New Puppy Help Please

[EllisActon]

We are going to be having a toy poodle puppy in the next few weeks. I've never had a dog, let alone a puppy before, as we have always been cat owners. But now my husband is retiring at Christmas, we will be out and about and away in our campervan a lot more, which makes having a dog a more practical option than a cat.

So, help me oh wise dog owners - what do I need to know? I already have questions, but would welcome any advice at all that you can offer.

My initial questions are....

1. What do I need to buy for my puppy to sleep in? I want to buy a soft crate for travel and sleeping in while in the campervan, but that obviously won't be happening until the puppy is old enough to be out and about, so what do we buy for bringing him/her home to? Do I just use the soft crate I will be using to transport him/her home in? I've read a bit about crate training but am confused because I've read both buy a crate for the puppy to sleep in AND puppies need a gradual introduction to crates so you have to do crate training. Both of those statements cant be right surely?

2. Where should the puppy sleep? Downstairs with a baby monitor? Upstairs with us? and if so does that mean they sleep in with us forever?

3. What can I do to give it comfort? Blanket? Cuddly toy? Warm hot water bottle to snuggle up to?

4. If it cries during the night what do I do,? Cuddle it or leave it in its bed and talk softly to soothe it?

5. I know you can't take puppies out and about until vaccinated, when do you get this done and is it OK to take it out into our garden right from the start? We have a reasonable sized, completely fenced garden, so it's very safe from the point of view of security.

6. what training needs to be done from the start? And how do I do it?

7. I know puppies need socialising with people and dogs, how? When? Where? Bearing in mind I have blood cancer so I still need to keep myself safe from covid.

I would be so grateful for any help on everything puppy related.

OP Will your DH have retired by the time the puppy arrives? If you aren’t well I DEFINITELY would be waiting till he is home full time before bringing a new puppy into the house. They are such hard work, it’s like having a baby in the house!

I'm not suffering physically, I'm just high risk as I have virtually no immune system. There is likely to only be a 2 or 3 week overlap between retirement and puppy arrival, but he works from home anyway so I won't be alone....which is great as I'm so nervous about getting it right - it's such a responsibility and I really want to get it right for the sake of the puppy. I don't sleep very well anyway, so being up at night when necessary won't be a problem.

I would highly recommend the book “easy peasy puppy Squeezy” it would answer so many of your questions.

1. Our pup was in his crate the first night, in our room. He cried at first but I didn’t go to the cage and he settled after 40 minutes. I rubbed a blanket on his mums bed to get her scent and he slept with that and a teddy. I also put him in there for regular naps to ease the overtired biting. I fed him in there with the door open so he associated it with nice things, not just bed time. He got a treat every time he went in there.
2. I felt happier having him in with us so he wasn’t completely alone, you can start off doing that then slowly edge them towards the door and further away from you over time once they settle in their crate easily.
3. All those things are fine, the hot water bottle might not be necessary unless your house is particularly cold.
4. I felt mean but I completely ignored him when he was crying, it meant he settled really quickly though. I only ever approached his crate once he’d stopped crying
5. The first few weeks are absolutely vital to socialisation (to different places, other dogs, children, other animals, different surfaces etc.) this is very very important so please do lots of research on this. Get the jabs done ASAP. They’re fine going in the garden and I was happy to have friendly, vaccinated dogs come round for a play date whilst Dpup was still tiny. You can take them out by carrying them around at first (if you want) so they can see cars, lorries, people. Just don’t put them on the floor.

I’d suggest joining a local puppy class for more tips too.

So lots of research before puppy comes, if you’re on Facebook I’d suggest joining a breed specific group to get lots of tips. Poodles are very intelligent so I’d recommend dog puzzles for mental stimulation. Dogs need exercise and mental stimulation for ultimate happiness!

The first few weeks of puppyhood are tough! But stick it out because they are fantastic pets. Don’t lose hope during the naughty teenage phase either, they all go through the pushing boundaries but you’ll get a wonderful dog at the other side.

Most of all, have fun! Enjoy your new pup!

There is a puppy survival thread on here, which will be worth having a look at.

I'm not sure if I'd go for a hot water bottle as I'd be worried that puppy might chew through it or scratch it.

There are lots of schools of thought on here about where puppy sleeps. I was very lucky and mine was good at working through the night pretty quickly. For various reasons I couldn't entertain the idea of the puppy sleeping upstairs with us, so he sleeps in the kitchen. We had no issues, but I don't know whether we just got lucky there.

