Getting a puppy!

[fishnhuntnboy]

Im excited to finally be able to get my puppy. I am getting a black lab and going to go look at them this weekend from a buddy. I cant wait and have been waiting to get one for a long time.

This will be my first puppy and raising on my own. So I have a few questions from now till who knows how long. What are some things I will be looking forward to, what are some things I should get right away for the pup. What kind of food, how often should I feed her, what is the best way to potty train? I am looking for any info that will help from now till I get her trained to where I want, go step by step.

Another thing i was thinking is kind of making this a step by step kind of thread so its something people can look back on or for anyone who is getting a puppy for the first time and can read what to do.

So please any info and all the help will be appreciated and I will try and get pics up as soon as i can. I will hopefully get some pictures this weekend.

Thanks

[fisher]

if there is one thing you should get is TRAINING POINTING LABRADOR by JULIE KNUTSON http://www.gunclub-labs.com/training_the_pointing_labrador.html and open it to the part that talks about the WALK

[GFNER]

Get some sleep! For the next few weeks you'll be a walking zombie. Like having children all over again.

[fisher]

when I got my lab 3 years ago a guy on this forum sent me some books on him the deal was send them to some one else pass it forward

email me you address and I got some books coming your way

[email protected]

[Todd Caswell]

I feel the best pupy video out there is by Bill Hillman " Training a retriever puppy" Really easy to follow and I like how it flows, it's not a this step first and this step second type of program but blended together with the end result being a happy obedient puppy.

After the puppy is around 6 monthes old a great afordable program is Fowldawgs with Rick Stawski of Fineline retriever in Milaca MN.

The important thing is to have a plan, join a retriever club and get involved with a training group if you can.

Good luck

[fishnhuntnboy]

Thanks for the info so far guys. I'll have to take a look into the video and the book. Also fisher you have mail.

What I plan on doing is using the next six months with bonding and house training and some retrieving. Then when she gets six months old, I do plan on sending her off to school because i dont have the resources to train her since i would be doing it myself. If I can find help that would be great, but I will wait till that time comes.

What are some retriever clubs around? Is there any around the cities here or the north suburbs? What do you mean by training groups? Like kind of just the basic type of training or learing from the groups of what to do?

Thanks

[hanson]

Do you have time to reconsider? J/K! I'm a new puppy owner, well he's a 1 year 3 month old yellow Lab that has to be over 100 lbs now. My first dog as well, family never owned one so this was all new to me.

<------ He's a hundred pounds! Unreal!!

You won't be able to sleep for about 2 weeks, maybe more. She'll absolutely have to pee every hour on the hour for a few weeks. Which is why you won't be sleeping much. Do some searching on here or read about Crate Training. (Honestly I gave up on this quite quickly but my Lab still knows what its for and he loves it) Learn to clean up liquids and solids for a little while. Dog goes to the bathroom on the floor take them right outside. If they go again, praise them. Remember punishing bad behavior doesn't work, but rewarding good behavior does!

A few things you want to correct/prevent right away or you'll have a problem is don't let the dog jump up on you (knee to the chest, thump on the head will fix this) and stop "mouthing" as quickly as you can (puppies like to suck on your hand).

I'll be completely honest with you... you have great expectations for this puppy to be obedient, hunt, and handle like a trial dog but it doesn't work that way. Least not for me. If you've never trained a dog you have a lot to learn. Read, watch videos, ask questions, etc. You have a lot to learn! Fowldawgs by Stawski is very good but I wish I watched it over and over and over BEFORE I got my dog and not when he was 9 months old, would have helped a bit. Watch the Richard Wolters videos/books too... Game Dog & Water Dog.

I've always felt like I was 2-3 steps behind the entire time I've had my dog which is the result of not knowing what to do next, not anticipating, and not understanding what the dog is telling me.

You mentioned sending her to a trainer and I think that is probably a good move. I really need to (or should have) done that but can't afford it right now. Obedience school helped A LOT but a hunting dog trainer could have done a lot more too!

As for food, your breeder should let you know what they are eating and how often. If you switch foods, you want to transition them slowly from one to the other by mixing the foods together. Lots of good foods out there and plenty of topics in the archives here if you want some reading. I feed mine Canidae now.

