Top tip for new puppy

[Needsomezzzz]

Hi, we are picking up our puppy next week...if you had one top tip for us what would it be? Thanks!!

Socialising and socialisation are not the same thing. Neutrality, neutrality, neutrality.

That God made puppies cute so they could systematically try every inch of your patience but you still love them anyway 🫠🫠

Just coming out the other side as my youngest is now 18 months but oh bloody hell was she a menace 🤣 now an absolute cracker of a dog ❤️

Don’t let your children touch your puppy ever when he’s in his crate - awake or asleep. It’s his safe space. You too!

Socialise! Heights, cars, other dogs, children, zimmer frames, umbrellas, big winter coats, neon in uniforms.

Biting and jumping at your face is exuberance. Try not to let yourself be stressed by it and swap your poor scratched limbs for a toy that squeaks.
it’s actually a good sign. Long calming strokes help calm your puppy but not always so don’t despair.

When you think your life as you knew it is over, no one else ever had a puppy like this and will you ever be able to just read a book ever again or go out or have lunch or anything and what were you thinking and you want to bawl, just remember, this is what everyone is talking about when they say puppy blues. You WILL have a lovely dog where you adore it AND it adores you AND it will sleep in AND make your walks amazing AND you won’t have to eat one handed in a pub forever and it WILL be worth it.

To remember they’re just a baby really, you’ve basically brought home a furry toddler so keep in mind they just need love and affection at this age, and a whole load of patience. Oh and that wearing wellies/boots and gloves in the house for the biting is a good idea

Puppies want to be near you. Use it to train recall. It’s easiest when they are tiny and keep at it when they grow up.

Following this thread with huge interest, as we are getting our puppy in a few weeks. The tips are brilliant. Can anyone recommend a good puppy sling for outdoor socialisation?

My advice would be to make sure puppy has enough naps. You could tell when ours needed a nap, he was nippy and badly behaved. Supposedly they need a nap after being awake for just one hour!

My advice would be to use a crate and as soon as pup seems overtired eg gets bitey or goes a bit frantic,, pop them. In the crate for a nap.

My advice would be to enjoy them! Puppies are so cute and it goes very quickly.

Otherwise agree with pp who suggested reading Easy Peasey Puppy Squeezy, this was the only puppy book I bought and it covers most things.

And socialise every day, take them out in the car, to cafes, to town, to the countryside - everywhere you want them to be comfortable with when they're older. Don't wait until they're 3 months as it's too late, get a puppy sling if you're worried about vaccinations.

Make house training your absolute priority. We’ve had a dog before so we knew the ropes. We crate train, which helps enormously.

You need very frequent trips outside, loads of praise when they go and watch them like a hawk. If they show any sign of going, i.e. circling, sniffing, starting to crouch, whip them outside ASAP. For the first few weeks housetraining will be your life’s work. The more you put into it, the quicker your puppy will be trained.

This is great stuff!
I'm not sure we will ever be 100% prepared, but these tips will be invaluable, thank you so much

Lez Graham's book 'The Pet Gundog' and more recently 'The Pet Gundog Puppy' is an absolute treasure trove of advice, even if your dog is not a gundog breed.

A cheeky 2:
Desensitisation to leads
mine had her lead clipped on and off alot without going on walks. She got used to just "being" with it on.

we learnt from our old dog who got super hyped everytime the lead came out

We can now pop her on the lead for example in others houses when shes struggling to settle. When we have dog visitors to the house, human visitors, drop something dangerous or just when we need her to settle. She had an injury at one point and it saved her from complete crate rest, and it also makes it far easier to get out the door.

2)Practice being bored, teaching calm and start as you mean to go on

There's some much information on enrichment that it's tempting to over do it. Half the time when they are naughty they are over tired. It's like a toddler running around manically at bed time. If they have 6 walks a day and 3 kongs a day then they will expect that every day. It's really easy to accidently create a dog that can't settle and is on the go 24/7 because they don't learn to just be. If they walk 2 miles a day, then you'll need to walk them 2 miles when it's raining and you're ill. Ocassional low stimulation, no walk days often does wonders to bring puppies down

Learning to just sit on a park bench and watch the world go by is far better training then manically bombing around with a group of dogs. If you want to one day have a picnic in the park they will have to practice just sitting in those kind of environments

Seeing you have dc
The leaving the puppy to sleep thing is really important
Puppies are really similar to babies in a lot of ways. They need far more sleep then you'd think (theres different amounts for different ages but first coming home they should sleep for 20 our 24). This is really tricky on school holidays when having a puppy is so exciting!

Sleep is so important to get them regulated, growing and consolidating training

Like small toddlers they won't be able to regulate their sleep properly. It took till our dog was closer to 2 before she recognised she was over tired.

Dogs that are overtired will be nippy dogs.
Kids love to wind dogs up, and those games will need to be short because if they are tired they become alligators. Its also if they are overstimulated

In our house we call it toddler at a disco. The noise is too loud, they need a nap, they are bombing around everywhere and everything while great fun Is fragile and it won't be long til they shove someone over.

Half of behavioural problems start with dogs that are overwhelmed by rough play, noisy/over stimulating environments and over tired

I think it really depends on what breed.

but also do you have photos? 😀

Reward any good behaviour.

Join the Puppy Survival thread.

Post a picture on here.

There will be good days and bad. Puppies are cute for a reason. They can be relentless and hard work, sleepless nights, and your life will be turned upside down. Be aware and prepared for this.

Training is an ongoing process, and not just reserved for puppy class.

Your phone, previously full of pictures of the children, will be replaced with pictures of the dog.

Puppy proof your house. Remove dangling leads, valuables he can get at etc. you can’t blame a fog for chewing a jumper, if that jumper is left in the floor.

When handling your puppy, stroke its ears, legs, tails, nose etc so it gets used to be handled. Also put your hand in its mouth so you both get used to this (there will be times when you have to remove something from its mouth).

By that - I mean carry around treats and reward ANY behaviour that you'd like in the future - coming to from choice, recalling, all feet on ground, settling at your feet. Personally I wouldn't reward toileting with treats but others may say otherwise.