Our first ever puppy is coming home next week! We thought it would be Feb! Advice please.

[Astrosaurus]

We have been on a waiting list for a cockapoo puppy. We found a lovely lady who only has two litters a year. We reserved a puppy for Feb. But someone just pulled out from taking a puppy ready next week and she's offered us the puppy.

I was going to do lots of research between now and Feb. To crate train or not to? How to prepare the house? What equipment we need? How to find a good training course?

I now have a week to prepare. What's a great place to find well researched info on the above questions? Any tips from others on here?

We are so excited!

[BooToYouToo]

Congrats Astro. We bought things in the 3 days between finding our pup and bring him home.

We do crate and he's taken to it brilliantly (14 week cockapoo). He tries to eat everything so it keeps him safe. We got a medium size crate from pets at home along with a bed, food and water bowls. However in the early days an old towel is better for a bed as easier to wash.

We also bought a collar and lead to get him used to wearing it but switched to a harness when he started going on walks.

Buy lots of paper towels and the simple solution stain and odour remover!

A few different types of toys and a Kong. Most visitors brought toys too.

Ask the breeder which food he's on and buy some of that. If you want you can change later by gradually mixing the new food in.

The Perfect Puppy book by Gwen Bailey is good.

Don't forget to put insurance in place unless you're self insuring and register his chip to your address.

Book a visit to your vet just after you bring him home.

We didn't get a stair gate straight away as he was mainly in our large kitchen diner. Move anything valuable/chewable.

Good luck

[BooToYouToo]

Training - your vet may do free puppy parties so ask about those and then I looked on our local FB site for recommendations on further training.

[BooToYouToo]

One more thing as Bonfire Night is coming up - look at the Dogstrust site regarding fireworks and start playing the sounds to desensitise.

[Wolfiefan]

Have you had confirmation of the parents' health testing? If not then walk away. You say two litters a year like that's not many. It is. It's really is. Our breeder had bred three litters in 30 years.

[Dementedswan]

Two litters a year? From the same bitch? That poor dog. Sounds like she's being used as a breeding machine.

[Wolfiefan]

Agreed Demented. Or it's a puppy farmer with multiple bitches.

[Wolfiefan]

Search for thread started 22/9 for info from CornflakeHomunculus about all the tests needed for cocker cross poodles.

[PetraDelphiki]

I have a copy of the perfect puppy book if you want...pm me your address and I'll stick it in the post!

[Floralnomad]

I don't understand this at all , the fact that it's a poodle x aside , surely in Feb you would get a choice from a litter whereas now you are just taking what is left .

[heidiwine]

We have a 7 month old puppy... I have found it rewarding but also quite challenging. They are needy and sometime irritating, they need a lot of time and effort. I knew that but I wasn't really prepared for the reality of it - I don't go out as much as I used to and I certainly don't have the freedom that I used to have. The other thing I found difficult was that everyone has a different opinion on what's right and wrong, what you should do and what you shouldn't. That didn't help me - it made me quite inconsistent with some things that were probably important (e.g. training recall, crate training, leaving the dog alone). Now, I only really ask advice from the dog walker (who knows my dog) or the vet (who has years of training). Based on that, here are my top tips (some things we did, others we didn't).

We read the Pippa Mattison Happy Puppy book and took quite a lot from there it's probably worth a read.

When you get the puppy home don't let it's feet touch the floor until you put it down in the place you want it to pee (outside) wait until it pees/poos, treat praise and come inside. Take it out every 20/30 waking minutes and praise when it pees/poos (you need to watch like a hawk). I also slept in the same room as him for the first week (until he slept through without crying in the night). After that I set an alarm so that I could take him out to pee in the middle of the night (for about 3 weeks). It was really tiring but I'm glad we did it as he was completely house trained in less than a month.

Make the crate really comfortable, warm and dark. Before you collect the puppy put a couple of treats in there, some water and a good puppy chew toy. When you bring the puppy in (after it has peed) let it explore the crate and hopefully fall asleep in it. When the puppy is in the crate it shouldn't be disturbed (except maybe to be taken outside to pee).

Get the puppy used to being on it's own from the start. We didn't do this and I really regret it. I think leaving it regularly and gradually extending the time it's alone is sensible. Make the crate fun, use a kong for when you're out, hide the occasional treat/new toy in there and feed the dog in there - regularly closing the crate when you're in the room as well as when you go out.

Work out what's really important to you training wise and train only those two or three things to start with. For me that's recall (and I screwed up/wasn't consistent and had to start again from scratch), wait and sit. You do have to be 100% consistent and on it all the time but it'll mean that you end up with a well trained dog.

whoa - that was long. Hope it helps!

