Hi everyone. Have been reading as many postings as poss before deciding to get a puppy. Now we have him I just have a few questions…

(1) VACCINATIONS: we’ve had a bit of confusion over the injections and when it will be safe to take him out for a walk. The breeder had him vaccinated against Lepto at 8 weeks. I then took him to our vets at 10 weeks who did a combined vaccine against Lepto, Distemper, Hepatitis, Parvo-virus and Para-Influenza and advised us to come back in 2 weeks for another course of these. She advised he can then be taken out 4 days after this when he will be 12.5 weeks old. She implied that she was surprised the 1st vaccine was only for Lepto. Apparantly, Distemper is quite prevalent in our area. Our puppy trainer then said she didn’t agree with combined vaccine (due to the ‘overload theory’ similar to MMR in children) so I then felt even more confused!
(2) SOCIALISATION: I have been taking him out in the car (he falls asleep so doesn’t pay much attention to noise, people, cars etc – is this a good sign?) and have held him whilst this children on our street make a fuss over him. He’s met loads of adults who have come to our house to play with him and whilst in the garden he frequently hears others dogs barking and planes/hot air balloons come over all of which he is fine with. What is the key time for socialisation – I’ve read before 12, 14 and 16 weeks and don’t want to ‘miss the boat’ on this one, equally I am restricted by his vaccination schedule taking longer than we thought. We don’t have any friends with dogs to bring round but we are starting puppy training classes at 14 weeks.
(3) EXERCISING: when we can get out with him what length of time is it reasonable to walk him? As he is a Lab the trainer advised not to walk for too long but tire him out mentally with the training. Also, he has learnt to go up and down the stairs but is this OK on his hips & legs?
(4) HOUSE-TRAINING: this is going well with him wandering outside when the back door is open and getting up and going out to the kitchen door when in another room. At night he doesn’t wake us to go but goes on the paper we have put down, this isn’t every night sometimes he waits until we let him out. Is this OK or should we be checking if he needs to go after 5-6 hours in bed i.e. middle of the night?
(5) CRYING: The first 2 nights he did cry for us but since then he’s got used to sleeping in his bed and only makes a noise in the morning as I wake up. Other people I spoke to said that after the first night they let their pup sleep in their bedroom so they didn’t cry, but does this undo the house-training process when they then toilet in your bedroom?

Sorry for all the questions but I know theres a wealth of knowledge out there..thank you!

Hiya, congrats on your puppy. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be along to help out soon, but i hope i can help with somethings in the mean time. Regarding vaccinations, dofferent vets used different vaccination programmes. I would just go with whatever the vet said as i think he is more qualified in that area.
I too get very confused about the crucial time for socialisation. I think it is definately between 6 weeks at 20 weeks though. What i am doing is just trying to cram as much in between this time, becuase you can never socialise too much really. Take him everywhere, (you will have to carry him everywhere until the vaccinations are complete.) I was able to take my pup to classes at 8 weeks (after the first vaccination) and also attended a puppy party at the vets at 12 and 14 weeks. Does yours do anything similar?
My golden retriever was only able to manage 15 min walks to start with and can now manage 30 mins, at 15 weeks, but i wouldn't take her for any longer. It is best not to walk them until they are tired because they then have to get back to where you started and become exhausted or have to be carried, and believe me they get heavy!! I don't think they are supposed to go up and down stairs a lot until at least 6 months. It is a good idea to carry them up and down whilst you can.
If your puppy is fine by himself at night don't change it. If he isn't crying then there is no need to put him in your bedroom unless that is where you want him to sleep for the long term. I would say it makes toilet training harder though as you will have to go further to take him to the toilet. I must admit i never got up to my two during the night. We had a few accidents as puppies cannot physically hold it in for that length of time, but they have both learnt to be clean at night without problems. The only trouble with getting up during the night is that puppies may wake up and think it is playtime, and then cry when put back to bed immediately after. As long as they go out to the toilet before bed and as soon as they wake up they should soon learn, but you must be prepared for accidents along the way.
Hope this has been some help. Enjoy your new puppy!!

Hi,
Congrats on the new little one! I'm sure you'll have lots of fun.

Vaccinations...I've just had my first litter, and they were vaccinated against parvo at just over 6 weeks. They'll start their normal course of vacc's at 8 weeks, for the first one, 10 weeks for the second, and then....I personally leave it till 2 weeks after the second vaccination to take my pups out, although my vet says it's okay after a week. Vets have different opinions on this.

It sounds like your pup is fairly relaxed with everything, and that is a great sign. You usually find that breeders will start their pups socialisation early...around 5/6 weeks. You should carry this on.....pups seem to me to learn a lot from 5-12 weeks....but obviously carry on the socialisation after the 12 weeks. Even if you just take your pup out in your arms and let him see whats going on....this is all good.

Exercise...this is a funny one!! I have GSD's, so not sure about labs, but I suppose it should be more or less the same. A few very short walks a day, are a good idea, rather than a couple of long ones. The pup needs time for its bones to develop. I wouldn't start introducing longer walks until the pup is at least 9 months. Also, playtime in the garden is good.
It's probably best to stop him going up and down the stairs, although I know this is difficult. Maybe one of those stair gates is a good idea??

About the crying....It really is down to the individual.....where is your pup sleeping? In the bedroom? If so, and he's allowed to do his 'business' in there, thats what he'll get used to.
A good thing to remember, so that you don't get caught out by 'accidents' is, pups will need to go to the 'loo' about every 2 hours, and also, after eating, and as soon as they wake up. It's a good idea to take pup outside, or put him on his paper at these times. He'll soon learn.

Take care, and enjoy the puppy days!! They don't last long enough for me!!

Lisa

Thanks for this advice. We'll be allowed out at the end of next week and I can't wait!! In the meantime we're playing in the garden and I did the walking along the road carrying him last night so he saw cars, kids on bikes and some other dogs in the distance. He's heavy so can't do that for too long. Will put a limit to the stair-climbing if its bad for him. He seems to be waking at 6am regularly now needing to go out (he's sleeping in the kitchen in his bed) but once thats done he comes up and lies under our bed, so thats a good compromise for both of us.

Congrats on your new pup! It is so good to know I'm not alone, as I picked Sparky up on Tuesday (12 weeks, border collie, first ever pup) and feel such a novice. I'm plaguing the breeder with what I'm sure are really daft questions. We did our homework for about a year before finally deciding to go ahead, but it is SO scary!!! Great fun though. Let us know how you get on.
Tracy

Congrats on your new lab.

As well as limiting stair climbing, you should lift him on and off sofas, chairs and beds (if allowed on) and in/out of the car for as long as possible. Its what you do upto about 12 months will in the long run affect his hips & joints.

You can take him out places such as your friends etc if you are happy that their dogs are suitably protected.

Good luck

Julia & Hooligans