Newboy arriving Saturday, some questions......

[BaconAndAvocado]

Our new Labrador boypup is arriving on Saturday. As well as being extremely excited (kids), we’re also extremely worried about getting it right and change of lifestyle (me and DH).

A couple of questions for all you experts. I’m a complete dog newbie, only ever had cats. DH had a collie as a child.

1. How do I know a good Pet Insurance company? What am I looking for?

1. Although I work from home I would like to feel confident about eventually leaving him for a few hours. When do I start this process by leaving him for 10 minutes and then increasing gradually?

1. What are the biggest mistakes new owners make and how do I avoid them?

Tia

oh and really wish we had not let ddog ever play with a football - as soon as he got big enough he would burst them and this meant about 90% of parks were off limits.

Our pup destroyed his first football too. We've got neighbours with young lads that regularly boot their footballs over our garden wall and it's a race against pup to retrieve and return before he settles his gnashers into it

We found an "indestructible" tough plastic doggy football for him in TK Maxx and he LOVES pushing it around with his snout.

Your puppy should come with a few weeks free insurance, new insurance doesn't cover you for illnesses for two weeks. Make sure you overlap your insurance for these two weeks so your puppy will be covered by insurance.

My family have always had labs, please don't stress about them, it's not rocket science, just start as you mean to go on. For example If you don't want them jumping up then a firm no if they do jump up and always get down to them to pay and stroke them. If you don't want them being food then send them to their need while you're eating and don't let your children feed them from the table!

Puppy classes are great- reward based training is the most recommended.
Labs are very strong - ours is a muscly boy and pulls if he's excited or sees a 🐱
Labs are loving and I agree with the previous poster's comment re "labrador sigh"!!! Snuggling up together is one of my favourite bits of having a dog.
I would say be consistent with training and behaviour. I'm sorry to admit that some family members didn't agree with me when I was trying hard to follow what the dog trainers taught us and it has made things harder.
Good quality poo bags are a must- there are a lot of thin rubbishy ones around 😖

bingohandjob the photo idea is fab!

@BaconAndAvocado

Thanks all. Trying not to obsess over it and just enjoy!

InexperiencedDogOwner I too have only ever had cats so I may well be in the same position as you in a few days!

What's been the hardest thing so far?

I think it the crate training mainly that I struggle with. He's really not a fan and his breeder told us to make sure we use it straightaway to get him used to being on his own from day 1. Horrible hearing him whining when he's in it. Have tried to minimise the night by going to bed at 12.30 and DH gets up at 5am so time on his own is not too long. He has been better than I expected tbh with only a few cries during the night for max 5 min long.

I think it's feeling overwhelmed by it all, he needs to be watched constantly - even in the garden - to make sure he gets praise when he does a wee or poo, it's pretty exhausting. Feels like I can never chill properly. He does sleep quite a lot which has been nice, especially through the kids bedtime so I've not crated him then but left him in his bed and he's not moved.

Good luck for tomorrow, I don't mean to sound negative and they are really cute....Just caught him chewing my charger cable just while I've been typing here! I'm waiting for him to calm down now he's had his last wee out. He gets quite bitey when he's tired. Dreading putting him in the crate!

He hasn't had an accident overnight in it so far. We were told to take water away 2 hours before bed and food away at 3pm after letting him graze on the days allowance during the day (just keep topping up). We can gradually let him have it later once we can see how long it takes from eating to pooing!

They do tend to go from crazy to zero. He's pulled his cushion out from his bed and is now fast asleep on it! I'm glad I only bought an Aldi bed as I don't think it will last long with all the chewing!

Have attached a pic. Make sure you update tomorrow, let us know how you get on!

and food away at 3pm

That's a crazy time to last feed a young puppy, normal is 4 meals a day when young as they can't go as long between meals as older dogs

You really shouldn't give them.their last meal at 3pm. That's far too early.

Our puppy (not a lab) had 4 meals a day until he was 4 months, then three meals a day until 12 months. I was going to cut it to 2 earlier than 12 months but he was underweight so the vet advised to carry on with lunch until he'd put on more weight. If he went too long overnight without food then he would be "hunger sick" when he woke up - basically foamy, watery bile which is about indication of hunger.

I found the biting really hard but he grew out of it when his adult teeth came through. He is really good now (14 months) and the only thing he chews is paper so we make sure we keep important letters etc out of reach.

InexperiencedDogOwner your boy is very beautiful 😍

I've been reading Easy Peezy Puppy Squeezyand it says to make the crate a really appealing place to go. So put in treats, toys, a Kong .
I'll give it a go!

I've said to the DCs (13 and 14) not to overwhelm the puppy and that he will bite them.

Anything else I need to say?

Help! Which one should I get?!?!

@BaconAndAvocado

I've said to the DCs (13 and 14) not to overwhelm the puppy and that he will bite them.

Anything else I need to say?

