Am I mad?

[LittleMilla]

Today we have said yes to a yellow lab puppy, little boy.

I have got two sons (3 & 10mo) and work 4 days a week. DH has very flexible work and will be working from home early in then taking him to work. We also have a nanny who will be around with boys every day but don't want to rely on her. She'll just be the backup.

We've spoken for ages about getting a dog but this has literally all happened in the last five days. A breeder friend of my aunt was let down last min and so we've decided to go for it!

DH and I just joked that we're trying to cram 9 months of prep in to four days! DH grown up with dogs so feeling very relaxed but I'm nervous!

It's not a very light-hearted topic though clam is it? Unfortunately it could be a stressful and devastatingly sad time for the OP if it doesn't work out.

Anyway, OP, some practical tips:

• look into training now, some places have a long waiting list or the summer courses may have already started. Do you know the difference between puppy classes and beginner's training?
• how old will be the puppy when it arrives? If you can only focus on one thing, focus on socialisation.
• in terms of training, given life with children, bite inhibition, not jumping up and walking on lead (walking a pulling pup with a buggy while supervising a 3yo can be a challenge!), sound like good priorities. I always work a lot on recall asap as I think a dog without a good recall can't be off lead which causes a lot of other problems so see if you can add this to your list.

Best of luck!

Well we've got him home - called him Digby (rhymes with our surname and lots of people jokingly suggested it for boys' names!).

He's been fab for the few hours we've had him. 1.5 hour car journey from breeder and he slept almost entire way with no accidents. Played hard for a bit with boys then ate some supper and is now sleeping in the utility room whilst DH pops up second stair gate!

Pup is just 8 weeks and last of the litter to go. Had a couple of nights with just mum so hoping tonight isn't too painful. Expecting some sleepless nights though!

Ds1 is in love. Ds2 isn't that fussed but pup sees him as the same as him I think so we need to keep an eye.

Will keep you posted if anyone is bothered .

X

We need pictures you know? It's the law.

You might have an ok night, I was expecting sleepless nights when I picked up our pup at 8 weeks old but didn't hear a peep out of him all night and never had an accident during the night either. I, on the other hand, had to stop myself going downstairs and checking he was still breathing!

Will add some pics when on computer vs phone. He's gorgeous.

So two nights in now and he's been wonderful, not a peep either night. He's pooed both mornings but I wouldn't expect him not too tbh 10-6.30 is a long time!

We're getting him in garden after every nap and he's done everything out there today - all 6 poos !

I'm currently pinching myself, he's being that great. Hear that laid back puppies often become mental adolescents and so not counting any chickens .

Really happy and loving him

I've just popped up a picture of the sleeping pup. For anyone that is interested...!

He is beautiful, all squidgy and gorgeous. Enjoy him, they grow up,< looks at puppy aged 10 months and all legs>, still adorable though.

He's lovely - so glad it's all going well what's his name?

I would have to call him Digby dumpling, mine is nicknamed mcsquidgyknickers, no idea why, but he does answer to it.

Enjoy him, this is what he will end up as! And you will enjoy him all over again!

Your puppy picture is lovely, hope he's still settling in well. I'm sooo jealous and would love another lab pup, a lot of hard work and worth it in the end (when will we get to the end?), but didn't realise how much insurance, good food, advocate etc etc would cost every month. Here's our gorgeous boy at 14 months old now.

If I had to give anyone advice on a dog it would be good food for good poos, lots of exercise, start recall training asap (total recall is a brillant book) and keep introducing them to new experiences and places. Get them used to playing with other dogs so they learn social skills. Will be very impressed if your DH goes to and keeps up the training, dh dropped out of training after every place we went to there were NO men (maybe we were just unlucky), also went to an agility show last weekend and every handler we saw was a woman too!

LittleMilla we did the same: talked and talked about it till one day we went out for lunch and came back with a yellow lab puppy (now nearly two). We are all a bit spur of the moment (albeit after a lot of pondering). Puppy stage hard for me because of the amount of time you have to be with him. Everything else was fine. Ours was, and is, very well behaved (or I am a great trainer) and hardly chewed, three accidents, doesn't jump etc. you need to put the time for training and the whole family needs to be firm. He won't even eat the cat food despite the bowl being full on the floor the whole time.
Since then we added a second cat and three hens. The dog can be left with the hens in the garden he is so good.
Tis the best thing we've done for the children, they never fail to tell us how much they love him - nothing beats growing up with animals around.
Now I want a German Shepherd... DH says no. Watch this space.

And keep us updated pls.

He's gorgeous! Glad to hear it's all going well - enjoy him!

Aw he's gorgeous. The image of my yellow lab boy when he was a baby.

Hope you're enjoying him, although if my memory serves me correctly puppies are flipping hard work. Little teeth chewing everywhere.

Very envious OP.

Ahhhhh, loving the pictures. What absolutely beautiful dogs you have!!

He was already sitting well so we've carried that on and focused on recall (which he's getting very well) and also stay.

Reading puppy books and I'm keen for training but a friend of ours (with the most beautifully behaved fox red lab) has said that they didn't bother and if you have a good dog you're putting time in to there's no need. I'm not convinced but would appreciate thoughts from others.

