Puppy crash course: The Basics. What do I need to know?

[DoeEyedBeauties]

We are looking to get a puppy soon-ish. Not in a rush but just waiting to see what comes about (not paying, but rescuing).
My husband and I have both had dogs growing up, but in each instance, they have always been the parents dog or their 'baby', IYSWIM. So while we have interacted with them, the day to day caring/training etc. of them was left to the parents.
So, for all you lovely people who have had puppies: What do I need to know that you learned the hard way? Any tips or resouces you found helpful? Any must have items?
Thanks!

Are you at home full time? A puppy will need to go out pretty much once an hour to get the house training off to a good start.

Where's the puppy going to sleep? If it's not with you be prepared for disturbed nights.

Do you have kids? How old are they? Be prepared for nipping, my first dog was a horribly nippy puppy, she has very good bite inhibition now.

Sign up for classes and do lots of positive socialisation.

There is so much to think about I would read a few books that cover it all. Personally I found the Dogsey website helpful and informative.

Puppies are a big responsibility but the best fun!

Thanks Mother.
I'm a SAHM with a 3 yo and a 2yo. So could be there during the day.
Am definately going to classes and socialisation classes.
I assume you have the puppy sleep in a crate in your room if you don't want them to sleep in your bed? Yes, No?
When and how do you lead train them? I'd like to be able to bring the puppy along with me on the pre-school run.
How do you socialise the pup with cats, or do you let them work it out for themselves?
Can you teach the puppy not to nip human fingers? If so how?

My first dog (Mini Schnauzer) slept in the kitchen in her crate and settled in really quickly, subsequent 2 have always slept on my bed with me and DH (they are Affenpinschers so quite small) but I know this isn't everyone's cup of tea! So you just need to decide where the puppy is going to sleep and a crate is great idea where ever that happens to be. It's likely to settle easier if it's near you but I know that isn't practical for everyone.

You need to get the puppy used to a collar and lead in the house and garden before you venture out and I would have reservations about the school run as it can be a very busy, over stimulating, over exciting time while you're trying to get the puppy into good lead habits. Also what will you do with it when you have to take the kids in? Leaving a puppy tied up outside is not a good idea.

No idea about cats, don't have one.

You can teach a puppy not to nip, depends a lot on the individual I think, I've had one chronic nipper and 2 not so much. But with the age your kids are it's very much a 2 way thing - you are going to have to be extremely vigilant about them being gentle with the puppy, the love of a 2 year old can be an uncomfortable experience!

Any idea of what breed/cross you might get?

Good info there!
As we are pretty set on it being a rescue, we will see what comes along. Sadly, there seems to be a lot of choices lately. Looking for a medium sized one, good with kids, cats and doesn't need intense mental stimulation.

How long do you reckon I should wait until it can come on the school run with us? How long on average does it take to have a lead trained, mostly well behaved dog providing you do the right things in training, classes, etc?

How long is a piece of string? Some dogs behave beautifully from the word go, others dont!

I'd wait until you have a dog that can walk nicely without pulling and tolerates being fussed by strangers but you'll still have the issue of what to do with the dog while you walk the kids in. I think it's asking a lot of a dog to put up with being mauled by every passing toddler while tied to a railing or similar. And that's apart from the risk of it being stolen.

I like Gwen Bailey so I'd buy or borrow something like this I had this Ian Dunbar book which is good, but really a bit too Gina Ford for me!

I'm so excited for you! I am seriously broody for a puppy and keep having to remind myself that 3 dogs is quite enough, 3 dogs is quite enough, 3 dogs is quite enough...

Thanks M! Will be adding those books to my list.
Funny enough, I'm more excited about this prospective puppy than another child! thats why DH is having the snip soon

We have a 19 week old pup and she is a joy. We also have a 3yo and a 4yo.

Cocoa sleeps in a pen (about 2 sq m) in the kitchen/diner and has done since her first night. She had a small plastic car crate with a cozy mattress (door off) in her pen that she used as a bed and loved. Small pups like the safety. We used a microwave heat pad and a heart beat thingy (link below) wrapped in a blanket from her mum at night.
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005KJ08TY/ref=oh_details_o05_s03_i00
She has slept through the night from the first night. She used to wake about 6.30 for the toilet but now we need to wake her and sometimes she point blank refuses to get up.

I take her on the school run once a week as its over an hour round trip and knackers her (vets recommend 5 mins walk for each month of life twice a day).Either I wait with her at the gate and a friend picks up my son or I go round and a friend waits with Cocoa. There are lots of mums with dogs and we help each other out (last week I had Cocoa, Skye (5mo lab) and Vhari (1 year old border terrier) all at the gate waiting patiently barking and howling for their owners.

I have used clicker training (search kikopup on you tube) from the start and Cocoa can do sit, lie down, leave it, spin, retrieve, paw and although she will have a go at jumping up her feet hit the floor when you tell her down.

Lead work is ongoing as its one of the hardest things to train as the world is exciting. We are at the end of a 7 week puppy training course and to be honest the you tube videos were more useful training wise but it has been valuable for her to meet other under control pups (also its like a mother and toddlers for pups).

My most valuable thing at the mo is a 10m training line (clips onto harness and pup trails it so you can grab it if you need to) www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004W78JLO/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i01.

Its like reigns for a dog, I am 99% sure that she won't run off but it makes me feel better and less stressed.

That was very long and I could add more. I'm quite into this puppy lark at the moment!

I read this
www.dogstardaily.com/files/BEFORE%20You%20Get%20Your%20Puppy.pdf
I took some ideas like the pen and plastic crate and chew toy stuff but not other. We didn't put her in the crate because she was paper trained when we got her and so she if she was in her pen she'd come out of her crate and pee on her paper.

I have done 121 course and am due to finish second group class next week. I have kept up to date with all the "homework" but it does tend to be me and my dd that do it all I am rather disappointed that this week his recall completely failed when he chased a very grumpy (I don't really blame the man) jogger. Have now found a man in surry who is ex police dog trainer and has classes so am going to give him a ring. I love dog dearly but really really need him to be good as I am a childminder and even though my clients were in full agreement of me getting him I need to show he is well behaved. Gosh I think having children is much easier lol

Thanks guys! This is all useful stuff. Keep it coming!

I think a big one is please don't expect too much, too soon from a puppy. They have no idea that they're not to wee on the rug, pull on the lead, dig up our flowers or jump up to say hello. These things, although not particularly hard to teach a dog, need constant reinforcement and that takes time. To give you an idea, my boy is now coming up to 1- he walks beautifully to heel, sits to say hello, is very well mannered at home and (mostly!!) a perfect gent when out walking. However- I've been taking him to training classes 2x a week for 8 months, as well as about half an hour a day on training bits, usually when Im cooking tea or bathing DCs! It doesn't come easy, and its lovely that he's so good, but a lot of time had been invested. I always find it sad when people make out their pups are 'naughty' or 'stubborn' for exhibiting certain behaviours, when in reality they haven't been show what's the correct way to behave.

If you want reading material, try Don't shoot the dog by Karen Pryor, in defence of dogs by John Bradshaw and the culture clash by jean Donaldson. Also the many threads re clicker training! Should be enough to get you started...

Also I don't take my dog on the school run- he'd have to be tied up outside, I'm not comfortable with it. Agree it can be over stimulating for a young puppy.