new puppy - all advise PLEASE

_michelle_

so we got a lab female puppy for our son this xmas & so far its manageable (just haha, if you call cleaning up wee & poo all day)
now we both had dogs when we were children but dont remember anything as to how to train them & so on. so bascially were looking for all possible advise.
she has been microchiped & parvo vac & wormed every 2 weeks so far (she was 8 weeks on sun 27 dec) & i believe she needs 2 further vac's (could be wrong about this, going to vet next monday)
ive been looking for training schools but the only one i can seem to find on google is dog training ireland, has any one any experience with these how did you find them & would you recommend them?
she has her basket in the hall with her water & food & were feeding her 3 times a day on the pedigree large puppy food so all going ok with this. she is however on occasion eating her poo, what should we do is this normal??
also she whines when we leave her for longer than 5mins & just wants to be cuddled the whole time (we like this, the cuddling that is) now we will 99% of the time have someone with her in the house all day but what should we being doing so she doesnt feel neglected when we do have to go out?
sorry for such a long post

Sigma Force

These are common issues with puppies feed the pup some tinned pineapple I gurantee that will stop the eating the poo..freeze some as well and it will also help with teething.

Pedigree to be honest (just my opinion) is a terrible food for dogs and pups, they poop loads more on it and it smells pretty rank too. I would switch to a higher quality dry food gradually now it actually works out cheaper.

Dog Training Ireland is deffo. a great place to go if you are anywhere near there it's well worth enrolling in the classes.

Very normal for her to whine, it will take a couple of weeks for her to settle and realise it's ok to be left alone for a while, just increase the times she's left alone although as she's so young they do need their cuddles, once she's had her second vaccination and is allowed out for short walks she will settle and sleep better. Labs are full of energy and mischief though so expect some valuable items to be chewed and a lot of walks etc.

sunshinegirl

try and introduce your dog to some dry food and then switch her to it eventually,its cheaper and better for them. Get yourself a book on puppies it will help.
Try and incourage your dog to go outside to the toilet,when they do give them a little treat and affection.

leopardus

I'd suggest buying and reading Nigel Dunstones books; 'what to do before you get your puppy' and 'what to do after you get your puppy'. 'Culture clash' is another great book on dog behaviour/training.

I would also suggest getting some kongs and 'stuffable' toys'. Fill with really highly desireable treats, give to puppy, leave the room for 10 seconds' and repeat ad nasium, increasing the time you go, until the puppy thinks you leaving him alone is great.
Check out the site dogfoodanalysis.com to help understand the ingredients in dog food and how to assess the quality of the food; there are much better foods out there.
Don't over-exercise the puppy; I've see so many tiny puppies being dragged around on leads when they have obviously not even been through there course of vaccinations. The rule should be little and often, vary the play,; teach him fetch, tugging games, teach him to walk on lead, to come when called. As soon as he's got his vaccinations take him to see and experience as many situations/ people/ noises/ smellls as possible.
Good luck

Magenta

Have you changed the microchip details to your name/address/phone number etc? That is important.

star-pants

Good advice so far with pineapple to stop her eating her poo (also clean up as often as you can to help prevent this too), changing her (over the course of a week or else you'll upset her tummy) to puppy nuts (usually soaked when they're very young).
They're better for the pup/dog, and good for their teeth (when they are older and it's no longer soaked).

Haven't been to the training school so can't give advice there I'm afraid.
I'm sure you know you can't bring her outside until at least a week - 2weeks after her final vaccinations.

She's still only a baby so she will cry when you leave her, she's not used to being alone after being with her mother/siblings. If you're having trouble at night, you can wrap a warm hotwaterbottle in a towel and put that in her bed, so she's sleeping next to something warm. A ticking clock by the bed is known to help to (simulates the mothers heartbeat). As she gets a bit older she'll get used to you guys coming and going.

Regarding potty training, there's a few methods, crate training/puppy pads so forth. I found for us the best idea, is to bring the pup out regular and often, right after big drinks, right after food (because when they're young young, they need to go pretty soon after). So if you bring them out often, they'll just go when they're out there, and you give them lots of praise and they start to get the idea. As the pup is only 8-9weeks it's not their fault if they go inside the house so no point giving out to them. It's more your fault if they go inside, because you weren't attentive. They physically can't hold it until they're around the 12wk age.
When they get past that age they gain more control and can hold it for a little bit, not ages now! but if they go in the house after that (and you'd have been training them to go outside too by this point) you give a firm 'no' and bring them outside. Usually if you've noticed a while after they've gone, it's not going to do a lot, but we did it anyway. If you see them wee'ing inside the house, pick them up and put them out, mid wee or not, when they are outside and finish, lots of praise. They'll pick it up pretty quickly.

But the key is to bring them out often, then soon they'll be letting you know they want to go out.

Rule of thumb for walks is 5minutes per month of age (obviously as said, she can't go out til a week or two after final vaccinations) so just becareful with the walking when you do start. Overwalking can harm their growing bones. As a lab is a bigger breed, I'd suggest a harness, it gives you more control when walking, especially as she'll be all excited and want to see everything, you don't want her tugging at her collar.

