TTMA Dogs/Puppies

[sdlaura]

We get our puppy a week from today! A female Scottish Terrier who we’ve named Skye (the breeder has started calling her the name we picked out). She’ll be 8 weeks old.

It’s been 18 years since I’ve had a puppy (another Scottie). That was four kids ago, so I remember nothing. Also things have changed. No one really had pet insrurance then - so who do you recommend for that?

The breeder is giving me all the info on food and vitamins she’s giving her now. We have our old crate and got a new bed for it. I think we even have our old dog’s leash still that should work- or should I get a harness too? The breeder had us get a toy with a heartbeat in it so she hopefully doesn’t miss her litter-mates as much.

For house training, should I use puppy pads at all or just always take her to the backyard? We lived in an apartment last time we had a puppy.

I know I need to establish care with a vet.

What am I forgetting?? Any advice is welcome!

[mae0111]

How big is the crate, if it’s too big, you should block off part of it until the puppy is bigger. If too big the puppy might pee/poop in one corner and sleep in the other.

My dog pulls a ton so we needed a harness quickly.

Can you ask the breeder for a blanket that the puppy and litter mates have slept on? Our puppy found that comforting.

I’m not sure how long the ride is from the breeder, but we had to drive about an hour. I drove and DH sat in back holding the puppy (I didn’t want them in front in case the dog wriggled free while I was on the turnpike doing 70mph). The puppy peed on DH pretty early on - he was nervous in the car. So a car bed might have been better, or just a trash bag under the towel on DH’s lap to keep DH dry. We had extra towels but DH was soaked 😂

A few toys for sure.

We didn’t use puppy pads as we didn’t want him to get used to them. We just brought him outside a lot, stopped water a few hours before bed, and took him out at around 230-3am for a week or 2. It was January in New England so that sucked, but we had very few accidents.

Good luck!! So exciting!! 😊😊

[dglvrk2]

I agree with mae0111

Crate training was important for us. We blocked off the section of our pup, Charlie's, crate initially.

We never bothered with puppy pads either. We took Charlie outside as soon as we opened the crate for the first few weeks. We praised him a lot each time he did his business in the right place too

[k3am]

Skip the puppy pads. Get insurance - we have trupanion and are very happy with it.

I prefer a slip lead over a harness. My dog is close to 70 lbs and I have much better control with one vs a harness, and we’ve tried just about every type out there.

Our vet and trainer both recommended that all meals should be handfed - games and training.

[sdlaura]

Ok great, my instinct was to skip the puppy pads.

mae0111 the drive from breeder is about an hour and 20 minutes. I will likely keep two kids with me while DH does the pick up (DS3 has a bday party and DS1 has a golf lesson), but 11-year-old DD could sit in the back with puppy and I’ll send a towel/trash bag - good idea.

The crate is not that big since it was used for another 20-ish pound dog, so we’ll just have to see if we need to block anything off.

Thanks for the pet insurance rec k3am! Interesting on the hand feeding rec! Is that so you can use it as training too? Or to socialize them?

[k3am]

sdlaura it helps with building a bond, training, brain stimulation, etc. Especially in the early days when you can’t go for a walk outside and when weather sucks, it can serve so many purposes to train something like being in the crate or leave it, while tiring them out, AND feeding all at once.

We still will scatter feed or put all his kibble in a giant Kong if we can’t get a good walk or play at the park.

[mae0111]

Similar to k3am, we have puzzles for our dog as well. We tried a snuggle mat and I hid kibble in the different loops of fabric and long piles in the rug part, but my dog just picked up the whole thing and shook it to get all of the kibble out 😂. And then he tried to eat the mat. So that didn’t work. But the puzzles are a hit! He also loves his lick mat with peanut butter.

[186momx]

We rescued our lab 14.5 years ago and she had a 5 hour drive home. That said we brought the crate and tried having her ride in that and it worked for about half the trip. The other half she sat in my lap and I had a blanket on me in July! To this day at almost 15 she prefers to sit in the seat and rest her head on my lap as I drive or now DD's lap.

If I was getting a puppy now I would look into wellness plans. Vet bills have skyrocketed in 15 years. We had her first dental at age 6 and it cost $350 her last dental at 13 cost $1200. Also annual exams and shots are so much more now.

Make a plan on which rooms puppy can go into and which she can't. This will help keep things out of puppy reach and no one looses their favorite stuffie or toy. No puppy pads just lots of taking her outside as soon as she wakes and after she eats/drinks. Also look into puppy classes for that allow the whole family to attend.