Best advice re puppies

[JLynne]

I really appreciate your wisdom and your calm attitude! Each of the three sister puppies we visited definitely had their own personality. Being an inexperienced puppy parent, I thought Bailey would grow in to her personality as she matured. She proved me wrong!
Did your pup ever balk at going for a regular walk around the house to go potty? Bailey sits down on the porch and refuses to move. It takes quite awhile to coax her with a treat and even then she is not thrilled about it. She has just started doing this with me, not my husband, and nothing bad has ever happened outside. I do tell her “no” when she tries to eat sticks and dirt but I am rewarding her every time she does well. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[SwampDonkey]

A lot of puppies don't like to go for a walk they are little the world is a big scary place, it's perfectly normal. They don't have much confidence at this age and everything is frightening. My big adult male hated to go out as a tiny pup and would actually cry if we went down the street. It took encouragement confidence building and tasty snacks for him to start to enjoy going out. She sounds perfectly normal it's a big had world when you're just a teeny weeny.

 

[JES72]

Gardening Gloves! Thick leather thorn proof gardening gloves. There will be a few weeks when you wont dare go near her without them unless she is sleeping. Those puppy teeth are needle sharp and they are not called croco pups for nothing.

It's been a while since we had a puppy in the house. Homer is now 10 years old.

 

[Cath]

She is beautiful

 

[Atemas]

Bailey is gorgeous - can’t wait to see her growing up. Everything you describe is just normal and wise words as always from @SwampDonkey

 

[Granca]

Did your pup ever balk at going for a regular walk around the house to go potty? Bailey sits down on the porch and refuses to move. It takes quite awhile to coax her with a treat and even then she is not thrilled about it.

Yes, Tuppence was reluctant to go out on her lead at first, even though I’d used her lead sometimes in the garden too. Although we already had Wispa (two years older), not even being with another dog encouraged her. I don’t think that phase lasted long, though. It‘s hard work training a puppy, but little and often and consistency helps.

Bailey looks beautiful! Do post some more photos!

 

[Joy]

Bailey is gorgeous! I think my tip is just 'be patient' - hard sometimes when you're tired I know, but when you look back puppyhood is gone in a blink of an eye. Time spent now going slowly with kindness will pay dividends later. If you want a good book I'd suggest 'Easy Peasy Puppy Squeezy' by Steve Mann.

 

[Selina27]

I found "The Labrador Handbook" by Pippa Mattinson to be helpful as well.

 

[UncleBob]

Hi @JLynne and welcome to the forum.

There are so many little nuggets of useful information that you collect when you first get a puppy (Harvey, our Lab, was our first dog so everything was new to us) that it can be a little overwhelming - so, pay particular attention to the first point below

1. You have a gorgeous puppy who finds everything to be fun and exciting. By all means, set boundaries and start your training process but, above all, have fun! The puppy stage doesn't last long so enjoy it.

2. Socialisation. This is hugely important and can impact on your dog for years to come. Consider keeping a log of some sort to record what you do.

3. Positive training. Please, please, please do not buy into the dominance/alpha nonsense that is so popular among old-school trainers. Things have moved on and positive reinforcement is the best training approach, for you and Bailey. Basically - 'what gets rewarded gets repeated'.

PS: Bailey looks very similar to how Harvey looked at that age

 

[edzbird]

I've no puppy advice, all our dogs have been adult adoptions, currently Coco (16months when he got him) and Meg (2 yrs when we got her), now 8 & 6 - they both have different problems to puppies. But my! Isn't she beautiful?

 

[Boogie]

She’s gorgeous!

I raised pups for guide dogs and have had eight pups in the last nine years (I know, I know! )

They were all diferrent.

Echo used to just stop and my supervisor said he was taking in all the new sights, sounds and smells. To just stop with him and move on when he was ready. It worked. He did it for a month or so then was fine.

He’s a gorgeous, much loved, working Guide dog now.

 

[MrChew]

I also wanted to add that Chewie also went through a bit of a "stop and take it all in" phase on walks. It resolved with time, patience and loads of treats on walks and now he is as confident a buffoon as you will ever meet.

