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There's a new puppy coming to our house soon! A friend who is over at my house often is getting a ~9 week old spaniel. It's been a LONG time since I've had a puppy around, and my 15 year old minpin passed away two years ago. Of note, I have a 4 year old kid and 1 year old kid. What should I be doing to set them up for success? The puppy will be over a lot-- more or less his second home. The 4 year old is both nervous of dogs and extremely gentle, and the 1 year old is basically a puppy himself. My house interior is gated off appropriately, we will have an X-pen outside in the yard, and a bunch of chew toys and a crate. Suggestions for puppies and kids? Strategies I can tell the bigger one? We've already worked on 'yelp and walk away' when puppy gets rambunctious. Obviously the little one will have to be watched like a hawk, but are there specific behaviors to look out for?
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Jun 28, 2018 00:54
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| # ¿ May 9, 2024 13:54 |
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It's been just over four years since Luna (my minpin) passed away. A friend of mine is fostering rescue puppies, and we are thinking of getting one. It's been 19 years since I've had a puppy, and definitely not since I've had kids (who are now almost 3 and 6). I feel simultaneously like I know what I'm doing and also like I have NO CLUE OMG. Are there good resources people recommend for navigating the puppy + kid situation? They're enthusiastic about playing with puppy, and already have some exposure - our nanny got a 3mo puppy last summer and brought him over for several hours every day. That's not the same as having a dog every day in the house, though! It's specifically these puppies fwiw because the friend has volunteered to watch one of them if/when we go out of town later this year.
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Feb 22, 2020 05:41
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Tell me about doggie DNA tests - are they worth the price for the entertainment? Our puppy theoretically has an improbable mix of dogs in her, and I'd love to find out if there's any truth to it. She was imported by our local rescue from Oklahoma, so they really don't know much about her for sure. Pic for payment! 
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Mar 13, 2020 16:35
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What’s the deal with dog food now? The last I knew, grain free was preferred and Purina/Hills were considered garbage tier food. My vet sent me home with a flier that says grain free is super bad, and the best food for dogs now is Purina ProPlan or Science Diet with lots of grain. I’ve never had reason to question my vet before, and Luna had colitis amongst other things so had to be on a limited ingredient diet. Did Purina really get their act together and start making a good food?
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Mar 26, 2020 02:39
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Huh. Good thing I didn’t open this 13lb bag of Orijen yet. I guess it’s going to be Pro Plan for large breed puppies, because Nova’s adult size estimate has gone from 30lbs to 50lbs to 70lbs  She’s now at 19lbs at 11 weeks old!
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Mar 26, 2020 04:08
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Does anyone have suggestions for commands to work on with a 12 week old puppy beyond the basics? We’ve got a lot of time together and a super smart, trainable puppy. She’s got ‘touch’, ‘sit’, and ‘come’ pretty solidly, and has an okay feel for ‘give’ and ‘get it’ when we play fetch. We’re slowly working on ‘stay’, but puppy attention span. I feel like I’m running out of imagination because it took FOREVER for me to teach my last dog just the basics. What else can I be doing with this puppy while we are on lockdown? We have a decent sized and fenced backyard.
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Mar 30, 2020 04:30
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:I wouldn't recommend trying this with a young puppy, but one thing I found really useful for my dog when he was 1.2-2 years old was training for long stays. Literally just "down. stay." and then stop looking at him (read a book or look at your phone or something). When we first started he wouldn't last more than a few seconds before getting antsy (and thus it was basically "look at book, immediately look at him, release and treat"), but eventually he got the message that just because I wasn't watching him didn't mean that he wouldn't get his treat as long as he stayed put, and nowadays he's quite a patient dog. Yeah! We are working on it but her attention span and need to follow me make it hard for her to do more than a second or two or stay. Some awesome suggestions though! I never would have thought of spin, but I bet she can pick that up really fast! Thanks everyone!
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Mar 30, 2020 19:15
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Got the Embark results back! Most interesting part is it seems likely puppy's parents were littermates. Given mom was pregnant at less than one year old  that sort of fits. She's about half pitbull/amstaff which isn't surprising. There's some bulldog in there too which is turning up a bunch of fullbreed relatives - which feels like some popular AKC sire. We suspected the bulldog though because some of her brothers definitely have the look.She's about a quarter mix of husky and great pyrenees which I never would have guessed. I wonder how certain they are on that vs other similar breeds?? Who knows. Either way! Made for an afternoon of entertainment.
