Preparing for our first family puppy next summer, what basics matter most?

[Perkyduck131]

We’re thinking of getting our first family dog next summer when our children will be 10 and 11, probably a Labrador or Golden Retriever. I’m a teacher so will be off all summer with the kids, our plan is to not go away so that we can spend some time getting our heads round all the changes!

DH grew up with dogs but I’ve never had one, and realistically, due to work schedules, I’ll be doing most of the day-to-day care. I want to use the next year to make sure we’re properly prepared.

What are the absolute basics I need to know/have in place before a puppy even arrives?

For example, what age do you start puppy classes and how early do you need to book them? What should we have ready at home? What’s the average timeline between contacting a breeder and bringing the puppy home?

I can research breeds, breeders, insurance etc, but I’m more interested in all the practical stuff that experienced dog owners know and a complete novice wouldn’t even think to ask!

What do you wish someone had told you before your first dog? Any advice/book suggestions/websites would be really appreciated.

I remember thinking I was completely prepared for a baby after doing NCT classes and then promptly drowning 😂, so I really don’t want to make the same mistake and just assume we’ll figure it all out as we go!

The first thing to consider is what will happen with the puppy once you are back at work?
It would only be around 14 weeks old at the most, so won't be able to be left home alone with only a dog walker popping in for an hour.

Is someone going to be around during the day when you return to work in the Autumn? I wouldn’t get a dog unless there was someone at home during the day. Your pup will be less that six months old and too young to be left on their own in my view.
I crate trained my dogs. They were also confined initially to the large kitchen/family room which had doors to the garden and a stone floor. Crated overnight and up a couple times initially to let dog out for a wee. During the day out of crate unless I had to go out (school run, grocery shopping etc). The odd accident but I never used puppy pads just took them outside, though I remember a time when we’d go for a long walk come home and they’d go out poop in the garden! But they stopped that eventually. Once reliably house trained used the crate less and less. They will be mouthy so get chew toys and be careful about leaving tempting things like shoes around.
Routine is important. We did do puppy classes with the first one which we started after final vaccinations. Then our routine was: let out first thing, walk to school with dog, back in house with doors open to garden during the warm weather, walk in the afternoon and a late night visit to the garden. I left him alone for short periods from the start and neither dog had separation anxiety - don’t make a fuss when you leave, don’t make a fuss when you come back.
Socialisation is extremely important! They got a bit of that during puppy classes but also on walks, and taking them out on busy streets so they get used to noise, meeting other dogs, other kids. But dogs also have their own personalities. One dog thought every person/dog they met was a potential best friend, the other wasn’t really bothered with people or other dogs. One was very playful and loved playing fetch, the other was not and didn’t play games.
Get a good vacuum cleaner.

@SpanielsGalore Thank you- these are exactly the kind of questions it would be really helpful to work through in advance. I work three days locally and on one day I will start late and another finish early, my in laws live nearby (both retired) and are very keen to help. At some point I was hoping we could do in laws 1-2 days a week and 1 day with a dog walker but not sure at what point that is realistic!

I think like pps you need to work out puppy care and is it going to be a centre or someone you know, you can't reliably imo leave a puppy at home with just a dog walker at 3/4 months. And day cares can ask for males to be neutered...

The rest will fall into place, you go to puppy classes once puppy is fully vaccinated.

I'd say the dog walker plan isn't very realistic till about 18 months or so.

Read Easy Peasy Puppy Squeezy before you get the dog - as you need to puppy proof your house. Most dogs turn out lovely so don't worry too much.

I'd also say crate training is probably overrated - I think it's just another thing to worry about. Them having a safe space that's theirs is better. Decide where it's going to sleep as well.

I also crate trained my dog some people hate them some dogs hate them, but my dog is fine and goes in when im out and at bedtime. I would also suggest socialising your puppy early just carry them before vaccine they don't have to speak to everyone but getting the dog out and about let's them sniff and see the world around them.

Yes that’s really useful to know re the dog walker, I was only basing on friends but thinking about it they will usually have someone in working from home and then a dog walker which I appreciate is entirely different to not being in the house at all. I’ll look into the daycare options as we have lots around where we live (was missing paying nursery fees anyway 🤣)

Ok thank you re crate training- will also look into that. And for the book recommendation- it’s in the Amazon basket (alongside the happy puppy, which was mentioned on another thread)

We have friends who got a puppy and didn’t realise the level of work involved so unfortunately had to send him back, I really don’t want to be anywhere near that position so really appreciate a heads up on any issues now so we can get a proper plan in place before we start the process.

