New Puppies

[W Sibs]

I got it sooo lucky and easy with Charlie.

Charlie was the perfect puppy. House training him was a breeze, he was so easily trained, never barks or chew on anything... always gentle, placid and happy. It was so easy spoiling him because he is always soooo good!!

He is still very cheeky and full of attitude though, but I love that about him!! But, as he is getting older he is becoming more quieter and more settled.

I get this look a lot

Just woke up

the begging look that now he has perfected

just posing in the garden

looks he will give me when I take the camera out

I'm sooo ready for Puppy no 2 after Charlie...

Edited April 8, 2010 by charleswentworth

[Niques]

I freaked out with James. He's our family's first dog. Went in completely blind - no experience whatsoever.

I wanted to give him back before we were two minutes down the road from the breeder I think guilt played a huuuge role in my anxiety - the first couple of days I'd look at him and think, "he had nine siblings and now he's stuck with US?!" and feel so depressed for him. What helped immeasurably (aside from learning to delegate - "watch the puppy for a minute, will you?" :p ) was seeing him feel at home. For a few days all I could think about when looking at him was his siblings and how crap we were as alternatives, but eventually I could look at him and know that all he was thinking about was me now. I felt so much better after that. Things are also made difficult by our backyard, which is...complicated, to say the least, so I couldn't just turn him out if I needed to get something done.

Of course, then there was the big "WHY WON'T YOU STOP CHEWING ME?!?!" breakdown, with many tears. He doesn't even have to try to chew to hurt - my poor thumb is shredded simply from his teeth scraping when he takes a treat.

James is actually a pretty damn near perfect puppy, though. Aside from the biting. I listen to the stories people tell at puppy preschool and sit there thinking, "Holy crap, I have a little saint!!". Just took a while to appreciate it. Speaking of puppy preschool, that's one aspect of the puppy I adore! I think I enjoy it even more than him.

I used to think people were mad for wanting only older dogs. Now I can't wait for him to grow up I wouldn't trade his puppyhood for the world though. I love watching him grow and seeing him learn - he learnt how to "shake" the other day and now he keeps trying to offer his paw whenever he sits down. Cracks me up everytime He's too damn cute.

I'm a bad puppy mummy. I don't take nearly enough photos of him.

Just a wee mite. Taken the first day we met him.

First day. Could not get enough of his duck.

[SparkyTansy]

8-12 weeks is fun...

but with Spartan puppyhood was hard. He was my first English Setter and I just didn't know what was going wrong... he was quite sick a lot of the time but it turns out he was allergic to chicken and that was what he was eating... he had constant ear infections, he would get car sick, and to top it off he took a while to toilet train. He was also a very naughty puppy, and this ES pup could quite possibly have been the devil's spawn... and their angelic faces are there to lure you in. I am not going to go into what he destroyed, what he ate and the fact that he went through a window... as soon as he hit 18 months he went from devil to angel...and has been that way ever since, except for the food stealing and general laziness. Yes, i did question many a time what did i do to deserve this, was I wrong about this breed... but they do turn into nice adults as long as you can get through the first few months of their evil existence.. and yet I did it again, with James...

James was a much easier puppy... he crate trained well, slept a lot, bottom line, he was an angel. He also took ages to toilet train... and he did have an evil streak too just no where near as much as spartan... who almost seemed like he did things on purpose, cos he knew they were wrong... James just did stuff... he pulled up reticulation, destroyed beds etc... but lucky for me he actually grew up at about 14 months of age, and has been angelic ever since.

Ari was not my first weimaraner, but she is by far the most energetic and crazy weimarner i have ever had. She is 3 this year and has still not grown up in any sense of the word... she still destroys, still digs, andstill hassles the boys... i am hoping that one day she might just choose to grow up for me... but it doesn't look like it will be happening any time soon. The minute she walked out of the crate at the airport I asked myself why

bottom line, i love puppies, but i love them more when i can hug them and give them back to their owners. I much prefer adults however maybe it is just the breeds i have which makes me lean towards that! However, I would always see it throrugh unless the pup was just not bonding well or didn't fit into my family... not because it's hard... that is part of owning a pup, hard work and rewards later... in my case with Ari... much, much later...

butter wouldn'tmelt

I'm not evil, i am way too small and cute for that

[JulesP]

Amber is 4 months now and is such a good girl, she has been a delight. My other 2 are 4yo and 2yo so I am well into the swing of having puppies. Even the naughty things she does, like digging holes, are amusing me! She has so much fun and the hole is so big now that all you can see is her tail sticking out! Amber didn't cry a all over night and the house training went well. She has been penned whilst in the house so no running around worrying about wees & poos or chewing things. The only thing I am really struggling with is going through dog school again. It is really boring me this time and I normally love it.

First day home

Now at 4 months

[luffy4688]

There was a point where I did feel like giving up when I just got Bailey. I'm glad I never did though.

He had a really sensitive tummy when we got him and for the 1st week I got him, he was practically having diarrhoea in his crate in the middle of the night every night. Had to be on plain boiled chicken and rice for a while before we slowly introduced other food to him again.