One other "surprise" for me was the vet bills from the first year. Cripes, shots for everything and anything. Find a local vet right away and bring your pup in. They'll get you on a check up, shot, and #2 sample schedule right away!

[MuleShack]

if there is one thing you should get is TRAINING POINTING LABRADOR by JULIE KNUTSON http://www.gunclub-labs.com/training_the_pointing_labrador.html and open it to the part that talks about the WALK

I would also recommend this:

Heck the first 90 pages take you thru everything from bringing the puppy home to how and when to start training etc.

Takes you thru the growth of "Hank" and what is hank thinking.

Good book.

[MuleShack]

I would also suggest that you set boundaries right away and not wait until the pup is 3 or 4 months old before making corrections. Some suggestions to start with are:

• Feeding Time: Make the dog sit and stay before you place the bowl on the floor and then say OK or what ever before they go eat. It is letting them know you are in control and this also prevents food aggression later on. For some dogs (my GSP also) it makes them a calmer and he stopped whining before dinner due to the anxiety.
• Coming thru Doors: Make the dog stay or hold him back and let your wife/girlfriend/kids go in first before the dog. This will let him/her know their place and also prevent agression/anxiety down the road.

• Letting out of Kennel/Crate: Make the dog sit using voice or hand signals before opening kennel and crate door. They will learn fast because they wont get out unless they do. It will get them to watch you for commands, rather than just charging out of he kennel. Makes for a calmer dog.
• Discipline is not a bad thing: Pick a method and stick with it. Teach "no" right away and if your dog does eye contact, it also works to use a hand signal along with "no". Eventually you can get to a point where you just give them the signal and they stop. But the discipline I choose is the ear pinch, if they are not listening or biting or what ever they get the ear pinch at the time of correction. Discipline has to be done at the time the dog is misbehaving, not after or it is of no use.

  all of these can and should be applied from day one with the puppy, if you let them start getting by with stuff it is harder to correct later on. Remember never yell at your dog, just use the correction at the appropriate level and the dog will start to understand.

[Morneau132]

One other "surprise" for me was the vet bills from the first year.

+1 ... I spent over $1200 between July and August on my Yellow Lab at the Vet. (Treble hook inside the nostril and infected salivary gland.)

[gr8icefishinmind]

Having a puppy is a blast, especially when you first get the pup! I hope that you are going to get this pup alone cause the first thing you want is the dog to look to YOU as the owner and master and not your children (if you have) or other persons!! Muleshack had some great advice in his post!

My british lab just turned 9 months and was a very easy dog to train and teach obedience to, i was told right when i got him that he was going to be an easy dog just because of his dimeanor and his split between being dominant and submissive!

Dogs need to learn commands but how you say those commands is very important. When i tell my dog no and command him to not do something i use a deep growly voice adn when it is time to play it is a playful higher pitch voice. It's not always what you say, more the tone into what you say!

My one other suggestion would be to NOT send your dog away to training, if you do have your dog trained by someone make sure that the training involves you being there and teaching your dog as you learn! So many times people send there dogs away and when they get them back they act just like they did before because the person that trained the dog isn't there giving the commands, it is now a new person (you)!

Like muleshack said, get the dog to know the OK command. My dog doesn't get out of his kennel or eat any of his food or go outside until he gets the ok command from me! Also......"leave it" is a great command which you can teach your dog right away. Have you puppy sit down in front of you and take a toy or piece of food and hold it away from the dog saying leave it...move it touch closer "leave it".....little closer "leave it"....and so on. if the dog goes for the food give a sharp tug on the collar and say leave it. When you want the dog to take it say "OK"! Repeat and repeat until the dog knows not to take til you say "OK"! Dog won't pick it up right away but with a few short training sessions, the dog will pick it up fairly quickly!

Works great for me, if i don't want my dog to eat something or stay away from something i say leave it in a deep growly voice with an emphasis ont he t in it and he turns away from what he was going after! It works great! Does take time though! After a week of working with him i could take a piece of food and put right in front of his face and say leave it and he wouldn't touch it til i said "OK"!

Anyways.........enjoy your puppy cause they grow up tooo fast!!!

[Farmboy1]

The very basics IMHO.

1. Pick commands and stick with it. A few guys mentioned the "leave it", but I choose to not teach an additional command when "no" will do it. Other basics Come or me or here. It does not matter, but pick them and make sure your family knows and uses them.