Puppies are babies they are hard word they bite pee and chew then they go into adolescence and hormones cause their brain to turn to mush 😂 but ime patience plenty of rest quality exercise and they turn out fine(ish) .

If you are lucky your pup will arrive almost house-trained already. Our current 7 yr olds were summer pups, we collected them at the beginning of August, they had played out with mum and other adults and took almost no extra house-training. But just in case, I do use puppy pads, crate train, expect dogs to sleep downstairs and don't get up during the night, except in an emergency.
If your PILs are on board, I would let them look after the dog rather than a daycare situation. The consistency is much better for the dog and there is less risk of sharing germs with other, strange dogs.
Socialising, imo, means teaching the dog to ignore other dogs, people etc that you meet on a walk, although if you can meet another sensible owner for shared walks that can be good for both dogs.

I'm going to be that annoying person and say have you considered rehoming an adult dog?
Puppies can't be left all day with a dog walker popping in, not even for one day.
And the in-laws, while being keen to help, are unlikely to want or to be able to give the level of help required.
You should also plan for the worst not the best, so when you say you can start late and another finish early, I imagine that that will not always be the case.
To be fair, it's a big ask for an adult dog to settle in in six weeks but more possible than with a pup imo.

I love golden retrievers but they shed like nothing else. Don't ever wear black leggings nears a goldie! Expect everything to always be covered in golden 'glitter'.

Puppies vary hugely, some are really, really bitey, some will chew all your furniture, some are slow to housetrain, some seem to find a way to control you more than you're controlling them! You just can't really predict what you're going to get, some are really hard work and some aren't so bad.

We rescued an adult lab cross and she was 100 times easier than any puppy I've ever looked after tbh. In fact, as a dog sitter I'd never get a puppy myself. As you've got older kids I would definitely recommend considering a rescue.

I’m a teacher and we got our dog on day 1 of the summer holidays 5 years ago. That summer was hard work, you are a bit housebound as although puppy is portable, they’re not able to go everywhere, and it’s like having a baby but worse 🤣 we crate trained and had a puppy pen in the dining room with her crate in it so that we could keep her contained in the early days. We started leaving her to nip to the shops etc very early on, from the first couple of days, just for 5 minutes at a time and thankfully she’s never suffered with separation anxiety. Until she was about a year old she was never left for longer than about 2 hours, we had a really complicated regimen of daycare and two different dog walkers, so that she was always with someone. We’ve relaxed that now, sometimes if DH is on an early shift and I’m working she’ll be on her own from 8am-3pm, but that happens maybe once every couple of months. We made loads of mistakes, we bought a border collie for one 🤣 I was WOEFULLY underprepared as to what a high needs, herding breed would require, and she is quite skittish, nervy and intense. But we have invested a lot of time and energy into her training and she is now the best behaved family dog I have ever met. You can leave a plate of food next to her on the floor, she won’t eat it. Perfect recall, never goes out of sight on a walk, but it took a LOT of work.

We won’t get another puppy until I retire, unless we decide to get a puppy when she’s older, and then she can train it 🤣 at doggy daycare she is like the senior prefect, who tells all the other dogs off.

I said this on another thread previously, and lots of people disagreed with me, but Labradors and Golden are really not that similar. Golden Retrievers are more akin to Flat Coats in terms of temperament than they are to Labs.

Separately, I don't think you've really thought this out yet. Puppies cannot be left that long for that young with only a dog walker popping in and when they are awake they need proper supervision - I've known puppies dislocate their jaws on that crate and break their legs climbing out of playpens. A good breeder will ask you questions about this and if you don't have a good enough answer or plan...they won't give you a puppy, so you'll be forced to get one from someone...less reputable.

I would say that getting a puppy over the summer holidays sounds like a great idea, but the reality is you will spend 6 weeks tied to the house and then go back to work in September with a puppy that is in no way ready to be left for anything longer than an hour or two.

It’s great you are thinking about all this now OP.
It sounds very vague care plan at the moment though and as everyone else has said, it will be months before you can leave the puppy for long enough to get someone just pop in!
My Goldie is 13 months old and I’m only just leaving her for 3-4 hours now. And sporadically at that! So job one…..really nail that down and think very hard about whether you can pull it off properly. Many can’t

you asked about puppy classes. I take them from the time they finish their jabs - so around 13 weeks for most. But I book up very fast. My next available slots are December!

