Hello everyone. I have exciting puppy news. We heard from our breeder on Saturday whom I thought was calling to let us know her girls are pregnant. Much to our surprise, she informed us she has a puppy available from her February litter as a family has changed their mind. We pick her up Saturday! This has all of a sudden fallen into our lap and I have lots to think about. One question I have is how people manage when they are working? We weren't expecting puppy until summer when I would be working less hours. At this time, I am gone about 5 hours a day. I have neighbors scheduled to come let puppy out once when I am gone. She will be in Callie's crate. Its been a long time since I've had a brand new puppy. I am thinking I will put the divider in to make it smaller, place potty pads at one end, put down a blanket and leave a stuffed animal in there. Is this right? Should I leave anything else in there? And leave the radio on so she doesn't feel alone. I'm a bit anxious. Do I bring her to the vet within the week of bringing her home? My breeder said that wasn't necessary bc her vet will have already seen her and she breeds with a vet.
That's awesome congrats! Can't wait to see pictures!
5 hours is fine. Having them let out in the middle of that amount of time is fine the first couple weeks and then 5 hours should be good. Just remember, when you feed pups and they drink at meals, they'll drink enough to fill the bladder 2 or 3 times, which means you should take them out every 20 min over the next hour after a meal. You will take them out, and 20 min later they will probably pee on the floor and you'll be frustrated as to why. Making sure you take them out 2 or 3 times before putting them in the crate will give them the best change not to make a mistake in the crate.
I use 42" creates for of the Golden's I've ever had. Use the divider panel. I give my pups 1/3 of the create up until 4 months of age and then 2/3 of the create took about 7 months and then the whole crate after that. They may be house broken but never give them the extra space to make a mistake. They should be able to stand, turn around and last back down, that's it. It's not play time in a crate.
About the create... NEVER use pee pads in a crate. They are scented and will draw the puppy to want to use them. This in turn will make the puppy think they are supposed to go to the bathroom IN the crate and good luck ever straightening that out. In fact you don't even want to use pee pads if your going to create train. The point of the create is to teach them to hold it and go only outside, never inside. Again, the pads will make them want to use them inside. Using pads and a crate will just make it so you'll confuse the pup and have to train to only go outside later on.
Set the vet appointment for Monday or Tuesday. I always take new pups to the vet within 3 days off having them home. A lot of breeders want it done working 4 days. I know the very your breeder uses and she has a different vaccine protocol I use. So it's good to have your vet see them and setup a schedule for the boosters.
Congratulations. That is great news but I imagine there's a lot to get done in a hurry. Is there any way someone can take a few days off to help the puppy settle in? It's such a big change to leave the litter and she is such a little baby.
If you have someone stopping by midday to give the puppy a potty break, they should be fine for the 5 hours you are gone. Even if you were home all day, you would still need to put the puppy in their crate for 2 hour naps. Just make sure you spend plenty of time with them in the morning and evenings.
That being said... if I were you, I would take 1-2 days off to spend at home with the puppy when you first bring them home. That first 48 hours is tough, and it would be traumatic to bring the puppy home and leave them alone in a crate the very next day.
That was I did with my current dog. I had off Friday, Sat, Sun and Monday and drove to Michigan on Friday and drove home Saturday and that gave me 2 days to get her settled in before back to work. I just had my sister come over mid day to let her out till she was about 12 or 14 weeks old.
Thanks everyone! Yes, I will be taking off so I will have a couple of days to get her used to her new home and then my neighbors will be helping me out on some days. I have also thought of hiring a pet sitter service to come in to let her out if my neighbors are unavailable on certain days but that worries me having a complete stranger in the house and taking care of my puppy. Has anyone here used a pet sitter before?
I have also thought of hiring a pet sitter service to come in to let her out if my neighbors are unavailable on certain days but that worries me having a complete stranger in the house and taking care of my puppy. Has anyone here used a pet sitter before?
I have been using a professional pet sitting service since Ned was 9 weeks old. It has been a great experience. The company I used is really reliable and professional. He has a primary walker, named Betty, who he has really bonded with. If you choose to hire someone, ask around for recommendations and make sure that the company is legitimate. They should have clear policies, good communication methods, and liability insurance.
Congrats on your baby! My breeder tests her bitches so we have a nomograph as to when to re vaccinate the pups https://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/lab/cavids/canine-nomograph-what-is-it/ . so i wait until then until i go to the vet. This time it was at 10 weeks. i strongly recommend titer testing your pups so you dont over vaccinate your dog....im for anything to decrease the insane cancer situation we face with our so loved goldens. CONGRATS again!!
