Puppy coming this week!

[cheeseisthebest]

And I'm sooooo nervous!
I've never had a dog, think the rest of my family think he will just quietly cuddle them but I know he won't!
I'm worried about everything!
Please reassure me! This has been a decision that its taken years to make, we've met him twice and we all love him to bits.

Well as a dog owner of 1 week I have very little advice. It will be hard, but it will also be totally rewarding. Lower your standards, and expectations, and enjoy your puppy! And join the puppy survival thread for moral support 😊

I'm 2 weeks into puppy no. 2.
The first week was sooooo hard - she had a stomach upset due to change in home/the awful heat/worming treatment.

She was needing to go out 2 or 3 times a night and was sleeping so much. I find them so worrying when they are little so I got very little sleep.

The thing to remember at all times is that it improves so fast. Often one issue is replaced with another but that passes quickly too. They are sharpe toothed and have bad manners. Plus they mess on the carpet. Luckily they are cute and vulnerable and sleep!

Already after 2 weeks she is now sleeping through and not using her crate to toilet in. She wakes at 7am. She is starting to ask to go out to toilet and has already cracked sit and flat. Her tummy is fine now and my 3 year old pup is starting to enjoy playing with her (he just stood next to the front door for the first few days ).

Just remember - it passes. And if you put the work in you will get a lovely new part of the family out of your hard work and patience.

Thank you both!
Breeder has told me not to take him out for the toilet in the night and said he's nearly there with toilet training. I'm glad it's school holidays so kids can help. Hopefully!

Why wouldn't you take him out in the night? What breed is he? Is he only 8 weeks?
Puppies are like babies and have very little control of their bladders. If your puppy needs to wee or poo in the night, it's just going to do it - it won't understand about waiting, in fact it can't. Of course, you might be lucky and it doesn't have accidents, but on the other hand you could end up with a pup covered in wee and poo every morning, and be spending a lot of time washing it and the bedding.
I think you need to prepare yourself for getting up in the middle of the night.

Things often go backwards when they are away from their litter mates and in a different home so I wouldn't make plans either way for now. Just play it by ear.

To be fair my first dog went all night without toileting from the first night at 10 weeks old.

I had them sleep in a crate at night and always had some newspaper in a corner for them if they needed it until they were going through consistently.

Well you’ve already broken the first rule of puppy-hood! No pictures!

You will likely need to put puppy out in the night. You can’t force a pup to go all night but putting them out at night doesn’t prevent them learning how to hold it through the night. With both of ours we had about 5/6 weeks of night time toilet trips. But all dogs come along at different rates.

Puppy will probably be quiet and cuddly for a the first day or two. He’ll have left his mum and litter mates and will naturally want to cling to you. As they get more comfortable in their new surroundings, they will want to explore more and become less cuddly. Those first few days when puppy is cuddly and everyone is wanting cuddle, you still need to make sure you’re putting puppy in his own space, letting him get used to the house and just have some quiet time to sleep. Puppies need a lot of sleep and kids need to learn straight away that when puppy is sleeping, it’s to be left alone. If your puppy doesn’t want to sleep, you’ll need to make them (quiet area, no distractions for pup).

Do training with his food. You reward for everything at this stage. He has a wee outside, big fuss and reward with food. He looks at you when you say his name, big fuss and reward with food. He sits, big fuss and reward with food. You can use the odd treat but if you’re doing all this with treats he’ll quite quickly become overweight. He’ll probably be on 3 or 4 meals a day at this point, so you use his lunch (and another meal if you need it) allowance for treats and rewards.

Puppies are basically trying to kill themselves for the first 18 months of their life. They will eat whatever they find on the floor. They will jump off something. They will sniff out something that you lost 6 years ago and try to eat it. They might try to take themselves for an adventure and try to escape. They will take a topple or two. They will try to explore areas they shouldn’t be exploring - behind the fridge, behind the couch, in the cupboards! You’ll learn to think like a puppy soon though and now which areas of your house are accessible to a puppy and you can close them off. Just place cardboard over the gaps they’ve found, it’s enough of a block to stop them getting in while you divert them on something else (assuming they’re being supervised). They’ll grow out of the getting stuck in awakened places phase soon enough.

The rest is just take it as it comes. Go to training. Puppy will go forward with training and then backwards with training. He’ll forget something he was doing perfectly earlier that money. When that happens, you just go back to the beginning of that training and start again. No matter how many times you have to do it.

Employ the sort of patience you had with your toddler.

Get used to early starts, I began to enjoy my 5 am starts. Thankfully Ddog now likes a lie in.

