Be honest, how hard will this be?

[NoviaPop]

I'm moving house in 2 weeks, gorgeous big place with huge garden, very rural. No kids of other pets.

DH and I have wanted a puppy for years!
A friend is a breeder (genuine breeder, the dam and sire are health and DNA checked, there's all the correct paperwork, first vax, etc) dam is a much loved pet, this will be her 3rd and final litter.

The timing is amazing, as pups will be ready to pick up in 6 weeks, so enough time to settle in the new house before pick up.

First time dog owner.

How tough will the training be? The house needs renovating so I'm not worried about toilet accidents (though plan to follow guides to take pup outside frequently).

I think I'm mostly worried about feeling trapped inside as I won't leave the pup alone and this will be built up slowly (have read about flitting etc).

Will I be trapped in the house for months?! What sort of places can you go, with a pup? I WFH very part time so I don't want to be bored, but I won't have any friends or family in the new location so I will want to explore and try to meet people, try new things etc.

A puppy is a great way to meet new people. No-one ignores you when you have a puppy.

Winter is hard when toilet training, but that doesn't last long. Get dog used to being alone. Start early and increase each day.

Some puppies are easier than others.

What breed is the dog? Some breeds are really easy to train and some much harder. The puppy stage is tough I’m not gonna lie, but it’s sooo worth it in the end! We’ve never had any issues with leaving our dog alone for a few hours and lots of places are dog friendly now but you do need to train them to behave nicely when they’re out and about of course.

A renovation and a new puppy simultaneously sounds like a recipe for disaster to be honest.

It absolutely could work with a lot of effort but equally it's just as likely to lead to you being completely stressed out and overwhelmed and you not enjoying either experience, the new home or the puppy.

The renovation will be in planning stage for about 12 months, I should have said! So no actual work until puppy is much older.

Yes, a dog, not just a puppy limits where and when you can go out. Our dog is 4 years old and we’ve met so many other dog owners that we regularly see whilst out, they are now friends. My DH takes our dog to the dog park early every morning and we now know quite a lot of people. We did start to leave him alone at around 4 months, just a few minutes first in his crate, then gradually worked up the time left alone. This worked really well, we are a family of 4 adults so he’s never left alone for long now. Places we go with the dog are pubs, cafes, garden centres and a couple of shops that allow dogs. Unfortunately we won’t leave him in kennels or with other family members so holidays are now UK cottage holidays, although we’ve stayed in an inn with him and it was fine.

Is your OH fully on board? There's no reason to be trapped at home if there's two of you?

I went lots of places when pup was small - garden centres, national trust places, dog friendly coffee shops, pet shops etc. Luckily pup loves the car, it would have been much more difficult if they were car sick.

What breed is it?

Puppies vary hugely. People vary hugely.

you need to only go into it if you can handle the worst!

A lot of it is how YOU treat it & train it.
my best advice is start as you mean to go on.

My friends tiny lab puppy curled up on the sofa was cute! Her now 45kg, 18 month old lab bouncing around on it, not so much (well, it is still cute, but it's destroying the sofa!).

but she started leaving him by himself for 5 minutes from the beginning & built up to 5 hours (rarely, but often 3-4) and you can put him in the utility or kitchen diner and be in another room without more than a cursory 'did you mean to leave me behind?!?!' Then he just plays ir settles for a nap. He's always slept alone in the kitchen diner from night one. Originally in a crate & they got up 2-3 times in the night, dropping it to him sleeping through quite quickly. good recall & lead walking. Settles under a table or by your feet in a cafe/pub etc

at the same time her Dad & step mum got a chocolate lab, also a lovely dog, but he's still sleeping in their (tiny) bedroom. Can't be left even to sleep a cup of tea! Let alone go out! (Also bounces around the furniture) still terrible on lead & no recall off lead. Cannot be taken to cafes/pub.

its doable if you put the work in & follow guidelines for socialisation & train them.

don't say you'll never leave them alone. You need to train them to be alone for their sake and yours! 15 years is too long not to be able to pop to the supermarket, have coffee with a friend, go to a friends for dinner etc.

& yeah toilet train them as if you already have your new white carpet down!!

There's a huge difference in temperament and trainability between breeds. What breed will you be getting?

The first few months are hard , I remember standing outside in February at 5am repeatedly saying 'wee wee ' thinking what have I done I should be in bed ! And 2 years later she still often wakes up between 4 and 6 but we are used to it and take it in turns to get up. We love going on long walks and can't imagine being without her . I would find doggie day care for the times when you have a doggie free day out or you will feel tied to the house

Yes DH def on board! But he works away Tues-Sat. He only home Sunday and Monday.

Sorry I should have said, Cavapoo!

I have honestly never felt limited by having a dog, but at least part of that is planning, and all the rest is lots and lots of training. I have always had an outdoor secure run for the dog(s) so that if I have to leave them there is a safe, comfortable and warm place for them to wait for me to return. This doesn't have to be expensive, just a place that enables them and you not to become stressed by leaving them indoors. And these days there are actually so many dog-friendly places that there are always lots of places to go with them - many businesses have figured out that the kinds of responsible dog owners who want their dogs with them are often the ones with nice disposable incomes they'd like them to spend at their business.