2. Only give a command when you can enforce it. If I say sit and the dog does not do it, I instantly enforce it, then praise what they did.

3. I do not allow my dogs to enter a house or a doorway without permission. She will sit and wait at the threshold until I say OK, her name, or come. This is great when they are dirty and they war department loves it. I don't like to use OK because when I get another dog, they are released on their name. This way I can control one dog while the other does something for me.

4. Read everything you can. You will not find any two trainers who do things alike. Pick the parts you like from each one and go with it. You will also get a bunch of advise from clowns like me. Take everything with a grain of salt.

5. Remember, this is fun. Don't make it work. It is a hoot to watch the dog do things for the first time, but they will mess up. Have a good time with it, enjoy the dog, and sometime walk away and clear your head. Dogs are very good at keying in on little body changes, voice tone, etc.

Good luck.

[gr8icefishinmind]

5. Remember, this is fun. Don't make it work. It is a hoot to watch the dog do things for the first time, but they will mess up. Have a good time with it, enjoy the dog, and sometime walk away and clear your head. Dogs are very good at keying in on little body changes, voice tone, etc.

Good luck.

+1 Make sure to make the training fun for you and the dog. It is so fun to watch a dog pick up on things and you will learn alot of how your dog handles things as you go!! If the dog begins to get disinterested STOP! I think that one of the main things that i had to teach my self was different voice tones, when to use them, and how the dog is affected by the different tones of voice! I could use the same command on my dog but in two different tones of voice and get two different responses from him!!

As far as the leave it command, it is like a no i guess, but my no means "NO" and "leave it" is like a hold on and wait for me to give the ok before you can go after it or eat it!!

Like said earlier make sure to enforce what you say and make sure the command is done! As far as discipling, dogs live in the moment so if you are going to discipline make sure you do it right away so the dog knows how it misbehaved. If you are late to discipline the dog doesn't know why it is being done and is a waste of time and bad for you and your dogs relationship!

[fishnhuntnboy]

Thanks for all the responses! This is helping alot. I have trained a dog a little bit. I do know a little but still need to learn alot. I will have to go look at some dvd's and watch them and read up on some books.

I love all the advise and I know each person has there own way but in the end it is all the same result.

When I get the pup and bring her home, she will be in a kennel. Would it be a good idea to have her sleep in the kennel every night so she gets use to it and understands that is where she should be at night? Or should i go and buy a dog bed? So when I tell her bed or something like that she know.

With potty training, back when i was a kid and remember my parents kinda smacking the rear end and saying no and then taking the dog outside right away. Is this a good way? Or should i just grab her and put her outside right away and not do anything at all?

I will be the only one training the dog, my dad and his fiance will be around but will not do anything and no kids at all. So this will help for her to listen to me and know that I am in command.

With the commands and basic training, like sit, stay, this should all be started right away? Some of you say with some disaplin if they dont listen but with a quick reward when they get it right. I kno some give treats for a reward, but I dotn want her to think everytime she does something right she will get a treat. So should i just say good girl and play a little? Or should I do a little bit of both, kind of on and off with good girl and treats so she wont expect a treat each time?

With sending her off to training, the reason I thought about that is because of not having all the resources. I do agree with what one guy said that if I send her to school and they do the training they may not listen the same when with me. I like the fact that I would like to be around to help with the training so she will listen to me and her the commands from me.

If someone is around the area that would be interested in helping me or letting me come out to some land to train and have fun with the dog that would be great. You can just email me.

Thanks again for all the info. I will start researching and reading.

Keep the info coming.

[gr8icefishinmind]

With potty training just get used to letting the dog outside like every 2hours and pay lots of attention cause the pup will show signs for when it needs to go by sniffing around and getting somewhat restless. the best thing is to bring it outside every few hours so you don't end up with an accident before you make it there! If you catch the pup in the act, a solid no would be ok and then right outside but if you find a spot afterwards it really does no good to discipline because the act is already over and the dog would have no clue as to why it is being disciplined!

I would start the sit command right away, it is actually pretty quick and easy for the pup to learn. I am more of a praise believer than a treat person i guess! Puppies love to be acknowledged and praised for doing something good!!

With training, the reason you should go with is so that you too can learn. By sending the dog away, you have no idea how your dog reacts to things and commands. I like to think of the training aspect as being for both the owner and the dog!!

