaviour you do want, and it has always worked for me - but each dog is different. Maybe try ignoring it to begin with, as to a dog, even negative attention is still attention and a positive reinforcement for them, then if it didn't work with her, then actively correct. But whatever you do Bruddah, allow plenty of time for training and using each technique, and be consistent.

I agree with your completely, and with our boy dog, when he went through a barking phase trying to get our attention, ignoring it worked perfectly. I do think that shy dogs or fearful dogs are a different breed, so to speak, as most of the techniques that worked with Seamus won't work with Dreamer. For example, when we were training Seamus to walk on the lead by our side, we would use treats as a reward. Worked a charm! With Dreamer, when we were first out in public she was so fearful she would never ever take a treat from us, so we couldn't use treats! She would basically drag behind us as far as the leash would allow. We tried all sorts of rewards (toys etc), she just didn't want it at all. In the end, we got a double leash and she was much more confident when she walked right next to Seamus, he was like her security blanket. And now she will take a treat!

Ignoring may indeed work with Honey, I think it probably depends how fearful she is or why she is barking. Dreamer was/is an extreme case. After 2 years she is still a work in progress, but she has made lots of progress! Slow and steady wins the race, and consistency is totally key! It could take 2-3 weeks for a method to finally work.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/25/2008 9:28:17 AM
Author: dreamer_dachsie

Date: 8/25/2008 8:24:12 AM
Author: Lorelei
Interesting, I was always taught to ignore the behaviour you don''t want ( within reason!) when I was doing my training courses, and reward the behaviour you do want, and it has always worked for me - but each dog is different. Maybe try ignoring it to begin with, as to a dog, even negative attention is still attention and a positive reinforcement for them, then if it didn''t work with her, then actively correct. But whatever you do Bruddah, allow plenty of time for training and using each technique, and be consistent.

I agree with your completely, and with our boy dog, when he went through a barking phase trying to get our attention, ignoring it worked perfectly. I do think that shy dogs or fearful dogs are a different breed, so to speak, as most of the techniques that worked with Seamus won''t work with Dreamer. For example, when we were training Seamus to walk on the lead by our side, we would use treats as a reward. Worked a charm! With Dreamer, when we were first out in public she was so fearful she would never ever take a treat from us, so we couldn''t use treats! She would basically drag behind us as far as the leash would allow. We tried all sorts of rewards (toys etc), she just didn''t want it at all. In the end, we got a double leash and she was much more confident when she walked right next to Seamus, he was like her security blanket. And now she will take a treat!

Ignoring may indeed work with Honey, I think it probably depends how fearful she is or why she is barking. Dreamer was/is an extreme case. After 2 years she is still a work in progress, but she has made lots of progress! Slow and steady wins the race, and consistency is totally key! It could take 2-3 weeks for a method to finally work.

You have done great work with Dreamer!!

 

[Maisie]

Wow DD, you could be describing Blossom (for that is her name!) when you talk about Dreamer! She sounds just the same!

We have had a wonderful day with the dogs. Lots of fun and frolics! We took Blossom out for a lovely long walk this morning, and again when Gary got in from work. She just seemed to be so pleased to be outside in the woods having fun. She kept watching the kids and I really felt that she wanted to go play but didn''t quite know how!

Lottie is a pain just now! She wants to chew everything! Each time she goes for something we substitute the item with her chew toy. I hope she gets the point soon! Nothing is safe. Its like child proofing the house again!

I feel so blessed to have these new additions. They are so beautiful!! I haven''t smiled so much in ages!

 

[Lorelei]

Bruddah - I LOVE Blossom!!!

 

[Maisie]

Thanks Bruddah!!!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/25/2008 4:31:59 PM
Author: Maisie
Thanks Bruddah!!!

Welcome Bruddah!!

 

[SarahLovesJS]

So cute!!! I am in

!