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Hi all, new to this and new to pups advice required

2K views 16 replies 12 participants last post by  joey453 
#1 ·
Hi everyone. Got my little 8 week old 'Layla' on Christmas eve. Were both getting on well!! HAHA The first few nights have been a bit sleepless. She seems to have settled down now though over the past two days after all the xmas excitement which must have been a bit much for her!
I have got a crate for her which shes goes into of her own free will every hour or so for a snooze but as i said before she has been waking every few hours at night! Am i dong something wrong here??
Shes eating great, on the food i got from the breeder but ill run out of that next week so any advice on a decent food to wean her onto would be much appreciated??!!
Biting is the other thing she just seems to go mad for shoes, trousers, hands and faces constantly!! Ive read a fair bit on bite inhibition on this forum but was just wondering if someone could spell out the most tried and tested way to go about this!!
Obviously i realise she is still a little baby and theres a long way to go with her!! Shes soo cute and cuddly its unbelievable and im already really enjoying my time with her!!
Thanks

I will add some pics in time
 
#4 ·
Hello and welcome to LF!

Puppy, puppy - always fun! :lol:

I cant give you any advise on the Crate training, as never used a crate.
In the Kong you can put anything she likes. :) Cheese, bits of kibbles mixed with chicken, you can also freeze Kong toys with food in it, so it will last longer.

Sasha
 
#6 ·
My lab - 17 months old , is a real goat when it comes to food . She will eat anything you eat and anything she can pick up on the street or in the fields but sometimes ignores the expensive pre-prepared food we buy from the reputable pet food suppliers .
When she was really young we would give her Purina dry food (NEVER Tinned Wet Food : stomach problems ) and if she refused this for 2 days or more would resort to the old standby of : A cup of boild rice + a few slivers of cooked chicken +one pice of white fish boiled and shredded + one boiled egg mashed . This is also good in cases of gippy tummy/diarrhoeah , but gives your pup nutrition and is quite bland in the case of a tummy upset .
As she gets older however things get harder , how would you like to end every day with beans on toast? Purina dry food every day is like beans on toast so you have to try to be inventive . We tried mixing in a bit of OXO gravy , liver pate , tuna fish ,minced beef & onion or any meat we had in the fridge at the time. But the best thing ever for us has been cheese and onion sandwich spread !! It goes down a treat !!
But unfortunately dogs are not predictable , they can be a real pain in the backside .
Be patient , observe and get to know your pet and you will both live happily.
 
#7 ·
Hi and welcome to LF :D

Re: food, what did the breeder have her on? Didn't the breeder give you advice and tips in your puppy pack on how to change her food if you wanted to feed something different?

but as i said before she has been waking every few hours at night! Am i dong something wrong here??
No - why would you think that? she probably wants the toilet, it is too much to expect a pup to go through the night. If she is only waking every couple of hours, then you can count yourself very lucky - some pups will howl at night, often for a couple of weeks solidly - I've had two of those and believe me, it's wearing.

Glad to hear she is settling down after Christmas - in an ideal world, pups shouldn't really leave until after the festive season. I let half of mine go, but the owners had either planned to change their normal routines to allow for a new puppy, or were experienced owners who already had at least one lab / other dogs.
 
#8 ·
My new pup came home a week ago today :D I have set my alarm to get up to let him out for a toilet break at about 4am and so far we have had a clean crate every night. The first few nights he cried for a little while (a whole hour and a half the first night) which we ignored all though it was heart breaking :( He has now realised that crying doesnt get him attention and havent heard a peep for the past few nights :D

Sydney is on Beta puppy food which is what the breeder was feeding him i have bought a big 15kg sack and if it continues to agree with him I'll leave him on this until he is changed over to adult food. Is the food that Layla is on readily available? If so I would consider keeping her on it unless there is a problem with it or it isn't very good quality.

Sydney has little needle teeth which get a good grip on clothes, skin etc :D If he nips me i am squealing or occasionally growling a no for when it really really hurts :D Clothing is removed from his mouth and replaced with something he can have.

They are hard work but I'm also really enjoying Sydney :D
 
#9 ·
Hi guys. Thanks for all the advice
Had a good night last night she went down at about 1am and didnt hear a peep till 6am so good news there!!

sue51- i just wasnt sure if i was doing everything right and was worried about getting her into bad routines etc. thanks though. the breeder explained how to change her food yes i was just wondering whats the best food to go onto or just stick with this until adult food!!??

