I am in DEEP doggy doo-doo!

[juliefurry]

Ok, well, for some of you that have been tuned into the Shelby situation this should probably be a little bizarre for you. My husband, after the huge fight we had about our recently rescued Husky, has just done the unthinkable. He "stops by" on his lunch break to "give me something a guy at work made for us". He comes in the house with a box, and inside that box is an 8 week old black lab puppy. Now, as cute as she is, I don't know how he thinks we can handle a 3 dog household. I have never had a puppy that young. What can be expected and not expected from them? I'm VERY nervous because it's been a difficult road with our first two I'm afraid that the third one will be even harder. How do you go about caring for a puppy this young? I'm just exasperated by the whole situation, my husband just completely blows my mind sometimes! Well anyway, for the time being, she is here with us. Any help would be much appreciated. I can already tell tonight is going to be a LONG and RESTLESS night! Thanks.

 

[Saje]

What was he thinking!? Men lol

Well, you can expect lots of messes, waking up in the middle of the night and nipping/chewing/teething problems. How's that to start with?

You can also look forward to having a great new friend who will probably make you laugh.

Have you thought about how you are going to housebreak?

 

[juliefurry]

Well she's "supposedly" already papertrained (although she's already went in the crate twice on the opposite side of where the papers were). Right now she's in Mack's big crate, until I can get the little cat carrier cleaned up for her (she'll fit in there perfect). She will go outside though, if she's there when she has to go (ofcourse my husband gave her a bowl of water and food before he left to bring her to me so she's peeing every five minutes). I don't really know how to housebreak though, I mean Mack just sort of realized after two months that we want him to go outside, and he started going. He still won't alert us to if he has to go outside though, he'll just stand there and look at me, and if we're gone more than six hours we can expect an accident or two. The only good thing about her being so little is her messes are little. I can clean up one of her accidents with 1 papertowel, unlike Mack's where we're using a whole role almost. So far I'm surprised the dogs are getting along with the puppy, although they are like 10 times her size. Shelby is acting like her mother, while Mack is more of the big brother (wants to play with her and knocks her over). What are some good housebreaking tips, I'm sort of lost when it comes to housebreaking.

 

[AndrewF]

Well, we got Jake when he was 8 weeks and aside from a couple of accidents per night for the first few nights, it wasn't all that bad...in fact, I kind of miss that age. Admittedly, I spoiled him in terms of me sleeping on the couch with him for that time so he wouldn't wake up scared...usually with him on my chest - but I'm the first to admit I'm a sucker

The first thing I taught Jake was to come. Tapping on the floor always brought him over so I just incorporated that with the word 'come' and he had it down pretty quick. I then went for 'sit' - and while it took a bit of doing, they learn fast (just like kids, they're little sponges).

Teething wasn't a huge big deal and if I'm not mistaken, you have a couple of months before you need worry about that. Jake's just over 5 months now and all his baby teeth are gone but I'm pretty sure he didn't start loosing them until he was 4 months old. Those little teeth are like needles so you want to encourage him not to use you as a chew-toy. Yelping when he bites too hard is a clear message to a puppy that they're playing too rough - for Jake, he'd stop what he was doing and that was that.

The best bit of advice I can give you is to just enjoy her and be patient when she 'steps out of line'. You'll find it all falls into place pretty quickly and you'll wonder what the worry was about.

Andrew

Edit*** this was in reply to your first message, Julie.

 

[juliefurry]

Yeah, I agree about those puppy teeth. They are very sharp. I'll try what you have suggested. She seems, atleast right now, to be a pretty mellow puppy. She jumped all over my daughter for a few minutes (and scared the daylights out of my daughter) but now she's asleep at my feet. I don't want to keep her locked up in the crate too much. Since she's sleepy now I will let her be out with me on the good carpet. I know this mellow behavior will change, but for right now it seems like she probably will fit in with our four legged clan. She's already had her first round of puppy shots, how many more shots will she need and when will I know to get them done? Sorry I am puppy stupid so forgive me for asking such stupid questions. The breeder (my husband's friend from work) had her checked out at there vet today and she was given a clean bill of health. Also, thankfully, my husband was smart enough to ask if the parents were tested for hip dysplasia and both of them were (and they were tested for blindness as well). Another guy, who was really bugging us to buy a lab from him when he breeds, didn't have his tested for anything. Plus the lab hadn't even had her first heat yet (he planned to breed her at her first heat). So atleast my husband had the common sense to go with the more expensive, but better bred puppies.

 

[Saje]

Well she's "supposedly" already papertrained (although she's already went in the crate twice on the opposite side of where the papers were). Right now she's in Mack's big crate, until I can get the little cat carrier cleaned up for her (she'll fit in there perfect). She will go outside though, if she's there when she has to go (ofcourse my husband gave her a bowl of water and food before he left to bring her to me so she's peeing every five minutes). I don't really know how to housebreak though, I mean Mack just sort of realized after two months that we want him to go outside, and he started going. He still won't alert us to if he has to go outside though, he'll just stand there and look at me, and if we're gone more than six hours we can expect an accident or two. The only good thing about her being so little is her messes are little. I can clean up one of her accidents with 1 papertowel, unlike Mack's where we're using a whole role almost. So far I'm surprised the dogs are getting along with the puppy, although they are like 10 times her size. Shelby is acting like her mother, while Mack is more of the big brother (wants to play with her and knocks her over). What are some good housebreaking tips, I'm sort of lost when it comes to housebreaking.

