1st puppy 🐶 advice

[allthingsred]

So after literally years of umming & ahhing we are taking the plunge and getting our 🐶 🐕
He is a labrador & we are getting it from a licensed breeder.
Looking for advice/ training tips/ any info on best food for growing labs. Best pet insurance I should take etc
Growing up we always had dogs but usually small mixed breeds. I've never had a lab before so anything I need to be aware of.
This is our first family pet. And I'm so excited but also know what a big commitment we are taking on so want to be fully prepared

Join dog training advice and support group on Facebook and follow all the guides to the letter.
Good luck! So exciting!

Labrador for a first time big dog - brave.

Id agree with joining the facebook group and would also book onto a local puppy training group.
Accept that at times youll want to cry !!!!

You want lifetime insurance and the best level of cover you can get. It doesn't take much for the vet bills to add up!

I second joining that FB group too - it's an excellent resource and totally free. KikoPup on YouTube is also really good for teaching some basics and fun tricks too.

Food-wise, it will really depend on your dog and whether it has any allergies or intolerances. Some dogs struggle on very high protein foods, for example. Some have grain intolerances and some can only stomach certain types of protein, so it's often a case of trial and error :)

I third that Facebook group. I found it brilliant.

Kikopup on YouTube is excellent for training but I’d suggest just picking a handful of things (e.g. settle, recall, drop) to train in the early weeks so you don’t feel overwhelmed.

Main focus in the early weeks should be on socialisation- my DC had great fun dressing up in mad outfits with hats, masks, helmets, high vis vests to get puppy used to everything! I had a list of key experiences to expose him to that we ticked off.

Also read about the “puppy blues”- I had this the first few weeks despite having done crazy amounts of research and knowing that we all definitely wanted a dog! He’s such a good little lad now though- really worth the hectic busyness of the early days!

Xpost re kikopup with icedcoffees!

Ah thank you. Facebook requests sent & I've been you tubing this afternoon.

Your right @Ema52 I'm nervous going for a lab. But they have such amazing reputations of being family dogs it's the right choice for
us.

The happy puppy book is great too. Puppy proof the house. You won’t be able to leave shoes etc out for about 6 months, or phone chargers….

I would say socialisation is very important before they can go out for walks . Stand at the end of your drive /busy road holding him getting him used to traffic /people/cats

Haha @Justcannotbearsed started doing that today.. partner is boxing in wires as we speak!

alkthingsred
You've made a brilliant choice for your first puppy by choosing a Labrador.
We took the plunge and our Lab boy is now 19 weeks and is a dream.
Very easy-going, cuddly, learns things quickly.
So glad we didn't go for a smaller yappier breed!

Good luck, you'll have a ball and I hope your puppy brings you as much love and laughter as ours has 🙂

The Puppy Survival Thread is really helpful and supportive on here too.

Doggy daycare was fantastic for socialisation. Doesn't work for everyone, but we had a lockdown baby and it was brilliant. And puppy training, and teenager training (we didn't do the latter and I wish we had). We used a crate for the first few months with our puppy, but then he preferred not being in it (my OH used it occasionally when we were eating so he started thinking of it as a punishment - which was clearly not a good thing, so we got rid of it). Also, we slept down with our puppy for the first two weeks. Meant that he settled in well (it took us that long to crate train him at night), never had any night-time accidents (because we were there to take him outside, and then he'd let us know via the baby camera). Our first dog was a golden retriever, and he has been utterly amazing.

My one suggestion is try to get a dedicated doggy toilet area in the garden. We didn't manage, and I wish we had!

Totally agree with what Holidayinginmymind said re making a designated area for toiletting.
Our back garden is one huge cesspit now 😩

We have lab puppy as our first dog - definitely recommend that FB group, also Pippa Mattison's books and some real life puppy training classes - we did the Dog's Trust ones. First few weeks are quite difficult but it gets better quickly.