Just Labradors banner

Help for first time pup owner!

4K views 41 replies 11 participants last post by  Hawkeye 
#1 ·
I will be getting my puppy in a few days and as you guys may have already guessed, have a boatload of questions! Please bare with me and help me out to make my transition of being a first puppy owner somewhat smooth. :tongue:

1. I will be getting a 46in crate from Walmart, a buckle collar, a leash, steel food bowls, food, and some treats for training. Will I be needing anything else?

2. What is the regular maintenance I need to do for my dog and how often? I've read that raw beef bones from the butcher can cause broken teeth. Is there a safe alternative? (i.e ear cleaning, brushing teeth, showering)

3. Can I allow the puppy to have free roam of the house if I can constantly supervise him? Or do I need to have him tethered to me?

4. When crate training, I've read that I should slowly ease into the door closing. How will I let my pup sleep? Do I just leave the crate next to my bed and close anyway?

5. When housetraining, and I see the pup beginning to soil. I would say "NO!" to startle him to stop and carry him in my arms outside correct? I've heard some people say put him on the leash and bring him outside but don't carry while some say carry. Confused!

6. I've read the general rule of thumb is 5 minutes of exercise per month. So do I play personally with the pup for around 15 minutes and stop? If the puppy runs and plays by himself it is A OKAY right?

Well, that's all that I can think of for now. He will be 8 weeks when I get him. Thank you for your help!
 
See less See more
#2 ·
1. I will be getting a 46in crate from Walmart, a buckle collar, a leash, steel food bowls, food, and some treats for training. Will I be needing anything else?

You will need a divider to reduce the size of the crate until your pup is older to discourage him from eliminating in the crate. You might think of a long line for training but that's not an immediate requirement.

2. What is the regular maintenance I need to do for my dog and how often? I've read that raw beef bones from the butcher can cause broken teeth. Is there a safe alternative? (i.e ear cleaning, brushing teeth, showering)

Nylabones.

3. Can I allow the puppy to have free roam of the house if I can constantly supervise him? Or do I need to have him tethered to me?

Free roam is fine with supervision.

4. When crate training, I've read that I should slowly ease into the door closing. How will I let my pup sleep? Do I just leave the crate next to my bed and close anyway?

Feed and treat the pup in the crate. At that age they won't be too concerned if you close the door apart from some crying at night perhaps which you should ignore normally but you will need to be getting up maybe once or twice during the might for the first month or so until their bladder is big enough to hold all night.

5. When housetraining, and I see the pup beginning to soil. I would say "NO!" to startle him to stop and carry him in my arms outside correct? I've heard some people say put him on the leash and bring him outside but don't carry while some say carry. Confused!

Use the leash when he is used to it. I don't see any harm in carrying a very young puppy to show him where he should be eliminating but start his leash training straight away.


6. I've read the general rule of thumb is 5 minutes of exercise per month. So do I play personally with the pup for around 15 minutes and stop? If the puppy runs and plays by himself it is A OKAY right?

That only refers to forced exercise such as walks. Playing by himself is fine.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Welcome Hawkeye! Where are you located? You have received great advice from Samson, and I can add a few comments.

1.- I would buy the leash that is a chain with a loop to hold in your hand. Sophie could shear a nylon leash in two like a buz saw! You also need a good brush and nail clippers. Brush your dog daily. Labs shed a ton! Also find out what the breeder is feeding and buy a bag of it. Keep the pup on the same food. Treats can be chunks of cheese (limit this though, calcium you know!) and pieces of fruit. I did find some yogurt treats for Sophie during training that she loved. Also, you will need a good flea preventative. We use the oral pill Comfortis we get from our vet. Fronline didn't work for us, and we since heard it has caused seizures in some dogs. Advantix II works well, and prevents ticks too, if you live where there are ticks.

2- Raw bones with marrow are too rich and can give a puppy diarrhea. I had the rubber Kong bones, since Sophie never has really liked the Nylabones.

3- We are lucky and were always home with Sophie, so she had free roam of the house from day one. We never had to tether her, except when people come in the front door. She wanted to jump on them, so we leashed her and made her sit when company came.

4.-You can put the crate by your bed and even put your fingers through the wire to reassure him. Just try not to give in to the crying at let him out. Take him to potty on a schedule, and limit water a couple of hours before bed.

