We've chosen our puppy!!!

[basildonbond]

He's a little ball of squidgy puppyness - 3 weeks old and very very cute

We'll visit him again before taking him home in about 6 very long weeks from now

dd is beyond excited ...

(pics on profile)

[Caffeineaddictedmumof4]

Ooh how exciting, puppy is so cute!! Have you thought of any names yet?

[IfUSeekAmy]

I want one too!

[basildonbond]

Yes, he's going to be Fitz (Fitzroy when he misbehaves...)

I don't know how dd's going to get through the rest of the summer without exploding with anticipation ...

[digerd]

Gorgeous! Is he a labrador?

[hellymelly]

Oh! I love a puppy thread. He is so sweet!. Lucky you, and your DD looks so happy with him. I am thinking about a puppy, I really hate being dogless so hopefully we will have one soon.

[basildonbond]

No he's a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (at the moment his name is bigger than he is)

He'll look like a little golden retriever when he's fully grown with slightly darker reddish hair - his mum is auburn but he's a bit sandier with patches of white on his head, chest, 4 white paws and white on the tip of his tail

[mintchocchick]

How exciting for you! Did you have trouble choosing the name or did you all like it?

How ready are you in terms of equipment?

We chose our puppy this weekend and are so excited. I can't work out what we need in terms of size of crate, bed, bed to go in crate etc. Are you getting a crate/bed that are big enough to last till your puppy is fully grown? Just think a puppy could get lost in a huge crate or bed to begin with but some of the beds are really expensive so want to get it right.

[basildonbond]

Re name - it just came to me during a long car journey last week - DH and dd like it - boys not so much but they're both being a bit meh about the puppy anyway ...

Not prepared at all!' But we're going to use the rest of the holidays to get sorted ..

[basildonbond]

Mint - what kind of puppy are you getting?

[mintchocchick]

An old English sheepdog. A boy and we're thinking of the name Logan though we have been through about 10 names and noone can agree!

We collect early September but I'm not ready at all, so much to decide on!

[sweetkitty]

We visited our puppies litter on Saturday we haven't chosen our pup yet but we have a firm favourite. The pups are 3 weeks old

She's a female Rhodesian Ridgeback and will be our first dog, I think a new puppy support thread is in order

[ginauk84]

Ooh I love nsdtrs, you will have to show us some pics!

[Heifer]

Can I join in please. We have also chosen our puppy. A female English Springer Spaniel, who DD has named Pepsi (photos on my profile).

She is 5 weeks old so we only have 3 more weeks to wait. So excited, been waiting a long time for it to be the right time for us. I feel like a child again.

Frantically reading puppy books as it's been 20 yrs since we last had puppies.

Am thinking of having a cage within a puppy pen area. Been looking at beds online this afternoon - there is just so many to look at!

Would be interested to know what equipment you all decide to get.

Going to see the puppies again tomorrow for the 4th time (we are very lucky that we know the breeders and they know how excited we are).

Good luck with everything.

[Heifer]

Basil - I love the name Fitz

[Heifer]

Minch - love the name Logan too. I had loads of boys names I liked, but then had a girl! Let DD pick Pepsi as I couldn't think of anything better myself.

[mintchocchick]

What lovely puppies! Heifer your spaniel is gorgeous and will suit Pepsi. And your retriever is lovely Basil, we looked at that breed as they sound fabulous, think there was no breeder near us.

I'm really unsure about the whole bedding thing so I'm thinking of using a cardboard box with only 3 sides (cut a long side out), lining it with vet bed up sides as well, using a box big enough to fit puppy but cosy and not enormous when he's small and placing this cardboard box inside a big crate for night time. Does that sound about right?

The breeder suggested we leave newspaper in a corner of crate for nighttime weeing and then we need to ignore her crying through the night. Not sure I will cope with that, it sounds cruel.

[Heifer]

Hi Mintch, we've already decided we're not going to leave it overnight to cry, We did with our other puppies 20 yrs ago but since having DD we know we have gone soft .

DH has offered to sleep on the floor next to the pen. He can then whip Pepsi outside when she wakes in the night for the loo as we aren't going to have newspaper in the crate.. (may well in the pen in case we don't put her out often enough in the day). Am hoping to toilet train in the garden and not newspaper but will see how that goes.

Like the idea of a cardboard box, but Im thinking of having a soft waterproof bed type basket inside the crate and maybe a vet bed outside. Not sure yet though....

