New Puppy: First Day

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Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 4:58 am

Meet Eddie the yellow lab. 8 weeks old, first day with his new family.

My wife brought him home this afternoon. My kids are elated and, even though I'm allergic to dogs and we don't have room for him, and even though I know who will be doing the walking in lousy weather and picking up all the poop, I kind of like him too.

While I've lived with dogs before, I'm always open to advice. Anyone here wish to offer tips on training & housebreaking?

Eddie is also the name he came with. Any suggestions there? No, I already ran Soludo past the wife & she rejected it.

Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 6:14 am

What a sweet face, I wanna kiss his nose right now! Congrats! Puppy breath is awesome. Very Happy

Puppy teeth are another matter. Keep your shoes put away unless they're on your feet. Same goes for wallet, important papers, etc. EVERYTHING is important to a lab puppy. They are born intelligent and it takes them a while to discern what's what.

That's where you come in. Firm yet gentle grace is what you want to project, and that's what a lab is all about. Expect lots of setbacks at first, but the rewards are awesome. If he poops or pees where he shouldn't, he'll know that from the look on your face. Labs are extremely intuitive.

He looks like "Eddie" to me. I'm sure others will chime in with other suggestions.

From the look on his face in your pic, he's asking if he can join your family. You said "yes." Thumbs up

Baiting Guru Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 2163

More pictures please.

Give him LOTS of things to chew on.

Housebreaking is easy. Greatly reward him with your voice when he pees or poops outside. The dog must think he has saved the world by peeing outside.

Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 7:05 am

^^note to self: This is how Klaas saves the world!

I'll get my coat. Razz

Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 7:38 am

For gentle reminders when he's done something he shouldn't, get a spray bottle of some sort that sprays mist not a solid stream and fill it with water. The puppy won't like it, so it'll serve as a reminder about what not to do, but it's about as harmless as breathing on him. That's what we did with our golden retriever when he was still little, and it seemed to work pretty well.

Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 9:05 am

The most important thing with a puppy is to have patience.

He will chew, crap, pee and genuinely be a huge pain in the ass until he gets a little bit older. But any dog is a reflection of it's owner - if he doesn't turn out right, it's not his fault. Be patient and perservering and he'll give you more back than you can ever give him.

One thing I do with all my dogs is make sure that they know their place. Your dog is a pack animal and he's just joined your pack, your family. Don't let him take the piss. Make sure he's right at the bottom and that he knows it. If he steps out of line or tries to assert himself too much (as he eventually will) put him back in his place. Be firm with him. It doesn't matter to the dog if he's at the head of the pack or it's junior member. All he's concerned about is having a recognised place in the pack. It will give him stability. A lot of behavioural problems are down to the dog trying to sort out his status and either ending up as being too dominant or too cowed. It's easier for him if you take the lead and you put him him in place.
Act now and it may save you some trouble later down the line.

Baiting Guru Joined: 29 Jan 2008 Posts: 2531 Location: AU

Slightlyoutofit wrote:

The most important thing with a puppy is to have patience.

He will chew, crap, pee and genuinely be a huge pain in the ass
One thing I do with all my dogs is make sure that they know their place. Your dog is a pack animal and he's just joined your pack, your family. Don't let him take the piss. Make sure he's right at the bottom and that he knows it. If he steps out of line or tries to assert himself too much (as he eventually will) put him back in his place. Be firm with him. It doesn't matter to the dog if he's at the head of the pack or it's junior member. All he's concerned about is having a recognised place in the pack. It will give him stability. A lot of behavioural problems are down to the dog trying to sort out his status and either ending up as being too dominant or too cowed. It's easier for him if you take the lead and you put him him in place.
Act now and it may save you some trouble later down the line.

finally
now we know why sooi is so horrible to everyone.
He uses the same techniques on us. It all makes sense now
thanks Slightly

nice pup by the way

Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 9:20 am

^^ Over 40,000 members on this site and you are at the bottom of the pack.

Know your place.

Here's a decent article:

http://london-dog-walking.com/wordpress/2009/09/alpha-dog-teaching-your-puppy-who-is-the-pack-leader/

Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 9:40 am

^ Sooi is right (about the pup). I have a lab that looked identical about 11 years ago and it's important that YOU are the boss, not him.

