Some new puppy questions

[YorkshireFelix]

Our new pup comes home in 2 weeks (working cocker spaniel). I've bought some bits to try and prepare as much as possible but want to see if anything major is missing! Also have a couple of other random questions.

Have done loads of research but there's so many options it's a bit overwhelming. Would love some advice if possible

Crate
Large blanket to go over the crate
Food and water bowl
Puppy kongs
Other puppy chews (I bought Nylabone branded ones)
A couple of toys but not buying any more as I know my dd will want to pick some out and she doesn't know he's coming yet!
Gate for bottom of stairs
Hugglepup heartbeat/heat bag soft toy
Simple solution spray
Poo bags
Sling for taking him out and about before vaccinations
Same food he's been on at the breeders

Plus I've got the easy peasy puppy squeezy book coming sometime over the next couple of days!

There's some other bits I was thinking about getting and would love some advice as to if it's needed or recommendations?

• I need something to go inside the crate. Not keen on investing in an expensive bed until I know he's not going to tear it to shreds! Is vet bed the best option or just a blanket?

• Brush to get him used to being groomed

• What is the best thing to use for tooth brushing to get him used to this? Pets at Home had a pack with a puppy toothbrush and toothpaste in but I didn't have any phone signal to look up reviews so didn't get it

• Longline training lead - I am keen to get his recall solid as my experience with WCS is they are happiest off lead (obviously will be on a lead when required)

• Collar and Y shaped harness (guessing I need to buy these when I have him as I don't know what size would be best?)

• Would love some advice on car travel as I'd like to get him used to short trips and taking him out to different places for socialisation. I know you can get those car hammock things and then plug into the car from his harness. I'd like to get a proper car boot crate for him eventually but only when he's fully crate trained and happy so need a solution for when he's still a pup. Any advice appreciated!

• Our local groomers does a puppy session which is £10 for 20 minutes and it's just to go in and get them used to the sounds and environment, being touched by the groomer. Do you think this is worth doing?

• When I take him for his second vaccinations at the vets would I take him in the sling I've bought or do I need a soft carry crate type thing?

Is there anything obvious I am missing?

I am fully prepared for my life to be a living hell for the next 6 months at least but if I can be as prepared as possible it will put my mind at ease slightly...

Vet bed is good.
Yes get used to being brushed early on, coat and teeth, in fact everything. Handle his feet, inspect his claws, it will mean you’ll be able to clip his claws yourself rather than paying the vet.
Any toothbrush will do at this stage, it’s more about getting him used to you doing it.
Best thing for recall long term imo, is to have them off the lead from day one (in safe environments). He will follow you around when he’s little and whilst inevitably they will test boundaries once they hit the teen stage, you won’t have made it forbidden fruit.
No need for harness if trained correctly, by definition harnesses are made for pulling.
Not really, do it yourself and save money.
Go out regularly in the car (several times a week). Not at all unusual for them to be sick the first few times.
Just carry him, he’ll be fine.

Change your mindset, it won’t be a nightmare, yes it’s hard work but it’s an absolute joy watching them grow!.

Remember, what you do in the first few weeks sets the foundation. Start as you mean to go on.

Good luck, you’ll be fine

Don't put a blanket over the puppies crate - not in summer. It traps the heat in and puppies can overheat really quickly.

Tbh I would also completely avoid all chews and Kongs. My DP is a vet and since the start of the year he's operated on three different puppies who tried to swallow their kong and it got stuck in their throat. One died. On chews, even the ones marked as 'puppy safe' are typical not actually very safe. Puppies try and swallow them whole (because they're idiots) and if they don't do that then chances are their teeth can be damaged or cracked. Puppies that young also really don't need them. They sleep for about 18-20hours a day - and when they're awake IMO you should be training and socialising them, not just giving them treats to entertain themselves with. You want to be building that bond from day one.

Puppy sling is fine for taking to the vets as in carrying in your arms (just make sure you have a firm grip on him). On getting the dog used to the car, you'll want to start taking him out every day in your arms straight away so drive him to new places and carry him around.

I would also tell your DD you are getting a dog - particularly if your DD is young as she'll need to learn BEFORE the puppy arrives that it's not to be pestered all the time etc. There's no good reason to hide something so big IMO.

Thanks both for the advice. I'll leave the kong stored away for now until he's much much bigger.

Would a proper cover for the crate be better do you think? Or just no cover at all? We do live in a very old grade 2 listed house with single glazing and it absolutely never gets warm in here even when it's 30 degrees outside but obviously want to be safe.

Will he be ok being carried in the car whilst he's so little or do I need something for him to be in?

My dd is almost 11 and very dog savvy (MIL has had three spaniel pups in her lifetime who she's helped take care of) so no very small children to contend with thankfully!

There should be no risk of pup swallowing a Kong if it's appropriately sized

Hi, very exciting for you and your family and you have a lot of fun to come.

I’ve had many beautiful dogs in my lifetime and the best advice I can give is to join and follow the Facebook site Dog Training Advice and Support. They publish detailed advice from Dog Behaviour Specialists and have also published a book. If anyone then has specific questions they give personal advice.

You’ll probably find that you get conflicting advice so it’s good to have one system to follow. Their advice works and follows positive reinforcement training.

Enjoy your new family member!

