Hi! New member and soon to be new puppy

[lucaslavia]

Hi,

 

I've been a bit of a lurker in this amazing forum for quite a longtime browsing all the amazing advice you guys have and I've finally taken the plunge. Here's Bob (6 weeks in photo) who I'll be picking up soon on his 8 week birthday from a breeder in the Yorkshire Dales.

 

I've got nearly 3 weeks off work with him once he's home to get the schedule, crate training, chew training & leash training all sorted and I hope you don't mind but I'd like to pick your collective brains on a few things:

 

1. Schedule and downtime/off-switch - I do work full time and eventhough I only live 10 mins walk from the office and can pop back in breaks and at lunch and in the worst case wfh, I'd like to be able to get him to the stage of kipping/chilling out in his crate for two 3.5-4 hour stints. I've got a couple of weeks to bed in my ideal schedule but I'm worried if i'm at home with him for the first couple of weeks when I do go back to work I'll have some separation issues or a dog thats not great at hanging out by himself. Has anybody got any tips on building up that confidence and ability to chill out and be by himself? My ideal schedule is:
   • 7-8 am - Wake up, business, short walk as puppy (longer when grown up) and playtime/training
   • 8am - breakfast
   • 9am - Crate
   • 12.30 - Business, playtime/training, maybe short walk
   • 1.30 - Crate
   • 5pm - Longer walk, playtime/training, hang out (Pub )
   • 8pm - Dinner
   • 10:30/11pm - Bed
2. Fetch/Running etc. - I've read a lot about being careful with young pups and their activity levels, waiting until their joints are more matured. At what age do you think is ok for them to be charging around the park after frisbee's and toys?
3. Just a random follow up - what's the weirdest phrase or trick your dog has picked up and hung onto?

Thank you

 

[bradling]

Hey there,

 

Also new to the forums, my girl is about 3 months old now and figured I could add my 2 cents.

 

From day one when my pup would fall asleep I'd pick her up and put her in her kennel. After the first day she started to go in and sleep there on her own. Probably luck of the draw but at week two I started to kennel her at night, the entire night, no accidents and no whining. I can't really say about leaving your pup alone because mine goes to daycare. I have had to leave her a few times alone in the kennel, but she's very comfortable with it and hasn't complained at all.

 

It's fine to go play fetch and do some jogging with your pup, but don't press them too hard. If anything like mine he'll probably keep going till you stop him. At about 18-24 months your pup's joints should close together, you can get an x-ray early on to verify this if you're concerned. We had a dog that we jogged with too much too early and she started limping at one point. After medication and rest for about a month she did fully recover, so don't over do it.

 

My puppy will roll over on her back and do a snaking motion back and forth either early morning after getting out of the kennel, or on top of a treat that she's been awarded and is really excited for!

[highway61]

Welcome lucaslavia and congrats on the sweet looking pup! One thing I would add to your schedule is potty training. Get yourself and Bob in the routine of taking him out after each meal (08:00 and 20:00) or around the time he daily gets the urges. Consistency is key so again, work towards getting his potty breaks routine.

[Sue R]

Potty training - every time he wakes up, eats, drinks, finishes playing, before crate time/bed time. I have learned over the years that you can't take a pup out to do his/her business too often (within reason) but you can err on taking him/her out too little! I also have found that while some people's pups are pretty reliable at a pretty young age, mine reached good reliability at about six months of age. Before that, it was to stick with the above guidelines and/or every hour.

 

And don't forget to factor in a night-time potty trip - many pups don't make it through the night and others do from a very young age, and I've had both. You seem to have some very good ideas (like not doing too much walking early on but increasing gradually with age, and understanding downtime/off switch - some people think they need to exercise a pup to exhaustion and simply wind up creating a pup that needs constant activity).

 

It's nice to have a schedule in mind but be prepared to adapt it to your pup - for some reason, my pups did not pay attention to my clock like I did!

 

Very best wishes!

[D'Elle]

Cute puppy, and welcome to the BC boards. Stick around, there is a wealth of good advice and support here. If you want to get the puppy used to being left alone before you go back to work, just put her in the crate for a few minutes while you leave the house a couple of times a day. Increase the length of time a bit every day. And when you come home, great the puppy but don't make a big huge deal out of it. Likewise, don't make a big deal out of saying good buy when you leave. Just be matter of fact. Most puppies adapt to this pretty readily. they just tend to sleep when the person is gone.

[GentleLake]

Cute puppy, and welcome to the BC boards. Stick around, there is a wealth of good advice and support here. If you want to get the puppy used to being left alone before you go back to work, just put her in the crate for a few minutes while you leave the house a couple of times a day. Increase the length of time a bit every day. And when you come home, great the puppy but don't make a big huge deal out of it. Likewise, don't make a big deal out of saying good buy when you leave. Just be matter of fact. Most puppies adapt to this pretty readily. they just tend to sleep when the person is gone.

 

This.

[ramp]

There is so much information out there, hard to be selective. I like Susan Garrett's book, Shaping for Success. It offers insight to communicating with your puppy in a productive way. I'm always rereading parts to help me with our puppy. Susan is incredible.