Hint: never feed him from the table. What you'll end up with is a dog that drools all over your pants while you are trying to have dinner. My parents used to feed him at the table, I never did. Now they are the ones that have to eat with a towel on their lap Laughing

He never comes begs with me, as he knows I'm not giving him anything.

Another food-related way to show him you're the boss is to always eat first. Only feed the dog when you are done. If you really want to show him you're above him, you can eat right infront of his nose, from his bowl. Only when you're done, you fill his bowl and hand it to him. It sounds ridiculous, but to a dog that's a really strong signal you outrank him.

Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 11:52 am

here are some cool names:

Rocco Siffredi

The Hulk

The Rock

...

Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 11:54 am

Another thing you can do regarding food:

One of the major problems with dogs is that they get protective over things that they like. It's especially problematic if you've got kids.

Kneel down by him and keep him one place. Give him a bone and then take it away, give it to him and then take it away again. Keep repeating this and eventually he will become protective and growl when you try to retrieve it again. When he does that, discipline him very firmly and very strongly. You may feel guilty about doing this (you'll probably feel like you're teasing him and then punishing him) but what you're really doing is saying "I can take anything from you and there is nothing that you can do about it as I'm the boss and you will bow before me". If need be, keep repeating until you can take the bone with no problems. You can get other family members to do the same thing if need be under your supervision.

Again, it's not cruel and you're letting him know where he stands. Basically, you're acting like a dog would in a pack of other dogs. When they make a kill, the leaders get to eat first whilst those lower down the order wait their turn and are submissive. If, once they get their turn, the pack leader decides to come back to the kill to eat, those lower again retreat submissively. This sort of hierarchy creates harmony in the pack.

Trophy Videos · Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 4:41 pm

A name? How about Ashanti Golden Stool. Now there is a proper name for a dog. Your wife can't argue that one. Smile

Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 7:41 pm

First day with the family is always fun.

Then...........wait for the first night! Wink

Eddie is a cute pup alright!

Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 11:52 pm

That's the problem with puppies, they are too damn cute at that age. If they are born ugly, then grow up to be cute, it might make dog ownership easier.

Anyway congrats, labs are really awesome dogs.

Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 8:32 am

Last night was tough, so is tonight. But if there's one thing being a father has taught me, it's that patience and love are the most powerful forces on Earth.

He'll never have people food, because no self-respecting dog should ever eat the crap we eat.

As for house-training, I'm using the "patience" method: Whenever he eats or wakes up, we go outside and stay there until the bathroom business is done. Once he fertilizes the lawn, he's praised and petted as if he just rescued us from a house fire. If he pees on the carpet, one short bark (I'm the Big Dog) and an immediate trip outside is enough. Then back to praise when he pees outside.

Leash training is work! He doesn't like to be restricted (who does really?), but he's fast learning the leash equals walks to new and exciting places. For now, I'm just getting him used to the fact that the Big Dog calls all the shots and not him. That's as hard for me as it is for him, since I want a dog who knows I'm the boss - but I want to be liked as much as he does. Just like with my kids, I want to be respected but not feared. Fear and respect are not the same thing.

More pics? Well OK.

Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 9:14 am

^^^ Cute puppies are perhaps the only thing on this earth that make me melt and start cooing like a little girl, and yours is adorable.

Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 9:36 am

He's lovely Very Happy

Patience, and vigilance - shoes, cables, ipods, documents, furniture ... ideally you'd hook all your posessions to the ceiling.

I never had a problem with my dogs being posessive about food, but they never had any lack of it as neither tended to get fat or over-eat. I played a game with them whenever they got fed: they'd have to sit and wait until I'd filled their bowl up, then I'd let them wait a few seconds then say "eat up!" and they'd get stuck in. I could take a bone off them, make them wait, let them have it back and make a great fuss of them for playing so nicely. as with everything, always reward them for good behaviour. That and plenty of exercise, you'll be fine.

Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 11:09 am

Socialization! I didn't do this enough, now I have two 65 kg monsters who will sit and bark at my friends until they've visited at least 3 or 4 times.

He's super cute!

Make sure he gets a manly name though, something like Kill-all or Mud-hopper Razz

Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 12:02 pm

Oh he's gorgeous, what a sweetie! Just wanna nuzzle his little nose. Very Happy

Names - nothing wrong with Eddie, but given how gorgeous he is, George. Or give him a name to aspire to.

