Our new puppy is here. And he's gorgeous!

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

A few of you will know me from when I posted in December about when we lost our old boy. Well, our new puppy is home. His name is Monty, he's a Labrador and he's gorgeous!

Been feeling very nervous and apprehensive about this day. Part of me thinks it's too soon and I feel guilty about 'replacing' our old boy. Part of me is so relieved to be able to call myself a dog owner again.

He's currently asleep in his crate in the kitchen. Bit relieved as when I put him in just now he whined like mad. I took him out again, once he was quiet, in case he needed a wee but he fell asleep on the floor so I've put him back in. Touch wood he's asleep for now. He's got a heat pad wrapped up in a blanket from his breeder to hopefully emulate a litter mate so he doesn't feel so lonely.

Not looking forward to having to get up every night for toilet training though.

So far he's only wee'd in the kitchen once and that was only because I spotted him circling but couldn't get to him in time. We've been outside with him most of the afternoon and he's wee'd and poo'd out there which is good.

It's the start of our journey with our next dog. Quite a monumental day really. Feeling a bit overwhelmed!

Hi Burning, I remember your threads.

I still miss Barney ever so much and am still in a bit of a blur with it all. Although a lot of that is probably new puppy chaos. You can't help it though. I need to be a dog owner!

It's funny because although he wees in the house and nibbles on me and whines at night and is as demanding as a baby, he's so little and cute and lovely. Yet I'm also looking forward to when he's grown up and has settled down and got some training in him and isn't quite so mad!

I know he's not my old boy, he's a new dog. And I know I mustn't compare them, that's not fair. Barney was a scatterbrained little puppy once upon a time. It's just that by the time he died he was clever, reliable, fantastic, he'd done everything, he knew everything and I really took that for granted. Monty could be years before he's as good as Barney was. I know it's unfair to compare them but he's got a hard act to follow! I just hope that I train him the same way as I did before and I get a similar standard.

Would be lovely to have that standard of dog again.

Gorgeous!

Those who've been there before, what advice do you have about helping Lily get used to time alone? I think we're going to have to use a puppy pen to ensure her safety, as I will be needing to leave her for just over two hours a couple of times a week from 10 weeks old.

I guess we need to have introduced her to the puppy pen before that? She's still sleeping so much that if she doesn't get overly distressed, I'm hoping she would sleep much of the time.

She was much better about weeing in the garden yesterday, and as a result the nighttime visits were much more immediate - hurray!

I took Monty for his jabs today and told the vet about how unsettled he is at night and she suggested an Adaptil diffuser. It can take a while to work but it's worth a try.

He had me up twice last night. I am bleary eyed again today.

Congratulations! What a cutie. Wishing you all years and years of joy and poop scooping!

Sounds like you are enjoying it though. Is good to pick up the happiness in your posts
not going to say I told you so hehe

Hi aton, how's it going?

Percy, we are enjoying him. I think it will be a while until he's as reliable as Barney was but hopefully it will be fun getting him there.

Hi msadorabelle,
yes all fine thanks. yes, you do sound much chirpier. Monty will be an excellent distraction, for sure.

I am desperate for a dog. DH is too, and DS keeps asking when.
We've a ton of house renovations to get underway (maybe time for a name change - atonofrenovation?) so want to get that finished before new pooch. Also, DH has opportunity for posting abroad, so, until that's been finalised either way, we are holding back. Spent Easter with my parent's springers (and my parents) and loved every second.

Looking forward to your future posts on Monty. black labs are brilliant and are born half trained (my mum is itching for another one. But, she's 72 and already has her hands full with the other 2). I quite fancy a lab, but realistically, as we are city dwellers, it will probably be a smaller breed. I'd love a working cocker (not ideal for the city, I know), but there is a fly ball club round the corner every Friday night, so may well do that if we get a more demanding breed, compared to the couch potato we had last time!

best of luck with Monty!

black labs are brilliant and are born half trained

Please tell me that's completely true!

He went from eleven till half six before he whined for a wee. Might try sleeping upstairs tonight.