Thank you, I've been this group recommended so I joined and read through everything last night which was really useful! I feel as prepared as I can be knowledge-wise and will just have to see what happens!! My dd is dog crazy and has been asking for a pet since she was 2 but we wanted to wait until she was the right age, so she's going to be absolutely thrilled

Ah exciting times ahead OP!! We have a border collie, so also working breed, my 1 piece of advice in addition to all that's been given is to enforce nap time!
As a working breed...and a crazy puppy...he will probably want to be on the go all the time - but make sure he gets regular time outs - especially if he gets a bit mouthy, he could be overtired .... have fun!

Yes absolutely! Have read up a lot about how much sleep they need and enforcing naps so we're going to try our best from day 1. He's coming from a long line of field trial champions so we're keen to get involved in gun dog training and have a trainer locally who we're going to see once he's old enough. We live semi-rurally so lots for him to explore too

Some of your other questions....

1. The bed, just go with an old towel, 2 beds shredded Ddog prefers the floor!
2. Harness, we went with perfect fit, but not until he was 6 months old - I think - TBH we only use it for the car and when we're camping, or if he's on long line.
3. Vets - we just carried him in
4. Car travel, we use a connector which clips onto his harness and in the seat belt clip. When he was very young we had an rac harness and I sat with him. We took him out all the time to get used to it..ie went to tescos, DH would sit with the door open so he could see people/cars etc.

Perfect, thanks so much!

I put about twenty copies of the Daily Telegraph under vetbed in the crate, then added cheap fleece blanket to snuggle in. It was January though.

My pup tries to eat the vetbed but gets nowhere, so it's really good tough stuff. He didn't get the memo about 18 hours of sleep, but he does generally need at least four solid naps of about 1.5-2 hours to be civilised. A purebreed WCS will probably be quite small - mine's half lab and half WCS and is an absolute chonk so I carry him around in a rucksack, which also has the advantage of being ridiculously cute (and for some reason he loves it). Definitely handle him lots - paws, ears, look at his teeth etc.

One thing not mentioned above is that WCS can be velcro dogs. He is going to want to be with somebody all of the time, especially when he first comes home, so worth bearing in mind when you're planning where he sleeps, how you're going to manage if you need to drop kids off, get shopping etc. Someone will probably come along to say you need to get them used to being alone straight away but your puppy will be a baby who has never been alone before and who has been bred to bond closely with humans. So unless you're able to tolerate his profound and genuine distress (and you don't sound like that kind of person at all), you need to have him with you or somebody else for weeks before you start leaving him alone for tiny amounts (i.e. seconds, then minutes etc). After three weeks my pup can manage me leaving the house to put his poo in the bin, so long as I come straight back, and if he's really engaged with something I can go to the loo alone 🙄

Absolute best of luck. By the sounds of it you're going to do a really good job and raise a happy, confident, well-adjusted little pup.

Crating isn’t compulsory…we didn’t.

easy peasy puppy squeezy is a good book.

if they are being a bitey little shit they are probably tired.

encourage stuff that’s good, ignore the bad.

We didn’t crate, we used a playpen as her safe space and a way of enforcing naps. It also had the advantage of more space so if she was caught short in the night she went on the floor and not on the bed.

the bit we didn’t do enough of is people socialisation. TBH that is better than dogs that jump up at everyone but it makes her a bit barky when we have visitors.

Our local vets had a puppy club where they could mix before they were fully vaccinated, that was great for other dog socialisation.

Some extra info: for a bed I’d strongly recommend vetbed. You’ll likely end up with several bits of vetbed and they’re so useful. Maybe put a towel under the vetbed to make it more comfortable.

As several others have said, it’s ok to carry your pup into the vet. Keep him well away from other dogs and never put him on the floor. The vet should thoroughly clean the table before you place your puppy on it.

As you’ll have a working line cocker, gundog training is a good idea. You could also try agility which is great fun for dogs and humans.

The Facebook Dog Advice site mentions the 'zoomies’ which all my pups demonstrated at around 6-8pm - just when you’re busy preparing for tomorrow or hoping for a rest. This is a vital time though and you should have suitable toys ready such as a short knotted rope or a thin knotted towel. Usually this time is taken up with tug of war type games but include some fetching also.

Your DD will want to play with the puppy and she can do this under your supervision at least for the first few sessions until you see how she’s doing. My daughter of a similar age used a tennis ball and the tugging toys. I found the main concern was about her managing the energy level to avoid over-excitement but she was soon very competent. However, children of this age seem to find it a real challenge to be involved in toilet training. At key times it’s essential to watch the puppy constantly for about-to-pee signs and children get distracted too easily.

Good luck and please let us know how you get on with him.

Great advice thank you!

I'm letting dd be as involved as she wants to be, and making sure she knows upstairs is a pup free zone so she has her own space to escape if she needs to. It's been very funny as she's constantly going on about how she wants a dog (which she has been doing for years) and I smile to myself every time she mentions it

Have a cocker too and Easy peasy puppy squeazy was like my Bible, it helped so much that within weeks he was grabbing gif a teddy instead of someone’s leg/ hand. Just be so careful they’re legends but soooooooo full of energy and sooooooo bitey at the start. Best of luck with the new arrival op, just as an alternative, we didn’t crate, but we did teach him ‘go to bed’ and he sleeps in the kitchen happily on his own at night.

Best command we ever taught was ‘watch me’ where anything can be going on but if I point to my cheek and say ‘watch me’ he knows a treat is coming so he’ll sit and stare at me ignoring the issue that might be happening in the background for enough time for the person to get by!!