That pup needs PLENTY of rest and napping time - up to 20 hours a day in peace with some household noise going on in the background so they get used to that but somewhere that is theirs (for ours, it's his crate). As cute as he is when sleeping, let him be. And if everyone is helping with the toilet routine, we found for the first week as he got used to his toilet area, sorry to be grim, we left his most recent poo on the ground where we wanted him to go and it seemed to get him toilet trained very quickly. After the first week, we picked up after each deposit as he quickly showed us he likes a 'clear' loo run. Wee a different matter. He happily treads through his own puddles

I think if I left the poo out mine would eat it! He's had softer poos recently i think due to eating the grass that he wouldn't have had before. So there are some remnants I guess!!

Has anyone got any tips to stop a Labrador puppy jumping on the sofa? At the moment he is too small to manage it and i will pick him up and put him down on the floor, try to distract, but he keeps going back to it. I'm worried that will then mean he will jump off it which isn't good for their developing hips.

Here is Newboy.
He's currently asleep on my toes and allowed me 4 hours sleep last night!

He's probably done 50/50 inside and outside pooing and weeing.

Loves his food, not overly keen on his crate but we're working on it.
He slept with me in the sofa last night.
Not the done thing I know!

Oh, he's HANDSOME. 4 hours is good - he's had such a massive upheaval to his little life but he'll soon settle in and you'll be anxiously listening for him as he ...soundly snores. Good luck for the coming week - I bet you end up with around 368743 photos of him being adorable.

We took bingopup for an offlead run around a secure field with his best doggy mate and a new little scamp rehomed rescue our friend has taken on and they all got on like a house on fire. It was so delightful seeing all of their personalities at play. He came home, big drink, chill out, then scoffed his kibble and has been contentedly snoring for the last 3 hours

@InexperiencedDogOwner

I think if I left the poo out mine would eat it! He's had softer poos recently i think due to eating the grass that he wouldn't have had before. So there are some remnants I guess!!

Has anyone got any tips to stop a Labrador puppy jumping on the sofa? At the moment he is too small to manage it and i will pick him up and put him down on the floor, try to distract, but he keeps going back to it. I'm worried that will then mean he will jump off it which isn't good for their developing hips.

Sofa jumping - boring, repetitive use of command word (we use OFF as down is for him to lie down) and gently but firmly move him with two hands on his chest to put him back onto the floor as he's a broad chested lab. 8 months in and it's a mix of that or a loud AH AH if he goes to jump up that stops him in his tracks (of doing anything, really). He knows where he's allowed and not (we have a very low leather sofa that his actual coolaroo bed steps up to help with joints that he is allowed on) but he likes to chance it now and then. When he is settled nicely where he should be we randomly treat him with a piece of his daily allowance kibble and lots of verbal praise.

bingohandjob 3 hours?! Wow, maybe my boy will get super exhausted once he's out walking.

He’s gorgeous

I must admit we were heartless and put new pup to sleep in crate from day 1. He got used to it quickly, and has cried 3 times in his 2 months with us (snd we let him out, give him a cuddle and put him back

I am too old for broken nights

Hope you get better nights soon

I did the same and put him in crate from day 1 at night. He cried for 5 min and was quiet after that, waking up briefly a few times in the night. Last night (night 5) he was quiet being put in (I wait til he's sleepy then transfer) and hardly heard a peep all night. I do go to bed about 12/12.30 though after taking him out for a last wee/poo and DP gets up at 5.30 so he's not on his own for long.

Morning all.
Had a better night last night in the sense that, although he still woke about 3 times (it's hazy!), Newboy was happy to straight back to his crate and sleep.

I still slept on the sofa near him.

I wonder whether I should try and sleep upstairs tonight.....
Not sure I'll hear him when he wants to go out for a wee, which he did twice last night.

Any advice welcome!

@BaconAndAvocado

Morning all. Had a better night last night in the sense that, although he still woke about 3 times (it's hazy!), Newboy was happy to straight back to his crate and sleep.

I still slept on the sofa near him.

I wonder whether I should try and sleep upstairs tonight.....
Not sure I'll hear him when he wants to go out for a wee, which he did twice last night.

Any advice welcome!

Well done.

I slept on the sofa downstairs for about 10 nights I think. First few nights got up for toilet 2-3 times. Then only one wake up, then none. I did a couple of nights waking her to take her out for a wee at 4am as I couldn't believe she would hold it in that long.

I notice you said DH gets up at 5am? Is this a permanent lifestyle choice? If so then fine, but if not then I would be wary of teaching pup that early is "morning". Might be better to take for a quick wee then put back to bed for a couple of hours.

When I get went back to my bed I've never had a disturbed night since. Pup now sleeps in open crate in small utility room 10pm-8am (or even later in the lazy holidays!).

Auntycorruption
DH doesn't get up at 5! Newboy did yesterday but today was 6 which is much more civilised.

Interesting you say your pup sleeps in an open crate as Newboy isn't a fan of me shutting the crate door either but he's now very happy to spend time in it.