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Apr 6, 2020 04:08
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DeceasedHorse posted:About a month ago, my wife and I recently adopted a young dog from a local shelter, and while he is generally well-behaved and a joy to have, he has become much less affectionate with my wife over the past two weeks or so. How is her confidence level compared to yours when it comes to the dog? If she’s more diffident or nervous (even if it’s a low-key background thing) the dog may be picking up on it and preferring to be with you. My husband is nervous with our puppy and though she initially had an equal preference, within a couple weeks she developed a strong preference for me. Knowing that I know I’m in charge and that I know how to interact in a way she understands and can predict seems to be very comforting to her.
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Apr 7, 2020 16:50
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My four month old puppy is sleeping in our room, but sleeps from about 10pm to 8am straight through. Then it’s up, breakfast, potty (twice to be totally empty), morning playtime. From about 10am until noon she chills on her bed in my office (closed door). From noon to about 1:30 she has lunch and outdoor and playtime. Then more quiet office time in her bed until 3 or 4. Then playtime, then dinner, then playtime again. Then naps (in her crate or otherwise) interspersed with playtime depending on tiredness or zoomy levels, until bedtime.
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Apr 24, 2020 04:25
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I think one difference is that she’s sleeping on her bed next to me - sometimes she gets up and pokes around the office, or chews a toy. If she’s getting too wound up I can tell right away and just take her out to play regardless of where she is on the schedule. A hard 5 minutes running after a ball of playing tug after a potty usually burns out off enough until we get to a more ‘active’ time. I actually have a question too: despite all the toys and chewer things I’ve bought, her strong preference is for sticks. The vet shrugged about it - is there something less, uh, wood that I can get her? That will leave fewer wood shards all over my house? Like what about those lamb horns they have at our local pet store, or some of the other ‘harder’ chews? Nylabone was a strong miss.
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Apr 24, 2020 17:22
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Thanks! Yeah she doesn’t seem to like any nylabone, either soft or hard. I’ll try antler some some of those chews! This afternoon’s backyard adventure definitely wore this puppy out. Hopefully we will have another hour or so of napping before dinner! 
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Apr 25, 2020 01:03
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DarkSoulsTantrum posted:
We are guessing between 50 and 60lbs. She’s a mix of bulldog, pitbull, husky, Great Pyrenees, and amstaff. Who KNOWS how that’s going to end up?? She was 19lbs at 10 weeks, and 28lbs at 15 weeks.
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Apr 25, 2020 01:38
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Dixville posted:I like pressed rawhide. Rawhide is ok as long as they aren't trying to swallow big pieces of it (I had a dog previously that literally started choking himself on them so they got taken away real quick) the pressed rawhide is nice because it's a little harder and lasts a while without being so hard they could break teeth. That's the only concern with doing antlers or bones. Some dogs never have problems but some will get slab fractures with harder chews. And right on cue she’s started shedding out her puppy teeth! Bottom two front teeth are missing. Maybe there’s no such thing as too hard a chew when your teeth are falling out? I guess? Man she’s gonna chew everything in sight.
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Apr 26, 2020 19:34
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Thanks again for the chewing suggestions everyone! Baby teeth are coming out like mad, so we hooked the puppy up with some antler right in time!
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May 13, 2020 07:31
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Dixville posted:Aww lookit those paws They seem to get bigger every day! Also they are both black and pink and I love them!! 
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May 13, 2020 17:06
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With my puppy, if I caught her in the act of peeing I did have to make the negative-sound noise (ah! ah! ah!) while picking her up and moving her outside. Not to scare her or as a punishment - but to let her know I didn’t particularly like what she was doing. Follow-up with tons of praise outside, and that’s what helped it click on her brain that pee inside == mom no likey, while pee outside == yum treats. Otherwise she seemed to understand that I liked pee outside just fine, but didn’t seem to get that pee inside wasn’t also a fine alternative.