Also, it's quite a challenge training when you've got a 3 year old echoing every command in a big boy three year old voice. Very sweet but I fear that its going to make things a little harder!

Last thing, whilst he's not touching the boys' toys (for now) he's eating the entire garden. This feels quite normal and I'm not that fussed tbh but is this wrong? Should I be stopping him eating grass etc???

Thanks

Ps put another snap up

No let him eat grass. I think (based only on having three dogs with small DC's until the present one, so feel free to ignore me) you need to train, train and then train some more. A well behaved dog doesn't come about by chance but is the result of hard work and time.
I'm off on a three hour social training walk with my 10 month old border collie on Sunday because I want a well trained dog. Like most things, you get out what you put in.

Grass is OK, but be careful what else he eats - our lab ate gravel at that age! He still can't be let out in the garden alone as he will eat anything vaguely organic - sticks, cat poo etc.

Personally I would do the class, there's always something to learn from it even when you go to one like ours where the trainer was crap!

Training classes are a must! Aside from getting the dog used to working alongside other dogs, you need to learn training techniques and you'll get a lot of help with specific issues.

A puppy should go to two types of class:

• asap to a puppy socialization class. This class will be solely for puppies 14wks and under and will accept puppies who have no completed their vaccinations. There should be opportunities for puppies to play with each other but they should be well managed, e.g. small groups of same size, age and temperament are left off the lead together while supervised by the trainer. There will also be chances for everyone to touch and pet the puppies (again well supervised), and there will be discussions on common problems and a bit of training (e.g. not jumping up) as well as socialisation (e.g. introducing puppies to people with hats, umbrellas, prams, etc)

• as soon as vaccinations are done to a basic, family pet obedience class which covers things like a 'leave it' command, teaching the puppy its name, sit, down, walk on lead nicely and recall.

Avoid anyone who talks about dominance, packs, alpha dogs, choke collars, scrufing, hitting, etc. Look for someone for uses positive reinforcement methods, so all you need is a clicker and food. Children can also easily pick up on these training methods. My DD has been 'training' the dogs since she was 18mo (avoid using words in your training just now other than the puppy's name and your recall command - first you want the reliable behaviour, then you name it). You should then have a clicker and some treats with you all the time so you can reward little and often all the good behaviour through-out the day.

If you aim for something like the KC Gold award it takes about two years of training, but for that effort you get a lovely, well behaved dog!

Oh he's lovely but then is there anything cuter than a lab puppy? I really don't think there is :o

The right classes are vital for socialisation with other dogs. However good a dog and fantastic trainer you are.

Re grass eating be aware of lung worm and speak to vet about it in your area.

Booboosto two years of training for KC Gold award blimey I get all my dogs through before they are 8 months old and hit the teenage years

Fair enough mutty that's wonderful! I find though that most first time dog owners take a bit longer not least of all because most people go to one 8 week class and then take a break before doing the next one. I am not in the UK so I don't have the KC exams but for me it takes about a year to have a dog where I want it but I think it does become faster the more dogs you have. I also do find that it is a mistake for most people to do one class and then assume their dog is trained - a bit like thinking your child has finished with her education because she graduated from primary school.

Training classes are brilliant. They provide lots of socialisation with other dogs (and dog friendly people), a chance to get them doing what you need with lots of distractions around (so there's more chance they'll do what you want them to out on a walk) and, most importantly, they tire them out!

It's a lot of mental stimulation and at 12 weeks or 12 months, shattering them and having 'homework' exercises to do daily (they take 2 minutes) that can occupy them when they get bored or overexcited is seriously useful. It's also something that everyone in the house can get involved with.

I would say having a food motivated dog helps a lot but as you have a Labrador ...

Thanks all. Showed dh this thread and told him he's going to do the training so tough!

Ah, he's doing SO well. Recall is going brilliantly, we can even get him to stop what he's doing (fun stuff like digging up the flower beds ) and come back. Also starting to get him to staaaaay - we can take up to 5/6 paces away from him.

On the whole treats thing I wanted to know if it's an absolute must? Whilst he likes them, he'll almost do more for a belly rub! Is it something that might change over time?

What kind of treats are you using? Most dogs can take or leave the commercially produced ones - we use tiny bits of hot dog, chicken, ham, cheese, chorizo etc

Last week at training we had a doggy pick'n'mix treat bag with cheese, ham and dpup's v smelly fishy kibble and all the other dogs were making a bee-line for it

Having said that, dpup is not that food-oriented - he'll work for food for a while but he will do anything for a tennis ball, but then he's not a Labrador ...

If he'll do it for a belly rub that's fine! If you are worried about over feeding , you can hold back part of any dry food he gets and use that as treats over the course of the day. There was a dog at one of the training classes I've been to that wasn't bothered by food or play (playing with a toy with you can be a reward.) The trainer was fine with the owner making a fuss of the dog instead.

I do think clicker training where you do eg 5 repetitions of sit, treat in a couple of minutes might be easier with treats but they're not essential.