5.- Don't use NO as a command. It is too vague. Just scoop him up, and head to the door and as you scoop him use the command you have chosen for potty. We used Outside Sophie! We had her trained pretty fast. Labs are smart.

6.-the 5 min rule is good. Use it when you walk your puppy. A couple times a day. Do not run or jog with your puppy. It is hard on his joints. Play time is different, let him play as he wants to. He can run as he sees fit when he plays, just not when he's leashed.

We look forward to lots of pictures and lots and lots of puppy stories! What's his name?
 
#4 ·
find out what the breeder is feeding and make sure ot get the same food, going thru a food switch on top of all the other changes isn't ideal.
agree on getting a divider for the crate, it needs to be just big enough for puppy to stand up and turn around until they are house trained

labs don't need regular baths, it strips their coats of the protective oils. if they are dirty rinse off. if they have rolled in poop then sure give them a bath. get a bottle of dog shampoo (not human).

You do want to get the puppy used to being touched (to clean ears, brush teeth, nails) but I would say start with just touching for now and not actually washing ears and brushing teeth. they have little toothbrushes you can get eventually to get the dog used to that (even though puppy teeth don' really need to be washed it is good practice)ç

Look up training schools and find a puppy class appropriate for puppies before they get all theri shots and sign up. they will help you train your pup and help socialize him.

you can play more than 15 minutes if puppy is dictating the speed and energy level (i.e. offleash in the yard). the rule is more for things like walks.

Take a look in the training section, lots of tips on crate training, house training and biting (which you will soon discover)
 
#6 ·
The Comfortis or the Advantix II are once a month treatments and which dosage you use will change as your puppy grows. Trifexis is also once a month and controls fleas, heartworms, and intestional parasites, but it is more expensive.

Not much of a replacement for brushing teeth.

Congrats on the new puppy, looking forward to pictures.
 
#7 · (Edited)
If offered, don't get the 6 month heart worm shot called ProHeart 6. There have been some very bad reactions to this drug and suspected deaths. The usual once a month works just fine, so there is no need to mess with a suspect product.

And keep your puppy in your arms at the vet as the floors can be full of viruses/germs. Until he has a few rounds of vaccinations in him, you are better being safe than sorry.

Do socialize him but just be careful about where. Areas that get a lot of dog traffic are best avoided until he has full immunity.
 
#8 · (Edited)
1. I will be getting a 46in crate from Walmart, a buckle collar, a leash, steel food bowls, food, and some treats for training. Will I be needing anything else?
I would recommend something better then what walmart carries for a crate. This isn't a temporary thing, you should keep the crate for the life of the dog. This particular crate is cheaper online than it was in the store, it has two doors so it allows you more options to positioning. Each door has dual locking mechanisms and come with a dividing panel so you can make the crate very small and move it back as the dog grows bigger. This keeps them from eliminating in their crate. Not to mention if you crate during the day at work.

NOW feel free to buy a small crate that can be next to your bed or bedroom. Unless you want the constant crying at night from the middle of the house. This board here helped me with that extreme crying and suggested I move the crate into the bedroom at night. Guess what, second night she only cryed to go out to potty. Of course it was to big so we bought a smaller one (as suggested).

2. What is the regular maintenance I need to do for my dog and how often? I've read that raw beef bones from the butcher can cause broken teeth. Is there a safe alternative? (i.e ear cleaning, brushing teeth, showering)
Find out what the breeder is feeding them and continue using that food for the first few months, then slowly move them over to a better brand if applicable. Raw bones I believe is for 6 month + dogs if I recall correctly. I think someone mentioned no raw bones until their adult teeth were fully grown in as it can cause problems with new teeth coming in.

3. Can I allow the puppy to have free roam of the house if I can constantly supervise him? Or do I need to have him tethered to me?
Yup, you sure can, just keep an eye on him\her. (recommend crating during day if left alone)

4. When crate training, I've read that I should slowly ease into the door closing. How will I let my pup sleep? Do I just leave the crate next to my bed and close anyway?
We had two crates (as stated above), one full size located centrally inside the house and a smaller one in the bedroom. The one in the bedroom is only temporary (some people crate longer than others at night) mileage may vary. When ever the pup falls asleep, gently place them in their crate and leave the door open. Encourage and reward them for going in their crate. The crate is their safe zone, so lots of praise and NEVER pull them out of the crate, call them, makes high pitch noises what have you, let them come out on their own. (this will enforce the safety factor). If they run scared in to their crate, it's off limits and you leave them be.