Cujo. Wink

Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 12:13 pm

more cool names:

blood hound

killer-o'-mine

death's shadow

goldmember

the humper

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 28 May 2011 Posts: 16

Good lord that is a cute puppy. I agree with the name Cujo, the paradox of that face plus that name is beautiful.

How are your allergies going though? Because I can only imagine that if it's pet dander that sets you off, it might get worse as he grows older... Sad

Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 6:01 pm

I still think he looks like "Eddie" and will grow up to be called many affectionate nicknames. A dog named "Ed" sounds pretty badass to me!

I've never had a puppy, I've always adopted from the local shelter wherever I lived at the time. Adopted dogs come with their own set of behaviors and it takes time to settle them in. I've had only one that 'went bad' -- he was a sweetheart but was terribly infected with heartworms. I paid for his treatments and he got well (which took a long time -- the dead worms gave him pneumonia to boot), but something went wrong with his wiring, and during a brushing one evening he almost took off my right ear. It was weird -- I was brushing and praising and chatting about my day and all of a sudden I felt his body tense up and his eyes went blank. I turned my head in time (I think he was going for my eye), and as soon as he chomped and tasted blood, he ran away and hid under the bed. Unfortunately I had to visit the doctor, and animal control had to come get him. They quarantined him for two weeks (a dear friend went to visit him every day), and after I didn't foam at the mouth, they put him down. By law, they couldn't let me take him home again. I would have, but in reality, after snapping like that he'd probably have chewed me in my sleep.

My point: he wasn't socialized. He'd been chained to a tree all his life, and my dear friend (his neighbor) would feed him by dumping dogfood over the fence. The people who rented the house had moved out, leaving him behind. One night my friend called and said he couldn't stand the howling and crying anymore, and would I take him in? Of course I said yes.

Beasley (original name: "John") was a joy until he snapped. Would I do it again? Absolutely.

I adopted my current dog several years ago. She was very hyper (basset/golden retriever mix, yeah I know), but has settled into a peaceful existence, and only barks when I spend too much time on the computer or the cat is wanting in. She ("Roweena", the name she came with) usually sleeps on the floor, but when I'm waking up and start to stir, she knows it's cool to get on the bed and have a belly rub and morning smooch. We play little games while I wake up, in a language only we understand. (My favorite is "there's an alligator in my bed" spoken in Cajun, and she lays there like an alligator with her mouth open and a huge smile. I've yet to tell her that alligators don't wag their tails. Ha!)

OK, TMI I'm sure.

Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 2:12 am

The name Crazy Eddie (that's his full name, like the fireworks shop in Tennessee) is official, so says my wife and boys. I was gunning for Zeus or Gozer The Destructor, but I've been overruled by the court.

House training is going well, only 2 accidents so far. That ain't nuffin, it happens to me all the time! Leash training is work but just as much fun, but the "don't chew that" training is going to be a test for both of us.

Day 3 now and the death toll so far is...

- One leather shoe
- One running shoe
- Four socks (he likes socks)
- Two dryer sheets
- One plastic garbage can
- One soccer ball
- 2 shrubs
- One fern
- Half a roll of toilet paper
- One ottoman
- One guitar strap
- 3 floor mats
- Something made of plastic, not sure what it was.

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 3123

Quote:

Socialization! I didn't do this enough, now I have two 65 kg monsters who will sit and bark at my friends until they've visited at least 3 or 4 times.

Yes, I would implore all dog owners to allow their pets to become very familiar with unusual people, especially if you plan to walk the dog in public!

I have a terrible fear of dogs, to the point that I will cross the street to avoid an untethered dog, as, amongst other reasons, to me they're just so unpredictable - often, the dog will be unleashed in a park or even on a street, and when it comes bounding along I don't know whether it wants to take a chunk out of me or not. How should I interpret a bark? If it starts salivating over my feet, does it mean it thinks I'm worthy of becoming food, or does it like the smell of leather?

Most dog owners respond to my surprise/fear thus: 'Ocht, he'll no touch yi, he'll no bother a sowel.'

Hardly reassuring. So please, for the sake of us non-dog folks, train your animal well and make sure it is very familiar with people other than yourself!

Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 10:16 am

I hate it when people classify dog races as good or bad, it's their education that counts, a friend of mine had a rottweiler you could wrestle with no danger, he always won of course