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May 18, 2020 01:13
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Does someone have a recommendation for a decently nice harness? Now that Nova is slowing down her growth, I’d like to get her something maybe from a small business? She’s 28” chest girth and 18” neck- I expect she will grow more, but probably not out of the general L size band. What are recommendations for cool places to order from? Having a chest leash hook is a nice to have bonus.
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Jul 2, 2020 17:47
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Toebone posted:I've got a 1/4 husky that sheds like crazy when the seasons change. Does anyone have a handheld vacuum or other tool they'd recommend for picking up hair from car upholstery? No tips for upholstery- I try to get my 1/4 husky into the shower to work out some of the hair? She, uh, tolerates it. 
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Jul 15, 2020 20:06
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The front clip harnesses are fine, sort of, but not accepting ANY pulling at ANY time, consistently, will be your real solution here. It’s a strategy I have used with horses and reins for years - I learned it from our trainer. Set a pressure you will allow in your hand, and allow no more than that. Stop every time and don’t move forward until the pressure releases. When I’m training it, I hold the loop of the leash with a single finger (with a backup secured just in case of crazy puppy). If the pressure is uncomfortable for a single finger, it’s too much pressure. A lot of our early walks were half an hour to literally go around the block, but now at 6 months my husky mix barely ever pulls, and it only takes a very mild correction to get her to back off.
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Aug 3, 2020 21:21
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That Works posted:Wife and I are picking up a new puppy on Saturday. He's a black lab mutt from a rescue and will be just around 12 weeks old when we get him home. He's been fostered for the last month in a home with several other dogs, cats, kids so at least has had some opportunity for socialization. Encourage you not to put down a puppy pad if you can at all help it. I’ve found it really hard to break the association with ‘sometimes okay to potty in the house’ once you don’t want them to use a puppy pad anymore. They tend to believe rugs and towels and bath mats are basically the same thing! Also moving the crate around every day is likely to confuse the puppy. Pick a place for it and leave it there imo. If you really need one in two places, get two. I think your concerns about it are spot-on.
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Aug 5, 2020 15:33
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bawfuls posted:Could use some advice on how to help our puppy learn not to chase and antagonize the cats. No advice, but you are not being paranoid. I had a cocker spaniel as a child that lost an eye to this exact scenario. She lived a long life, but spent all of it blind in one eye from a cat.
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Aug 6, 2020 19:24
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Holy crap, thanks for the warning. Nova loves those things too, and she just powers through them like they’re nothing. Maybe we will switch to... I don’t know what, exactly. Can’t do the softer things because she sheers off big chunks and then swallows them and then pukes it back up again. Rabbit skins, you say? Where would one acquire that for a dog?
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Dec 4, 2020 05:39
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luscious posted:Sherlock does the puke up and re eat thing as well. It’s so gross. I think we will have to stick with that. The dental was on the day that I posted the comment you quoted so this whole thread was rather timely. Nova isn't quite 1 yet, so hopefully we haven't irreparably damaged her teeth yet. For all she's a super chewer though, lately she's obsessed with this little silicone fish. Carries it around, licks it, chases it, buries it. Never chews it. I don't know how long it'll last, but I'll take it! Note: I'm paranoid, so she can only have it when I'm supervising or at least in the room semi-actively playing with her. 
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Dec 7, 2020 04:31
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Hello this fine creature has learned how to open door latches and let herself out, please tell me how doomed we are.
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Dec 22, 2020 19:17
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I have the Dyson v8 cordless for pets, and it’s awesome. Just hangs out on the wall charging, you grab it, vacuum for like 5 minutes real quick to get the hairs, dump the canister and put it back on the wall. Super fast and no fuss and gets ALLLLLL the hair.
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Jan 5, 2021 21:50
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I have a probably dumb question about collars. In order to have Nova’s collar tight enough that she can’t snake her head out, I feel like it’s TOO tight. I mean I can still get a finger in there, but it seems uncomfortable to me for her to be wearing all the time. Am I a huge weenie? Is this what martingale-style collars are for? I’ve been walking her on a harness to bypass the issue, but I feel like I really do need to at least acknowledge and make a plan to deal with it. I mean, what if she escapes the backyard and I can’t get a solid grip on her collar to get her back in? Or something? Pics are of how I have it now, which isn’t really tight enough but I feel like I’m choking her if it’s tighter? It can def slip over her head if she does her head-twist-escape-motion while I’m holding it.  