1) What do I need to buy for my puppy to sleep in?
Mine has a crate upstairs he is shut into at night.
There is a second crate downstairs but he sleeps on the sofa in the day usually,
Sometimes he’ll sleep in the big bed he shares with my other dog.

2) Where should the puppy sleep?
Both my dogs sleep upstairs in our room, my older dog slept in a crate in our room until she could be trusted not to mess anywhere, chew anything etc, the puppy is using her old crate at bedtime.

3) What can I do to give it comfort? Blanket? Cuddly toy? Warm hot water bottle to snuggle up to?
Mine just has blankets.

4) If it cries during the night what do I do,? Cuddle it or leave it in its bed and talk softly to soothe it?
The first few nights I slept at the end of the bed, every few minutes I would softly stroke him through the bars and tell him it was okay and gradually left the space he was crying and I was comforting him a bit longer each time.
He was reliably sleeping through the night within the week.
Some puppies are more sensitive than others, my older dog only cried a bit the first night then was settled.
I also give the dogs biscuits at bedtime which maybe helps make it a positive thing.

5) I know you can't take puppies out and about until vaccinated, when do you get this done and is it OK to take it out into our garden right from the start?
Our older dog came to us unvaccinated at 10 weeks old, given her age and the fact she’s a breed well known for being high strung and nervous I felt it was more important to socialise so took a risk and took her out straight away.
She was vaccinated at 10 and 12 weeks.
The new one came at 8 weeks, he received his first vaccine at 8 weeks and his second at 10 weeks.
He started off coming on walks carried in my arms but only tolerated it for about a week and a bit then insisted on getting down.
I couldn’t realistically leave him at home for an hour (he couldn’t even cope with me leaving the room!) and holding him with him constantly trying to jump out and getting distressed was dangerous and i didn’t feel he’d be learning anything positive so he too was walking a short distance before his vaccination course was complete.

It was very stressful both times, I was terribly worried about them all the time in case they caught parvovirus, I definitely wouldn't recommend you let the puppy walk before vaccinations are complete if you can help it.
The garden is safe as long no unvaccinated dog has been in it recently.

6) what training needs to be done from the start? And how do I do it?
Currently, my little one only knows sit and tbh, that’s absolutely fine.
He sits automatically now on the school run, he sits at roads, sits for meals.
He is learning recall too.

7) I know puppies need socialising with people and dogs, how? When? Where? Bearing in mind I have blood cancer so I still need to keep myself safe from covid
I try not to let them interact too much.
He’s been doing the busy school run walk twice a day since he arrived, at first he would stop at ‘scary’ things eg strangers walking, i would just stop and let him look, as soon as he started walking I’d praise him, sometimes give a treat and he is confident now walking past crowds of people, bikes, scooters etc.
He has learnt to sit quietly outside the school again with lots of noisy kids around.
He really doesn’t like strange people stooping down to pet him and I try not to allow it, I have picked him up twice and walked away when kids have swooped down on him, I do pick him up if people ask me if they can pet him and feed him treats as he isn’t as nervous in my arms.
He is slowly getting more confident around strangers approaching him on the ground; having a complete attention hog of an older dog helps.
I am very wary of other dogs.
Have had too many dogs go for my older one.
I encourage him to walk past dogs, if I don’t see anything dodgy in their body language and they really want to say hello I sometimes let him.
He’s greeted a Labrador and had a little play with another puppy, met my in laws dogs but I honestly try to avoid contact with other dogs.

I have a crate for downstairs and at night he sleeps in a pet carrier with blankets in. He's a tiny breed so has plenty of room and he's cosy in there. He sleeps at the side of my bed. The first few nights he was crying every hour and needed a lot of reassurance. I put a puppy pad in the bedroom and got him out for a pee every couple of hours. A soft toy for bed that has the scent of his mother on that might help him settle. And some fun toys too.

When he cried, I'd give him a cuddle and put him back. By the fourth night with us he was sleeping through. He's 14 weeks now and he's great at night.

Thank you all SO MUCH. Some great advice and really good suggestions about where to find more breed-specific information. I'm very grateful :-)

Don't leave your brand new baby puppy to cry for 40 minutes thats horrible.
Have a look at the dog training advice and support group on Facebook - they will have answers for all your questions and it's fun by qualified behaviourists

you will get lots of different approaches. Mine is to sleep with the pup - used to be on the sofa downstairs, these days pup would be in my room. Minimise distress to end up with a lovely confident dog you are eventually able to leave alone.

definitely join the puppy thread here, it can be tough.