5. When housetraining, and I see the pup beginning to soil. I would say "NO!" to startle him to stop and carry him in my arms outside correct? I've heard some people say put him on the leash and bring him outside but don't carry while some say carry. Confused!
Might as well tell you right now, don't wait for them to set the schedule. Begin taking them outside on a leash to the designated spot and use a word. I use "get busy" and would stand there letting them walk around while saying "get busy". Once they go, praise them and if you have a small treat, give them one. I did this on the top of every hour and increased the hours as they got older. You can look up the bladder control of labs and get more accurate information.
Just last night we visited the inlaws and upon arival I took her out side, said "get busy" and she pee'd on command. Went back inside and enjoyed the party.

6. I've read the general rule of thumb is 5 minutes of exercise per month. So do I play personally with the pup for around 15 minutes and stop? If the puppy runs and plays by himself it is A OKAY right?
The scariest thing is forced exercise. Playing with them is fine but don't take them on a bike ride, jog etc where they can't stop. The growth plates need time to close. Oh, and carefull on tug of war, I broke our puppies K9 and had a panic attack. The board was nice and helped me through that one too
 
#9 ·
I've read that marrow bones or knuckle bones can replace brushing teeth if given a few times a week. I've seen many members get pearly white teeth from no brushing and giving bones.

The caveat was that marrow bones CAN cause chipped or broken teeth. Can raw knuckle bones do the same thing? Is it safer? When can I give it to my pup?
 
#10 ·
I just brought Hawkeye to our home!! :)

I have a few questions to ask you guys if you dont mind...

He sleeps A LOT. Is this normal for a puppy? Should I just leave him and take him potty after he wakes up? Would this slow down the progress?

Also, when I catch him in the act, I yell a firm NO then carry him outside on a leash to the designatated area. Is this right?

When I take him out periodically, he would either sit down or tug on the leash until he chokes himself out but go potty. Any remedies?

Is there anyway I can walk him out on a leash there without carrying him?

Thank you!!!!!!!!
 
#11 · (Edited)
I just brought Hawkeye to our home!! :)
Congratulations!

He sleeps A LOT. Is this normal for a puppy? Should I just leave him and take him potty after he wakes up? Would this slow down the progress?
This is normal. Yes, let him sleep and take him out right after he wakes up. No, should not slow down the progress.

Also, when I catch him in the act, I yell a firm NO then carry him outside on a leash to the designatated area. Is this right?
Yes.

When I take him out periodically, he would either sit down or tug on the leash until he chokes himself out but go potty. Any remedies?
Once you take him to his spot, make like a tree and stand still. Praise, praise, and praise him once he does his thing. Make a big fuss!

Is there anyway I can walk him out on a leash there without carrying him?
Once his bladder/bowel control gets better, then use a leash to take him out.
 
#13 ·
Take your puppy out when they wake from a nap and half way through the night, and again upon waking in the morning. Also they need to go out following vigorous play. Try to use a command other than NO. No is too vague. Choose a potty word and use it everytime. We use "outside". Sophie, outside! You get the picture. There will be a thousand times a day you'll be wanting to say no about something. Use specific commands instead. What about during the day? Is someone home with him, or are you crating him while you work?

Marrow bones are not only tough on teeth, they are rich and can cause diarrhea. If your puppy is choking with a collar, you need to get them used to the leash before using it to lead him outside to potty. Put the leash on the puppy and let him drag it around the house. Do this with supervision so he won't get wound up on anything. After you have let him get used to it, simply pick up the leash. Walk with him while holding it, instead of trying to get him to go where you want him to. Do this a few times, and your puppy will be ready to walk with the leash. Some stubborn puppies need a harness, but it is difficult to get the harness on them prior to going potty because they have no warning before they need to pee. The time it takes to get the harness on is too long for a puppy needing to pee. Young puppies do not have control over their peeing and pooping. They don't have an early warning system, so you have to be it. Watch your puppy's body language. They will also need to go out after meals.

