hi my names katy. I have an 8 week old chocolate labrador called max. We have had him since saturday and he has been a little star. He has slept both nights without a whimper and he has only weed in the house twice and both times it was my fault really. He plays quite happily with kids and sleeps peacefully when he has had enough. My questions to you are going to sound crazy but its just because max is my first puppy and so I dont have a clue what to expect. How long is it before max regards us a s his family and forgets his mum and siblings. I am kind of walking on egg shells with him as I want him to be happy and hate the thought of him being sad or scared but I am worried I will have a dog who thinks he is the boss. My aim is a trustworthy happy sociable dog and I dont really know how to acheive this. He is going to some puppy parties run by the vets and he is going to a puppy training class as soon as he has had his jabs. He has a crate in our dining room and he sleeps happily in there at night. He eats his meals in the crate also but the door is open all day while we are in. We have not left him for these first three days but  I am going to have to leave him for an hour tommorrow to do the school run. Will he be ok? I have had four children but it was easier than this I am sure!!! kjabradbury@hotmail.com

How about taking him out on the school run?  Is that possible?

Sounds liek you have a lovely, well behaved puppy!  He sounds asif he has settled in just fine

hi i have now joined and sorted out my computer (cookie problem or something!!) I cant really take max on school run as he is a big old boy and i have four kids to sort out and my arms may well drop off!! When he can go on floor I will take him everyday!! Cant wait!! Another problem I am having as that I am feeding him when the breeder told me to and sometimes he eats it and sometimes he doesnt bother at all and I have been leaving it down for about 30mins then removing it and just feeding at the next scheduled time? Is this right??

It is essential that the dog gets used to being on his own in order to grow up a well adjusted dog.  I would probably have started with 30 mins to start with but if you have no choice it will have to be an hour.  He will be fine and will learn to enjoy time on his own.

he will be in his puppy crate so hopefully he will be fine as he is perfectly happy in there at night. I go back to work next monday and I work for 3 hours every morning so I am afraid he is going to have to get used to it but I will be home by lunchtime and then I am his for rest of day. When I have gone back to work it will only be 2 weeks till he can go out on floor so he will come most places with me then.

If you are going to have to leave him for three hours in a week or so then its even more important to get him used to being on his own for short periods now, or it will come as a huge shock to him.

With my girl (knowing that I would need to leave her for a max of four hours at some point) I built up the time over a number of days, I also got her used to being on her own whilst I was at home by using a baby gate so she could see me in the kitchen and know that I was there and that she was safe but she got used to being seperated from me.

I'm no expert but this worked for us.  Good luck with it!

thanx moo, I am dreading going back to work and I will probably be quite busy as have had a week off but it will only be 2 weeks then its the summer holidays and I will be home for most of that. He is very loud when he does have the hump so I hope he doesnt do it for too long as the nighbours will not be impressed. I dont want him to feel scared or alone but I will just have to take it a day at a time really.

I got my pup used to being left very gradually starting when I was there then just for an hour at a time, now I leave him for about 3 hours at a time and he is good as gold.   I always leave him with a stuffed kong and he doesnt notice me go, he is too busy trying to get the goodies out :)

what do you stuff your kong with? I tried peanut butter but he wasnt interested? Any suggestions?

Have a look here : KONGS ..they have recipes on the site ;)