New puppy advice - any tips welcome!

[peterlikesjane]

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Def get a crtae and make it clear to the children that it's the puppys space and it must be left alone when in it. Gives puppy somewhere to escape to and means it is safe when you are not around. Also encourages them to be house trained faster. If possible put it where you intend to put it's bed when it's older so it knows where it's place is.Would also say don't keep too stricter a routine when it's older re meal times as some dogs get noisy if they expect their dinner after yours etc and for any reason you can't. Obv different when they are little and still on several meals a day. What breed is it?

Pet insurance - make sure you get a cover for life policy so that conditions are not excluded after you make any claims for them. Petplan are good, but not necessarily the cheapest.

Vaccines - phone the vets now and check when they vaccinate. It will depend a lot on the brand of vaccine they use, so not all vets will be the same. The usual times for many vets are 6-8 weeks old for the first one and 10-12 weeks old for the second one, but it can be varied from that depending how old the puppy is at the first one too. Also get a decent wormer and flea prevention from the vets - don't waste money on the supermarket stuff.

Puppy food - lots of manufacturers out there - stick with the bigger names and you will not go far wrong. Soft foods/soaked biscuits when young, moving onto biscuit diet only later on as much healthier for teeth longer term. Encourage chewing with rawhide chews and the like, also good for teeth, and get advice from the vet about techniques for tooth brushing. Not always easy in a wriggly puppy but will be well worth persisting with and doing once a day.

Microchip - vet should be able to do at some point. Well worth the money for peace of mind for identification.

Crates are great so yep definately recommend one of those.

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Training - from 12 weeks old for socialisation AND discipline - find a school that does both indoor and outdoor work, obedience training and socilaisation.

cardboard boxes (like cereal boxes - nothing special) - loads of them just lying around and NO other toys (even doggy ones) or else the dog will think that the kid's favourite teddy is theirs.... all hell will break loose!

Erm, sorry but I don't get the no doggy toys....that is silly. So long as you are not using the doggy soft toys then the dog is not going to think that the kids toys are his. There are plenty of other dog toys on the market that are not soft toy like that would be perfectly ideal to use. Infact training them depends a lot upon play - use play to distract them from bad behaviours and allow more appropriate behaviours and praise/reward. If however you only encourage the dog to play with cardboard boxes then the dog will quite possibly develop an unwanted destructive streak, since for the most part that is what a dog would do with a cardboard box.

I guess it all comes down to how you want to train; the above mentioned way would be "our" - well - my mum's/her boss's way and I would go with that due to her boss's 40 yrs experience and behaviourist/obedience qualifications....

Some others think that distraction and fun is the way to go. Others think that food is the way to go - just depends on what you feel is right I guess; much like parenting

I would start socialising straight away. Carry the dog and take it to places where there are either you know vaccinated dogs or to areas without dogs. More important than the vaccine thing. Critical time for socialisation is 8-14 weeks.

Oh and deffo get a crate.

Lots of useful info on labradoodles here.

We have three puppies -
Ask to see the parents if theyre there, and give them a good cheking over - if something isnt quite right with the parents, they pup may not be quite right either - ie, check their eyes and nose for running, redness. Theyre feet, and teeth if you can!!!
Definately get a crate, we have one, it will start the housetraining off right away as dogs dont (tend) to urinate/defecate where they sleep. HOWEVER - we have a Pug, and she seems to think this rule doesnt apply to her!!
GET INSURANCE! All our puppies came with 6 weeks free from Petplan, but then we cancelled them afterwards, and got the cheapest from one of those comparison sights, ours is £7 a month for a male Chihuahua.
I kind of understand the 'no toys' rule, as our female Chihuahua always stole my sons teddies, but nothing more than keeping organised stopped this! e.g - dogs not alowed upstairs, and son doesnt leave his teddies on the floor.
Also, if you know what day you are getting the pup, arrange a vet visit for that day/day after, thats what we did, its just a checkup, but is reassuring. Then you can book their injections whilst your their too.
GOOD LUCK!

Sorry - "Whilst you're THERE too."