Spend as much time in the garden as possible, and treat every wee or poo outside - ignore the accidents.
Enjoy, there is nothing better!

Thank you. I was expecting to take him out in the night so thats fine!

Omg gorgeous pup! Is it a shihtzu?

Yes

My top tips:

You will regret it. You’ll think this is the worst decision you’ve ever made and will wonder what the fuck possessed you. THIS IS VERY NORMAL. You’ll come out the other side, promise.

Take out to pee/poo after every nap, drink, food, treat, play or every 30 mins - whichever happens first. Say ‘have a wee!’ in a mad sing-song voice and praise (without a treat) after every single wee/poo. Lots of fussing!

Do not punish for accidents. If you catch pup in the middle of a wee, run them outside and if even a drop goes outside praise lots.

Crate train, but do it properly (plenty of YouTube vids)

Start recall training as soon as he gets home. When he’s sitting down or away from you, call him to you and treat and fuss like made when he comes. As he gets older you can practice with further distances, distractions and on his first walks.

Socialise him! This is SO important. Get him out and about (carry him before vaccinations) but introduce him to vaccinated dogs, loud noises like lorries, crowds, screaming children. Take him in the car, let him see cyclists, men, people wearing hats and hoodies. Building sites. You get the picture.

Positive reinforcement works miles better than punishment. And there is no such thing as a ‘pack’. So if anyone suggests you need to make sure he ‘knows his place in the pack’ you know they haven’t got a clue what they’re on about.

Just when you think you’ve cracked it all and he’s lovely on a lead and recall is amazing, he’ll hit the teenage years and forget everything and turn into a total shit. You just have to stay consistent and try not to strangle him

Congrats! He’s beautiful! And the doghouse is full of great resources if you need them.

Oh and don’t use puppy pads. You just teach the dog it’s ok to piss in the house but they don’t understand only on the pad.

Ostyrga thank you so so much. That is all brilliant advice!

Just watching some YouTube videos. Really helpful. Just wondered about bedtime on the first night. I want him to sleep in the crate and start as we mean to go on, but what do I do if he refuses or gets really upset? He's obviously going to be anxious and miss his family. Any tips?

Look at the FB group dog training advice and support. They have great advice about the first night.

Please join this group. Read the guides especially the puppy ones. They also have a puppy-specific group you can join. I would be very wary of any advice your breeder gives based on the suggestion that you shouldn’t take him out at night, which is frankly bonkers. It’s like expecting a tiny baby to be dry in the night. Regarding sleep, read the new puppy guide in the FB group, but basically he needs to be in your bedroom with you at first. Eventually you can look to move him out, but that takes time; he will be frightened on his own at first and you don’t train a dog to be comfortable on his own by first making him feel frightened on his own. You’re not creating a rod for your own back by making him feel secure now.

That’s the group. If you’re not on FB it’s worth joining just for that!

Thank you. Unfortunately he can't be in our room we don't have the space but I can sleep downstairs with him.

That sounds good. He doesn’t need to be in your room. Just to have you close to start with.

Yes, you on the sofa with him near you is fine as an alternative

Great thank you. Just reading some of the bits om that fb group. To be fair to the breeder she is amazing, really caring. Will quiz her a bit more!

The problem with dog people I think is that they can become very set in their ways and persist in outdated beliefs because it’s the way they’ve always done them/there was an expert who used to shout particularly loudly who they particularly admired. Eg about 15 years ago Caesar Milan was the dog trainer everyone worshipped - he had TV shows, loads of books etc and was very vocal. He practised ideas all based around pack theory and dominance and had people doing alpha rolls (where you basically pin your dog down to the floor to show it who’s boss - unbelievable that people used to think that was ever a good idea!). Unfortunately those beliefs persist in a lot of people’s minds despite having been totally debunked, and you get experienced dog owners telling newbies things like you should leave them to cry at night, never let them go through a door before you, always eat before the dog eats etc. It doesn’t help that anyone can call themselves a behaviourist or trainer too. It’s just a case of reading really widely and really trusting your instincts - your puppy is as much a baby as a human baby is. If you treat it in a similar way - accept it needs you all the time, initially can’t be left alone and needs lots of cuddles, reassurance and enforced sleep, you’re going to be on the way to rearing a well-adjusted adult dog.

Thank you, I totally agree and now just need to get my husband to listen to me instead of the breeder!

We are on day 2 so no advice either but join the puppy thread and we can all go a bit mad together!!

I'm sleeping next to crate tonight. I figured I can do 'gradual move' like I used to with the kids when they were small once he's settled and feels secure

How was first night GuyFawkes?