Eight weeks is really too young to expect much from them for housetraining. They can only hold their bladder for maybe a couple of hours.

If you crate train the crate needs to be small enough for her to 'get away' from her mess. The idea is that she learns not to mess in her home. You could also puppy proof a room like the kitchen or bathroom and lay papers down on the floor for her. She'll learn to go on the papers and you can slowly make her pee place smaller and smaller. She'll shred the paper though cuz that is fun.

You should take her out every two hours (set an alarm) and immediately after waking and eating/drinking. If you give her lots of opportunity to go outside then she'll be much more confident that she can hold it. Take her to a potty spot and when she goes give her a treat and say 'go potty' or whatever command.

What else.

Some dogs get too excited to go outside and forget to pee. Sometimes getting them to run around stimulates them. I wouldn't worry too much about them always going in their spot until they start understanding the idea of going outside. If she really likes going on paper you can put some paper down outside for her to go on.

That's all I can think of for now.

Hope that helps

 

[juliefurry]

Yes that does help. I know she's a little too young for me to expect anything out of housebreaking. I'm just glad her messes aren't Mack's size yet. I've been taking her out every half hour or so, and she will go. Although at night I'm planning on taking her out at around ten, or so, then crating her and letting her father (my husband) take her out agian when he gets home (at 1a.m.). Then whenever she happens to get up and fuss a little in the night I will take her out agian. I was just planning on using the cat carrier because she has room to stretch out and lay down. Plus if I flip the laundry basket over and place the kennel on top of the upside down basket she can still see us but I don't have to worry about her knocking the crate over and getting hurt. During the day though she will be in Mack's big crate. I know she can't use the cat carrier forever but atleast these few days she can until she's a little more sure of herself and her surroundings. Hopefully soon she'll be old enough and I can pack away all the crates and all the dogs can claim they're rightful place on my bed. I think we'll have to get a king size bed pretty soon, there's barely enough room as it is.

 

[Saje]

LOL Yeah. I want a king size but I will be happy with the queen I have in layaway whenever we get it!

Sounds like you have everything under control. Good job.

 

[juliefurry]

We have a Queen right now, but with two humans, and then 2 big dogs it's sort of a tight squeeze. Mack stretches out like he's the only one that sleeps on the bed, and then Shelby is constantly trying to squeeze tighter and tighter in between me and my husband. Who knows what Hannah (that's what I have decided to name the puppy) will sleep like. I'm hoping in a little ball at the end of the bed, where we originally tried to get the dogs to sleep at.

 

[smkie]

Sounds like u best be ordering the king! lol

 

[AndrewF]

Sounds like u best be ordering the king! lol

I'll second the king motion. My wife and I have a queen sized bed and between her, me and the dog, there's no room to shift around

 

[Gustav]

I have a king sized bed and It makes no difference!! They just stretch out a bit more!!

 

[maui]

Hey Julie,

Hanna sounds like fun! How old is Shelby again? I forgot.

Good luck with the adventures of potty training, furniture chewing, and dog play. If you do a search on potty training there are a million posts here. Having a puppy to play with will certainly give Shelby the opportunity to burn off some energy!

Catch ya' later.
-Maui

 

[juliefurry]

Shelby was estimated to be about 2 years old. So far the puppy is doing pretty good with doing her little dance when she has to go out. I know potty training can't be that easy though. I took the puppy to work with me today (I work at a pet store). We don't sell dogs and cats so people kept getting mad when we told them she wasn't for sale. She had a few accidents there (they were the store owner's fault) she took the puppy out and fed her and gave her water and just expected her to not have to go to the bathroom. She's a good puppy, she's REALLY playful, I think the other dogs are starting to get annoyed by her.

 

[Barb04]

Congrats on the new puppy! I got Kona at 5 months old but my others were much younger when they arrived. The best advice I can give is remember to have patience. When you think they won't learn to go outside or stop nipping, all of a sudden you realize they've learned. I'm glad to hear all 3 of the dogs are getting a long. One thing I have learned is that sometimes a simple toy can't get them going at each other. It seems to always be over a stuffed toy, not the regular ones. Please post a pic so we can see her.

 

[mrose_s]

a new puppy wow. but considering you circumstances, probably not a great decision by ure husband. tell us how the night goes.... ahhh, i like labs, actually i didnt 2 weeks ago but i do now
a very hectic household at foot i believe

 

[juliefurry]

I liked them but was never "in love" with them until he brought home Hannah. Yes, I don't think it was a very wise move on my hubbies part but oh well, I've fallen in love with her now she's staying. I think she is worse at night than my daughter was when she was a little infant! Even after you take her out she doesn't want to go back in her crate and then once she's back in there she will howl for over an hour. She's got a cute howl though.