Tips for Labrador Puppy
Discussion
I put a deposit down on this little fella last night..
Now, we did do some research, but neither of us have had a dog before, so we would welcome any tips from the voice of experience for when we get him.
We are intending on using a cage (its been used with his mother, and with the litter, so should be okay for him) - but any guidance on what to do, what to get, and where to get things is most welcome..
Now, we did do some research, but neither of us have had a dog before, so we would welcome any tips from the voice of experience for when we get him.
We are intending on using a cage (its been used with his mother, and with the litter, so should be okay for him) - but any guidance on what to do, what to get, and where to get things is most welcome..
SOOO CUTE !!!!
Squeaky toys are all ways loved the soft toy ones are the ones to get. Decent puppy food, vary his diet a little bit from time to time with stuff like rice, bio yoghurt and raw vegs, get his injections at 12 weeks old, get him castrated (labs tend to roam looking for a bit of female dog action) and play with him lots!
Squeaky toys are all ways loved the soft toy ones are the ones to get. Decent puppy food, vary his diet a little bit from time to time with stuff like rice, bio yoghurt and raw vegs, get his injections at 12 weeks old, get him castrated (labs tend to roam looking for a bit of female dog action) and play with him lots!
Edited by Mr Darcy on Wednesday 23 June 11:26
Awww bless
What to do in no particular order: find a good vet, get pet insurance, take lots of photos when they are small as they don't stay that way for long, get rawhide chews for their teething period, socialise them from a young age (start taking them out 2 or 3 weeks after second vacinations - puppy classes are ideal for this), be prepared for a couple of nights fretting when you first get them home (it's hard but you have to ignore them), get them used to going in the car from early on
Don't: over-exercise them from a young age and don't disturb them when they are sleeping (which will be a lot of the time). We also put a stair gate up as their legs can easily be harmed at that age when trying to negotiate stairs (especially when they jump down multiple stairs at once)
Expect accidents on the carpet for a little while too
Good luck
What to do in no particular order: find a good vet, get pet insurance, take lots of photos when they are small as they don't stay that way for long, get rawhide chews for their teething period, socialise them from a young age (start taking them out 2 or 3 weeks after second vacinations - puppy classes are ideal for this), be prepared for a couple of nights fretting when you first get them home (it's hard but you have to ignore them), get them used to going in the car from early on
Don't: over-exercise them from a young age and don't disturb them when they are sleeping (which will be a lot of the time). We also put a stair gate up as their legs can easily be harmed at that age when trying to negotiate stairs (especially when they jump down multiple stairs at once)
Expect accidents on the carpet for a little while too
Good luck
Mr Darcy said:
get him castrated (labs tend to roam looking for a bit of female dog action)
Don't do this!! How would you feel? 
It's part of his personality which if you remove, you'll be removing part of him. Ours is coming up for 10 years old now and he's never been a problem around the ladies
We have just reared two retriever pups and here would be our tips.
Toilet trips - every twenty mins. Encourage with 'do pees' or similar and make a fuss when the job is done.
Don't feed after 1800 hrs - what goes in must come out.
Remove water at 1800 hrs - less water in means less water out overnight.
Consistency - don't give the dog an old slipper to chew then scold it when it eats ypour new ones. Likewise don't let the dog swing on your dressing gown only to scold it when it does it to your new coat.
Tit bits - don't!! There is all a puppy needs in a decent pellet food. There is no requirement to feed outside of this. Titbits only encourage your dog to beg.
Furniture - don't lift the pup onto the setee only to complain when the adult dogs continues to do this.
Toilet trips - every twenty mins. Encourage with 'do pees' or similar and make a fuss when the job is done.
Don't feed after 1800 hrs - what goes in must come out.
Remove water at 1800 hrs - less water in means less water out overnight.
Consistency - don't give the dog an old slipper to chew then scold it when it eats ypour new ones. Likewise don't let the dog swing on your dressing gown only to scold it when it does it to your new coat.
Tit bits - don't!! There is all a puppy needs in a decent pellet food. There is no requirement to feed outside of this. Titbits only encourage your dog to beg.
Furniture - don't lift the pup onto the setee only to complain when the adult dogs continues to do this.
Castrate is good - only when they stop growing though according to several vets I know. Ask to keep testicles to post to your mates as a joke.
Young labs tend to be extremely destructive (chewy) so do not leave them alone with anything you don't want chewing.
Get a puppy crate, and start early with them - you'll reap the rewards of this later.
First few nights can be horrible if you leave them on their own. DAP and a worn T-Shirt help comfort them. We both ours alone the first day we got them - with hindsight I'd have perhaps had them in with us for a couple of nights.