[Dementedswan]

Exactly wolfie. OP please look into this very carefully. Could be a perfect puppy from a good breeder but you need to look into this.

As far as I know bitches only have two seasons a year (I'm happy to be corrected on this) so if that bitch has two litters a year I'd be very concerned about her health and welfare.

[CornflakeHomunculus]

Have a look at the Doghouse sticky thread, there’s loads of good resources on there.

With regards to this puppy, do you just happen to be the next person on the waiting list or are you the most suitable person on the waiting list for this particular puppy that is now available? Although it seems like the fair thing to do is just move down the list the breeder really should be trying to find the most suitable prospective owners for that puppy’s personality.

[Bubble2bubble]

Two litters a year? From the same bitch?*
Sadly this is the only thing that jumps out at me from this thread :(

[WeAllHaveWings]

2 litters a year and I'm hoping she has multiple bitches (at least 3) for the sake of the mothers. But then she begins to sound like a backyard breeder of designer dogs as where are her bitches that are now too old to breed?

If you haven't researched her and her dogs completely walk away and take your time. The doghouse is a great place to get all the advice you need to do this.

[Rightpivotturn]

You are almost certainly being "played" by this "breeder". Many so called breeders actually are shop windows - they buy pups wholesale from puppy farms and keep a few stunt bitches to parade for purchasers, sometimes even going as far as placing the bitch/pup in a family home to look convincing (i know someone who used to do this). Sadly, very few reputable cockapoo breeders out there - this is a classic puppy farmed cross and an equally classic sales technique.

[SparklingRaspberry]

'Only' two litters a year?

Sorry OP, I think you need to educate yourself on the well being of dogs before actually one and taking on that commitment

If you think 'only' having two litters a year is a good thing then you shouldn't be allowed a dog, sorry

It's not a good thing at all. It's a very very sad, cruel thing and the poor mother will be leading a very sad life.

[CornflakeHomunculus]

Health test wise as a minimum both parents should have current BVA eye tests (these are repeated annually) and have either been DNA tested for (or be verifiably clear by parentage of) prcd-PRA, Degenerative Myelopathy and Macrothrombocytopenia. The cocker parent should also have a current BVA gonioscopy (these are repeated every three years) and the poodle parent should have been DNA tested for von Willebrand Disease Type I.

Those really are the absolute minimum any breeder of cocker x poodles should be doing. Ideally they should be making use of all available tests and screening schemes for both breeds.

If they're doing any breeding back to either parent breed or between two first crosses then it becomes vital that they are doing all available tests.

[Astrosaurus]

Thanks for or all the advice.

Just to be clear I researched this breeder v v carefully. She has 3 bitches and gets two litters a year. She lives in a small village and is friends with my in laws and I know she is 100% not a shop window. A family dropped out from taking this puppy because their son has a broken leg and is wheelchair bound for next six weeks. We were offered first refusal.

I'm going to get some of the books recommended here and a crate etc in the morning. My kids drew a huge welcome home sign today :-)

[Alittlepotofrosie]

I wouldn't take a puppy that was suddenly available.

[Astrosaurus]

Why not? What if you had met the whole litter? We visited two weeks ago because we were with my in laws and breeder invited us so the kids could see the type of puppy they would eventually get.

[Wolfiefan]

So no health tests?
Frequently breeding?
She's not a front for anything. She's a bona fide puppy farmer. Breeding for profit and not for health.

[Bubble2bubble]

Yep. Three bitches constantly breeding. For cash. Nice friend to have. :(

[Astrosaurus]

Where did I say no health tests? The parents have been tested for various genetic disorders (Optigen test) and are all cleave, she has the parent's KC papers, puppies are vaccinated, wormed, microchipped and come with 4 weeks health insurance plus their usual food, a towel that smells of their mum and various other stuff.

[mydogisthebest]

2 litters a year is a lot with only 3 bitches. The breeder of my dog has 3 bitches and doesn't even have 1 litter every year or even every other year

[CornflakeHomunculus]

Optigen don't currently offer all the relevant DNA tests for the two breeds involved so if the only tests done are from them there'll be some missing. They offer prcd-PRA for tests for both and DM for the poodle but not DM for the cocker, Macrothrombocytopenia for either or vWD for the poodle.

There should also be paperwork from the British Veterinary Association; current clear eye tests for both plus a current gonioscopy for the cocker.

If you have their KC names you can look up some of their health test results here on the KC site. I'd also check whether the bitches are also being (or have been) used to produce pedigree litters as well as crosses. It's not uncommon for iffy breeders to either alternate pedigree and cross litters or have as many pedigree litters as the KC will register then swap to producing crosses instead. You need a MyKC account for that but they're free and well worth it.