It took us a while to get there in terms of toilet training. Everytime we thought we were getting there, he would make a mistake.

He was quite a nuisance on as well. Pulling/biting on his leash, biting/mouthing us etc.

It was my 1st dog and after all the reading I did online etc, I thought I was well prepared, but I was obviously wrong!

I got some wonderful advice here on DOL and it is through here as well I enlisted the help of a wonderful dog trainer that helped me through.

[charli73]

I went in blind also, German Shepherd first dog ever but I thought I knew what to expect. How wrong I was, everyone said it would be great training for kids!

I cried with the toilet mess in the mornings and although she learnt pretty quick it was the general daily destruction of my garden and outdoor furniture etc that upset me the most..

At 5 months we had a trainer come out with GSD experience and told us she had US trained and from then on everything changed. We were the ones who needed training.

We loved obedience because she was so damn good at it and easy to train, but definately not an easy family dog but well worth every minute of hard, hard work! I just love her

[Guest Ams]

I foster dogs and puppies and I LOVE em. One thing makes it ALL worthwhile.

PUPPY BREATH

[Simply Grand]

Loooove all the cute puppy photos!

I think I was really lucky with Saxon, he's the first dog I've ever had so I don't have a comparison personally but from reading about everyone's experiences, he was really good. He never cried at night, even the very first night home he slept through to a reasonable hour. He was in the bathroom with a baby gate so he could hear and smell me so maybe that reassured him, but I think it was actually he was just exhausted. I picked him up in Sydney and drove him back to Canberra, then my sister came over to meet him and we didn't end up going to bed until 2am (he had lots of little naps all evening though) so I think he was too tired to cry, then just never thought to do it.

Toilet training was a bit difficult, but he wasn't being naughty, I think he just thought that an area of the lounge room was an alternative toilet area to outside. After a period of plastic on the floor, and the introduction of food treats for going outside he finally got it!

I can't wait to get another puppy!

Saxon at 2 weeks, when I first met him:

First night home, asleep on my sister's feet:

Napping:

[Simply Grand]

Some more:

[poodlemum]

Yep. Been there. My girl last year delivered 11 puppies. One died in the nest, leaving 10. There were some small ones, so they needed supplimenting twice-three times a day. One boy I had to PTS at a week old.

Puppy poop and pee by 9... plus three adults (including the mother). I had one week off to do the litter, then back to work.

I remember asking myself "WHY did I put her in whelp". But watching 9 puppies terrorise the back yard when I got home from work, was worth it. Stressful, but stress relief at the same time.

I was happy at 8 weeks when all bar one puppy left. (I could put my feet up) But still had the all night crying, puppy pee/poop in the house.. But he is cute and goofy.

I've been lucky with the "crying" stage - the 1st Poodle I ever got was very good, and any puppy I had after that had company (in a couple of cases Mum & Dad) so no crying!

[Crazy Daisy]

I'm loving all the puppy photos. There is nothing cuter.

[CaseyKay]

I only had the OMG what have I done?? with one little border collie puppy. I got her, and she was our only dog at the time after our two beloved old Border collie boys had passed away ages 13 and 17 years, and not soon after, 2 years after. I was way out my depth with her and wanted to give her away about every day. She was a terrible mix of very full on and very independant, nothing I could possibly offer her was as much fun as causing chewing and digging destruction. She made me a lot. She seemed impossible to house train. I said I was never never never getting another puppy EVER again. I have never had so much trouble teaching a dog to walk on a lead as that girl, although she grew up to perform very well in obedience, agility and tracking.

When she was 18 months old and starting to calm down, I got Border Girl puppy #2 and she was the sweetest, most angelic puppy who housetrained in about a day, was never destructive and just so easy and such a joy. Adding Border Girl #3 recently when #1 was 9 years and #2 was 7 years has been pretty easy. She is again the very full on sort but I just really enjoy her and the older two are so good with her. She is 7 months now.

I do always warn people who get puppies it is very common to freak out every day and think they have ruined their lives...

[Oscar (AmBull)]

I thought I was the only one after reading other people's posts about puppyhood hell. I think we just really lucked out.

Oscar was always a big sleeper (still is), we had no early morning wake ups, he just amused himself until we got up. He never once cried at night, first night at home and we didn’t hear a peep out of him. He settled in extremely quickly

Toilet training was a breeze. He did have the occasional mishap at night for a while but generally caught on to the notion extremely quickly.

He has never chewed any cords or really got into things he shouldn’t, he did have a lot of toys rotated though. He only really started to misbehave around 7-8 months, with cushions going missing if left alone, taking things off of the table, dragging my camera around the yard once, not breaking it luckily just scratches. He also took a liking to clothes, not from the line just anything lying around. But he has now come out the other end of that and hasn’t destroyed anything for quite a while (touch wood), it has been about a month.