Read up on the dog behaviour books now, and work out exactly what the rules are going to be. Do not fall into the trap of thinking aww he's cute, it won't hurt for a while if we allow him to xxxx. They pick up bad habbits very very quickly and can be a PITA to un-train.
The key piece of advice I would give you is start training him to recall to a whistle as soon as you get him - google recall training. The earlier you can start the better as ideally you want a dog that you can let off the lead and be comfortable that he'll come back EVERY time. It makes for a much much more pleasant walk.
Always carry a camera around with you - they do some bloody stupid, but cute things when they're a pup.
ETA Labs, like Spanish and Italian women, start off svelte but tend to get fat as they get older - buy some scales and weigh how much you feed him. They will eat themselves to death if you let them. And chocolate is Toxic to dogs.
Young labs tend to be extremely destructive (chewy) so do not leave them alone with anything you don't want chewing.
Get a puppy crate, and start early with them - you'll reap the rewards of this later.
First few nights can be horrible if you leave them on their own. DAP and a worn T-Shirt help comfort them. We both ours alone the first day we got them - with hindsight I'd have perhaps had them in with us for a couple of nights.
Read up on the dog behaviour books now, and work out exactly what the rules are going to be. Do not fall into the trap of thinking aww he's cute, it won't hurt for a while if we allow him to xxxx. They pick up bad habbits very very quickly and can be a PITA to un-train.
The key piece of advice I would give you is start training him to recall to a whistle as soon as you get him - google recall training. The earlier you can start the better as ideally you want a dog that you can let off the lead and be comfortable that he'll come back EVERY time. It makes for a much much more pleasant walk.
Always carry a camera around with you - they do some bloody stupid, but cute things when they're a pup.
ETA Labs, like Spanish and Italian women, start off svelte but tend to get fat as they get older - buy some scales and weigh how much you feed him. They will eat themselves to death if you let them. And chocolate is Toxic to dogs.
Edited by rhinochopig on Wednesday 23 June 11:45
Mr Darcy said:
SOOO CUTE !!!!
Squeaky toys are all ways loved the soft toy ones are the ones to get. Decent puppy food, vary his diet a little bit from time to time with stuff like rice, bio yoghurt and raw vegs, get his injections at 12 weeks old, get him castrated (labs tend to roam looking for a bit of female dog action) and play with him lots!
Vacc can start at 8 weeks, 2nd vac at 10 weeks.Squeaky toys are all ways loved the soft toy ones are the ones to get. Decent puppy food, vary his diet a little bit from time to time with stuff like rice, bio yoghurt and raw vegs, get his injections at 12 weeks old, get him castrated (labs tend to roam looking for a bit of female dog action) and play with him lots!
Edited by Mr Darcy on Wednesday 23 June 11:26
I would adv against varying diet in early days, consistency is better for pups digestion.
Castration, depends if becoming a problem due to being entire get him done, if not wait a bit. I would adv neutering at some point just for health benefits. (If becomes randy which is likely can be done as early as 6 months)
Get a DAP diffuser plug in, plug in near crate, provides calming pheremone, useful for overnight.
Start basic training straight away, sit, stay, no.
Feed 4x a day, take out to garden as soon as wakes up, as soon as finished eating, after a play session, as soon as seen sniffing ground. Do this everytime, consistency is key in training, which is why it is important everyone in household does the same thing.
Crate needs to be his private refuge, when he is in it musn't be pestered by children etc, leave door open so he can use it during day.
Edited by becksW on Wednesday 23 June 11:53
We varied our pups diet (Doberman) from about 3 months on. He now eats a pretty varied diet ranging from fresh veg, fish (sardines, pollock), raw meat, chicken, bio yoghurt, salad stuffs, rice plus a good quality keeble and not forgetting the odd dead rabbit that he finds. Admittedly all the labs I have had their stomachs have been a little bit more delicate to food changes and they are prone to getting a little bit chubby if you don't control their food intake. What people tend to forget is that dogs have been around a lot longer than Pedigree chum. A BARF diet is more nataural for them.
As for castration, it was the best thing I ever did for my dog and I had huge reservations about it. The constant howling, the running off whenever he got a scent of a b
h, his restlessness etc etc admittedly he was 2 years old when we had him done. I think he general he has chilled out a lot and makes for a better pet. He was never going to be a stud dog anyway.
As for castration, it was the best thing I ever did for my dog and I had huge reservations about it. The constant howling, the running off whenever he got a scent of a b
h, his restlessness etc etc admittedly he was 2 years old when we had him done. I think he general he has chilled out a lot and makes for a better pet. He was never going to be a stud dog anyway. Mr Darcy said:
As for castration, it was the best thing I ever did for my dog and I had huge reservations about it. The constant howling, the running off whenever he got a scent of a bh, his restlessness etc etc admittedly he was 2 years old when we had him done. I think he general he has chilled out a lot and makes for a better pet. He was never going to be a stud dog anyway.