1) What do I need to buy for my puppy to sleep in? I want to buy a soft crate for travel and sleeping in while in the campervan, but that obviously won't be happening until the puppy is old enough to be out and about, so what do we buy for bringing him/her home to? Do I just use the soft crate I will be using to transport him/her home in? I've read a bit about crate training but am confused because I've read both buy a crate for the puppy to sleep in AND puppies need a gradual introduction to crates so you have to do crate training. Both of those statements cant be right surely?

You'll get loads of different opinions on this and I really think it comes down to what kind of puppy you have. Some are fine sleeping in a crate, some prefer a bed, some are happy to be away from you, some want to be as close to you as possible. The puppy can go in the crate from day one BUT you can't just shut them in there and go to bed - you'll need to sleep in the same room as them, probably for a good few weeks, slowly moving away so that the puppy learns to settle alone. You'll also need to do lots of training/positive association during the day.

2) Where should the puppy sleep? Downstairs with a baby monitor? Upstairs with us? and if so does that mean they sleep in with us forever?

Again, this is something you'll get loads of different answers about and again, t depends on what kind of dog you have and what you're happy with as an owner. Ours sleeps in our bed and that's fine for our circumstances - others have the dog in a bed/crate on the floor of the bedroom, others have their dogs downstairs on sofas or in the utility room. Ultimately, your pup will be fine whatever you choose :)

3) What can I do to give it comfort? Blanket? Cuddly toy? Warm hot water bottle to snuggle up to?

I wouldn't use a hot water bottle as young puppies love to chew. Our breeder sent us home with a blanket smelling of mum/siblings (which he promptly peed on ) but you can get comfort-type toys that mimic a heartbeat which might be something to try out. You can also put a t-shirt in the crate that smells of you/DH.

4) If it cries during the night what do I do,? Cuddle it or leave it in its bed and talk softly to soothe it?

Take it to the toilet! A toy breed puppy will probably need the toilet 2-3 times a night at first. No other interaction or it will learn that crying = cuddles and play. Out to the toilet on a lead, then back to bed.

5) I know you can't take puppies out and about until vaccinated, when do you get this done and is it OK to take it out into our garden right from the start? We have a reasonable sized, completely fenced garden, so it's very safe from the point of view of security.

The puppy can go in the garden from day one and you can carry it out and about from day one too, just don't put it on the ground until it's had it's second lot of vaccinations. Times vary by vet but normally around 8/10 weeks and then 12 weeks. I would ring a vet now and make sure they're taking on new patients, btw, as many have closed their ooks completely.

6) what training needs to be done from the start? And how do I do it?

I would highly, highly recommend KikoPup on YouTube for basic commands but as you've never had a dog before I would also suggest training classes, either 1-2-1 or in a small group. It might be worth asking around and signing up for these now.

7) I know puppies need socialising with people and dogs, how? When? Where? Bearing in mind I have blood cancer so I still need to keep myself safe from covid.

Slowly, gently and at a distance is the best way to do this. Carry them everywhere. Sit on a bench and let them observe everything. Take them out in the car and just sit in the car with them to watch the world go by. Carry them around the local park or to the beach. Let them experience other dogs, noises, people, men in hats, hi-vis jackets, traffic lights, trains...all sorts, but don't feel like you have to do it all at once. Positive experiences are more important than anything else.

Best of luck! Poodles are lovely dogs :)

Take it to the toilet! A toy breed puppy will probably need the toilet 2-3 times a night at first. No other interaction or it will learn that crying = cuddles and play. Out to the toilet on a lead, then back to bed
Our puppy has a pad in his crate, he has never once messed his bed, only his pad.
Ditto for older dog.
Older dog is perfectly housetrained, puppy is nowhere trained yet 😭

@Powertothepetal

Take it to the toilet! A toy breed puppy will probably need the toilet 2-3 times a night at first. No other interaction or it will learn that crying = cuddles and play. Out to the toilet on a lead, then back to bed Our puppy has a pad in his crate, he has never once messed his bed, only his pad. Ditto for older dog. Older dog is perfectly housetrained, puppy is nowhere trained yet 😭

That's why I'm not a fan of pads as they just teach puppies to toilet indoors.

The quickest way to housetrain is to take your puppy out regularly through the day and whenever it wakes or cries in the night. Using puppy pads confuses the issue - they don't understand why sometimes they can pee inside and why sometimes they can't.

Ours has never had a single overnight accident as we took him out when he woke - yes, it was exhausting at first but it didn't last long and he was toilet trained day and night very very quickly.

That FB group mentioned above is brilliant. Advice on first night. Training. Toilet training etc etc.

Please could I have the link to the Facebook group