He was overall extremely good, which makes me nervous to get another puppy, as he was so good I am worried I couldn’t hit the jackpot twice and will probably end up tearing my hair out with the next one. But they are just so irresistible... oh the puppy breath.

First Day Home:

A Toilet Training Mission:

[pie]

Kyzer was a pretty good puppy generally, he was the first puppy we had ever had, my family dog was an adult when we got her.

He was so tiny though, we stood on him a few times and he quickly learned to keep out of the way.

His toilet training was a breeze, he would be in a pen while we were at work, then after a few weeks we got a doggy door and he had free run of the house and yard, he never destroyed anything, only ever dug a few holes while playing. Always been good with food manners. Always quiet and well behaved except for... the BITING!! I can't remember how many times I burst into tears because he was a biting terror! It was shocking. Time outs, being told off, being squirted with a water bottle only made him come back for more, then one day, it stopped! Hallelujah!

He's always been grumpy even when he was a tiny puppy, but he always had a crazy streak which he still has that makes him turn into a complete loon and you couldn't help but laugh at him.

The bad parts of his puppy hood were a distant faded memory by the time we got Trixie 2 and a half years later....

Nothing could have prepared us for how Chalk and Cheese Trixie and Kyzer are

She looks far more innocent of the two, but she is definitely naughtier

Trixie was a lot harder to toilet train, she was clingy (still is) and would scream and scream and scream if left in her pen. She didn't deal with being left during the day at all, she scoffed food, she bit us, she would bite my pant legs all the time (still does it very occasionally if she is worked up ) she harassed Kyzer, she ate anything she could wrap her jaws around (still does actually ). Chewed cables, work boots, plants, anything that was accidentally left in her way (I know this is mostly our fault but our previous angel puppy never wrecked anything :D )

But funnily enough I never got frustrated with her as much as I did with Kyzer, I was a lot more laid back about it all, maybe because I knew that one day it would all be behind us, and although the puppy stage seems to last forever at the time, you realise afterwards how quickly it disappears, so I was more intent on enjoying her puppy mannerisms as much as I could.

As much as I like having puppies, I think I like having well behaved adults better. Someone on here once said 'I consider puppy hood an inconvenient stage on the way to getting an adult dog' or something along those lines, and I always think about that :D

But I still miss some puppy things, like the way they play for 30 minutes then sleep for 30 minutes wherever they are at the time, and they way they smell, and watching them learn and experience new things. Awww, I want another puppy

[RubyStar]

Puppy breath does it for me, it smells like sweet coffee or something

Only dog people understand me

[pie]

Yep I love that too RS, aww so cute! And how adorable are puppies when they are asleep too

Now I'm puppy clucky again

ETA: But not for a bitey one

Edited April 8, 2010 by amypie

[joelle]

I love the puppy stage. the goofiness the snuggles, the smell, all just gorgeous. My last 2 experiences were easier than my first, I think we just keep learning. I would not have another puppy without a crate, which is amazing because until 2 years ago I had never even contemplated it, but Jake and Rosie both loved their crate, they were secure and safe and housetrained really quickly. It certainly made my life much easier especially for Jake as JRT pups are tiny so at least I knew where he was Neither of them dug or chewed, We went to puppy school, life was a breeze.

My first dog Ellie was Oh My God What Have I Done. With no experience I bought a BYB cross bred lab x staffy :D who now resembles a great dane. :D I didn't have the crate for her (totally uneducated) the vet thought she was 6 weeks old not 8 as I was told she was full of worms - all in all a very unwell badly bred puppy. She was also very dominant towards us - and I believe that she still would be if we didnt follow NILIF.

So despite not being the most experienced person in the owrld, I have learned and improved alot and lo and behold, my puppy raising experiences have too.........

[newfsie]

Katy my last newfy pup was just such an easy pup..toileting was just our usual regime and she has given us no problems. I love puppy hood with newfy pups. All of ours have been just big smoochie floof balls. I just wish they would not grow soooooooo fast and just stay floofy and cute for a little longer

Just seeing if the bird is edible

This is my toothy smile

Katy as a puppy

[sandgrubber]

If Dante is entire and is ever used at stud, I'd suggest naming a pup Inferno

Dante was a horrible puppy LOL I couldn't wait until maturity came some 2.5 years later LOL

[mokhahouse]

Mokha is the only dog I have had from a puppy. I had waited more than a decade for him, raising 3 kids and working had kept me busy. Compared to my 3rd child who was fed every two hours and had shocking allergies and asthma having a pup seemed so much easier. It felt like having a toddler, you had to be watching all the time. The worst thing was I never wanted to go out and leave him behind. He was hard to toilet train, due mainly to his excess consumption of water, but once we started measuring his fluids the toilet training was quick. Before this he would pee every 10 minutes, it was exhausting. Yes he chewed things, actually lots and lots of things but I had waited so long for him I really did not care. We got Molly when Mokha was four months old,she was one. Then I found out was busy was.No regrets and I look forward to a puppy, maybe in about 8 years, a smooth collie. Puppyhood just goes by too quickly.