My 1st puppy! HELP!

[Zaphirah]

We have been talking about getting a puppy for the last few months and just last night my dh's co-worker called and said that 6 lab mix pups were rescued from a cardboard box in the middle of the road!!!! I think they are about 8 weeks old. I don't know much about puppies. I have been told that:

crate training is good
toilet them every 3 hours
expect accidents
don't leave them in the crate for more than 3 hours
don't change their diet too drastically, gradually switch them over

So my remaining questions are:
can a pup this young eat raw?
do you have toilet them around the clock?
when can I start w/ obedience training
are electric fences inhumane? (we live on a busy road)
can I get a crate that is large enough for him/her at full grown, or should I get a smaller one for now?

and anything else would be appreciated. I know I can do this. The town librarian is a wonderful breeder of shelties and she laughed at me when I told her I was nervous. She said that since I have been thru the toddler stage 4x I should be an old hat at puppy training! LOL!

[pierces*designs]

We have been talking about getting a puppy for the last few months and just last night my dh's co-worker called and said that 6 lab mix pups were rescued from a cardboard box in the middle of the road!!!! I think they are about 8 weeks old. I don't know much about puppies. I have been told that:

crate training is good
toilet them every 3 hours
expect accidents
don't leave them in the crate for more than 3 hours
don't change their diet too drastically, gradually switch them over

So my remaining questions are:
can a pup this young eat raw?
do you have toilet them around the clock?
when can I start w/ obedience training
are electric fences inhumane? (we live on a busy road)
can I get a crate that is large enough for him/her at full grown, or should I get a smaller one for now?

and anything else would be appreciated. I know I can do this. The town librarian is a wonderful breeder of shelties and she laughed at me when I told her I was nervous. She said that since I have been thru the toddler stage 4x I should be an old hat at puppy training! LOL!


I did rescue for many years so have a good bit of knowledge. LOL

About your first points..don't expect accidents! Be consistent and have a set routine and don't give your puppy the chance to make a mistake. As soon as he is let out of the crate take him outside (leashed!) say "Potty!" then when he goes say in ahappy voice "Good!" Don't make a huge deal about it or he will expect a party everytime he goes.

To housebreak once the dog is a little older and I want them to have more out of the crate time I use umbilicaling. I tie a leash to my belt loop and go about my business in the house. A dog will almost never potty in front of you. They sneak off to hide or go in another room. By not giving them the opportunity you don't set a bad habit. It also serves to form dominance.

From the get go, make sure your dog knows you are dominant. YOU walk through doors first, you go up and down stairs first. It is important to your long-term relationship not to let the dog feel that they need to control because YOU aren't.

If you want to do raw, you should look into BARF. I can't do it because it is made up of raw meat and bones. Instead I feed my dogs baked, nutritional food from flintriverranch.com My sheltie just passed away at 17+ so I feel it is a good food. And it is so nutritionally dense that you can feed about 1/2 of commercial foods and their poops just dry up and turn into powder.

Get a full sized crate.

Electric fences have pros and cons. Just remember, they are a phychological barriers and if the stimulus on the other side is high enough the dog will charge through it to get out, but lack the stimulus to go back through to come home. Also, they don't keep anything from getting in. They are ok if you just use them for pottying and occasional yard-play. Never leave a dog outside forever.

Just my opinions. But I have done email consults with people having training issues. If they followed my advice they were able to have a happy relationship with their dogs. Too many allowed the dog to become their baby and then had to fix it when the dog exerted the control.

Good luck and feel free to email me if you want any more of my long winded opinions. LOL

[Zaphirah]

OMYGOSH! Thank you for all of that info! I LOVE the idea of leashing the pup to me. what a GREAT idea. I will look into the brand that you suggested. thanks again. I am very grateful!

[Zaphirah]

WAAAH! No puppy for us. I actually got teary eyes. They all went in a couple of hours last night. We were told that we would have first pick and now they are all gone before we were able to wake up and go over there. This is so frustrating. We have been looking at a big shelter and hour and a half away. The shelter we wanted to get one from requires that all of the family members be present and dh works the EXACT hours that the shelter is open and they will not hold a puppy for ANY reason. The new pups come in on Mon and dh couldn't get there til Sat and they are usu all gone by Thurs.

All I want to do is give a sweet pup a wonderful home with lots of love and affection and since we *just* bought this house I don't have an extra 2K to buy and spay/neuter and purebred.

Sigh. At least this gives me more time to look into a raw-puppy diet. :( :( :(

[pierces*designs]

Please look here:

petfinder.com

Good luck and don't worry, there are many many needy dogs out there!

[trinity082482]

We had a black lab a few years back and she was a pretty good dog. We trained her to stay in certain area's of the house like she could lay in the kitchen but not come in the living room and you would see her just slowly inching closer as she was laying down lol.. silly silly dog!! but once you said Tasha.. get back... she would go back to her spot lol...

