I am getting a labrador puppy in a few weeks and starting to panic....

[NorthernGobshite]

What do I need?
What do I need to know?

Have had dogs in childhood but not as an adult! I know it will be hard work and labs are bonkers.....advice please?!!

*Northern" Is there any chance for you to take at least a week off (better two weeks off) when the puppy arrives? There is a real benefit to be in the house whilst s/he settles. Being away for hours at such a critical time is not ideal (to put it mildly), puppy will pee and poo between your visits and it may make the whole house training process a lot longer I feel. Also, is it possible to at least start house training whilst the puppy is still with your parents?

Are you really planning on getting a puppy while working almost full time away from home?

I am so hoping not. Bemy has put it very mildly indeed but it is far from ideal.

Puppies need company and supervision for the bulk of the day. Taking on such a commitment while planning to start a new full time job out of the house is desperately wrong.

What do you imagine your puppy will do with itself all day, alone at home? It will have just left the security of it's litter mates and mum and be all alone in a strange place. You can't possibly crate it for more than 2 or 3 hours a day at very most. Popping home at lunchtime is so not enough. Labradors need company and companionship and in puppyhood need near constant supervision.

I'm really hoping I misread your post of 19:10. If I didn't, I am deeply shocked your parents as responsible breeders are willing to allow one of their pups to live with you. I don't know of a single responsible breeder who would allow such a thing.

If you have to work nearly full time, now is not the time to take on a lab puppy.

daisy the new job and the puppy sadly coincided. My parents lab is pregnant and they are giving us a puppy. Its not ideal, I agree, but I can't change the timing now. Plenty of people have full time jobs and dogs -"desperately wrong" is somewhat of an overreaction. My parents aren't 'breeders' - they have a lab, and wanted puppies, one time only deal. I asked for advice thankyou, not judgemental attitudes.

bemybebe thank you for advice. I agree, I need to get try and get some time off, and have emailed my new boss to be. Thankfully new job is in academia so summer best time to be off I suppose. Going to try and get a week off or work from home. If not, we will just have to work it out - people do although I appreciate it's by no means an ideal situation. As I said I work locally so will be coming home to walk dog at lunchtime daily anyway once its grown.

I'm confused about vaccination and where I can take puppy when he's not completed all vaccinations. We want to go to see my mum in a very remote area for a week, my aunt has a one year old lab there who is up to date with vaccines and worming etc, can they play together in an enclosed garden if no other dogs have been there? One of the main reasons we want to take him there is to get him used to sheep while he is small.

Northern I would not manage a puppy if working full time. How much time would you spend at home in a typical working day?

Asinine I spoke to vet about vaccines yesterday and they were very helpful so may give them a ring? They said that puppies shouldn't really go out or socialise with other dogs until 1 week after last jab (jabs are at 8 weeks and 10 weeks).

I will be working from home quite a lot once job up and running, work locally for dog walks and will also be employing dog walker for the days I have to be at work all day. Its perfectly manageable once we're past the first few weeks of puppy time. Plenty of peole work full time and have dogs. The dog will get lots of attention and exercise when we're home, it will be a very loved, happy dog.

I also meant to mention that as its school summer hols both me and dh have a lot of time off booked so whilst the first couple of weeks may be tricky we are then around for a lot of summer.

I absolutely agree with daisy. It is not being judgey, it is to save your house and your sanity for years to come. And it is not just about housetraining (now I understand why you may be worried) but early socialization also. Early stuff is just SOOOOO important, talk to rescuers - a lot of their dogs are given up because people cannot cope with bad behavior due to poor socialization.

Just think about it in terms of getting a 3-4 year old toddler (not unreasonable a comparison age-wise). Unless he has proper supervision, it will be so very difficult to teach him social etiquette/boundaries/socialize with other people and dogs and also keep the house in order (unless you really plan to lock him up and this is just bad, bad, bad).

Up until the puppy is about 14 weeks you can take him practically anywhere without it having any fear. After the age of 14 weeks they rapidly develop fear as a defence mechanism, so it will become much harder to socialize. It is a very well established that puppies should experience EVERYTHING they will come in contact with (people, environments, noises, transport, etc) by the age of 14 weeks in order to have the best start in life.

Please follow daisy's link from Tue 26-Apr-11 07:33:46. You will pick up a lot of useful stuff on these posts and you may see that you have to work around your schedule/ involve your parents/friends or neighbours to take shifts to visit your puppy or take it out when a bit older, but basically to give your pup the best opportunity to grow into a confident and well behaved dog.

I really do understand and I am not taking this lightly I can assure you. Its just really bad timing. I am definitely going to book some time off - a week. I have found a great dog walker who does puppy visits and also will have puppies in her home which may be an option after jabs in short term. Until i start my new job I don't know whats expected, how flexible they'll be etc etc.