I am really really enjoying 'layla' i just wanted to make sure that i knew what i was doing becasue more and more i hear that its the owners not behaving right not the dogs!!!

thanks again
any other hints and tips greatly appreciated and recieved :D
 
#10 ·
We've had Muzzy now for about a month and he's really adapting to the house - in fact, he loves it! After about a week or so, he stopped the night crying and goes down to bed with little fuss when it's bedtime. We've only had a few wet crate accidents and he readily takes himself to his crate when he wants an afternoon nap.

Puppy kongs are great too - the activity ball is a godsend - one digestive biscuit lasts a good 45minutes to an hour in there. He's been teething for the past week or so which has meant he's a little more sensitive and some of his toys have blood on (the teeth are coming through his gums) but he's not in pain and his toys are soft or special teething rings from PAH (you will spend thousands in there if you're not careful!)

As for food, he's still on the dried food his breeder had him on but we vary this with bits of paté (he loves the cheap tesco 60p brussel's paté!) and a slice or two of cooked ham. Once again, Pets At Home have a wide selection and I'm sure they stock the brand your puppy's breeder gave you if you need some more.

It sounds like you're doing the right things - and this place is fantastic if you need any more specific tips. :D
 
#11 ·
something else id like a bit advice on is picking 'layla' up. Is this advisable?? Obviously its only been to get her away from things i dont want her near etc and to get up her up on the sofa but was just wondering what other people
do??

the biting thing aswell whats the best way people have found to go about stopping or reducing this, especially when she really gets hold of soemthing???

Thanks again you've all been so much help and ive taken comments on board
 
#12 ·
hi, god im back again you all must think im a hypochondriac but i just want to make sure everything is ok with my layla because i dont have much experience with dogs nevermind pups!!

when shes sleeping usually on her afternoon nap she twitches quite a bit. its not a constant twitch but can go on for 6 seconds at the longest. accompanied by smaller bursts or one off twitches.

i thought that it could be becasue she just 'dreaming'!!!??? she has never done anything like it while awake and im not sure if she does it at night becuase i dont sit and watch her!!!

thanks again for help so far and thanks in aticipation for answers/tips for my last 2 posts

joe/layla
xx
 
#13 ·
Hi,
Re 'picking up'. I think its a good idea to get a dog used to being handled in all sorts of ways when they are still puppies as there will be times when she is fully grown that you'll need to lift her up, eg onto the vets table for examination, or into a high car, so I'd say yes to picking her up. Also it's lovely when they are diddly to have a good smoochy cuddle with them and they soon grow too big for a proper 'pick-up cuddle' so make the most of it whilst you can! The other thing I do with my pups is 'play vets' where I lift each of their paws in turn, look into their ears, eyes, teeth etc, as they would if they were at the vets. This helps them to see it as normal and will make it less of an ordeal if and when they do go to the vets 'proper'. Make it all fun-like, and be gentle but do it regularly.

The twitching in her sleep is nothing to worry about. She dreaming of the day she can chase rabbits and pigeons!!! They all do it, throughout their lives.

Becs and The Gang
 
#16 ·
Hi and welcome to LF! Can't wait for photos!

With regards to the crate, we had 2 sleepless nights of me going down (to her cries, against advice) and sitting with her, letting her out and then setting my alarm every 3 hours. But we had Fudge sleeping thru on day 3 - after a really late night of partying. seriously. We took her to a friend's party where she played for ages and then fell asleep in my friend's arms. She was then awake til about 1.30pm and that was her first night of sleeping through the night - until 10am!!! From then on she will sleep from when I put her down, 11 or 12pm until whenever I get up in the morning, about 9 or 10 even, and then come to bed for a snooze still!

The food makes a difference we believe. Our dog came to us on Beta puppy, awful stuff, and we weened her pretty quickly onto Arden Grange. Same sort of standard as James Well Beloved which is slightly easier to find in shops.

Good luck!

:D
 
#17 ·
hi. layla is eating great since i got her just over a week ago but thats what got me thinking??

how muhc should i be feeding an 8 and a half week old pup?? shes on royal canin babyfood at the moment and the odd treat aswell. im giving her a handful and a half which she wolfs down in no time at all!!!

am i feeding her too much/too little??

thanks again all your help has been very informative and greatly recieved

xx
 
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