She was easy to train.. but we took her out in the back yard so she could poop.
She would eat anything.. even raw stuff when we turned out backs but I am not sure if it was good for her.. she was just sneeky.
We started training her to listen pretty much when we got her.
I don't think electric fences are inhumane... if you run some wire around your property and get a shock collar... once they realize oh ... I don't like that I wont go near it anymore.. they are pretty good to not cross the line.. and they will be fine.. we had a farm and our dog would come off of every chain we had and chase farm bikers so it was our only option. Even when the battery wore off we decided to wait a bit and our dog NEVER crossed the line even that the collar didnt work.. but she never knew ;) I don't like crates.. I like dog kennels. More freedom unless you have to use a grate make it a large one and dont keep your dog cooped up too long.

[freebird]

Aw! I'm sorry that they all went to other homes before you could have one. I'm sure the right dog will find you. I too am in pursuit of my real dog, I've had at least 3 imaginary ones and I thought it was time to upgrade to a real one considering I made a ceramic food bowl. Good luck. xoxoxoxo

[diali36]

The shelters are full of wonderful dogs that are all though the puppy stage. Why don't you look into finding a dog that is 1 or 2 yrs old. it might be much easier esp with a 1st dog. I have found many wonderful compaions in shelters and have gotten both puppies and older dogs both with wonderful results. Whatever you decide take your time, read lots of books or talk to a lot of pet owners, make sure you and your family are ready for such a big comminmet. Best of luck.

[Zaphirah]

we had a TERRIBLE exp with a dog that was "approved" for children. He attempted to viciously attack a neighbor's child. I was there. He was completely unprovoked, the child was just walking by, etc. It was an extremely scary moment.-and this dog was said to be great with kids. The shelter we got him from is a VERY strict shelter, so I blame them in no way. Since I have 4 dc of my own I have sworn off older dogs til my children and teenagers. I just can't take that risk again. :(

[diali36]

I'm so sorry that happened to you. Of course when something like that happens it affects how you feel about adopting anything but a puppy. I wish you well and hope you find the perfect friend for you and yours.

[Zaphirah]

I guess I should mention that if we DO get a puppy we are getting it from a shelter in Sterling, MA. We also have the opportunity to buy EVERYTHING the puppy needs there-crate, toys, food, training video etc. and all proceeds go directly back tot he shelter. All of the pups are dixie dogs, so I feel pretty good about that. :D

[diali36]

What is a dixie dog?

[Zaphirah]

it's a dog that is transported from a high-kill shelter from the south and brought up north for adoption. :)

[diali36]

:) Thanks .

[pierces*designs]

UGH, I live in the south and some of those dogs are probably from right around me.

I know in my county, 13,700 dogs/cats a year are brought to the shelter. 3,000 get adopted. Not a good ratio. Our sheriff made national news a few years ago by putting a dog to sleep on TV. People were outraged! They didn't want to see the reality of what happens when they bring fluffy to the shelter.

[Zaphirah]

well just know that at lest ONE of those pups is going to get a wonderful home here in Massachusetts. :p I have 4 dc who LOVE animals. A couple of years ago we got a sweet cat named Georgia and the dc doted on her so much that I felt she was smothered, so we had to get another cat just to offset the love. LOL!
My oldest boys have wanted a dog since they first learned the word. I'm very excited. This may be the week!

[portiz]

crate training is good
toilet them every 3 hours
expect accidents
don't leave them in the crate for more than 3 hours
don't change their diet too drastically, gradually switch them over

So my remaining questions are:
can a pup this young eat raw?
do you have toilet them around the clock?
when can I start w/ obedience training
are electric fences inhumane? (we live on a busy road)
can I get a crate that is large enough for him/her at full grown, or should I get a smaller one for now?


Well even though it didn't pan out this time (there's a reason for it ya know!!) at least you are taking the time to learn what you need before you do get one.

From my experience, crate training helps with the house breaking, depending on the dog. I have two boxers (4 years apart). I bought the largest wire crate available for 50+ pound dogs. There are dividers you can buy to limit the space a puppy uses...and then you can expand the space as the puppy grows. Zeus was pretty comfortable in it as a puppy. He'd usually just go to sleep within minutes and I believe he only had a couple accidents in there becuase there was no way i could leave work at lunch to let him out. Both times, he was at the far corner waiting for me to finally let him out. But Cleo, she just does not like the crate. I had a more difficult time house breaking her. She would "break out" of the crate, and would constantly take a potty break at the far bedroom in the house.
Basically, as a puppy, you want to take them out on a regular basis (like every hour is what I would do), and especially as soon as you wake up in the morning, and right after you feed them. I would praise them and make a big deal out of it (but to each their own) becuase I'd rather they do it when they're supposed to and expect praise instead of somewhere in the house (but that's just me anyway :) )

I've incorporated RAW diets for my two. I mix it up between raw chicken and the wysong archetype buffet and canned foods. They eat (hormone free/organic/free range) chicken, usually one leg quarter a piece per day. Sometimes I skip a day but they'll let me know they're ready for the next day's portion. They also have a constant supply of kibble. As I said I buy wysong for them...it's kind of expensive, but they have not had any health problems whatsoever. They do not overeat as some dogs do when you just let them "graze." I think I refill their (8 lb) canister once every week or week and a half. They are both very active, have shiny beautiful coats (boxers are known for heavy shedding but my two have minimal shedding), and are very loveable.

Obedience training can be taught as early as possible. Zeus knew his first commands and tricks (about 5 of them) before he turned 6 months old.

I hope you find a puppy soon!!!