I am just uspet by the timing and realise that it shit which is why feeling a little sensitive to criticism. I am going from a part time job to full time and when we agreed to puppy I didn't know this.

I will be ensuring that puppy does to classes, socialises, gets lots of stimulation - its not going to just be locked in house all day. Really, I am not an irresponsible person but life is never perfect is it?

Thankyou for all the advice, i will be back here a lot!

There are different schools of thought on jabs. Vet is right from the HEALTH point of view. The full protection from nasty stuff does not kick in until a bit after the last jab, however, a lot of behaviourists still recommend taking the pup out to socialize before the full course of jabs takes full effect. You can either carry it in your hands (the safest approach) or to pick and choose places where the likelihood of waste from sick dogs is minimal (grass in busy communal parks is probably the worst place to go).

Ask your vets for advice regarding taking the pup our earlier then they recommend. They will advise the areas to avoid or if there were any recent outbreaks of diseases (at least that is what my vet done, so we knew where not to go).

Don't forget that our own gardens used by foxes who are the carriers and not vaccinated, so your pup is not 100% safe even in its own home.

Asinine Btw, socialization with any vaccinated dogs is safe for a puppy at ANY stage. If you have friends with dogs and their jabs are in order you do not have to fear anything at all.

Thats interesting bemybebe as want to socialise puppy as soon as possible, and thought had to wait until after jabs.

In terms of how much time commitment you need to think about the puppy requiring (from you, or from someone else) during the day, take a look at this thread

I would say the first 2 weeks were mind-numbing, the next 4 were stressful but survivable, and it was only by the 16 week or so stage that the dog became remotely relaxing to be around.

It certainly was not a case for us of having 1 or 2 weeks dog leave and then going back to work full-time.

I'm not trying to make you feel bad, I'm just trying to offer some recent experience! Is there anyway your parents could hold onto the puppy for a few months longer until he's old enough to be left for a couple of hours, and then you can take some time off to settle him in at yours?

It might have to come to them keeping him/her for a few weeks longer but to be honest they have a few dogs, their dogs have some bad habits which I do not want puppy to pick up so its also not ideal.

Also in earlier post I did say we are home for pretty much most of summer.

Read this www.labradorforums.co.uk/ftopict-77538.html
post on jabs and socialization from a very respected breeder and dog trainer. I trust her 1000%, her dogs are great!

Northern was not meaning to criticise, I have no extended family support locally and my profession is not the type where you could work from home or come home for lunch, so I was saying I couldn't work full time and have a dog. It sounds as though your family are nearby and dog friendly, which will help.

Thanks, bemybebe I was getting confused about vaccination safety versus socialisation. I can take him to plenty of doggy households before he had his jabs then

asinine I didn't take it as a criticism at all . I know not everyone can pop home to do walkies or work from home.

Have just spent ages reading Labrador forums, it's a mine of information, with that and mumsnet I'm already feeling more confident

Do be careful Asinine. It is additive.

Northern I am not judging you - nor am I criticising. You asked for advice, and mine stands. A new lab puppy is very, very demanding and needs company and supervision all the time - I honestly don't think that working full time marries well with those demands - no matter who's thinking about doing it.

The suggestion of leaving the puppy with your parents until you're able to be at home is a good one - I see you're worried about the pup picking up bad habits, but on balance IMO a bad habit is far easier to correct than trying to the possible harm done by a tiny puppy spending too much time on it's own during it's most forming time.

Bemy is absolutely right - socialisation is what makes a solid, bomb proof labrador. Learning how to interact with other dogs, other people, vehicles, motorbikes, cars, horses - all of those things go to forming the dog. That is the dog you'll have for the rest of it's life - bad habits, especially those learned for only a couple of weeks will be very easy to eliminate.

Really, thankyou all. I am sorry for being so snitty, I was getting myself in a tizzy. Thanks to your sound advice we have agreed with my parents that they will keep puppy until it is 12 weeks old, and they will start to house train it. Puppy will arrive just as summer hols start so me and dh are home for 2 full weeks and then most of the rest of the summer

Really thanks....and I now have a splendid list of things to start buying; again, from all your great advice.

What a brilliant solution

I collected my very best dog ever at 12 weeks old - she is honestly rock solid, brave, bold and biddable and the bond I have with her is absolutely incredible. My gundog trainer said to me that the link she and I have is something she has come across only a few times in her 40 odd years of training. Whether that's anything at all to do with the age she was when I collected her is doubtful, but it does prove that it caused us no harm at all!

Labrador puppies are delicious - you'll have so much fun with yours. We seem to have a new one about every three years. Now all you need to do is join labrador forums and think up a puppy name!

I can't overstate how much this thread has helped me go from total paic to complete excitement! thankyou all and sorry for being a huffy sod!!

I do love Mumsnet!