Can an 8 week old puppy go in the garden?

[MissScarlett]

I've had conflicting advice on this. We don't have any other dogs but we do get foxes where we live. What do you think?

fine, if really worried go out with it and make sure no fox poo etc in garden, but should be fine - best to get toilet training sorted anyway, highly recommend skipping the paper inside stage and going straight to taking puppy out every half hour, after food, after sleep, after play etc etc and praising when perform - else you are just going to ahve to re-train them to go outside in a few weeks! does mean you ahve to get up in the night but well worth it in my opinion!
waht sort of puppy do you have?
good luck x

She's a mix - her mum's a posh pedigree springer spaniel but her dad's a mystery! Our best friends little 2 year old spaniel was knocked up by one of the local mongrels - very Lady and the Tramp!

Not sure about the training yet, we just brought her home tonight and she's a bit scared, she did a wee on a puppy pad by the back door just by chance and I did praise her but she looked a bit worried. I think I may well try taking her out every half hour - I like the thought of no poo in the house.

We always let our 2, think it's just where other dogs go before the 12 week jabs.

before she has her jabs it is great to still take her out for walks etc just not let her walk - we put ours in rucksacks on our front - the early you can get her used to the noise of cars, dogs, ducks, birds, fuss from people etc the better we sat ourside sainsburys with our puppy, they get lots of fuss which is fab Also with our nervous collie we regularly sit outside the shops with a pack of ham and ask random people to give him a piece, helps him not be so scared of people

Good luck!! also for the poo thing - we train ours a command word - we use 'be quick' but friends use 'go sniff' - so when they go outside tell them to be quick and when going say be quick etc, now ours mostly go on the command! helps before going out etc!

Also have you thought about a crate? needs to be little to start with (else they pee one and and have bed as one end) - our puppy goes in over night and when we are out - can take some training etc but lots of info online - ours are covered with blankets and are their beds - they love their crates!

Good point fairimum, make sure it's a sensible command word, unfortunately we ended up with 'wee wee' which is just silly, but now we're stuck with it!! Tsk, in-laws started that.

I have been letting my pup out in the back garden and she has been fine! She is old enough for her first walk today (went around the block, and she is now sleeping soundly!)

Have also been socialising, by carrying her around various places!

Would really recommend a crate-puppy loves it and uses it for some "quiet time" when she wants to get away from the children (or me }.

Also got the Perfect Puppy book by Gwen Bailey (?) which i saw recommended on another thread and it has lots of good tips in it!

Good luck!

good advice from fairmum

crates rock - very handy as when they are older they welcome a bit of crate down-time (particularly handy on holiday/ travelling). Also gets them dry overnight (though be fair on the little mite - i slept next to mine so if he woke up and yelled, I'd hear and let him out)

i'd also not allow little kids to play with it (except very nicely) as they can over-excite each other. puppy & toddler = two unhappy babies.

there are of course several dog-specific forums for more bitter disagreements discussion of training issues!

Thanks everyone - love the idea of taking her out in the rucksack!
My children are 4 and 7, both reasonably sensible so far....
While I'm here, I just wanted to ask what MN-ers think of this plan - because I'm at home with the kids and my partners wages aren't great, we get help from the council with our rent which would allow us to use the PDSA.

We felt a bit weird about choosing to have a puppy and then not paying for it, so before we got her, we had a serious look at our finances, found a good insurance policy (with Tesco - costs about £15 per month)and saved up some money in a special account for her vaccinations and other unforeseen stuff.

Anyway, I was speaking to a friend and she suggested registering with the PDSA instead of a private vet and getting our treatment (including vaccinations) with them for free, and setting up a £15 a month Direct Debit ongoing donation thing with the PDSA instead of paying the £15 to Tesco. What do you think?

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