Joined
·
29 Posts
Hi everyone. My name is Nathan. I recently (yesterday) went to visit my new 3 week old Chocolate lab. Her name is Molly and I can't wait to bring her home! She will be my first lab.
New lab owner in NC.
1 - 11 of 11 Posts
Joined
·
21,482 Posts
Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new pup.
Joined
·
11,989 Posts
Welcome from New Jersey!
Joined
·
10,307 Posts
Great! Welcome to the forum.
You have a few weeks to get ready before Molly comes home. It is really pretty easy.
Start at the point you will normally get out of your car. Now carefully look around. Anything that you see that will fit in, or any part of it would fit in, an alligators mouth must be picked up and put out of sight, out of reach at the minimum. Now you proceed through your home, yard, and anywhere else your pup might venture and do the same thing. It does not matter if it is edible, i.e. shoes, underwear, tv remotes, wall molding, cushion on sofa, etc. Remember, if any part of it will fit in an alligators mouth it must be removed or hidden.
You have a few weeks to get ready before Molly comes home. It is really pretty easy.
Start at the point you will normally get out of your car. Now carefully look around. Anything that you see that will fit in, or any part of it would fit in, an alligators mouth must be picked up and put out of sight, out of reach at the minimum. Now you proceed through your home, yard, and anywhere else your pup might venture and do the same thing. It does not matter if it is edible, i.e. shoes, underwear, tv remotes, wall molding, cushion on sofa, etc. Remember, if any part of it will fit in an alligators mouth it must be removed or hidden.
Joined
·
9 Posts
Everything you'll need is on this wonderful site. Our dog was trained off of this site and all the information in it from all these wonderful people. He learned everything from fetching, sitting, to ringing a bell when he has to go potty.
Joined
·
29 Posts
Thanks everyone. I've been busy the past few days trying to get things ready. I've bought toys, going to talk to the vet this weekend and continue trying to "puppy-proof" both of the houses she'll be spending most of her time in.
I've also got some other peoples pets and a bunch of friends lined up that would love to meet her to help with the socialization and I'm trying to find anywhere within a reasonable driving distance to give her a lot of off leash time and some good swimming time. Our back yard will also be fenced in before the end of the year just for her so there wil be yet another place for her to get some exercise.
One thing I'm curious about though is teaching her to play frisbee. I like frisbee and disc golf and I would like to play frisbee with her and I've found plenty of books that say labs love to play frisbee but I haven't found a lot about TEACHING a lab to play frisbee. Any tricks to this? I haven't searched this forum yet but I will tomorrow to see what I can find. I'm a little worried that if I teach her to catch a frisbee she may chase down my disc golf discs and bring them back to me though.
Maybe I can just teach her to run and drop it in the basket for me instead.
I'll also be looking for some potty training tips on here tomorrow since that's really the part I'm worried about teaching. I want to make sure that I do it right so that she learns well because I really want her to have the freedom to hang around the house and be a part of the family. A lot of books I've been reading on the subject talk about crate training and it sounds like the dog spends a lot more time crated than I'd really like. I know I'll be cleaning up a lot for a while but hopefully she'll get the hang of it quick because I don't like the idea of an energetic dog being couped up very much.
Anyways, thanks again for the welcomes and I'd appreciate any other advice/insight you guys may have about bringing a new puppy up right.
-Nathan
I've also got some other peoples pets and a bunch of friends lined up that would love to meet her to help with the socialization and I'm trying to find anywhere within a reasonable driving distance to give her a lot of off leash time and some good swimming time. Our back yard will also be fenced in before the end of the year just for her so there wil be yet another place for her to get some exercise.
One thing I'm curious about though is teaching her to play frisbee. I like frisbee and disc golf and I would like to play frisbee with her and I've found plenty of books that say labs love to play frisbee but I haven't found a lot about TEACHING a lab to play frisbee. Any tricks to this? I haven't searched this forum yet but I will tomorrow to see what I can find. I'm a little worried that if I teach her to catch a frisbee she may chase down my disc golf discs and bring them back to me though.
Maybe I can just teach her to run and drop it in the basket for me instead. I'll also be looking for some potty training tips on here tomorrow since that's really the part I'm worried about teaching. I want to make sure that I do it right so that she learns well because I really want her to have the freedom to hang around the house and be a part of the family. A lot of books I've been reading on the subject talk about crate training and it sounds like the dog spends a lot more time crated than I'd really like. I know I'll be cleaning up a lot for a while but hopefully she'll get the hang of it quick because I don't like the idea of an energetic dog being couped up very much.
Anyways, thanks again for the welcomes and I'd appreciate any other advice/insight you guys may have about bringing a new puppy up right.
-Nathan
Joined
·
3,041 Posts
Welcome to the Forum from another N.C.'r! I crate trained my lab, Jazzy and I too was not enthusiastic when I first read about it. I have to tell you that it was the fastest I have ever house broken a puppy! Jazzy was mostly crated at night, with her crate next to our bed. During the day, we put her crate,with the door open, in a small bathroom with a baby gate across the bathroom door. My DH came home for lunch every day to let her out. I was so sold on this that I also used it with the beagle puppy I got 4 years later with equal success. They don't have to stay in the crate whenever you are around to watch them and make sure they go out to potty at the usual times. As you probably have read, lots of exercise is very important as a way to keep the puppy destruction to a minimum too!
Joined
·
4,176 Posts
Welcome to the board Nathan! What day was she born? My new lab puppy (my 2nd lab) was born on April 1st ... we have seen him once and get to go see him again this week. I plan on taking lots of pictures.
Crate training is the best way to house train a dog. It's not cruel. Dogs are naturally den animals and they like the safety of a crate. It's their own space, a safe comfortable space for them.
1 - 11 of 11 Posts
Join the discussion