Another idea would be to have a local dog trainer come to your house right when you get the dog to give you some pointers on how to handle the pup. The same week i brought my pup home i had a local and very good dog trainer come to my house and show me some subsission excercises to do, which helped tremendously, and just game me some easy obedience things to cover and teach the pup!!

How old will the puppy be??

[fishnhuntnboy]

The pup will be 6 weeks old when I get her I believe. I will find out this weekend for sure.

I am the same way and like to praise more than giving a treat.

I completely agree with you and going with to the training. I just feel that the pup will learn with you as you learn and with the bonding. I will have to wait and see until that time comes really.

I will have to look around and see if there are any local trainers or obediance trainers. It would sure be nice for a little help and advice.

[caseymcq]

If you are in Ely you are in a good place for excellent vets with good prices.

From time to time there is an obedience class in Babbitt and possibly in Ely.

If you are no longer in Ely I just clutter up the thread with basically worthless info.

[Acemac]

kennel + out side ever hour or so so = house trained in a few weeks

no need to punish for going in the house your dog wants to go outside if they go in the house its your fault.

best thing i have ever done was crate train my puppy. now if i just dont want to deal with her in the crate she goes and she is happy as can be. It also makes travel a snap.

[pikehunter]

I would also offer one more tip: Get pet insurance. I accidentally signed up for a free trial pet insurance program without knowing it, and it saved me thousands of dollars when by 8-week old pup broke his leg. I gladly hand over the $32/month now, "just in case."

I've seen people at the vet trying to decide how much was too much to spend on extending Fido's life or well-being. So I spend a little money each month making sure I'm never in that situation.

[fishnhuntnboy]

casey no im not in ely anymore. I sure do miss it up there tho!

I never did know that there was pet insurance. I will have to look into that. You never know what can happen in the field or wherever.

Hopefully I can get the obidence training done easily. I know I will just have to work at it and take time.

Ace, when you say kennel do you mean like learing to sleep in kennel or putting in kennel outside?

Thanks everyone, keep it coming!

[Todd Caswell]

He means your going to have to let her out very hour or so to go to the bathroom. It will get longer as he gets older. I try to go to bed by 10 so I don't give any water after 8 to the pups, let them out at 10 and in most cases they are good to go for a few hours at night, up at 2 and then again at 5:30 when I get up. The little guy at our house is 16 weeks old and last night was the first night he made it from 10:30 to 5:30. And to date he has had 2 accidents on the floor. If you watch them like a hawk accidents should be a minnimum, most of the time if they have one it's our fault.

[jeffreyd]

i agree with pike hunter on the insurance, i have purina insurance on both of my labs 34 bucks month each. My 2 yr old just had his left knee fixed, blew the acl out 3500 bucks, insurance paid all but 600. he has to have the other one done now, it was a part tear some time back but now his new knee is stronger will do the other one. dont forget they are puppies and patients is key

[fishnhuntnboy]

Ohh ok I gotcha on the kennel and letting them out now. Makes since now lol. So as long as I keep her on schedual, she will get the idea that she uses the bathroom out side. Just have to keep an eye on her and make a routine.

Should I leave water out all the time and pull it away at night at a certain time? Or should I put water out on a schedual also with the food?

Im liking the idea of insurance and 35 bucks a month isnt that bad at all.

[gr8icefishinmind]

The whole water thing kind of depends when you go to bed. I usually head to bed around 10:30 so i always made sure to pull the water away at 8ish and then made sure to let the dog outside right before i went to bed! Otherwise i left water out all the time and just made sure to pay attention to the pup when he was out of his crate to notice if he had to go outside or not!!

Also another good thing to start right away is saying "outside" whenever you take the dog out to pee!! And when you get out side say "go pee" or something of the sort! If i let my dog out now and he is dinking around, i will tell him to go pee and sure enough he will go!!

All pups are different, but i honestly for the first week set my alarm to get up at 1 a.m. to let the dog out and made sure he pee'd after that, i had no problems with him making it through the night (of course there were a few nights i would hear him whimpering and would get up to let him outside to pee! Dogs really dislike going pee or [PoorWordUsage] where they sleep so they will do the best they can not to, it is up to you to wake up and let the dog out if you hear whimpering!!

[fishnhuntnboy]

Everyone meet Lilly!