i wonderif any one can help me im picking up my chockalate lab on the 21 march he will be 8 weeks old whats the best thing to help him settle in on his first night someone has told me a ticking clock and a warm water bottle is this true? and some one has also told me that male labs are more naughty and they dont settle ? and whats the best thing to stop him chewing ?

To help him settle ask the breeder if you can supply a piece of blanket to leave with the litter for a few days to pick up their scent (good breeders will often supply something like this as a matter of course) You can then leave this with him in his bed to provide familar scents.  Ticking clocks or a radio turned to a talking station very low and warm water bottles can all help.

Dogs don't have a concept of 'naughty', but like children will try to push the boundaries, so these must be firm but fair.  It also helps to prevent a puppy becoming 'naughty' if it has plenty of things to do, and never gets a reward for the behaviours you don't want it doing - so never chase a pup if it has stolen something, always offer it a suitable 'swop', then ask for the object back before giving the treat.  As the puppy learns commands like 'sit' you can ask for a sit before giving the treat - then the dog perceives it is being rewarded for a correct response to your command, and giving up the stolen article becomes forgotten.

Chewing is a natural pain releif for teething, so it shouldn't be stopped, however plenty of suitable 'toys' should be provided.  Puppies normally don't like to chew really hard things, but softer things like rubber Kong toys (which can be stuffed with a tasy treat or even a complete meal) or 'Ragger' style rope toys usually go down well.  For the puppy whose teething a tea towel soaked in water and knotted, then placed in the freezer can be chewed and numb the gums at the same time.  Puppies will often get a lot of pleasure out of things like rinsed out plastic milk bottles or fizzy drinks bottles (without the caps).  You can put a small piece of food in these too.   With any toy, commercial or otherwise, the puppy should be well supervised to make sure it's not chewing pieces off and swallowing them.

For more help and advice I can't recommend joining a local trainer for puppy classes, where your pup will get the chance to play under controlled conditions with other pups and possibly adult dogs.  If these classes only offer a 'free for all' play then think again, as this will only teach your pup to either become a bully, or to react to other dogs with their teeth......

Isn't the hot water bottle a bit risky? I had a hot water bottle and its cover was a furry (toy!) dog, but the bottle burst and burnt me! Wouldn't like to think that'd happen to a pup!

OOh a chockie pup how lovely! IMHO a lot will depend on the pups breeding, but if it wasnt for a crate I wouldnt have a kitchen! Personally the first pup I had slept in the kitchen in his crate and we oftne went down to a total mess where he had had an accident and then walked in it. He got us up often and every morning early. Second pup slept on my bed the first couple of nights and then has her crate in the bedroom and hardly very gets us up and has never made a mess. Now it could just be the difference between the dogs but who knows. What I do know is that leaving mum and litter mates is quite traumatic for any pup. 

One thing I would say is try not to over excercise, many chockies have hip problems and Im sure these are made worse if you go for overly long walks or allow him to go charging up and down stairs. Also I found that mine grew far too quickly on puppy food and so took them off of it really early.

Chewing cannot and should not be stopped but try to focus it on things that are allowed. Watch out when he has a full set of adult teeth as that is when he will start doing the damage!

Above all relax and enjoy they are excelent fun :)

ooh you lucky thing my little boy chocolate lab pup is now 10 months and the time has flown. we were given a piece of blanket from the whelping box and he slept in a crate when he was diddy and he was never a moments trouble at night. he was toilet trained within the week which i think the crate helped with and has always slept like a baby. as for the chewing well yes we have lost lino and shoes and toys and as for not liking hard things tell that to the legs of my pine table! all the naughty things he has chewed was our fault for leaving him within his reach really he didnt know the shoes were brand new and expensive. he is a very good boy and we wouldnt swop him for the world i took him to puppy parties and he has done his puppy and bronze kennel club awards and he loves doggy school! he is loads of fun and likes to be with us as labs are very sociable i take him most places with me. just relax and enjoy every second

I did say 'really hard things' - pine is a soft wood and an ideal texture for teething puppies ;)

its very soft now and constantly soggy good job it was a cheap mfi one! it was to cope with kids and their painting and drawing etc but now its staying for the dog to destroy!

Why not purchase The Perfect Puppy by Gwen Bailey, this book will tell you everything you need to know.