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Jan 8, 2021 18:42
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Instant Jellyfish posted:Yes, martingales will help keep them from slipping collars if they have thick necks or narrow heads. In general, you want to be able to get two fingers in between the neck and the collar when it is appropriately fitted. My dogs are naked around the house though so I don't worry if they're slightly snug when they're wearing them out and about but if your dog has free access to a yard or is a door dasher keeping a well-fitted martingale on might be a good option for you. It looks like your current collar is a safety release and if that's something you want to continue there are martingales with quick-release buckles in case of emergencies. Yeah, she has a big beefy neck and a relatively small head. I wasn’t sure how it would change as she’s grown, but it looks like this is a long-term feature. She goes in and out a doggie door to our fenced back yard for part of the day, so I really want her to have her ID on her at all times (especially since she has that pitty look to her). I’ve never owned or used a martingale before - is the fitting of it straightforward?
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Jan 8, 2021 19:36
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My understanding about interpreting the wag is that the stiffer it is, the more anxiety / negativity there is? A suuuuper happy wag usually goes around in a circle like a helicopter. It gets stiffer and stiffer the more aroused and less overtly happy a dog is.
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Jan 23, 2021 00:15
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sleepy puppy is sleepy 
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Feb 4, 2021 22:34
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This is Nova’s first extended experience in actual snow, and her husky bits have suddenly taken over. She even pulled me in a sled for a bit. She’s very ambivalent about balls in general - but it turns out SNOW balls are her jam. She jumped and caught and ate them for hours, over and over. 
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Feb 14, 2021 02:28
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A niche question: anyone have resources about training a dog to pull something? Like a wagon maybe? Nova appeared to really enjoy adhoc pulling a sled during our snow weekend, but snow is a rare event here. She didn’t need much encouragement or guidance - honestly she picked up what I wanted really fast, but I want to make sure I don’t go down a weird training path with her out of ignorance. Also, any advice on harnesses? The one she was wearing was fine for a little playing with weight, but I wouldn’t want to make a habit out of it. 
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Feb 15, 2021 18:18
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Instant Jellyfish posted:I haven't done this personally but the keywords to look into for this would be dryland mushing, urban mushing or joring. There are a bunch of different types of joring from skis to bikes to scooters. What type of harness you get depends on what you want to do. Thank you this is perfect! Looks like I have a lot of reading to do.
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Feb 16, 2021 00:52
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 Nova, circa 5 weeks old.
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Mar 24, 2021 15:57
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Hit me: what are your favorite stores for collars (bonus for martingales)! I’m stuck in paralysis trying to pick ~the perfect collar~ for this noble and elegant creature. US or Canada based small businesses are a plus!
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Apr 1, 2021 02:29
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Nova says YOU SHALL NOT PASS!
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Apr 6, 2021 20:24
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Hot drat am I glad that there’s enough of whatever big, lazy dog breed in Nova to make her a big, lazy puppy. She’s perfectly content with a mile walk in the morning, some patrolling of the backyard in the afternoon, and 20 minutes of KEEP AWAY CHASE OMG with the kids in the evening. Taking her to the dog park exhausts her for two days. I don’t think I could function with the energy requirements of some of y’all’s dogs!
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Apr 8, 2021 18:37
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Collarchat: I found these gorgeous ones at a local store while I was debating what to buy online. I wish the hardware was metal instead of plastic, but it otherwise seems sturdy enough at least for wearing around the house. https://wolfgangusa.com/collections/beast/martingale
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Apr 9, 2021 18:41
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My friend gets away with an Aussie only because they have a high energy husky to keep him busy and playing all day long to supplement walks and training. If you're thinking seriously of having a solo dog, maybe something slower and lazier is a better fit? 
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May 8, 2021 18:23
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| # ¿ May 9, 2024 13:54 |
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Witness the most exciting 90 seconds of her life to date - there were THREE deer in the neighbor yard. 
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May 20, 2021 23:16
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