Collecting puppy today

[groovejet]

After years and years of wanting a dog DH & I have decided that this is the right point in our life to add one to our family.

Have researched breeds and visited puppies before finding our match.

So today we are picking up Flynn a black & tan cavalier. He is 14 weeks old and has already been using a crate and he is lovely.

Have read many threads on here about how difficult it can and likely will be so am prepared for the worst :)

So this will be my thread for Flynn and a place for me to come to to ask questions and to share our experiences of adding a puppy to the mix.

dont expect to get a lot done bar cuddling for the next few days, and you have a few sleepless nights ahead, however unlike babies it passes very quickly. :) enjoy and we will have photos later please.

how exciting for you. Wonderful that he is cratetrained already. Is he housetrained too? Now that would be a bonus! Yes, pictures would be a must for MN

My aunt brer Cavaliers and won at Crufts, so I know this breed well- absolutely charming little dogs, so easy and family friendly - and what a great name!

He is trained to paper so will have the issue of training him to go outside, no doubt many disrupted nights and accidents to clean up.

My bil has 2 Cavaliers which helped us make the decision to have one for ourselves, his are both friendly happy little dogs and my children are used to them.

Choosing a name was worse than naming either of our girls :) Am sure there will be plenty of photos.

Off to have a family morning, breakfast at F&B and crazy golf to make the most of spare time then picking Flynn up on our way home :o

Best dogs ever.

Exciting! My tip is to attach a bell to the back door, and every time you go in the garden for toilet get his paw and ring it. They very quickly get the idea to ring it if they want to go out, which is brilliant. Wish I did it with my old dog who just stared at the door until it majically opened!

What a brilliant idea! I've also got a dog who relies purely on my mind reading ability.

Well we made it home, Flynn is not so keen on the car and ended up soiling his travel crate so had to give him a bath when we got home. Luckily he seems used to this.

Had a few issues getting him to go into his new crate, barked and whined for about 10-15 minutes and is now sleeping. Not too bad for a first day in a new home.

He has been very mouthy at home, not sure if we are doing right but we just say no, remove our hands and then stroke him & praise when he calms down again.

Going to be a long settling in period for us all, thankfully one set of neighbours is a dog owner so she will be fine with any noise.

Will try to get some photos on tomorrow, he is very fast and had to photograph! :o

Please get him insured ASAP. It doesn't "kick in" for up to 10 days, so do it now and then all will be ok. It is worth EVERY penny!!

awww such lovely dogs

The mouthing will probably go on for a while, but yes you are doing the right thing, a firm but not loud no, and ignore him, i wouldnt praise until later though as he will associate the mouthing with praise and it will become a bit of a cycle.

Persist with the car too- it really does pay off to get them used to it.

Yes will be sorting out the insurance tomorrow, he comes ith the 4 weeks insurance but want to get our own sorted.

Have run intpo one issue he does not like the lead, not sure how that will work when we have to take him out in the night? Have some paper on standby as that is what he is used to.

Positive stuff - we have shown hime one of the cats very very briefly, dh held Flynn whilst I held the cat. Flynn didn't make a sound the cat gave him a quick hiss and is now snuggled on my lap in the kitchen. Making sure I am giving the cats plenty of fuss and love as well as Flynn

So strange but lovely to have a dog in the house, am hearing the rest of them laughing in the lounge with him.

They never like the lead at first- it takes a bit of getting used to. You can buy very light fabric ones for puppies, and let them trail it round the house for a while under your supervision, then pick it up etc etc. with treats and praise, of course. I'm looking forward to some pictures!

Well first night with Flynn went well.

He spent an evening playing, he seems to love playing fetch with a cuddly toy then at about 10 he went into his crate and lay down. So we went upstairs had the crate in our room and apart from a couple of whimpers no noise or accidents until 6am. Am sure that is down to part of him being one tired out puppy but he is clearly used to going into his crate at night.

Dh took him outside with no joy (Flynn a bit more tolerant of lead today) and then he came in and went on some paper so will take plenty of work to get him out of that habit.

Thanks for the help re mouthing, letting him run around with the leash, idea of bell by the door for toilet (will have to raid loft for christmas jingle bells).

Cats are giving me their best look, strangely it is my quieter cat who is more interested in Flynn the bossy one is giving me the cold shoulder. Lots of fuss for them and even some wet food, usually restricted to christmas and medication times :)

Glad your first night went well - hope he has a good first full day at home too

Think I have a couple of photos now on profile - sorry for poor quality he is very difficult to photograph and only taken on phone.

you need to make your profile public :)

^^ yes do, I need a new puppy fix :)

Oops sorry, profile now public.

can't see any pics. I don;t think you have made it public yet!

too cute!!!! :)

Aah, he's gorgeous!

2nd night also went well woke up ealier but that is down more to dd2 being an early riser and likes to wake up singing.

Have tried him on a puppy harness as advised by our pet shop and he is much much happier to be walking. DH took him for a quick stroll to the park next door he walked very nicely and met another dog which went well.

He is being very good and a fast learner, he is learning off for when he jumps up, sit & stay, bed for his cate and drop.

Toileting still on paper but we did have one success outside!! Lots of praise for him and hopefully he will start to pick it up gradually.

I do feel shattered hard going puppy and children in the house all at once but they go back to school next week so we should be able to get into a nice routine.

Vets tonight to have him checked over and to sign up for the puppy classes they do.

Yes it is hard work isn't it? I got my pug in the school holidays last year and remember after a few days wondering what I'd done! Once you can be reasonably sure on the toileting I think it gets easier. I spent a couple of weeks living in the kitchen, and of course although my kids love the dog, they too had a period of adjustment. Their response to this was to run in the lounge and shut the door before the dog got there. Little gits :o

one thing we found very useful was teaching our dog to wee on command. we just waited till he was weeing anyway (outside!) then told him to go weewee (or whatever!) so now if hes on a long journey pit stops are very quick and it came in very useful when we took him to crufts!