We are getting a Golden retriever puppy this week. Any top tips.

[Ohheavens]

Finally after a long wait we are collecting our golden retriever puppy this week.

DH had a dog when he was young but as a family we have never had one..

Any top tips for Golden retrievers would be very welcome.

Thanks in advance,

They are like sharks in puppy suits. Everything goes in their mouth and they can be very nippy/growly/bouncy all at once when excited. It is not aggression but it can be annoying especially with young kids.

Some will say to make a high pitched yelp and turn away when they nip but that just made mine worse. I spent a long time either shoving a toy in her mouth or just walking away. She completely stopped this at around 7 months and has never done it since.

Too many people think goldens come pretrained as a perfect family dog and are shocked by their cute pup turning into a wild beast doing laps around the living room, nipping legs and running off with underwear.

Mine still runs off with underwear.

Most are food crazy so use this to help with training and with hoovering the floor. Will you be going to puppy classes?

My girl is 6 now is is (almost) perfect. Good luck with yours!

Join the group 'Dog Training Advice and Support' on Facebook and have a read of their files. Loads of great stuff.

Basically everything canidae said. I had probs with jumping/nipping with my boy till he was around 9 months.

Are you getting a dog or a bitch? If it's a dog please don't get him neutered at 6 months because it's the done thing. Research is proving that the earliest goldens should be neutered is 18 months. This is due to the affect hormones have on the growth plates. There's a study done (which I can't find right now) but please do your own research on this.

My boy is almost 2.5 now and the gentlest thing ever (although recall is still a work in progress!)

helga ,dodgy recall but can read a newspaper , clever dog!

I had typed out a reply which didn't post for some reason so I typed it out again. In the original I had included a bit about how goldens are VERY intelligent dogs. Picture makes a bit more sense in that context!!

Goldies are diggers and chewers. No shoe is safe in our house. She loves to bring "presents" - kids socks, tea towels, flower pots.

If she sees a muddy puddle, she will jump in it. Likewise fox or deer poop will always be rolled in. (But our last goldie did not do this). She hates baths. She is a champion scrounger.

I have a toddler in the house, and she follows him around on the off chance that his biscuit might become momentarily available.

SHe is very gentle and allows toddler to climb all over her. ANd put things on her head so she can "be the king".

My top tips:

If she jumps up, raise your knee so that your knee hits her in the chest. More in terms of barrier than by force. This will quickly reduce the jumping.

Get her used to the car with lots of short trips. Have a big squishy cushion in there for car journeys, so she doesn't slip and slide all over.

Get her used to a leash, but dont over walk her. 10 minutes out is enough.

Dont make the mistake I made of taking her into newly mown fields, where her sensitive little paws trod on nettles. Poor baby was frantic.

Watch her food intake carefully, goldie puppies seem to have no off switch when it comes to food.

Keep her on the same kibble as the breeder had her on. Gradually introduce new kibble if you intend to change, as puppy tummies are very sensitive. Ditto for feeding from the table.

If she does get puppy diarrhea, give her plain chicken and rice for a couple of days, or get her back on the breeder kibble.

Figure out early if she will be allowed upstairs and where she will be sleeping. Get her used to this from day one. None of ours have ever been allowed upstairs, (because muddy puddle splashing dogs who go upstairs like to lie on beds.)

Puppies are just babies, so need plenty of sleep. Make sure she has somewhere quiet to sleep, preferably near you all but where she wont be disturbed.

If you just have one dog then leave food out all the time from day one. Begging is a learnt behaviour. Our year old chocolate lab has done this since birth and is the perfect weight as he doesn't eat only when fed simply when he is hungry. He still appreciates ' treats' for tricks as rewards.

Take 5 minutes twice a day to do some training with him from the day he arrives. Initially this will just be playing and calling his name but will stand you in good stead later on. Our best 'trick' is that he will no wee and poo to order. Brilliant for long journeys or before going out and leaving him in the house. To do this simply pick a word for each weeing and pooing (one that sounds different to your other commands and his name, ours is a high pitched weeeweeeweee and a deep poooooopoooo) and repeat when he does the respective movement. It wont be long (inside a month) before he will do his business on cue to your command!