Toys like Kong ones as described above are good, especially when she starts teething, she'll probably want to eat everything so keep things you don't want eaten out of reach.
I found ice cubes helped my pup when she was teething as it was cool and calmed her gums a little and something she could try and chew. As guinea said - frozen pineapple would do that too.

Never worry about asking questions, it's how we all learn

tk123

Our golden retreiver puppy was on Pedigree too when we got him - after some trial and error he's on royal canin now. For switching food make sure you buy a SMALL bag to start with - otherwise you'll be left with 15kgs of food that the puppy won't eat - luckily for us DogsTrust is up the road and they were happy to take it!
Toilet training - as the others have said out every hour and watch the puppy like a hawk. Ours took a week or two to start walking to the door himself to tell us he needed a trip outside. He was in a crate at night so a few weeks of poo-poo patrol at 4:00/5:00am but imo it's worth it and better than cleaning it up inside!
Puppy socialization classes are brilliant for the puppy and they cover everything you could think of as well as the puppy getting to play with other pups, learning bite inhibition etc. I found dog training ireland really good - we just finished obidience level 1 before christmas. If I had of know they were so good I would have taken the puppy to their puppy classes instead of the ones at the local vet!
For a harness dog training ireland sell sense-ible harnesses - they are brilliant for stopping the puppy pulling on the lead.

Also the guys on boards always have good advise for puppy questions - thanks everyone for all your help over the last few months!

_michelle_

thanks for all you advise much appricated.
starting the toilet training tomorrow )

tk123

Good luck!! You'll be obsessed with the poops in a few days to the annoyance/disgust of everyone else who's not involved in the training and poop bags falling out of your pocket in the shops etc!! The sense of achievement when they start being firm and regular lol!

LucyBliss

We got two pups last year, they're now a year and a half. I only got two at the one time because I was home and able to properly keep an eye on them; it's a lot of work but now that I'm over the worst of it, I can look back on it and laugh. Didn't much laugh when one of them considered the other to be a poop vending machine and try and gobble it up! Pineapple worked from time to time but they do grow out of it. You do need to be vigilant and let them know immediately to stop eating it.
I crate trained my lot so they were fine at night. They thought the puppy pads were things to sleep on so as soon as they woke up from a nap or shortly after eating or playing in the house, out we went. Took a few months. I think one of the proudest days of my life was when they first tapped the door to be let to go out.

My advise would be vigilance. Keep an eye on them sniffing in corners or under furniture. And enjoy the puppyhood, despite all the hard work!

peasant

Two basic rules to doggy training:

1) Dogs are creatures of habit.
Routine is important to them, so establish one. In the excitment over a new pup, lots of families introduce / tolerate behaviours in the pup that they wouldn't want in the adult dog. Be consistent from the start and you will safe yourself (and the dog) a lot of grief later.

2) dogs are the most egocentric beings of them all.
They always look at what 's in it for them. Make good behaviour pleasurable (through food or attention or praise) and unwanted behaviour unpleasant (by saying "no" and/or withdrawing your attantion). No need for drastic measures or massive "educational drama" ...just let the dog know what you like and what you don't (and be consistent in your message) and you wil have a (mostly) well behaved dog in no time at all and without very much effort.

Sigma Force

Meant to say a mop and bucket are your best friend, makes cleaning up wees so much easier than messing about with kitchen towels etc. I have ours to hand all the time even the kid just goes and grabs the mop when there's an accident. Although have to say he's improved a lot lately and if he does have an accident now it's because I haven't been paying attention.

I do find that he tends to prefer the back garden rather than the front now he's a bit older, because the other dogs pee out there it seems to encourage him to pee as well.

_michelle_

well toilet training is going ok, had one accident today so not too bad, however night time is an issue now, so when i get up in the morning she has gone during the night (im putting her out last thing at nite & first thing i the morning).
going to book the puppt hour with dog training ireland & see how we get on.
also i heard that the ikc do training classes in the national show centre on a tue at 7pm?? (are these any good?)
thanks for all the help so far!

anniehoo

Cant add much to whats been said already ..but GPR i had to read this line twice

Guineapigrescue wrote: »

feed the pup some tinned pineapple I gurantee that will stop the eating the poo..freeze some as well and it will also help with teething.

I actually thought you meant freezing the dogs poo...and i was like WTF thats a new one haha!

Nevermind

andreac

_michelle_ wrote: »

well toilet training is going ok, had one accident today so not too bad, however night time is an issue now, so when i get up in the morning she has gone during the night (im putting her out last thing at nite & first thing i the morning).
going to book the puppt hour with dog training ireland & see how we get on.
also i heard that the ikc do training classes in the national show centre on a tue at 7pm?? (are these any good?)
thanks for all the help so far!

Just to note, your pup wont be able to hold it all night yet, so its either have a pee/poop there when you get up in the morning or come down in the middle of the night and let her out to go.

They can only hold it for a couple of hours at the moment as their bladder isnt strong enough so the pup wont be able to hold it all night for a good while yet.

The classes at cloghran are quite good and they are a pay as you go class so you dont need to sign up for a course. There are always plenty of dogs there so its great for even socialising. They are on a tuesday alright at 7pm and think they are €5 per class.