New puppy in a month. Does this all sound ok?

[Geometric628]

Very conscious of getting things right. Our puppy will be 10 weeks when we get him (the owner is keeping him longer for us so that I can finish a busy period in work). 10 weeks is ok isn’t it? I know they have a window where they’re adaptable to change.

He’s a cocker/terrier cross. The runt of the litter so very small at the minute. Both parents have good temperaments.

I work part time so our parents are going to come and puppy sit until Xmas when we all have 2 weeks off and then I’m working from home for a month so plenty of time to crack house training.

When I return to work the plan is that puppy will be left for 2-3 hours 3 times a week.

DH will walk him before and after work and I’ll do training and a mid day walk after work.

I haven’t figured out the sleeping arrangements get. Maybe I’ll do a separate thread on that. I’m thinking crate and puppy pad in our bedroom and we’ll take him out when needed. We’ve got a spare bedroom so I’d ideally like him in there in the longer term. Maybe once he’s settled we’d be able to move the crate.

I’d love to hear any tips and tricks.

[Geometric628]

*leaving him for 2/3 hours 3 times a week is the plan but parents are on standby.

[GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman]

10 weeks is fine. We got one of our dogs at about 13 weeks (breeder kept her on request until a mad period has ended) and she was great and generally pretty chilled.

It sounds as if you have thought through. How old will he be when you go back to work? I started leaving my youngest dog for about 2 hours on a regular basis at 7 months and she adapted very well.

[Geometric628]

He’ll be around 5 months. It won’t be a problem for our parents to keep puppy sitting but I’m hoping he’ll be ok to be left for a couple of hours by then.

[Motorina]

It all sounds ideal. My youngest is 8 months now, but she was fine being left that long at that age. And you have a backup plan if not.

[Fallofrain]

All sounds good,

I would recommend starting him sleeping where you intend him to continue to sleep. So id start in the spare room, sometimes hot water bottles (obviously not hot) and clocks can help them settle over the first nights, i would recommend a crate.

I would consider what you christmas plans are, Christmas can be really noisy and excitable so it might be worth adapting it a bit. Eg not having lots of toys on the floor (we had a walking santa thing that overstimulated my puppy), and having eyes like hawks re trees and baubles etc

Try and start as you mean to go on, its really tempting with a puppy to find it cute when they do things like pick up christmas decs, play with baubles, beg, unwrap presents etc however they definately reach an age when you wish that you never let them do it!

[Geometric628]

We’re going to keep Christmas low key this year. I could do with a break to be honest. I always host so missing one year won’t hurt even though I think the in laws will be upset. I’m having grandparents over Christmas morning for drinks and nibbles then it’ll just be dh, DS 10 and pup for the rest of the day. Boxing Day I’ve said we’ll take puppy to my brothers but we won’t stay for food, he’s got young children so it’ll be good for puppy to meet them, we can have a little walk to the green then home again.

I’m not going mad on Christmas decorations this year, just the tree and we usually have a very busy run up to Christmas but I’m not doing any of that either.

We have got a panto booked with extended family but we’ve said one of us will stay at home and dad can take a friend instead.

I’m actually really looking forward to a simple Christmas this year. Eventually puppy will fit into our lives more but it’ll be early days with him so I’m happy to put his needs first.

[Fallofrain]

I would also say to use this time to do house prep. Is there an annoying gap down the side of the fence? Beloved items on the floor?

We foster dogs and go through our house each time before an arrival comes and its amazing how un dogfriendly our house can become! There lots of things we make the conscious decision about to keep but monitor eg an open shoe rack, a soft toy beach hut door stop, however its worth knowing what things to watch out for if puppy is mysteriously absent.

We tend to assume all things on floor are fair game for being nibbled etc so pick up kids toys that are stored, try and make sure straighteners arent stored on the floor etc

Most of the dogs that come in with us really arent bothered by those sorts of things but sometimes the risk out weighs the benefits!

[Fallofrain]

Just seen your response, all sounds well thought out

Its so hard to plan before they arrive because you dont know what their personality is.
Some dogs take things in their stride, others need a bit more support.

If your already thinking about it, then your steps ahead.


Enjoy your new family member!

[Geometric628]

So if I set him up in the spare bedroom with his crate inside a puppy pen with pads down what do we do when he whines and cries? Leave him or go down to him? I really am confused about night time. I got it so wrong with DS, he took 2 years to sleep through and he was in our bed a lot!