Also Pick some words and be consistent with everyone in the family. Eg Down, No, Come here and always make sure he does as he's told from day one.

Best of luck and Enjoy him!

Thank you all, really helpful.
Will let you know how we get on.

Photos! We will need photos!

Tips:
1/ Buy a really good vacuum cleaner - preferably one that also picks up on hard floors.
2/ Have easily washed tiles - mud and fur is so much easier to clean off them!
3/ Have a good supply of old towels/ fleecy blankets for cleaning up after walks.
4/ Socialisation - start as soon as you get pup, we carried ours through the market.
5/ Find a good training class - run a mile if any one mentions pack theory and dominance. Both mine [1yr and 11years] love their class and it's a real help.
6/ The group Lilcamper mention has lots of information about house training, puppy nipping, jumping up etc.
7/ Most Goldens love swimming, water and mud [see above points 1 and 2]
8/ They also like gardening, so fence off your prized shrubs and lawn unless you want the pruned or excavated.
9/ Goldens love to chew, as do most puppies but for Goldies the novelty never wears off. Shoes and underwear [used yuk] are favorites...so teach pup which chew toys are hers and if she does chew your best shoes, it was your fault for leaving them out.
10/ Most Goldie's are on the See food diet - they are walking dustbins and can get fat easily. So discourage scrounging and be care full not to over feed.

I love my hairy monsters and wouldn't have any other breed!

Lucky you but hide all books, ours ate them - especially library books !!

Look at the Kikopup videos on YouTube for training ideas. She covers most things, and they are very good.

Never ever wear black trousers ever again,

Start as you mean to go on and don't treat as your new baby.

I say this from experience, our boy is a scrounger, a thief and the occupant of any bed he sees fit to sleep on. We love him to bits but regret not being firmer at the beginning. Especially with food

I have a golden retriever aged 14 months. I have been through the mill and it is the hardest thing I have ever done.

TIP NO. 1: Stop him pulling! I tried everything - I repeat everything - to stop dog pulling - every type of harness, training techniques etc. I have for my sins bi-lateral tennis elbow and a detatched muscles from my shoulder. He would power through anything. The only thing that worked was getting a personal trainer who took him back to basics and a special lead for guide dogs. Golden retrievers are big, strong dogs. Even yesterday he pulled me over.

TIP No. 2: Make the effort with house training - and that means take that puppy outside every 20 minutes + more for three weeks, including if it barks in the night. It is worth it. I had a perfect housetrained dog after a week. The people I hear moaning about accidents are the ones who couldn't be fagged with the in-out-in-out at the beginning.

TIP no. 3: Use a crate. Makes leaving them much easier and ours sees me in my "best" skirt and knows to dive into his crate.

Tip No. 4: From DAY ONE - don't let puppy jump up. A puppy on two paws is cute. 8 stone of dog up on his hind legs is awful. I growled "FOUR PAWS" at dog if he jumped up and he never does it. This is such a boon when people come to the house. No one likes to be greeted with paws on their shoulders!

And BEST TIP: Don't get upset by people on here! I'm sorry to say it, but there are some quite "doggy" posters who will tell you you are satan if you express any doubts/ask for help. Eg neutering. Every dog is different. If your dog is howling and going down the road on three legs marking his territory then have him done. It made a huge difference in behaviour in my dog and, after all, he is a pet not a dog in the wild. Also food. For some people it's raw food or be damned. Well, most people don't want hunks of raw meat in their fridge. My dog was awfully fussy but has finally settled on Waitrose own (MN dog!) and really enjoys it.

There are, however, lots of nice helpful people on here too!

And my golden retriever is the most friendly, loveable dog ever even though we've had a very hairy (yeah, the hair) journey.