We are looking forward to pictures! What's his name?
 
#14 ·
I'll post pics tomorrow! I named him Hawkeye.

How long can a pup go between meals? The breeder was feeding him at her schedule but I want to transition him to make it convenient for me.

Also, I feed him and he usually doesn't need to poop until 4-5 hours later...is this normal?

His first day he generally slept and chewed on some toys I gave him...pretty mellow fella so far
 
#15 ·
Feed 3 times a day and the amount it says to on the bag. Did you find out what the breeder was feeding so you can continue with that? It helps prevent gastric upset. We fed Sophie about the same time we ate...breakfast, lunch, dinner. We never restricted water. We kept it down at all times. We didn't crate her because we are retired and someone was always home. When we went out we had sitters. Heck, we had our sons and their friends lining up to Sophie-sit! Crated dog owners often take up the water a couple hours before bed. As far as pooping, Sophie had her own schedule too. She didn't always poop right after eating. Peeing...yes. How old is he? He will start to chew on you and his teeth are like razors. Start with Don't Bite! as soon as this behavior starts. Since puppies naturally want to bite when they play, it takes a little longer to teach than other things do. It took us a good month to get Sophie from using us as her own personal chew toy! I like his name! What is yours? Where are you?
 
#26 ·
You fed him at 10PM? Are you a shift worker? If you are not, you probably should try to keep to a feeding schedule of morning, lunch, dinner time. He will need to poop in the middle of the night (likely) if you feed this late and it may make crate training much more difficult, unless you want to commit to taking him outdoors at 2 am.
 
#17 ·
:bump2: Exhausted! You have a baby in the house! Hahahaha!! Seriously, Will....it gets better! Sophie was doing really well with house training at 3 months, and totally trained at 4 months. The crate should only be large enough for him to stand and turn around. You don't want it big enough that he can go in a corner to potty. They won't usually potty where they sleep. If you have a really large crate, you can get a divider for it. Start with training immediately. By 9 weeks she learned sit, and down. By 10 she learned to shake. Leave it and drop it took a little longer, but she learned then pretty easily. Even with training, expect them to get into trouble! I have hundreds of Sophie tales to tell! :pound: Good luck...and remember we are all here for you, to help get this boy raised! :grouphug:
 
#19 ·
Do NOT follow the amounts given on food bags for feeding; their goal is to sell food, so they always suggest more than is necessary. The kibble I feed suggests 4.5 - 6 cups per day for dogs the size of my boys; Buddy (83 pounds) gets about 2.5 cups total and Champ (98 pounds) gets about 3.5 cups total, split in two feedings.

Ask how much your breeder was feeding, follow that guideline for a while, then slowly increase a little at each feeding as the puppy grows. If he gets too roly-poly, cut back on food and increase exercise. Dogs vary in their needs just as people do, so use your dog's weight and condition as a guideline for feeding.
 
#22 ·
My dogs pee on command. I just got one of my puppies back and she wasn't taught this. During the process of teaching her to potty on command, every time I said "go potty", Raven would squat. Most times nothing came out and she'd look at me with that "I did this already", but Raven knows the command as do the rest of my dogs. lol
 
#24 ·
yes.

but pick your battles. Labby is right, if you just stand there and stare at the pup because you "want" them to pee "in that exact spot" you may spend hours outside standing. Movement helps them go.

But if you absolutely need them to pee in a small spot walk around that spot and praise when they go. Don't make the spot too small either, give them a good patch if you want a designated spot (so that you can walk around it)
 
#25 ·
I hope that you are working with a breeder that can answer some of these questions for you.

I would absolutely not yell "NO!" at a brand new puppy for starting to go pee/poop in the house. They have to have a clue what they are supposed to do before this works. Praise praise praise when he goes potty in the yard, and make a big party of it.

