We''re getting a puppy! Any advice?

[Allison D.]

Date: 3/29/2010 9:53:51 AM
Author: february2003bride

His foster mom did tell us that the first few nights would be hard because he was so used to being with his sisters. When we visited him at the foster mom''s home, she put his sisters inside so we could play with just our puppy. The poor guy was crying at the back door to go inside with them! I loved that he was so bonded with his sisters because I felt like then there would be no doubt he would bond with us.

The breeder I worked with for my first dog years ago did something awesome; she had an old blanket that she placed in with the puppies where they slept. When it was time for the puppies to go to their respective homes, she divided the blanket into sections and send each puppy with a section of it so they would have the scent of their littermates with them as comfort.

I placed that on my dog''s bed when she first came home and she settled right in.

If you have a blanket or sheet you could drop at the breeder''s house for the week, it might help him when you bring him home.

 

[Puppmom]

Date: 3/28/2010 9:56:34 PM
Author: honey22
Don''t use a harness with a big dog for walking, it''s just gives them a bigger surface area for dragging you along! Trust me, I have two big labs and I am a big fan of the Halti. IT IS NOT A MUZZLE!!! They can eat, bite (defend themselves basically) and drink with it on. It works similar to horse reins. When they pull, their head gets turned to the side and they will stop pulling. It''s really magic! I can walk both labs with one finger and don''t need to apply pressure etc at all. Most of the time they are well behaved and go off lead, but for very exciting situations and Mummy is taking them (they are more behaved for Daddy), I will use the Halti. Best money ever spent!

http://www.petsonthepark.com.au/category119_1.htm

Honey, my dog *beat" the Halti! It''s probably because we didn''t *train* him to not pull with it. We just let the halti do the work. Shame on us! We''re finally good at walking on the leash but it took months of work thanks to the many mistakes we made early on. Live and learn I guess.

 

[waterlilly]

you've already gotten a lot of fabulous advice, so I'll just give my brief opinions.

1. Crate train? Absolutely!!
2. Harness vs. collar? Either one as long as you start early and train train train.

Personally, my dogs wear harnesses outside on walks. They don't have collars. They are micro-chipped and have tags on their harnesses. Collars should NEVER be worn while you dog is in a crate. There are many many many ways a dog can get its collar stuck on something and be strangled.

Two dogs playing can be injured if they are wearing collars, tags can get stuck in heating grates on the floor, latches on doors/cupboards, stuck between boards of a deck, etc.

Collars are a danger to dogs, a lesson I learned the hard way years ago and will never be able to forget. Finding your dog dead from such a preventable accident is something you can never forgive yourself for.

For anyone that keeps collars on their dogs - please reconsider.

Read more about it here:



Keep Safe Collar

 

[february2003bride]

UPDATE!

We got our puppy!

We picked him up on Saturday and finally he no longer cries for long periods of time in his crate. Last night he didn''t cry at all! We''re taking him out 1x in the middle of the night right now and are hoping to move that into none within the next week or so. He''s such an awesome puppy, so loveable and already so attached to us! I''m still getting use to puppy smells, lol, and dog hair. I feel like I''m becoming OCD about vacuuming, sweeping and mopping the first floor! We don''t let him on the second floor where the bedrooms and bathrooms are.

But we''re struggling with the housetraining! We''re feeding on a schedule but I keep water our at all times. He does start sniffing when he needs to pee so we''ve quickly learned that schedule, and he gets REALLY hyper when he needs to poop but then he''ll also be hyper just because he''s a crazy puppy

But he''s still wetting in the house. We do clean it up right away and are using Nature''s Miracle (I think?) that several friends recommended.

Any house breaking tips?

We start puppy training class in 1 week and we''re hoping to work with the trainer to get him to stop jumping and nipping (his two bad habits besides the indoor peeing).

My camera is charging and as soon as it''s ready i''ll take a pic!

Thanks!

Feb03

 

[zoebartlett]

Congratulations!

I can''t wait to see pictures and find out what his name is.

 

[scarleta]

Congratulations and best wishes for many years of pure happiness for you and the puppy!!! waiting for pics
On your question:
"Any house breaking tips? "
sounds you are doing a great job but since you asked
Celebrate, celebrate and praise a lot when your put does it outside. That really works and the puppy will wait so he can see you happy when he does it outside.
S