 

[JLynne]

Welcome, @JLynne and Bailey. The best thing for my puppies has been crate training. It doesn’t necessarily suit everyone, but I found it helpful as a safe, cosy place for the puppy. Sometimes it helps to cover the crate with an old towel or throw to create a ‘den’. A frozen Kong and treats helps to make it a good place to be too. It gave me peace of mind that the puppy was safe if I couldn’t be with it for a little while, but it also made it easy for the dogs to settle safely when taken elsewhere too.
There will be lots of good advice and shared experiences here. Lab puppies can be a challenge, but they grow into wonderful companions!

I really appreciate the advice on crate training. My tender heart initially resisted crate training as punishment but I learned the first night that it is best for Bailey, my husband and me! She willingly goes in to her crate after rewarding and praising her. My question is this: we are expecting our first thunderstorm since we brought her home at 12 weeks old. How do I reassure her during a storm at bedtime when she is settled in her crate? And how do I help her in the future if she has associated the noise of the storms with bedtime and her crate? Thank you for any advice you may have.

 

[JLynne]

Oh my

She’s gorgeous!

I raised pups for guide dogs and have had eight pups in the last nine years (I know, I know! )

They were all diferrent.

Echo used to just stop and my supervisor said he was taking in all the new sights, sounds and smells. To just stop with him and move on when he was ready. It worked. He did it for a month or so then was fine.

He’s a gorgeous, much loved, working Guide dog now.

Oh my goodness! Thank you for reassuring me. These pups are so smart that it is easy to equate this baffling behavior with stubbornness. Echo must be your pride and joy! Thank you.

 

[JLynne]

I also wanted to add that Chewie also went through a bit of a "stop and take it all in" phase on walks. It resolved with time, patience and loads of treats on walks and now he is as confident a buffoon as you will ever meet.

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Chewie has such a soulful sweet face. Thanks for sharing his photo. A question for you: once this behavior stopped, did he still associate getting treats with walking without stopping? I appreciate your advice.

 

[Atemas]

we are expecting our first thunderstorm since we brought her home at 12 weeks old. How do I reassure her during a storm at bedtime when she is settled in her crate? And how do I help her in the future if she has associated the noise of the storms with bedtime and her crate?

I expect you’ll get all kinds of responses to this. I too was worried about Red’s first experience of a thunderstorm (and they are generally at night). It was forecast when she was 6 months old. It happened when we were camping at the coast and in our tent. She was sleeping in her crate. I did wake and I quietly observed her. She didn’t awaken or move so it was a non event in the end. We have always used a ‘don’t make a fuss and they won’t’ policy to thunderstorms and fireworks with both our last dog and her. Fortunately for both it‘s paid off as there has never been fear of either…..but I know all dogs are different

 

[Cath]

I agree with Alison, we don't make a fuss and they are both fine.

 

[Cath]

https://petbehaviour.com.au/nine-steps-to-calm-your-dog-in-thunder/

This may help you

 

[MrChew]

Chewie has such a soulful sweet face. Thanks for sharing his photo. A question for you: once this behavior stopped, did he still associate getting treats with walking without stopping? I appreciate your advice.

I'm not really sure. It all sort of happened gradually and we still had treats on us for other things like "leave it" and behaving around other dogs. We still have treats most of the time. I think hen they are young it's important to treat a LOT for the behaviours you want. Chewie says it's still important now.

 

[HAH]

I really appreciate the advice on crate training. My tender heart initially resisted crate training as punishment but I learned the first night that it is best for Bailey, my husband and me! She willingly goes in to her crate after rewarding and praising her. My question is this: we are expecting our first thunderstorm since we brought her home at 12 weeks old. How do I reassure her during a storm at bedtime when she is settled in her crate? And how do I help her in the future if she has associated the noise of the storms with bedtime and her crate? Thank you for any advice you may have.

It sounds like you’ve set up Bailey’s crate to be a safe space, that’s great work. If there’s a storm (or any other potential unsettling event, like fireworks), and she’s already settled in her crate, I’d simply carry on as usual but keep a close eye on her for signs of stress like restlessness, stretching, lip licking, yawning. If she shows any signs of being uncomfortable or comes to you voluntarily, don’t hold back on comforting her. It won’t spoil her for the future or make any negative associations, it’s simply fulfilling a need and reinforcing that you’re her safe place.