Advice on new pup please?

sweetnjuicy

Hey Guys,
Im hopefully getting a JRT pup on sunday and being a first time dog owner I need advice. I have two female cats who are a year old in two weeks also so I wanna ge this right.
I love animals and mind my nans dog alot but its the puppy part Im worried I wont get right. Help???
Basically I would like advice on everything from introducing her to my cats, to feeding and times, training and bed time etc etc. Play you name it.
Also need advice as to which food is best and what vets visits she will need for vaccs etc? And how old she needs to be to get vacced, spayed etc etc

goat2

i got 3 jrt puppies 6 months ago
what i did was brought the cats into the same room as the dogs, stayed with them for 10 minuits every day, the cats eventually take notice of dogs and dogs likewise
the puppies will go and be playful with the cats, leave that happen, never seperate the two, dont be nervous,
the cats who did not want to join them in the same space are now following them around, it is brilliant, but you must put them in the one room every day from the start for 10 minuits, the dogs eventually dont bother the cats, if you keep them seperated you are asking for trouble

sweetnjuicy

well the pup is tiny, i already have her picked out, and the cats arent too bad with pups, nervous at first,
but for most of their lives till 2 months ago they lived with a collie X, my friend had the collie from 6 weeks and she was 6 months when they moved out.
And the collie pup was way bigger than them. And one of them is very playful and hasnt a fear in the world, except from cars , is my lil shy missus im worried bout.

goat2

sweetnjuicy wrote: »

well the pup is tiny, i already have her picked out, and the cats arent too bad with pups, nervous at first,
but for most of their lives till 2 months ago they lived with a collie X, my friend had the collie from 6 weeks and she was 6 months when they moved out.
And the collie pup was way bigger than them. And one of them is very playful and hasnt a fear in the world, except from cars , is my lil shy missus im worried bout.

you are on a winner here, the cat like dogs, they will make great friends, the cat here goes out on the lawn when the pups are there, he is a big black fellow, loves playing, gets up on garden table, annoys pups, puts paw down to them, it is so entertaining to watch, i really enjoy the time spent these fine days watching this

aoifecmcc

congrats on deciding to get a dog, they are a big committment and i'm sure there will be lots of ups and downs with the new puppy but i hope she'll bring you years of enjoyment too! I'm getting a pup in a few weeks time too and I have a cat also, its gonna be fun and games!

where are you getting the pup from and what age is she? this will influence how she will react to the cats. hopefully you are getting her from somewhere that she will have been handled and socialised with people and possibly other animals. she should be at least 8 weeks old before taking her away from her mother and littermates.

one thing that is really recommended is to get a crate for the pup. this is where she will sleep at night and she can use it as a safe 'den' during the day too. as dogs dont like to toilet where they sleep it will help with house training. if you have to leave the dog alone for a short period of time you can leave it in the crate with some toys to entertain it and it will stop her ripping up the house at the chewing stage! there are lots of websites that give advice on how to crate train such as this one http://www.inch.com/~dogs/cratetraining.html

It is great that the cats are familiar with dogs already. my cat is such a scaredy but what i plan to do is introduce them very slowly, getting them used to each others smells before they meet face to face. you can do this by swapping pieces of bedding, or allowing the cats into the dogs bed/crate when the dog isnt there so they get a good sniff. if the cat is likely to be very scared it is important that they have a place in the house that the dog cant get to, for the first few weeks i'm not going to let the puppy upstairs so the cat has somewhere to go if she finds the pup overwhelming. on first introductions you can maybe play with the pup so she is sleepy and not too bouncy, and bring her to her crate/bed. allow the cats to walk past and investigate from a distance. if they do approach the pup they may take a swipe at him, depending on their temperament. this isnt necessarily a bad thing as it shows the pup that they are not toys to be played with! for the first while only allow them to be in the same room for a short amount of time, gradually increasing the time they are together, and make sure they are always supervised until you can trust them. make sure to feed them in different places too. hopefully with time they will be best of friends and have lots of fun together and provide great entertainment for you.

as regards feeding you should ask the person you are getting the pup from what they are feeding it and how frequent etc. you should keep the food the same until they are well settled into the new house, as a change in environment is stressful anough for a new pup, without changing their diet as well. young pups can need up to 4 meals a day but this can be decreased to 3 and then 2 or 1 over time as they grow.

as for vaccination, worming, microchipping and neutering these are all things that can be discussed with your vet. when you get the pup it is best to have it checked over by a vet soon after you get it just to make sure everything is. usually vaccinations are given at 8 and 12 weeks, so when you bring her in for vaccinations you can discuss all of these things with the vet. usually dogs are neutered around 6 months, although all these timigs vary by which vet you bring the dog to.

these websites have lots of useful info

http://www.caravetgroup.com/Top_Tips_for_Caring_for_a_New_Puppy/Default.387.html
http://www.canismajor.com/dog/bring01.html
http://www.trainyourpuppy.co.uk/

i hope this is helpful, best of luck with it!