Tips for new dog owners
Congratulations on deciding to get a new dog! Whether a puppy from me or someone else its a exciting time but it can be scary!
Crate training
This is a popular method for house training puppies and for protecting your furniture! This is ideal for puppies as they can be contained when you can't watch them and most like their own space.
A standard size doodle will need a fair bit of space, it is recommended that you look at a 36/38 or 42 inch crate. If you visit somewhere like Pets at Homes, you'll find crates are very expensive, however if you buy online you'll save loads! Previous litter owners have bought their crates from this ebay store: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/sherlockpets
With crate training, some puppies will take to it very easily and others might not. Its important that they feel safe in the crate and its not seen as punishment. However it can be used if a pup has become over tired and hyper as a "time-out" place as they often will not go to sleep without a bit of encouragement!
The crate ideally will be set up in a quiet area of your house where your pup will know that you can come in at times but not a passing place like a hallway! In the crate you should put a nice (easy to clean) bed, toys and water bowl. Many people also feed their puppy in the crate so they associate it with a nice event! Depending on house training, you may want to put puppy pads down. Many dogs like the crate as its a den and you could put a blanket over the top so that its nice and dark. However some will not like this, so ideally the room should have heavy curtains / blinds in order to make the room dark!
There are many websites that offer further advice and the Dogs Trust also encourages people to consider crate-training.
Food
Dogs love food! It is also one of the more important factors to ensuring a healthy dog. What ever food your dog or pup are fed on, you should continue with that for at least 2 weeks before gradually changing onto something else.
You'll find everyone has their personal preference and depending on your finances, there are many brands of food out there. If your dog / puppy is a "doodle", you need to ensure that the food isn't too high in protein as this will make them grow too quickly. Popular brands include Burns and Pro Plan.
When training, you will use plenty of treats and these can vary depending on your puppies own taste! There are many low protein options available especially "fish4dogs". You will find that there is one or two treats that your pup will do anything for - don't over use these treats - keep them for recall training!
House training
The time it takes for your puppy to be house trained depends on many factors. When puppies leave me, they should be well on the way to being house trained. Its important to realise that puppies can't hold their bladder for hours like older dogs, its roughly an hour per month of their life, so expect night-time wake-ups!
A pattern similar to this should help house-train faster:
This is a tip from Bondi's owner (a previous pup) for night-time house training:
"We would put Bondi to bed about 11pm and then set an alarm to take her out once or twice during the night - for example 1.30 am, 4 am, before getting up at 6. We then made the night time wake-ups later before dropping them completely. As a result, we had no accidents during the night".
Pet Insurance
Vet costs have increased massively in the last few years. Vets have developed their technology and as a result costs have increased. If you do decided to get pet insurance watch for excesses, treatment of some conditions, time limit and life long cover. One of the cheapest is AXA who underwrite some of the branded supermarket policies or Greenbee who are part of the John Lewis group.
You'll find that pet insurance is one of the most time consuming things you'll ever do but might well be worth it!
Training
Whether you are a first time dog owner or a more experienced owner, it is recommended that you take your puppy along to some formal dog training. Some vets do puppy parties that your unvaccinated pup can go and play with other dogs during the time they must be kept at home.
There is more variety of training classes available these days and with exciting new dog sports (dancing, fly ball etc) there is plenty to try. Even if you've had dogs previously, your pup is new and you may need to refresh your skills. The younger the pup is at starting training the easier it is!
There is so much training available that you can start even before your pup is able to be outside (normally 7 days after their second vaccination).
Clicker training is very popular and "doodles" enjoy it. This is simply a clicker that you click when your dog is doing something you desire it to do and give it a reward, eventually your dog will just look for the click rather than the reward! There is information online regarding this that goes into further detail.
Long line is something few people have heard of - this is a long lead (normally 5 meters) that you use for training on walks. When you get to an area where you would let your dog onto, you put the long line on. You can then practise recall safely knowing that you can pick up the lead and bring the pup back under control. Most of the time the lead will be on the floor but is very useful for when you are training your pup. Puppies are very young and if something scares them, they might run off and the advantage of the long line is that anyone can pick up the lead / stand on it and keep your dog safe rather than try to grab its collar. If your dog is a single dog, then this is something to consider.
Exercise
Dogs need exercise! To have a happy dog you need to be prepared to walk in hail, rain, snow and all! However if you get a puppy, you need to restrict his / her exercise in order for their bones and muscles to develop. Roughly it is 5 minutes per month of their age in one session - you could do 3 in a day. Walking on softer ground is more ideal, so during this time, driving to a park might be an idea. This doesn't mean you can't take them for a longer walk once in a while however you'll need to be prepared to carry them or let them rest at times.
Reading :- Highly Recommend "Haynes Dog Manual"
