1st Time Puppy Owner

[Andrew4118]

Hi, my name is Andrew this is my first post and and I am the proud owner of a male 8 week 2 day old tan SBT that I have now owned for 8 days and I have named him Dexter. When I was 13 my older sister rescued a black SBT that she mated with another SBT which resulted in my families beloved boy buster, unfortunately 6 months ago he passed away after I got to spend the best 12 years of my life with him.

Although Buster lived an excellent life and was loved by anybody who crossed his path, he did have alot of problems as he never received any training and grew up in a pretty stressful environment, what we couldn't give him training wise (from lack of knowledge, awareness) we tried to make up for with love and affection which was not the best thing for Buster.

I am now over the moon with Dexter and I think he has been doing great although I feel like a fish out of water and have been getting really stressed out as I don't know much at all about training a puppy. He has gotten fleas from somewhere which was noticed yesterday and he is being treated for but besides that he has not had any serious problems or health issues apart from his biting getting out of control, in the last three days his confidence has sky rocketed and he has started to play attack people and bite, he even tries to bite faces.

He will listen to me and calm down as I won't allow it and I have been using chew toys to distract him but I think he is going too hard with other people especially my mum as she doesn't try to be stern with him, I am dedicated to him and really want to raise him properly so we can have a great life together.

Any sort of feed back or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Edited August 28, 2012 by Andrew4118

[persephone]

Welcome :)

Did his breeder offer any advice to you at all ?

There is so much information on here .. I will give you a few links to threads which may be useful ..to start you off, and no doubt there will be lots of advice from those who have 'been there, done that' :)

Obviously the best thing is to research, and have info on hand before you get a pup ... but it's early days , so now you and your Mum, and Dexter can learn together!

Your Mum and you both need to be on the same page - otherwise you may end up with a confused and problem dog very quickly ../

Happy reading!

LINK

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[Andrew4118]

@persephone - Thanks for the reply that was really quick. I forgot to mention how I ended up with him, firstly I did not get him off a licensed breeder but rather through a friend of a friend of a friend(who I had never met but was impressed with for just an owner) who is an avid staffy lover and has two pure bred(obviously) himself that have papers(I asked him for copies of both parents). He had had one litter before whilst with his ex gf and had kept one pup and had decided to have the female fixed after this litter as he was not going to try and become a licensed breeder due to the costs.

Now I had about a weeks notice that they we're being given away due to the fact him and his gf had broke up and she had threatened to sue if he did'nt give her half the money so he decided to give them away (they we're hot property), so I went and saw the litter and chose Dexter straight away. Talking to the owner it was clear his main concern was making sure they went to a loving safe home and would be cared for rather than money especially as he lives in Boronia Heights, Logan QLD, a low income area where animal abuse is not uncommon. From there I planned on trying to flood myself with as much info as possible but due to living arrangements have moved back into my parents and dropped the ball on preparing myself for him properly.

I was a little bit overwhelmed when I first got to this site with all the info and it seems like the best source I have found, especially with all the contradicting info out there so I thought I would just see what others think of my situation. Dexter has had his first lot of shots and its booked in for his next lot along with puppy pre-school and I have spent a bit of money on all the accessories he could want lol, one thing I would like some advice on is his choice of food, at the moment he has had my dog tin and dry food as that is what I was told to do by his parents owner (don't worry I am buying him some mince and chicken necks today and want to get a much better brand of dry food though am not too sure as to how to go about it.

Thanks again

[BCNut]

Welcome :)

You shoud put some photos of Dexter up!

I would check out those links that persephone has put up; I found them great as a first time puppy owner myself - especially Ian Dunbar's puppy training e-textbooks 'Before you get your puppy' and 'After you get your puppy'.

He focuses on socialisation and bite inhibition which I believe is really important especially with dogs that have extra strong jaws.

Also give youtube a good browse and check out a few channels on there for lots of free resources. Channels like:

Dogstardaily

krisskris1468

tab289

Good luck and enjoy!! :)

[**Super_Dogs**]

Congrats on your new puppy.

I think Ian Dunbar's puppy training e-books are a great start. It is free and you can download them now here Link

If you would like to purchase a book I recommend Puppy School by Gwen Bailey. It is really easy to read with alot of pictures and it has tips on puppy problems like chewing as well as some basic obedience. Another one which is recommended by alot of DOLers is A Focused Puppy. Both are very good, I just find Puppy School alittle easier to read for a first timer.

Regarding food you will find there are many different opinions on what is best - dry kibble or raw. Then there are many different opinions about what brand of food.

As you suggested I would ditch the tin food. Personally I just feed dry with the some extra's a few times a week like sardines, chicken necks and natural yogart. The premium dry foods can get expensive but like everything you do get what you pay for. However many of dogs are lives long healthly lives of cheaper kibble. So it all come down to what you can afford.

[persephone]

:) I think Dexter has indeed found an owner who will try & do the best :)

re: food ... there are so many choices .

introduce any new food gradually ..so as to try & avoid tummy upsets .

chicken necks ..Hmm.. wings might be better , as sometimes pups tend to swallow the necks , which can be dangerous, and cause choking.

There is one basic adage with food ...The best food is the one your dog does best on! :)

some more reading for you :)

LINK

LINK

[**Super_Dogs**]

chicken necks ..Hmm.. wings might be better , as sometimes pups tend to swallow the necks , which can be dangerous, and cause choking.

LINK

Good point. I have had a pup do this

[Andrew4118]

Thanks to everyone for the feedback it has been very helpful and has put me at ease, I think I will be using this forum for info. I took the advice and bought some chicken necks and wings and also got a bag of 'Innova' dry puppy food which looks 100x better than the two other bags I had gotten (My dog and purina super coat) and have bathed him today and I can't find a single flea :) his biting has even calmed down since my op and he seems to be listening a bit more even though I know this is the clam before the storm, I am absolutely amazed at his daily progression he seems to be doing so well, he has even been waking me up in the morning so he can do his business outside which I thought would take months (in my room I have a sliding glass door leading to the front yard) 70% of his business has been done out side, it blows me away. And now he smells like baby powder :)

Edited August 28, 2012 by Andrew4118

[Andrew4118]

Here is a pic of Dexter taken a week ago, I have heaps more but I have to re size them all and couldn't be bothered right now lol

[W Sibs]

Naww what a cutie :)

[persephone]

:) :)

[mumof4girls]

Oh Andrew he is adorable :-)

[Simply Grand]

Dexter us super cute, and I love his name :) It sounds like you're doing a good job with him, keep reading and puppy school should be fun and helpful.

Just a quick comment about taking him out the front to toilet - if the front yard isn't fenced it'll be a good idea to take him out in a lead (if you aren't already). While he's so young he probably wants to stick close to you anyway but they quickly get to an age where they get confident and want to explore and if he's not fenced in or on lead he could be off very quickly! I'll never forget my Aussie Shepherd puppy, who had very reliably followed me straight from the car to the front door every time, suddenly deciding she wanted to go for a quick run up the busy road out the front. My heart stopped as I desperately called her to come back, luckily after a quick lap she did come back with no harm done but now she stays on the lead