New puppy - day 2

[Notrusthere]

Hi all

We picked our golden retriever boy up yesterday. He's so beautiful and we are all completely in love with him.

At first he seemed quite nervous (understandable!) But has now come out of his shell a bit more.

So here's how it's going so far:

Good points:
He's very calm with visitors, we've had a few today and he played nicely.
He met his first dog friend and was fab
Getting on well with the cat
Adores my Child
He's a sweetie and loves a cuddle

Not so good stuff!

Last night started badly. My plan was to pop him in his crate next to the sofa and sleep on sofa. He went mental!! Trying to dig his way out and screaming. I caved and got him up 9n sofa with me for ten minutes. I then realised this was silly and wouldn't help him in the long run, so put him back in his crate and went upstairs. He cried a lot for 20 minutes and then was quiet.
I got up at 4 this morning (had set alarm for 2.30 but slept through it☹) and he was fine! No accidents in crate 😁

He's a humper! My son seems to be the main target so far. Any ideas how to reduce this?

He's a chewed. I'm ok with that, pretty sure I know how to handle it.

So much socialization has left him pretty tired so he's slept a lot this evening. Doesn't bode well for tonight!

Any thoughts on what I could be doing better? And how to handle tonight?!

(By the way I've had a puppy before...I just seem to have forgotten everything!!)

[Notrusthere]

*chewer

[ilikemethewayiam]

awww he sounds adorable and all very normal to me! We had a yellow Lab from a baby and she chewed until 2 years old! Normal. Goldies are love bugs but incredibly greedy! Very food motivated so in that sense easy to reward good behaviour! It sounds as if you are pretty confident and are doing the right things. Enjoy!

[Notrusthere]

Thanks you ilikeme - think I just need confirmation that it's going ok and I'm doing the right thing.

I feel like I've got a new born. I'd really love it of people were cooking me meals to pop in the fridge as I haven't got time or energy to cook 😅 I also haven't got dressed today.

[BorderlineExperimental]

If you're on FB I'd highly recommend joining the group Dog Training Advice and Support. In their 'Files' section there's an excellent collection of articles/guides called 'Congratulations on Your New Puppy' which covers pretty much everything you need to know, including crate training and how to manage bed time.

[Notrusthere]

Thank borderline 😊

[missbattenburg]

How old?

If he's just a few weeks old then the humping is more likely play/excitement linked. Reduce those and you should reduce the humping. Humping stops play ;)

Crying a lot for 20 mins then being quiet sounds bloody brilliant. Expect a bit more crying tonight but it should go quiet quicker and quicker each time.

Socialisation - be careful here. The dog needs calm happy or neutral experiences with as much as possible. What he doesn't need is to think anything outside the house is exciting (e.g. other dogs) or to get stressed by anything. Better no experience than a stressful one. Don't let talk of socialisation windows etc make you panic and rush him into anything he is fearful of. You have loads of time.

Puppies need about 18 hours of sleep so don't worry about lots of sleep in the day meaning he won't sleep at night.

Take videos. Lots of videos. He will be small for about 3.5 minutes and soon he will be all grown up and you will want to look back on his puppyish behaviour .

Enjoy him .

[Notrusthere]

Thank you missbattenburg 😊

He had first vaccinations today. They do 3 lots so he can go walking on pavements in 3 weeks. Which is different to how it was with my last puppy (10 years ago!) But No stagnant water or where lots of dogs go for 5 weeks.

He's currently having evening zoomies! Oh the joys 🙈

Any suggestions for the car? he went in boot in his crate and cried all the way there (5 minute journey) my last dog was terrible in the car and it made life really stressful. I'd like to avoid the same again if possible

[Notrusthere]

*there, being the journey to the vets

[missbattenburg]

Re the car - here's what I did with Battendog and he is brilliant in the car...

For the first couple of journeys he travelled on the lap of someone in the front seat.

Then for the next week or so we went out every single day. He was in a travel box on the back seat and someone sat next to him with their arm inside the crate (jammed in through the slightly open door) to comfort him.

Then a few journeys with the travel box door shut and someone sat next to him. So, no arm wedged into the box. Again, aiming for something every day - even if it's just a few mins.

Then I took him out alone - on the back seat diagonally opposite from the driver so I could reach back and comfort if needed. Lots of talking and reassurance. Occasionally I would drop a tiny treat into the box.

Then without any comfort.

I once tried putting the travel box in the boot and he howled. I think because he couldn't see out/me. I moved him back to the back seat pronto.

As soon as he was big enough to see over the back seat (and too big for the crate) he went into the boot with a guard up. He was fine right from the off. I think he just needed to be able to see me.

I would do exactly the same again with another dog, because he is so good in the car.