Bringing pup home

[CleverQuacks]

I am bringing my pup home on Saturday and I am so excited! But also terrified. I really want to be a good dog owner. I have done so much reading and research but now it’s happening I feel very unprepared. So tell me your words of wisdom. What do you wish people had told you before you bought your pup home?

Be prepared for it to be hell. Imagine bringing a new, manic, not potty trained but not nappy wearing, non english speaking/understanding toddler into your home and it can be just like that. You need to watch them like a hawk, stand in the garden in the pissing rain at 3am while they decide where to have a wee, and they will chew something vital at some point.
You'll cry and think this has all been a terrible mistake.

And I love puppies, I really do (more than 16 have been through my house in the last 18 months as I foster for a rescue, and one of them is lovingly gazing at me right now), but they are a pita. But if you put the work in, remember that everything you do sets a precedence for the future, and make training a 24/7 thing not a puppy class thing, you will have a wonderful dog.

Be prepared for the puppy blues.

Remember they grow up fast and no matter how much research you think you have done it's still doesn't prepare you for the relentlessness of it all.

Yes the puppy blues! I have read about that on here. I am prepared to think maybe I have made a huge mistake several times over the coming weeks.

I have already put my name down for puppy classes and I am looking forward to the training. In the long run I would like to do agility or something similar. I think it’s good to exercise a dogs mind as well as it’s body.

Hot water bottle in the bed and leave the radio on low for company. Make sure you have something that smells of the pup's mother- we were given a piece of blanket from the breeder when we brought our 8 week old puppy home.

Enjoy!

Gin

What are the puppy blues?!! I've had dogs all my life and never heard of them

Top tips would just be consistent and not stress over stuff too much. Enjoy!

idlikemoresleep have a look at some of the puppy threads on here. Lots of people (me included) found it hard and regretted getting one. However, it passes but it's nice to know it isn't unusual to feel like you have made a massive mistake.

Be prepared to be really tired!

Ours is thirteen weeks and just starting to settle in. He wakes in the night though and getting him to settle after he's gone to the toilet can be really frustrating! But generally he's a good boy - he's learning to sit/lie down, is pretty reliably toilet trained and his currently snuggled right up next to me on the sofa having been awake since 6am - and I'm blearily drinking coffee!

He's worth it though 😍

Ask the breeder not to feed the pup before you collect, ours was car sick for the first 9 months of her life and it's apparently very common!
Puppy blues are definitely something I can relate to, I remember drafting an email to the breeders asking them if I could take her back! Thankfully DH was more rational.

It's hard work in the beginning but it gets better every day and is so worth it. When we got our current dog as a pup we bought a hot water bottle with a furry cover (teddy bear) and put a clock with a loud tick-tock in side it to simulate the warmth and heartbeat of his mother. Didn't stop me sleeping on the floor beside his bed for the first few nights but that was just me being over attentive. It must be very traumatic being removed from your mother and litter mates to a completely strange environment. Get him out and about as much as possible (though you may need to carry him quite a lot until he's fully vaccinated) and build up his universe of familiar places, smells and sounds. Love him, care for him, forgive his mistakes whilst he learns and he will repay you in spades with love and loyalty no human will ever give you.

Congrats OP, what type of pup are you getting? Enjoy, they grow up and become a part of your family very quickly.

@BiteyShark

Oh I see, I had that when I brought my first child home but not the dog! 😆

Understandable though, hope you're enjoying your new addition OP!

Aw congrats, such a lovely special time....take lots of vids and photos. I think my advice would be to don't forget to take care of yourself ....that way you can be a better more resilient pup parent.

Expect a yowling distressed pup for a while and broken nights, but make sure your own bed is extra lovely and comfy to go and rest in. Purchase Moldex earplugs from Amazon .....they don't kill the yowls entirely but enough for you to rest. Get lots of nice food in....for you!

These are a few things that really helped our pup settle at night

• smelly shoe in crate
• beating heart dog toy (Amazon)
• Adaptil spray - pheromone.
• smelly top you've worn in the crate post cuddles.

You will feel quite ragged. It's like having a young toddler that's upset come to stay. Cuddle your pup lots and lots ...enjoy!!!!

For me, I wish someone had made me remember that there is time...

As an informed new dog owner you are bombarded with info about how critical the first few weeks are for setting good habits, socialising etc. This is true BUT you don't have to do it all in that time frame. I rushed to cram everything in (meeting all sorts of people and animals, grooming, swimming, obedience, walking, recall, being left alone etc) and got stressed when he didn't seem to take to something because I worried he would never get it/like it.

He's 11 months old and STILL learning. We had way more time than I realised and I needn't have got so worried. Only just last week he met cows for the first time, was spooked at first but then settled down with them. He didn't NEED to meet them before 16 weeks old to do that.

Also, every time he displayed a behaviour I didn't want (e.g. digging) I would worry that he would do that thing forever. They change all the time and his favourite past time one day is forgotten the next.

Patience, kindness, perseverance will take you a loooong way.

Oh, and take loads of videos. They are little puppies for such a short space of time that within 2-3 weeks he will be replaced with a bigger version. You'll want to see those videos of when he was small.

Geez, the first few posts are a little depressing! I just got a puppy yesterday, 8 weeks old and so far its been a dream. Even the three hours drive home, where she was in a crate, went well. She whined only a little and slept or played most of the time. I was preparing myself for the evening of hell that all dog owners talk about. However, she went right in the crate in the kitchen happily. She did not bark or whine once through the night. I woke twice in the night on my own to take her out to have a wee, as I know puppy bladders are small. She still managed to go back in the crate easily. I am crossing fingers for a repeat tonight!! She is playful during the day and of course has had a few accidents, but its whats to be expected and I figure once we can take her outside it will be much easier.

Thanks everyone! She came on Saturday and so far so good. She has slept really well at night so that’s a plus. We are spending a huge amount of time in the garden but there have been no accidents today so something is working! I am prepared for days where it all feels to much but I am loving it so far.

Mamabear12 if it a dream and continues to be so then great and I hope it does. However, I make no apologies for one of those being 'depressing' at the beginning of the thread because it can be relentless as lots of people on the puppy survival threads can testify to and knowing that you aren't the only one in supposedly a sea of people with 'dream' puppies is sometimes the only thing that keeps you going.

Ours was perfect the first day - then the trouble started once he'd settled in and became more confident.

He is a good boy and mostly does what he's told but when he gets over-excited and doesn't listen he makes me want to tear my hair out 😂