Labrador Puppy - top tips

[FrankieMcGrath]

After years of pestering, I’ve finally given in to the DCs & we’re getting a dog - Labrador puppy. It’s from a family friend, so we know the mum & dad & no concerns about the breeder!

Puppy is due to come to us in a few weeks, so asking for top tips on what’s been most useful / waste of money, that we should prep before arrival?! TIA!

We’ve brought him home & he’s a dream! All wees & poos outside (the nice weather has made that easy) & generally just lovely.

One question - is there a collar brand people
would recommend (& lead)? He’s still wearing the collar from the breeder. Won’t be taking him out for another 6 weeks (after vaccines) but would like to get him used to the lead & assume will need a new collar shortly.

I don’t think it will matter what collar you use and he’ll grow out of them quickly so I’d just get one from PAH or similar. If you train him with a harness though, make sure it is a Y-shaped one and not one with a horizontal band across the front (there’s a very popular brand like that but they’re not good for dogs’ joints).

Don’t wait until he’s had his vaccines to take him out. Carry him everywhere. You want him to learn about the world and that it is safe as soon as possible. He can’t go on the ground until he’s had his vaccines but he can be carried, or get a puppy sling. This is a critical window for his brain development and if he doesn’t learn that new places are fine during this time, he might be scared of them later. Take him everywhere you ultimately want him to be fine in - outside the supermarket, train station etc - feed him lots of treats and give him lots of fuss so he associates these places with nice things.

Can we have a photo OP?? I got mine a really cheap lead a collar to practice walking on it around the garden before he was vaccinated. Glad I got a cheap one as he spent most of his time chewing it.

I just feel so scared of accidentally hurting him - it’s worse than when I had my DCs!

This is my baby!

Oh he is gorgeous , look at that little squidgy face . My top tips are start training straight away , they love food so that makes it so much easier !

Ahh he’s lovely! Looks the spit of mine when I brought him home! You didn’t get him from a breeder in the midlands by any chance did you?? Is that a yellow collar I see as mine had a yellow collar too!

No, breeder not in the Midlands but it is a yellow collar! He is very cute & I’ve been re-reading this thread now he’s here! Very helpful, thanks all!

@Tygertiger what do you mean by Y-shaped harness? Is there a particular brand?

I came on to say this - build it up gradually by just carrying him to the end of your drive to watch people/cars etc go by for short periods to start with and go from there. I’ve also driven to retail parks/supermarkets once they’re happy in the car and opened the boot for them to people watch (not practical for very long in this weather admittedly but doable for short periods when you’ve had the air con on)

It’s worth getting him used to the car - start by sitting in there with no engine running (either in his travel crate or harness on seat, whatever you plan to do going forward) give him a bit of kibble/positive reinforcement etc then build up to having the engine on/driving a short distance.

What a dear little thing - enjoy

Thanks @parachutegirl - I didn’t think of just taking him to the end of the driveway. I was thinking about needing to take him to the park & that felt like such a big move when I couldn’t put him down, but up & down the driveway & street feels much less daunting.

Thanks!

Y-shape as in the shape it makes on the front of the dog’s chest. PerfectFit is a good brand as you can buy the pieces separately and swap as he grows.

Julius K9 is the brand to avoid, or others that shape - if you google you’ll see the front piece goes straight across the front of the dog. They’re very popular but not ergonomic as they restrict the dog’s shoulder blades.

Thank you!

As a vet nurse i see many wonderful labs but i also see some atrociously badly behaved ones that the owner has no control over whatsoever , and they are very, very strong !
My advice is get some really good professional training advice and stick to it no matter what .
And get the best insurance you can afford.
Congratulations and enjoy your pup.

I completely agree with this , it does work.
When you put pup out last thing at night don't engage or make a fuss just out to pee then in crate -if using a crate , no 'goodnight' or other words , just keep everything as low key as possible.
When you eventually leave him alone for a short while just quietly leave with again no words and when you return don't fuss him immediately let a few moments pass before you do.
In time all these relevant moments to him will be calm and stress free and normal to him and he will be less likely to have separation issues.

Puppy classes are great and following those, things like working dog classes or scent training if you fancy it.

Labs are born half trained and it’s very rewarding to see how quickly they learn new skills.

As a family decide which key words you’ll use for commands. Treats are a must for training - “YES” and a treat as soon as they do what they’ve been asked.

While they are very easy to train, they (my male lab anyway) is quick to “forget”. Training isn’t a one and done thing. It’s a constant.

You will have no personal space. They will adore the ground you walk on and will be the best addition to your family.

Accidental ingestion? With labs it's never accidental, they always eat whatever it is on purpose. Unsuitable, certainly.

OP, labs will wat anything including things you wouldn't think they would.

he looks adorable btw 😊

I don't know why this thread popped up today but he is gorgeous. I agree with buying a harness, they can wriggle out of a collar factor easily. We use Ezy-dog, don't get one that needs to go over the dog's head, that can put them off forever. Be careful about puppy classes, they can be a free for all, with pups just chasing round and round. Socialising means teaching pups to ignore other dogs but you wouldn't think so at some classes.
I would expect the breeder to give you good advice if you know them well.

How are you getting on @FrankieMcGrath?

We bought our new boy home the same weekend as you.

He’s getting very heavy now, carrying him about! He’s got his second set of jabs on the 10/8, and then a week to kick in so a lot of carrying a small elephant still to come! He’s been carried out in the local streets (but they’re v quiet as we are on a small housing estate that’s a dead end in a village), into the village, to a couple of pubs, to the vet (just to say hi- they won’t always stick a big needle in you or do nasty things!), to PAH, and to a family members home. Yesterday we sat on a bench and watched cricket on the common. How are you getting on getting out and about?

How’s training going? He’s been a super good boy so far about naps/bedtime in his crate. That’s the one thing I’ve done differently compared to our previous labs- enforced nap times. It has helped enormously. With hindsight I think our first labs manic bitey behaviour at times was caused because he was overtired.

Toilet training is going well. We’ve only had one or two wees indoors.

He’s picked up some very basic commands.

The only slight issue we are having is wanting (obviously we don’t let him) to eat every single small stone/stick/piece of bark when we’re in the garden. I don’t know if it’s coincidence, but we’ve had one boy and two girls previously and it’s been both boys that want to try and eat stones. The girls put all sorts of other things in their mouths as you’d expect, but didn’t seem to want to eat outside debris in the same way!