Labrador Puppy

[revolutionconfirmed]

Hi all. I'm a long time lurker but first time joiner and poster.

I have three young children (ages from 16 months to 4 years) and we've just purchased a gorgeous gold pedigree labrador bitch. She is arriving on Monday and at the moment she is six weeks old. The breeders told us that she has been eating puppy food and drinking whole milk as well as feeding from her mother.

I've had dogs before but this is the first time I've had a labrador and the first time I've had a puppy of my own. What do I need to know? I thought I'd ask here as you all seem to be the most experienced I've read.

Thanks for any answers.

I've checked with the local pet shops and vets and none rent out or lend. I've beeb told to just buy one from a shop :(.

I have however got decent pet insurance with Morethan and the first vaccinations booked for the 10th April.

you are sooooo ready for this dog!!! YOu should start a blog for it. I'd love to know how it all goes as I am so excited about getting our dog in Sept/Oct time and it hasn't even been conceived yet!

A play pen?

Revolution - if you are anywhere near me, I will lend you a cage (in return for copious cuddles with the puppy). I'm near Paisley.

I have an old travel cot that the children no longer use. Would that be ok with old unwanted bedding in the bottom or will she chew right through the mesh?

it would probably last two days!

I expect it'd be fine until Wednesday. Your pup is soooo young - too young to be destructive yet. None of mine have been physically capable of destroying things until a a bit later on.

Warm bedding, a hot water bottle or a wheatie and an old travel cot sounds perfect to me. And it's only for a few days.

i was thinking of going to the charity shops and buying some old bedding to put down that I don't mind ruining for her.

Also considering starting a blog about the puppy ownership adventure with photographs and little tid bits. Was thinking of playing on Marley & Me and calling it Sadie & Me since they're both labs. Lame?

Charity shop bedding sounds like a good short-term plan, but she will dig it up and possibly eat it eventually.
There's a special fleece called VetBed which is completely washable, it's quite expensive but lasts forever. I've got it in the back of the car and floor of the crate.

No - not lame at all - I'd follow that with great pleasure!

One thing we did from the start with our lab puppy was to make her sit and wait until we said 'good girl' before she started her meals. We later expanded that so she will sit and wait for any treat/food until she's told (she's not 100% reliable, but is pretty good). She sits and dribbles like a waterfall, if it is a particularly nice treat.

Oh - and we've used mainly towels and old bedding, with some cheap fleece blankets from IKEA and asda, and they've all survived thus far. The dogs have a padded mat at the bottom of their beds, and the bedding etc on top, so we can take that off and wash it whenever needed.

that's a great idea (the bedding and the blog) It was my idea! We would love it

Can anyone recommend me a good collar and lead please? I imagine that I'd need a smaller collar and then upgrade to a larger collar but what kind of lead is most suitable? Do I ditch the collar idea and go with a harness or does it encourage pulling?

We got a strong fabric collar and matching lead, similar to this one from Pets At Home. A harness does help if the dog pulls.

Would I be doing a disservice training her with a harness and switching to a collar? Would it be better to train her on a collar and lead not to pull from the get go?

I would say it doesn't matter - if she learns to walk nicely without pulling, and you have used a humane, gentle method, then it is the outcome that matters, not the method.

I'm on a deep cleaning mission today to make sure everything is hoovered, swept and mopped and tomorrow is an afvenzure on hands and knees to puppy proof the house.

I have the basics down in bullet points and I'll start her training from day one.

Should I use puppy treats or puppy dry food biscuits as treats to limit her calories?

i cannot wait to see the photos revolutinoconfirmed! You have to post some on here

She arrives Monday evening at around 7pm once the children have gone to bed to give her one night of peace to settle in. I promise that by 8pm there'll be at least one photo of her on here for you all to be jealous of coo over. I say one, I will probably bombard you all!

Re head collars - in an ideal world you will be training her so she doesn't pull on the lead in the first place. I've got two clients (I'm a dogwalker) who both got Labs last summer, I started helping with them in October. One is a joy, the only time he pulls is if something beyond canine endurance happens like a rabbit dashing across only a couple of feet in front of us. The other, despite puppy classes and owner taking 7 weeks off work to settle him in and then only doing part time for another 7, is dreadful - so we resorted to Gentle Leader. (He's really good and well settled in every other way though).

which is a very long-winded way of saying cross that bridge when you come to it!

Do you mean that I should just see how she is on a collar and lead to start with, fussbucket?

Head collars of any sort only mask a problem by making it uncomfortable to pull. Not something I'd recommend for anything. Harnesses are unnecessary.

Start with a lightweight collar - a cat one would do the job. Something that's no more than half an inch wide would be good. Don't get a collar that's too heavy, it will be hard for the pup to get used to. Same goes for a lead. Pets at Home do a long, very lightweight house line which we use - it can be useful for teaching recall as soon as you get her. Our puppy collar is sized for 8 - 12 inches neck size (and I only have labs; it's done all four of them).

Don't let your pup start to pull. It is very easy. She won't have a clue what a collar is or a lead so is just never going to pull at it when you first put it on. She will be more bothered by what she's actually wearing than anything else. I expect there will be lots of sitting down and scratching at it, tbh.

Praise and treat when she walks nicely to one side of you. Don't let her stop and sniff, keep her attention 100% on you by using treats, happy singing voices, her name and which ever command you intend to use. I use 'heel'.

Do that in short bursts a few times a day and she will learn what you expect from her on the lead.

She can't guess at what you want her to do, so for everything you have to teach her. The earlier you start, the easier it will be because she won't have had time to decide for herself what it is she should do.

Don't forget. It's more important for any dog to have a perfect recall, and good heel work THAN ANYTHING ELSE. Sit and stay are handy and absolutely worth learning, but not as important for safety and ease of taking her out and about as the other two.

With those absolutely 100% perfect, you'll have a dog you can happily take anywhere. They are both easily trainable in a week or two if you have no bad habits to correct before you start!