Puppy tips

[chocolatesaltyballs22]

Hi, have been reading this board for a while now. We're bringing a cavapoo puppy home in just under 2 weeks so I've been frantically reading up on training tips etc. Just thought I'd pop on here to ask for your best puppy tips/things you wish you'd known before you brought home your little fluff ball. We have all the gear....I think....toy has been sent to breeder to bring home with familiar smell on it etc, but please hit me with your best tips!

Thanks

@wetotter

😂

More gin. Fluffy crocs. Quality kitchen paper. Warm dressing gown with a hood. beanie hat with built in torch (you'll thank me at 2am for the last two). Proper pet accident spray. Chocolate. Dried sprats and other single ingredient treats. If you have hard floors, old towels cut up and a spray mop. Lots of gin. 'Total Recall' by Pippa Mattieson and a dog whistle. Good quality poo bags (we like Pooches compostable ones from Amazon). Several zillion different chewing things
Puppies are bitey little monsters (hard stare at foster puppy who is currently pretending butter wouldn't melt) who will test your patience, and you will go through periods of regret, but with consistent hard work you will get a great dog.

Dr Beckman Carpet stain remover

Kitchen towel

Spare time

Patience

Enjoy

A crate, hot water bottle and ticking clock for the bed, antibacterial wipes, a few spare beds, gin gin and more gin haha
Be prepared for puppy blues too it really is a thing, I'm 6 months in and still wonder wtf I got a puppy for

You can't have enough puppy treats (check age suitability first on packet) nor too much kitchen roll.
Licky mats and puppy kongs to freeze with the below on:
Greek yoghurt, smooth peanut butter (just nuts so no salt, sugar etc), and cream cheese
Ideas for games, like hide the treat under towels etc
Save up empty toilet rolls for biting and hiding treats in flattened ones (free toy)
Ask breeder what food pup is currently on so you can buy some and either keep on or transition off
A crate (divided up if getting full adult size one, so pup doesn't go potty at the other end)
Collar and 6ft lead (have been garden training mine since 9 weeks old and think it's helped with lead walking)

Ditto a lot of the above:

A good torch for spotting pup nighttime toileting
Good kitchen paper
Good carpet cleaner
Anti bac & deoderiser spray

Be prepared to spend a lot of time in the garden waiting for wee wees. It's cold!

Make sure you and all your family are agreed on your command words, you need to have consistency. Eg "leave it" or "drop it". Etc.

It's more exhausting and emotional than you imagine

We are week 4 now with our pup and it's finally settling down. I think week 2 was the hardest, the novelty had worn off a bit but the pup didn't yet understand our routine.

Good luck.

Thanks everyone. Eek, am proper nervous.

Make sure you join us on the puppy survival thread to

Puppies are the best of course but often switch between innocent cute puppy and vicious land shark.
Lots of suitable chew toys we liked yak bars, split antler (not whole antlers as they are to hard for pups) & olive branch
I loves the easy peasy puppy book because it’s straight forward and makes you realise it’s us that needs training as much as the puppy. I liked how he breaks down the training.

Final tip find a good trainer who’s views and training principles you agree with (and get feedback from people using them) and sign up to puppy classes

Oh actually one more! Puppies need way more sleep than they think they do and a tired pup = extra bitey landshark

Spend the next two weeks going out and about and enjoying your freedom!

Not a bringing home tip, but a useful one. Your pup will need to learn that things like nail clipping, ear cleaning, grooming, and teeth cleaning are normal and not scary. Make sure you brush them, touch their feet, pads and nails, check their ears, and check their teeth regularly right from the start so they get used to it. One of mine will not let me near his feet and it's a problem if he gets a thorn in his paw or his nails need a trim.

Vet bed (cheap fluffy bit of blanket that goes in the washing machine) before you invest in a more pricey bed that is likely to get trashed, licky mats, dog peanut butter, puppy kong, didn't use crate, but did use a pen we got off amazon. Later we added a DIY roof as she was escaping over the top in the night - Houdini!

More important are things for you - I never got any but about this time last year I was dreaming of fleece lined crocs! Any cosy footwear that is easy to slip on and off for multiple trips into the garden for training, picking up poos, playing, general pottering about with your pup. Warm cosy dressing gown, pjs, coat, fleece for endless hours in the garden including the middle of the night when they are too little to hold their poos in all night! Also useful, some good books if you are going to sit cuddling them while they nap sometimes.

When your pup gets a bit older, then you can move away from the purely warm and functional to some nice dog walking boots, dog walking bag and waterproof. I try to treat the dog and myself equally! Lots of treats all round!

Don't buy but fish out some old boots or wellies to wear in the house when they are tiny as they can be bitey buggers and go for your feet. Source boots for your kids too as it is no fun being under puppy attack. I had a very strict no shoes in the house policy that went out the window with our pup.