I also agree that having a dog is a good way of meeting new people, and with a puppy you can't avoid talking to other dog owners as they will love meeting the new kid on the block.

Training doesn't have to be "tough", but it does have to be consistant, frequent and constant. You can't do 20 minutes on Monday and leave it until Thursday! You can break up training, and combine it into you daily life though. Lots of 4 or 5 minutes throughout the day, and making it into games and fun, is better than 30 minutes once a day. Just one warning - during the teenage months, be prepared for your puppy to "forget" everything they've learned, and go "deaf". Stick with it and they'll come out beautifully the other end, but it'll test your ability to not entirely lose it!

Make sure you know what the breed is like and it is going to be suitable for your life style. Be very honest with your breeder friend and ask them to be honest with you.

We’ve had 2 dogs in the last 20 years, both terriers, bit barky and stubborn but no real problems for our family (DH, D17, DD14 currently). A year ago I decided to get a Springer cross. He arrived at 8 weeks old and was brilliant until 6 months when he just took off one day and he wouldn’t come back to us. We had been training him at home, same as our 2 terriers, and lessons with a gun dog trainer.

We got him neutered and this helped enormously, now he doesn’t run off - he has a boundary of about 300M but still no recall. We’ve got a new trainer who has helped us enormously with understanding his breeds, reducing his adrenaline/excitement levels, looking at his food, brain games, types of walk. Because he has no recall at the moment we have to be careful where we walk him - I had visions of long country walks with a well behaved dog - nah!

He’s a gorgeous boy and very loved which is why he’s still here! So my best advice is dogs are brilliant and change the dynamic in a home in many ways, train EVERY day and use a crate. Our boy is crated after walks and for food but now sleeps on DD’s bed which they both love..

We had a puppy and renovation, it just meant she managed to nick the builders sarnies and get chips on their ‘fishy Friday’.

You’re meant to take the puppy out into as many situations as possible during those early months for socialisation purposes, so you won’t get bored, and you’ll get to know half the neighbourhood. Puppies are too cute not to talk to.

We are a Labrador family who are incredibly food focused so training tends to be easier, but it’s still hard work. I think the hardest bit is the adolescent stage where they become yobs for a bit, my nine month old is going through that at the mo. It doesn’t last though.

Oh and nail recall when they are tiny. They have an invisible string whilst tiny so will always be with you or be ready to come back quickly! That’s the time.

I’m another one who’s never felt trapped by having a dog. I’m lucky in that DSis and I both have dogs, they adore each other and we dogsit for each other when needed. We’re just one big pack!

But if I didn’t have that I’d have no qualms about kennels (have had previous dogs and used kennels frequently).

Your situation sounds like a great one for a potential dog. My current mutt is a Heinz 57 from the dogs home but I suspect he may have been marketed as a cavapoo. Not the brightest spark in the plug but definitely the most affectionate!

Cavaliers & Poodles are both companion breeds that can get upset about being left so its absolutely essential that you start training for this early.

As with any dog early socialisation is vital so sign up for puppy classes as soon as your dog has had all its jabs.

As the owner of small dogs I would also suggest you manage interactions with bigger bouncy dogs so they don't have negative associations.

And don't forget to come back & post pictures!

Wow thank you so much for the advice!

It's very reassuring that so many didn't feel too tied to the house.

It's great lots of you found new connections in the neighbourhood, though as we're going to be so rural (no neighbours!) I think, we're more likely to see a deer or pheasant than a human!

i dont remember feeling tied to the house, but you are on your own effectively - however you are getting pup in the spring so less mud, better weather.

It depends. My first had separation anxiety. She couldn’t be left. At all. For months.
I would be concerned about a third litter of crossbreeds. When you say DNA tests I don’t know what you mean. There are lots of breed specific tests each breed should have. (But with cavalier in the mix you could still end up with serious health problems.)

Glad the renovations won't be an issue.

I would however be worried about feeling isolated and overwhelmed at being alone in a new location with no neighbours, no husband for most of the week and not seeing others as you work from home.

Realistically it's unlikely you will see many, if any people on dog walks if you live so rurally so if be looking into what was available training class wise etc to ensure you made connections and possibly new doggy friends for yours to socialise with.

I’m another one who’s never felt trapped by having a dog. I’m lucky in that DSis and I both have dogs, they adore each other and we dogsit for each other when needed. We’re just one big pack!

I think having local friends or relatives that can do ad hoc dog sitting makes a huge difference. We have neither. Whilst our pup is fine to be left alone for 4/5 hours on occasion we haven't anyone to leave her with for a longer period. She's 'failed' trial nights at two different boarders so she is really quite limiting in that respect.

My dog is a tie. That's because we don't have family to look after him so everything has to be planned around not leaving him too long or paying for daycare or boarding.

If you want to go somewhere that isn't dog friendly for more time that the dog is happy with or a spontaneous trip out who would you leave the dog with?

agree,
you will need to sort out some sort of dog care if you want to go out for longer than 5 hours
if you want to go away without the dog there is that consideration.

I've never made any doggy friends either :-(

We're fairly rural so we don't pop to the park and see the same faces everyday and we had to travel some distance to training classes. I'd have loved to find someone that I could go for a walk with once a fortnight.

also wfh with a puppy is quite consuming.
my ddog ate threw 2 of my lap leads,,
puppies chew wires.