Doggy daycare is also something that sounds nice in theory but in reality

• might not suit your dog
• won't take puppies until much older
• won't take dogs if they're ill
• won't take dogs in season/unneutered males

Any plan that involves daycare is not a well thought out plan. It's not that good places don't exist but they're not something you can rely on for care. I know far more failures with doggy daycare than success stories.

I don't know anyone who has got a puppy who has had two adults working full days outside the home.

Thank you so much for all of the comments- we’re in America atm so a bit behind time wise and just catching up with them all. It’s really helpful and good for DH to see it’s not the walk in the park he remembers from his childhood!

yes definitely agree we really need to nail down what we’re doing in terms of day time on my work days. I’ll have a chat with my in laws once we’re back and see what support they can commit to and then look to see if we have any other options available.

Another really basic question but again, just really need to think about how this might work in our lives… are they generally allowed at football matches etc (as in children’s one) I see some parents bring dogs, but older ones so assume it’s another thing they won’t be able to do for a while.

And in terms of transport once they’re older, how do you take them in a car? Realise the dogs were looking at are the large ones and my husband has his dogs in the 90s where they just went in the back seat with the kids which I’m not sure anyone wants!

Both DC do football and sometimes inevitably have away matches at the same time so this is also something we’ll need to consider if we can’t bring a puppy.

We have just got a 9 week old puppy and have children similar ages (10 & 13) so can give you some insight from the thick of it! We do also have a 9.year old dog that we had from a puppy so not all that new. It is most definitely easier this time around! Previously I worked very part time as obviously had very young kids but toilet training was very hard and nights were challenging for quite a while too. I remember thinking a newborn human was easier 🤣 our 9 year old dog has never been alone as we had an older rescue dog. We've recently had her PTS and so her separation anxiety has been quite tough since, hence deciding to have another puppy. I now work very part time due to ill health and husband starts work early and is home by mid afternoon so puppy won't be alone for more than 3 hours a couple of times a week once the kids return to school. Because of my ill health we are very dependent on the kids taking responsibility for most of the exercise requirements but we have a very big garden and the kids are used to walking dogs regularly already. Toilet training has been a whole different ball game this time around but I think because it's a summer born puppy so has been mostly outside with breeders, used to toileting outside. Very few accidents and making it clear when needs to go outside. Also a very chilled puppy which there's no way to predict, just luck of the draw. Not keen on a crate at all though which we used first time around. But given that toileting is better I'm going to try giving her the run of the kitchen while we're out for an hour in the morning. Boys have swimming lessons tomorrow morning which isn't very dog friendly 🤣 night times seem okay as she settles quickly and I'm often awake late due to my health so can do late garden toilet trip and husband is up very early for work so he does early shift and then she settles again. We also have a young footballer. Some matches allow dogs, others not. Although we've often found our older dog cries as wants to play ball with my son so we avoid taking her to matches.

In terms of your football matches, generally yes it’s fine to rake them along. Only proviso is matches held in school playing fields…..they may not allow dogs. But it’s only about 2 hours out if the house and completely appropriate time to leave pip at home once you’ve worked up to it.
Car travel. By law, they must be restrained for safety. Your options are seatbelt on back seat or in boot of car if it’s a hatchback. Of my preference - car crating in boot. Big dog equals big car needed, especially with kids too. And most options leave you with approx zero storage for any ‘stuff’ if you are all going out

Read up on the socialisation period. If you're getting the puppy in the summer, try to think what winter things you don't want it to be nervous of and try to introduce those too (firework noises, Father Christmas!).

We currently have a puppy during the summer holidays, labrador she lovely but hard work. Young puppies are more like newborn babies, need 18 to 20h of sleep a day, 4 meals at first then 3 then 2. They are not called land sharks for nothing, we have lost sleep at night young puppies can't do all night without potty breaks, and the trick is at 3am to convince them is not play time ie potty and back to bed..also.they cant go out for walks till fully vaccinated.
Even puppy is different, they are cute, fun, challenging, fusstrating, need eyes in the back of your head ect. And exercise and mental stimulation. In my opinion they are worth it if your willing and realistic about the work involved, you will.end up.with a fantastic friend.

You know there is a puppy tax ?

If you decided to get pet insurance, don’t forget to update them when you get your puppy neutered (approx age 6-9 months). They charge more for un-neutered dogs, and we didn’t realise! We didn’t update the insurance company until recently, when I saw that he was showing as un-neutered on his file. When I changed it, the premiums went down! So we have been overpaying for the past three years 🙈

I'm not responsible for breeding them, have bought the puppy. Or am I being very dim and you're actually asking for puppy photos??

Puppy tax = cute photos!