Also great are blue cross puppy training videos on youtube - you can start watching now! I felt a bit overwhelmed by training and all the different advice but I thought these were easy to follow and really good.

Good luck! I found it hard but wonderful!

@OnTopOfThePiano

Oh actually one more! Puppies need way more sleep than they think they do and a tired pup = extra bitey landshark

This one.

Read the happy puppy book before they arrive. Also let off lead as soon as possible. They stick with you. Be somewhere safe obviously. Encourage attention on you with sausages cut up tiny. That’s basically starting recall. It’s never too early to do little bits of training, make it fun.

And this Facebook site is great www.facebook.com/groups/dogtrainingadviceandsupport/?ref=share

There’s a similar site that isn’t. You want the one that looks very green.

And enjoy it…puppies are ace really, even if I’d happily have given ours back any time in the first 4 months.

Don't bother with puppy pads as the dog should be learning to go outside. And they'll probably just try to eat them.

They can learn sit right away. Always praise and treat IMMEDiATELY when they do anything right. Once they know SIT you can use that to train them not to jump up at strangers, to wait while you put their food down, etc

get thermal leggings and a good rainjacket for 4am toilet dashes

It's normal for puppies to have soft stools.

Avoid Pedigree products as they seem to give 9/10 dogs horrific diarrhoea.

Keep calm around them when they hear loud noises.

I was only going to use them overnight in the crate....advice from fellow dog owners is not to get up in the middle of the night with them but to leave a pad for them to use. Then eventually they will go longer and longer, and will be able to go through the night eventually. (This is a friend who has trained two puppies).

I can see the logic but I wouldn't. The dog will not naturally toilet it sleeps. Thiis means getting up with them in the night till they are old enough to hold it. The risks with a pad in a crate are,

1. you inadvertently train them to go in their crate
2. choking risk- many puppies eat plastic.

Puppies are babies. They will need you in the night at first. Perfectly normal.

It is a fag getting up in the night to take them out, but I felt really strongly that I didn't want dog poo in the house! I also felt it would be awful for her to sleep next to her poo. Maybe I was overthinking it!

We put newspaper at one side of the pen in case she got caught short, and she sometimes used it for wees. She quite quickly was able to hold it for longer and longer, so we were just getting up early (5am ish) rather than in the dead of night. Now (one year old) she likes a lie in at the weekends!

Puppy pads are a waste of money. Newspaper is fine.

That’s bad advice from your friend. Puppy needs to be got outside ASAP when it needs the toilet. Using pads just means you are teaching them to do it inside. Plus you’re forcing a dog to sleep with its mess.

Train, train, train!! It sometimes feels monotonous and relentless but you will be rewarded with a great wee dog that everyone can enjoy. Good luck!!

Our DLS (darling land shark) was 6 months on Saturday and we've had him since 9 weeks. So I can say this truthfully: I promise it gets better! Puppy blues are real.

Walking anywhere with them will take three times as long as it should at the start. They're scared, and they will stop and refuse to move a lot.

Keep some Prokolin in your medicine cupboard. Puppies lick everything and will pick up all sorts of bugs/upset tummies.

Crate train, and get a cover for the crate. White noise machine has really helped us as well. We used the puppy pads that didn't have the 'attract' scent stuff, and I layered a few up. In the middle of the night if he had an accident I could just take out the dirty one without having to faff about finding a new one.

We have a Cavapoo- join Cavapoo club Uk on Facebook for more breed specific advice

You will need
Good golfing umbrella
Gin then more gin
Take the pup to Pets at Home to be fitted for a harness. They're an awkward shape. And get a cheap one they soon grow
Mud daddy's are amazing- it's an insulated oil can shaped bottle with a shower attachment for washing them down
A tangle teaser type brush is good

@Wolfiefan

That’s bad advice from your friend. Puppy needs to be got outside ASAP when it needs the toilet. Using pads just means you are teaching them to do it inside. Plus you’re forcing a dog to sleep with its mess.

I only intend to use them at night. I'll be taking him outside all day long. It's confusing the conflicting advice you get though. I've had more when one dog owner tell me not to sleep downstairs with the puppy or have it in our room. What are you meant to do? Get up every couple of hours to take it out? How does anyone get any sleep?

These are friends who have very well trained dogs as well. I honestly don't know what to do for the best.

Seriously though they are a great breed which are sooooo chilled out abd grear with kids and just wonderful balls of fun

And that's the thing enjoy it all which might sound silly when it's peeeing everywhere but they are only little for a small amount of time. And as with kids this too shall pass

If you let a puppy pee and poo on pads during the night it will reasonably think that it’s ok to do that anytime , anywhere . You need to be getting the dog to know that outside is the correct place not sending mixed messages because it’s inconvenient to get up in the night .