That's interesting, I've got Dobes too and my boy who hasn't had the chop is very laid back and obedient where as my girl who has been spade is a right little terror....... she does behave but there is a little glint in her eye as if to say "OK you win this time but............"h, his restlessness etc etc admittedly he was 2 years old when we had him done. I think he general he has chilled out a lot and makes for a better pet. He was never going to be a stud dog anyway. To the OP I went a bit overboard with my two as losing my old boy completely blew me apart. I didn't want them to think of our bedroom as their's but I didn't want to leave them alone when first away from their mum and litter mates. I got them a year apart so they didn't have each other for company at first and I wanted them to consider their cage home. So I set the cage up in the kitchen and I slept in front of it with access to cuddle, comfort them for 6 weeks each pup.
One mistake I feel I made was not socialising my girl enough with other dogs and people when she was still small enough to be deemed cute and thereby get away with being a bit naughty. As a result she is now over protective of me IMO but luckily is easy to control but if someone approaches the house my boy will bark, she sneeks round the side of the door and just waits with a low growl...... I wouldn't want to be an intruder.
Socialise him, socialise him, socialise him. Take him everywhere you can: county fairs and sit him next to tractors, countryside for animals, pets at home (beause it's a shop), hoover near him, take him out in thunder storms, take him for road trips.
Oh, and pet insurance does help. My idiot dog broke his leg (twice) as a puppy from being a little too adventurous. Stupid Terrier.
Oh, and pet insurance does help. My idiot dog broke his leg (twice) as a puppy from being a little too adventurous. Stupid Terrier.
scirocco265 said:
Socialise him, socialise him, socialise him. Take him everywhere you can: county fairs and sit him next to tractors, countryside for animals, pets at home (beause it's a shop), hoover near him, take him out in thunder storms, take him for road trips.
Yes I don't think that can be stressed enough.A lot of people say insure him, I didn't mine, instead I opened a doggy bank account and put £20/month into and effectively self insure, it has the benefit of no excess and he pays for all his own vacinations, check ups etc. He's no 10 1/2 and has a couple fo grand in the bank as either a retirement nest egg 
or it may be needed as he gets older, I worked on the principle that the law of averages says that insurance companies make a profit otherwise they wouldn't do it, I could afford to take the chance and to date (touch wood) it appears to be paying off.
or it may be needed as he gets older, I worked on the principle that the law of averages says that insurance companies make a profit otherwise they wouldn't do it, I could afford to take the chance and to date (touch wood) it appears to be paying off.Go for dry food not wet(tinned).
Set meal times will help both the dog and yourself for routine.
(if using dry pellet food take a few bits out and use these for rewarding that way the dog dosn't get over feed)Labs have a weight problem from day 1.
Join a dog training class these are cheap(£5 ish)and helps socialising labs are friendly by nature but they need to be with others dogs often.
Enjoy the love of your dog.Congrats.
Set meal times will help both the dog and yourself for routine.
(if using dry pellet food take a few bits out and use these for rewarding that way the dog dosn't get over feed)Labs have a weight problem from day 1.
Join a dog training class these are cheap(£5 ish)and helps socialising labs are friendly by nature but they need to be with others dogs often.
Enjoy the love of your dog.Congrats.
scirocco265 said:
Socialise him, socialise him, socialise him. Take him everywhere you can: county fairs and sit him next to tractors, countryside for animals, pets at home (beause it's a shop), hoover near him, take him out in thunder storms, take him for road trips.
Oh, and pet insurance does help. My idiot dog broke his leg (twice) as a puppy from being a little too adventurous. Stupid Terrier.
This, definitely. Also, (if you've got willing friends/parents etc.) get him to stay overnight at other peoples houses whilst he's a pup. When he's all grown up you'll have no issues going on holiday and worrying that he's missing you.Oh, and pet insurance does help. My idiot dog broke his leg (twice) as a puppy from being a little too adventurous. Stupid Terrier.
Really put the effort in training him the basics while he's a pup. Sit, stay, wait (stay and wait are different), down, here etc. etc.
Also, buy a Kong (or 3). stuff it with mashed up bread and peanut butter then freeze it. They're irresistible (to dogs) and idestructible.
Apart from that, enjoy.
HeavySoul said:
daemon said:
Remove water at 1800 hrs - less water in means less water out overnight.
Really? I would never leave any dog without access to water at all times.I know it is a pain to clear up the accidents in the morning but surely it is better for them to have hydration available?
daemon said:
Really? I would never leave any dog without access to water at all times.
+1 access to water essential.If your ready early on there won't be any accidents after a couple of weeks at most.
Try not to scold the dog for anything that you could have avoided-You are in charge not the dog-firm but fair.
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