Thanks. This is very interesting. I've never heard of this. I did titers on Callie for distemper and parvo but at age 7. Does the breeder do this nomograph testing? If she has not, then there is no way to get this info regarding the immunity , right? I will ask her tomorrow when we go to get puppy. Thanks
yes breeder tests the bitch to know when her immunity of parvo/ distempter run out and they need to be vaccinated. we only vaccinate several times to ensure that moms immunity is not killing the vaccination. tough on puppies to have so many unneeded vaccines. definitely ask hopefully she has tested the bitch nad the nomograph info will come in your puppy packet. congrats on your new baby!! SO fun!!
Congratulations! Excellent advice from Maggie’Voice. I worked when we had one of our pups. Fortunately, my job was only 15 min away so I was able to come home for lunch and let him out. I never used a puppy sitter and all of my dogs did well. Good luck to you. Please send photos when you can.
Here she is, our new puppy. Were not 100 percent settled on her name as it's only been 2 days but we're leaning towards Coco, short for Coconut. And a middle name of Butters bc we met a lovely golden on vacation with the name of Butters and fell in love with him. And moms name is Buttercup so feel it fits nicely. She's adjusted immediately to our home. Sleeping through the night in her crate with no crying and no accidents. She's becoming more at home with us and has quickly turned into a land shark! I've been using firm no and redirection and giving her a bone or toy to chew on. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated bc she chews everything from our feet to our clothes and everything in between. We are in love.
Looking at your pup made me go back and look at Maggie's pics from when I first got her. Same breeder, different parents totally but they look so much alike!
She's beautiful! Congratz again! On the biting, that's what you do, just correct and redirect. Expect the land shark phase for about a month or so maybe 2 if they are stubborn about it.
Thanks everyone! She's a keeper. And a land shark, lol. I have sprayed bitter apple spray. Sometimes she doesn't seem to mind it and chews the object anyway. Its a knock off brand of it so maybe I need to try the real one. So today was her big day in the crate while I was at work. My neighbor came in to let her out after 3 hours and then we were home with her 3 hours later. She did well. I feel guilty though. Thankfully Tuesday is my only long day. I'll keep posting about her, I should call them Coco's chronicles, lol.
There are other ones as well. There is a bitter cherry and a bitter lime. Don't go crazy with it and put it everywhere because the pups will start to get a taste for it, they become immune to it. so use when you really need it and don't rely on it for training. Also it's not a bad idea to rotate it with the others I mentioned as when they expect one and it's another it turns them off to it.
So Coco is biting everything and often I can't walk into a room without her attaching herself to my pant legs. I say firm "no" and redirect her with a toy or bone but she quickly returns. what do you all do for this? As I mentioned above, I have tried the spray. Also, I have a sight question. Sometimes we are noticing she doesn't seem to know we are in the room unless we try to gain her attention or get close to her. I'm not sure if I should be concerned or if it is bc she is only 7 weeks old. She was examined by my vet Monday and she said she has no health concerns. I didn't notice what I am seeing though so I didn't say anything. Anyone here experience this before?
Question about food. We've had Coco now for 1 week. The breeder feeds Purina proplan adult. The litter is cobred with 2 people, 1 saying to feed our puppy the adult food, paperwork says they feed the puppy food. I've been feeding a blend of both and bought small bag of the puppy proplan focus chicken and rice. My question is is this the proper ratio of calcium to phosphorus. Heres pic of the label. Thanks.
Connie feed the puppy but not large breed puppy. Have no clue why the other lady is feeding adult food. Isn't like she isn't already feeding the mom puppy food, so it's not from being lazy and not feeding different foods.
It isn't strictly about calcium and phosphorus but mostly. I still recommend using large breed puppy food until at least until the pup is 8 or so months old. But certainly a puppy food. The foods have different vitamin packages and puppies require different vitamins that the adult food has.
For the Cal and Phosphorus you want a 1.1 to 1.4 parts Calcium to 1 part Phosphorus. The bag you listed should fall into that ratio, which is overall the most important thing.
So the co breeder is feeding the adult Purina Proplan Focus large breed to all her dogs including the puppies. She had a reason but I don't remember and probably bc it didnt make sense. Maybe bc the puppy formula has more calories and she is concerned about gaining weight too quickly. I asked my vet and she said to feed the puppy formula. I can't find the adult large breed puppy so I got the Puppy formula chicken and rice. And its weird bc on Connies info sheet it specifically says she is feeding the exact one I bought and she emphasizes its not large breed. So not sure if I should continue this food. Coco is doing fine on it, her poop looks normal and no issues. She scratches occasionally but I think its just puppy behavior. I can see that she is gaining weight. why do you recommend feeding the large breed puppy formula?
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