[basildonbond]

ooh lots of new puppies welcome to Logan, Pepsi and Sweetkittypup

We've been given a crate and I'm going to get a small cheapish bed to start with so he doesn't feel overwhelmed and then upgrade to something better once he's getting nearer full size (and by then we should have an idea of the kind of bedding he likes)

I didn't leave the dc to cry and I'm not going to leave Fitz to cry either - one of us will sleep downstairs with him for the first few nights gradually moving further away (well that's the theory anyway ...)

[Heifer]

DH or myself plan to move away a bit each night. This could be a nightmare as we didn't do the whole baby sleeping very well. We were too soft I think and therefore DD still couldn't fall asleep on her own at aged 5!!! She is now 9 and we are still having to go back to her room every 10 mins until she falls asleep (we don' stay but still haven't managed to break the habbit).
Hope Pepsi is easier

Like the idea of cheap small bed to start with, was looking at the beds I want later and it's ££ so don't want to have to get small then large.

[mintchocchick]

I think early sleep training does have an impact on later sleep ability.

I did the whole Gina Ford-routine thing with DS1 and tried controlled crying on a couple of nights when we hit a problem with sleep. He is a fantastic sleeper, has been throughout his childhood, always slept through no bother. DS2 is totally different as I threw away baby manuals and went on instinct - slept together & fed him through the night till he was 1, all very lovely at the time but he didn't sleep through night till 5 yrs and now at 8 needs us to do that "popping back" thing every 10 mins till he's asleep. What a pain that is! He still comes into our bed about one night a fortnight and just seems to need that comfort.

But I really need my sleep and get migraines if DS2 wakes me in the night too often so I was really relieved when our breeder said we should leave puppy through the night from first night. Not sure I'll manage to be honest but I'm setting out with that intention.

If we all do different things it will be interesting to see how they turn out!

[needastrongone]

Hi. Good luck with all your new puppies

Our Springer Spaniel is now nearly 10 months old, how time flies!

We did sleep downstairs with him for the first few nights, well DH did. We figured that his whole world had been turned upside down already, left mum, away from siblings and group comfort, new surroundings and smells etc. Poor little thing!

It only took about three nights, DH just moved a little further away each night. For us, it was rather that than distressing him and us.

He was crated so rarely asked to toilet at night time, he has a bladder of steel. Maybe once or twice in the early weeks we let him out for a night time wee.

Having a puppy is very hard work but great fun too, I have struggled to bond at times, DH (who didn't really want a dog) loves the bones of him and the DC (especially DS, who is quiet) wouldn't be without him now.

I must mention clicker training - tis great! We also do the KC obedience awards too, which are great for the kids to get involved in.

[mintchocchick]

Why did you struggle to bond needastrongone?

What was it that made that bit hard at times? Just wondering where the challenge is going to come from!

[needastrongone]

Because I felt I needed to do it 'right'. I read every book going and wanted to create the 'perfect puppy' as gwen bailey suggests. There's so much advice out there that I got confuddled, but actually, a lot of those books assume the training methods work and gloss over the fact that puppies nip and chew and get hyper, filthy and poo and have no 'off' switch!!! This forum is the reality!

I felt I 'should' exercise him and train him and create the perfect dog. I forgot to enjoy him!!

Once I chilled, the love came and actually, he is a lovely, calm, well behaved dog.

Before we got him, I also sort of ignored all the threads from knackered, slightly hysterical new puppy owners, thinking that wouldn't possibly be me, I knew better, done my research etc! Ha, hollow laugh!

[needastrongone]

Heifer. We have a black and white springer too, his head is all black but your pictures bring back memories! He was the 'runt' of the litter, given we were last on the waiting list for our breeder.

This was a very good thing, despite the advice suggesting never go for the boldest or most timid. He's sweet, calm and relaxed, never upsets other dogs as he knows what submissive signals to give, but actually, not nervous or timid at all, just gentle.

DH is very keen to add to the family!...

[mintchocchick]

Thanks needastrongone

As much as you can ever prepare it sounds like having a baby - that the reality is actually different (usually harder!) to how you imagined it being.

I tend to take comfort from doing all my research, following structured plans and actually I think I'm better when I relax and have confidence in my instinct. My mum keeps saying just to relax, it all be fine, so I might try listening to her!