Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 11:27 am Post subject: New Lab owner from Surrey or Oxfordshire...
Hi,
I'm Alex a new Choc Lab owner - or will be when I pick up the puppy from the breeder in a months time.
We are yet to decide on a name for her - it's either gonna be Coco or Mahsa. I think Coco is a bit cheesy though, and a bit of a cliche...but I think it's going to be a bit easier to shout in a park that Mahsa. Mahsa is a Pashtu word for 'like the moon' - which is a bit of a like to a family saying, you see as I am into RAF and I have just returned from Afghanistan and we used to sign off every email or phone call to/from home with 'To the moon and back'. So I kind of like that...
Anyway.
I am doing a fair bit of reading about training the puppy. It's not my first dog - I had an English Pointer/Dalmation cross in the past, but she was a rescue dog and was never...mine...if you can understand the term. She was also very difficult to train - in fact she was almost impossible as she had the attention span of a gnat...and was in the words of a vet we took her to was 'genetically stupid'.
I wanted a puppy because I wanted to make her my own. And I want to spend time training and have a better excuse to get out, get a bit of exercise and spend some time going for walks in the lovely Surry/Oxfordshire countryside - and visiting some of the lovely pubs there are there!
I say Surrey/Oxfordshire because I split my time between the two locations at the moment working in the week in Oxfordshire and then back to my girlfriends house in Surrey at the weekend. It'll certainly make life interesting...
On the subject of reading, I have the Gwen Bailey 'The Perfect Puppy' which I am wading through, what do people think of it as a training book/system?
Looking forward to spending time on this forum and learning as much as I can.
I like the name Mahsa and if it has meaning for you, I think thats lovely.
But you never know, when you pick her up, a name may just jump at you. Or like ours, he picked it himself. (well i say he picked it, it was the only name he responded to!!)
So will puppy be living at both your houses too?
Be prepared is my advice, the puppy months are A LOT of hard work.
We crate trained our pup and he did so well with house training and sleeping through the night this way. You should maybe think about getting a crate or even 2, so you can have one at both places.
Good luck, and ill look forward to seeing some photos of your new girl
I am certainly going to get a crate, as it'll be a bit of continuity between the two houses. I intend to travel with the bedding from one to the other so she has a bit of familiarity, until she gets used to it of course.
I have three kids, so I am used to busy times! I know the puppy months will be hard...but it'll be worth it...I hope! I want the pup also as a bit of company in the week. So keeping me busy will be good as I do tend to get a bit bored when I am away.
I think the crate will be a useful thing for travelling between the two locations too. Safety first!
We are taking my daughter (aged 3!) round to see the puppy at the breeders on Friday...I think the first pic on this forum will be up on Friday evening!
(And I am trying to bring my G/F round to Mahsa too...)
Hello and welcome Alex I think that Mahsa is a lovely and unusual name Bet you can't wait to pick her up, look forward to seeing all the new puppy pics
Hi Alex and welcome to LF, I like the name Masha too, its unusual, you say your in the Air force, do you have someone to go in and walk her when your not able to get back?, pups need to go out a lot until they learn to hold and indicate for themselves when they need to go.
I agree on the crate too, CJ still uses his and he`s 7 now, I don`t think he`d like being decrated, besides I still can`t trust him not to chew things
I am quite lucky and I work in a quiet office in a quiet building where I'll be able to take the pup to during the day, once I am back to work. (I have three weeks off with the pup before work anyway!)
I intend - and feel free to shoot me down here - to take the crate to work - I don't mind investing in a couple of crates and starting small and moving up to larger ones as we go along.
As for de-crating. Well I think that is a LONG way off at the moment! But it re-assuring to know that your dog is happy and is enjoying the crate.
The crate is fine to take to work, as long as your girl isn`t left in it all day with no interaction, she`ll still need to go outside to learn her toileting.
What you could try as your going to have crates spread about is getting a fabric one, my CJ would chew through one now but if you start her off as a youngster she should grow to see it as her "den" and be happy to go in.
Hiya Alex! Yippee!! another male on the forum You'll soon realise that most of the subscribers are female.They're all brilliant. As us males know,females know everything and never forget anything ! So you're in safe hands here.Anything you need to know,they've got the info' on the tip of their tongues.
I lived just outside Abingdon,in Marcham.If you're still working in Abingdon next summer,and when your pup has grown enough for walks,you'll be able to drive south from Abingdon to the Ridgeway path.Any part of the Ridgeway between Wantage(2 miles south of Wantage on Hungerford road) to Uffington White horse is a beautiful walk on a summers evening.Some lovely old country pubs in the villages too !
My Kenko is now 5 1/2 months old,so you will be entering the puppy period that I've just gone through.It's such a lovely period,as your pup realises that you are their master,and start to respond to your commands.Take loads of photos....they grow so quickly
____________ Lots of labby licks,Julian and Kenko
"The loneliness of deception" Chimpanzee study 2011
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New Lab owner from Surrey or Oxfordshire...
I think that Mahsa is a lovely and unusual name 
Bet you can't wait to pick her up, look forward to seeing all the new puppy pics 