I left my phone on filming him when I took the dds to school this morning. I was gone about ten minutes. I left him a kong with some peanut butter in it. He finished that in about four minutes and spent the rest of the time running around the kitchen whining and howling, jumping up at the baby gate repeatedly, pulling my cushions off my seats and biting at a bag I'd left on the door handle. He clearly hates being left on his own but he's got no choice in that, he's got to learn. I can't walk him to school really as my two dds are still little and we have to take them right through school premises to leave them with a teacher and I can't take the dog into the school. I also hope to be able to go shopping at some point! I think I'm just going to have to go out and leave him to it so I can't be tempted to give in. I don't go to him when he's whining, I wait until he's quiet. He's just going to have to get used to being left. I'll build it up gradually though, he is still only little.

Just shown dh the footage of Monty going ballistic when left on his own this morning. He was a bit shocked. I'm wondering if I should leave him in his crate instead so he's not got as much space to get worked up in or do any damage.

adorabelle - personally I think you need to be a bit more gentle with getting Monty used to being on his own otherwise you run the risk of him developing full-blown separation anxiety

have a look at the kikopup videos - there's one called 'happy alone' - it may seem long-winded but effort put in at this stage will pay off with a happy, well-adjusted dog later

being crated may help Monty feel more secure but you don't want to leave him in his crate unless he's really happy to be in there - there's a fine line between the crate being a secure haven and a hated cage and you want Monty to view it as a secure haven. Look up crate training - the ASPCA has a file called something like 'crate training in a weekend' which has a quick way of doing it or search for Susan Garrett 'crate games'

I know you're a very experienced dog-owner so don't mean to come across as at all patronising but it's so easy to forget just how much work puppies are when you've been used to a well-trained, adult dog

Oh god I know bas, don't worry, I take all advice in the spirit it's meant. It's been a long time since we've had a puppy. When we first had Barney I was out of the house three hours every day and we just got on with it. He turned out ok but that was probably more luck than judgement! I don't want to get it wrong. I know what you mean about the separation anxiety and I know we've only had him a week and he's still settling in but he just seemed frantic. And was just for the ten minutes I was out walking the dds to school. I've got to do that twice a day!

I need him to get used to being on his own at some point. I just need to take it steady. He doesn't mind the crate, he's snoozing in it now and I can shut it at bedtime and he doesn't protest. Well, as long as he thinks you're in the room with him. I've slept on the sofa for the last four nights. Was hoping to creep upstairs tonight once I've turned the lights out.

Ok well I've just watched the kikopup video about training your dog to like being left alone.

Quite apart from the bizarreness that is clicker training, which I don't get - how does the dog know what it's getting a treat for? Standing up? Not whining? Staying in the crate? Watching the owner? - I've done everything she suggested. We spend loads of time in the kitchen. He's fed in the kitchen, we play in there, the kids play with him in there, I leave him in there and disappear for a few seconds. She hasn't told me anything I haven't already tried.

I think I just need to build it up really slowly. I do like the idea of walking back and forth and treating him each time. I never go back to him once he's whining, although it does take a little while for him to pause.

I don't want to expect too much too soon though. Going to have to be very patient! He's got to fit in with our lives though and the school run happens twice a day five days a week.

MsAdorabelle. Can I join you. We have a new black lab boy puppy who is 10 weeks old. Joining our 2.5yr old female Labradoodle (don't ask ).
We were doing well on toilet training until yesterday and this morning when he decided to poo inside.
FWIW we have been putting Arnie in his crate when we go out for short periods as I think they feel more secure there and less likely to wander around feelings lost.

ok ... clicker training is very simple! you can clicker train any animal - dog, cat, rat, chicken - even crabs have been trained to do things like pull a bell ...

it's just a very precise way of marking exactly when your dog has done something right

first of all you need to 'charge' the clicker so that it has a positive meaning, otherwise it's just an empty noise, then once your dog associates the clicker with a treat it's easy to transfer that into teaching them to do things

when we're teaching ddog to do something new or extending something he can already do if he thinks he should have got a treat he'll look meaningfully at the clicker, then realises that he's not got it quite right, will try something else and more often than not it'll be what we were looking for so he gets his click

it's absolutely fascinating and quite addictive!

having said that, I didn't use a clicker to teach ddog to settle which is effectively what you're wanting Monty to do as the clicker gets him into a heightened state of awareness when what I was after was a chilled, zen-like state of being

with Monty I'd break it down into tiny steps and make sure he's happy with each stage before going further - it seems like a faff but it's worth it in the end to have a dog who just doesn't get worried by being on his own