Hello,

My name is Kisha. I am a first time dog owner, well soon to be as I go to collect my puppy on Saturday 27th March.
Ive been doing lots of research on training and have prepared my home accordingly. I also have a 2 yr old daughter who I know is already good with dogs as my boyfriend (don't live with) has recently got a 10 month old staffy bitch who is adorable. My puppy is a staffy x jack russell. I plan to take my pup to socialization class as as well as spending time with my boyfriends dog. Any advice for a first time dog owner?? would be greatly appreciated :)

Kisha xoxo

A little bit of advice from a fellow dog owner ;-)

Read the book by Gwen Bailey "the perfect puppy", register with your local vets who hopefully hold puppy parties. I would also make sure you have insurance, don't toilet train to newspaper (imo just makes them used to going indoors) and invest in a crate so that when you are out they are secure (and your house isn't chewed up). I am sure lots of the more experienced people will be on to give you more in depth advice but the most important bit of advice is NEVER leave your dog and child alone.

Good advice above - and would reiterate about the crate especially as you have a child. If you haven't thought about getting one, please do before the pup arrives. Not only will it make housetraining easier but it will be the dog's safe-haven and place to rest - and also somewhere you can put the pup when he has become over-excited and needs to chill out, or when you need to keep pup and child separate. Also if/when puplet is going through his inevitable chewing phase, you can at least leave the house knowing the place won't be demolished when you get home!

Hello and welcome to champdogs. Enjoy your puppy, they don't stay little for long!

thanks, ive already got the crate, i know its gona be my best tool in training and ensuring safety. I will never leave my daughter alone with the puppy its quite hard to do that anyway as my place is open plan. ive been doing a lot of research and spoken to vets, other dog owners, breeders etc...i want to make sure i do things right so i can enjoy my pup and vice versa :) i look forward to having you guys to turn to when i need to :)

Hi Kisha, welcome to Champdogs Forum

Hi Kisha,

Welcome to CD, it's very refreshing to have a person come on as a new dog owner and to have actually looked into training and how to look after a pup well before getting it, so well done on that! :-)

Just being a nosy old trout here as it seems strange that as you are researching so well, as to why your not also looking at the dogs lines you are getting, temperament from that line and health issues that the dogs genes may carry, equally and if not even more important. You've spoken to vets, dog owners and breeders yet you are going for after all this research a staff x JR where you can't possibly know the size, shape, health issues or temperament, just seems strange after all this research that you haven't pushed the boat out to looking for a good breeder who can guarantee good lines through careful breed selection, especially with a 2 year old child.

If you are happy with your choice I will say no more, pups of any breed or cross are adorable, but I just wanted to sew the seed incase you have just seen this litter of pups and fallen for them without thinking through all the other issues when chosing a life long pet. :-)