[Geometric628]

Fallofrain I’ve gone into a weird nesting mode, I spent the weekend decluttering-did a skip run and charity shop run. The house had never looked so good (and probably never will again!)

Fil is coming this week to put a cat flap in the internal garage door. We’ve got 2 cats so my plan is that the garage will be their safe zone. We’re going to start feeding them in there and put some beds in too. It’s a nice space, it’s integral with the neighbours house next to it so surrounded on all sides so it doesn’t get cold and when the tumble driers on its lovely and warm.

Garden is secure but next door have a dog who sticks his nose through a hole in the fence so we’ll get that blocked off cause he can be a bit yappy when he spies us through it.

[Windydaysuponus]

Have you asked them to use his name? When we got our dpuppy they had used the one we picked and she knew it when we got her home! Made training so much easier imo.
6 on Thursday!

[Geometric628]

That’s a great idea! We’re struggling with the name, we’ve got 2 weeks to choose and then he’s getting chipped.

[acabria]

I would start the puppy off somewhere with hard easy washable floors. e.g. kitchen, utility? There will be lots of accidents. Helps if it is close to the door you want them to toilet out of as you don't get much notice!

I would use a stairgate on that room so you can quickly put him in safely unsupervised e.g. if you have to answer the door/or you want to eat dinner but he can still hear whats going on. Don't leave anything chewable in this room.

You will likely need to sleep next to his crate for the first few nights to reassure him.

Picture?

[Antler728]

He can’t go in the kitchen as the cats are in there at night and we don’t have a utility. My plan was to turn the spare room into a puppy zone, get it cosy in there. It is carpeted so I’ve bought a large wipe down table cloth and a sturdy pen to go on top of it. No idea if that’ll work!

There’s room in there for an air bed so we could try that rather than have the crate in our room.

[Antler728]

Sorry I’ve name changed (that is me in the post above)

[CakeAndGin]

We got ours at 10 weeks and did a combination of annual leave and working from him for 5 weeks and then the dog walker came in during the day. During that we did a lot of work on making sure she didn’t get separation anxiety by putting her in her crate while doing housework, then putting her in the crate grabbing the keys but not going out, putting her in the crate and going out for a short time. Mixing it up so she doesn’t expect that going in the crate means we’re leaving. We still use the crate (it’s open all day and she’s free to roam now) when we have someone in to work on the house so she isn’t in the way or begging for attention. Use kongs and lick mats to keep him occupied in the crate. You don’t need to use the expensive (and fattening) kong treats, use mashed up banana, shredded carrot and dog food. Don’t worry about mixing banana with dog food 🤢 the stinkier and more gross, the more interesting it is for your dog.

We crate trained and we put the crate where we wanted it to be but she didn’t settle well the first night. We had to move the crate upstairs next to the bed and then gradually move it away to the living room. We let her cry for a while and when to check on her, she’d got so upset that she’d dirtied her crate. But then to cut her crying when she just wanted attention was hard. Just be prepared to have a few sleepless nights at first and be adaptable with your training based on your dog’s personality.

Training - the sooner you get him to training the better. Start researching training places near you, ask if you can go along and check out the class before you get pup. Until he can go for walks outside, put the lead on him and walk him around the garden. Get him used to being on the lead. If you feed him dry food, use some of his food as training treats as the first few months you treat every time they do something right.

I have a dog walker and I know you will only be working a few days a week but if you can swing it financially I’d recommend getting one in, even if just for a day every other week. I really believe that ours is so well behaved because she has to take commands from someone else and has to walk nicely with the dog walker. I think it’s also great for her because she gets socialisation that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to provide. She meets a lot of different dogs, some playful and some nervous, and she’s had to learn her doggy manners with different dogs.

[CakeAndGin]

Oh and look for alternative to the hot water bottle, like a heat lamp or microwave pad. We had a hot water bottle and I had an accident with it and scolded my shoulder really badly.

Wrap the heating pad in an old T-shirt from you and the rest of the family and leave that in the bed with dog. Also get a blanket from the breeder with the litter smell on and put that in the bed too. If your dog is struggling to settle, just accept it’ll be a bit stinky for a few weeks until you can throw the T-shirt’s and wash the blanket.