First ever puppy! Best advice please!

[Happyinheels]

Hi! I've been trawling this board trying to pick up tips and advice.
We pick up our new puppy on Friday. I'm a little nervous, I can't lie! He is an 8 week old black lab. The breeder said she feeds him raw food so I'm trying to suss that out. He will be chipped but no injections. Please share your top tips and advice. I bought a book to help but if he's anything like my kids when they were babies then the book will be very little help!
So far all we've got is a crate! Desperately need to puppy proof my house and go gather bits for him!
All advice greatly appreciated as I've never owned a dog before. Thank you 🐶

I have to disagree with the dogs naturally article. That journal is rubbish honestly. Anti dog vaxxers (or 'not over vaccinating') seem to.me like the new frontier in antiscience. There is no credible peer reviewed scientific evidence that the supposed harm of 'over vaccination' outweighs the risk of your dog contracting something horrible because of following a bespoke (delayed) Vax schedule. The whole principle of medicine, animal or human is balance of risk and benefit.

A lot of dog breeders (in my experience) have quite particular beliefs about what is best for puppies. Raw feeding is another one that often crops up. Worming medications too.

OP hope all is going well with your floof and that the poor wee thing isn't too hot. Awful time to have a non-removable fur coat.

We also have a lab.

You've already got lots of great advice on here so mine repeats a lot of what's already been said. For us, what worked well:

• train to walk nicely to heel and recall from day 1. We did this in the garden. Training is an ongoing thing so be prepared for this.

• basic commands like sit, stay, drop and leave it/wait have been super useful for us.

• crate training has worked well for us and enforced naps are a must. Puppies need to sleep! If they get bitey, quite often they just need a nap. It's important you teach them to self settle. We use "go bed" for this.

• reward the behaviour you want to see. We often reward our dog if she's chilling and being calm when I'm working. Positive reinforcement all the way! Even if it's verbal if you want to avoid relying on food treats.

• canine enrichment/mental stimulation as important as physical so do some research on that. Lots of easy/free things you can do.

• get everyone in the house to agree the rules. I think I train DP and the kids as much as I train the dog. It helps if everyone is consistent.

• to avoid separation anxiety, build up leaving them slowly. Being with your dog 24/7 is not going to help them when they need to be left and that time will invariably come unless you're prepared to have your entire life revolve round the dog never being left. It's better for the dog that you help them feel secure and confident in being left (for short periods of time whilst you nip out...I'm not talking about hours on end).

• we never woke her as a puppy to go pee/poo. We made sure she went before bed. Other than that, she only ever woke once in the night then within two weeks was sleeping through.

• toilet train outside if you have a garden. Don't use puppy pads and train twice! Dogs get it quickly.

• finally, puppy blues is a real thing. Hopefully you won't get it but, if you do, there are lots of support groups out there so please don't feel alone in this and it DOES pass!

Good luck OP! Wishing you a wonderful journey ahead as a new dog owner :-)

Hi everyone!
Well, it's been a week now since our pup has been with us. He's actually so well behaved, apart from obvious puppy stuff 🤣 My flower bed is trashed with puppy shaped holes and I spend half my time grabbing things out of his reach.
We've been using the crate for sleeping on a night and he takes himself off through the day now which is brilliant. Through the night we get up about 2am with him - he wakes crying a bit for a wee, pop him out and then he goes back to bed till about 5.30/6.00am but I'm up for work around then anyway.
I haven't left him alone yet, as in the house being empty. I'm a bit anxious about that really.
The raw food smells awful in this heat 🤢
He has grown so much in a week! Had his first jabs on Friday and was so laid back!
It's taking me some adjusting to be honest. I hadn't been out of the house in 4 days as other family members had commitments so I stayed home. It is so much harder than a baby!
He has his 2nd injection in 2 weeks time.
I think if I can work on being able to leave him at home for a bit on his own then that will help me. I don't like the thought of him being upset. But, on the other hand, I work from home and he has lots of company. I need to be able to pop to the shops and simple stuff! This weekend I've had full nights sleep as my dd took over the night wakes. And I've been out of the house! 🤣

Awww isn't he a poppet. He is so handsome.

Re the food, you can just put it down for 15 minutes 4* a day. If he doesn't eat it, he is not hungry and back in fridge for next time to save waste ;) I learned this the hard way, was obsessed with keeping mine fed like a human baby. They are not the same at all (who knew ... The hair and massive pointy teeth should have provided a clue)

The leaving at home I personally think you need to work on from very early on. Not leaving them upset and barking,/ crying of course, that is totally counterproductive. I just mean consciously training them for it, IE, leaving them behind a closed door with a.toy or really amazing food treat for like 2 or 3 minutes. A stuffed hoof works really well.

You can work it up to a bit longer, then a bit longer still. Go outside to put the bins out. Just for the sake of it, whatever... Re-enter when he goes quiet for a bit and basically ignore him apart from a low key 'hi doggo,'. It teaches them that comings and goings are no big deal.
I also shook keys at random intervals and put my shoes on but then sat back down etc. Idea being to desensitise 'leaving' behaviours. Was totally obsessive about preventing separation anxiety as I live alone and a dog with SA would have killed.my independence.