Puppies sleep a lot! When your puppy wakes up from a nap, stops playing, gets a drink, eats, or ends another activity, take him outside to pee. The point of this is, is to catch him when he need to go, so you can praise him for going outside. It takes a lot of patience, and time commitment to housebreak properly. Please keep him on the feeding schedule the breeder had him on, the pup is under a lot of stress being away from mom and littermates, so keeping his routine as close to normal as possible will help. It will also help with potty habits to feed him at the same times, so you 'know" when he needs to have a bowel movement, and make house breaking faster and easier too. I think you asked if the puppy should have free run of the house? No, make him earn freedom as he matures, as this age he will find an out of the way place to pee, behind a couch etc..., and house breaking will be very difficult. Also he could chew something dangerous, like an electrical cord, or something valuable when you aren't watching him. I crate them when I can't supervise directly.

Enjoy your puppy while he is little! Take lots of pictures and enjoy that puppy breath while it lasts!
 
#27 ·
I would absolutely not yell "NO!" at a brand new puppy for starting to go pee/poop in the house. They have to have a clue what they are supposed to do before this works. Praise praise praise when he goes potty in the yard, and make a big party of it.
I'm so glad you mentioned this Shelley - I was concerned about yelling at the puppy too. OP - It is really important that you not scare the puppy while trying to train him.

If you find him in the middle of peeing (or about to squat) scoop him up and head outside. I would keep a wad of paper towels handy in the rooms you allow him in so that you can cover up the hose on your way out the door. Otherwise he'll leave a pee trail through your house and probably all over you too. The more frequently you can connect elimination to the outdoors the quicker he will get it. PRAISE success - ignore accidents. Puppy pee accidents are always owner error - not bad behavior on the part of the puppy.
 
#28 ·
Thanks Big Brown Dog. :)

I meant to add, if you yell at them for going potty, (when they are really little) they will think going potty (anywhere!) is a bad thing, and they will try to hide it from you. Later on, when he starts to get the idea potty outside = Good puppy!! You can say an gentle, "oh no, we don't piddle in the house" when you catch them starting an accident in the house.

Another thing I thought of, if you wipe up a potty mess in the house, take the paper towel out to your potty spot. Puppies like to pee where they have gone before, if he smells his own pee on the paper towel he will learn faster to "go" there. I start housebreaking here with my litters by keeping their area really clean, and making them a potty box, so they learn very early on that they eat, sleep and play in the clean part, and do their business in the potty box. My families tell me that their puppies housebreak pretty easily and fast.

Oh, and another note, since I said above that puppies like to urinate where they have before, make sure you have a supply of Natures Miracle, (an enzymatic cleaner) so you can take the odor/smell out of the carpet, rug or flooring after an accident in the house. That way they won't smell it and go there again. :)
 
#31 · (Edited)
Thanks soooo much for the help guys!

It is okay to feed him during my breakfast lunch and dinner? It is in uneven hour intervals!

I will no longer yell a NO but instead scoop him up and say "Outside, Hawkeye."

I will also stop taking him to a designated spot. As long as he eliminates on grass, I am one happy camper! I just thought that small spot would make him housetrain faster.

How long can I expect to have him housetrained?

Hehe thanks Sophie's mama :)
 
#32 ·
Thanks soooo much for the help guys!

I will no longer yell a NO but instead scoop him up and say "Outside, Hawkeye."

I will also stop taking him to a designated spot. As long as he eliminates on grass, I am one happy camper! I just thought that small spot would make him housetrain faster.

How long can I expect to have him housetrained?

Hehe thanks Sophie's mama :)
House training time depends on the puppy and (more importantly) on the effort and consistency you devote. I would say most puppies are pretty reliable by 16 weeks. But you can expect some regression along the way too.
 
#33 ·
I currently have the puppy in a pen inside when I can supervise him or let him run around outside. I do not let him run around inside because he isn't reliable yet.

When I can't supervise him I put him in his crate.

How do I know when it is safe to let him run around and that he will alert me when he needs to eliminate>?
 
#34 ·
I would let him run around when you are relaxing and can observe him. Watch his body language. If he's penned most of the time, he won't learn to go to the door to alert you. It is amazing how fast they pick up on going to the door. We can't see our back door from a lot of the rooms in our house. Sophie would go lay by the door and wait and we wouldn't always see her. We had taught her to speak on command, so we got to where we would tell her to speak before we opened the door. Now, she will give a a look and grumble at us to go outside. Be patient, it takes awhile. Be consistant. How's the leash training coming?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top