What to do?
What has everyone else done while they were waiting for their puppies? |
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| Puppy-proof your house. Look around for what a puppy might think would be good to chew on (ie, anything expensive and able to fit partially into the puppy's mouth--leather and cash appear to be favorites, as well as priceless antiques. And underwear and socks: if nothing else has convinced you to be vigilent about not leaving laundry around, a puppy will!). Try to remove or make inaccessible electrical cords and other hazards. If you have any poisonous plants in your house, please make sure they are up very high out of puppy's reach--and then move them higher, or find them new homes for a few months.
Decide where your puppy will sleep, eat and spend time when you are not home. Take special care to puppy proof that room, which needs to be easy to clean as all puppies have some accidents, even the perfect ones. Look around your yard for hazards including poisonous plants, edible mulch (which isn't really edible but puppy won't know that and will likely eat it and get very sick), gaps in the fence/wall, etc. If you haven't found a vet, please do so. You will want your new puppy to visit your vet within a day or two of arriving at your home for its first well-puppy visit. It's nice if you already have a relationship with a vet who understands dogs. Make inquiries about groomers and puppy classes: sign up for puppy classes as soon as you can. Look around your neighborhood for routes you will likely walk your puppy once the puppy is appropriately vaccinated, with an eye towards hazards, including traffic and poorly behaved, or aggressive, or unsupervised canines. Buy a lot of film for your camera, if you are an old school photographer; otherwise, make sure your camera is in good working order, with fresh batteries, a brand new card, and make sure you know how to upload photos onto your computer (and onto this forum). Oh, sleep now. You won't for a couple of months after your new arrival. |
| I made lots of lists before the girls arrived. Lists of things to buy; books to read, websites to shop from or read from.
I read "Puppies for Dummies" cover to cover, with a highlighter pen. Then I went to my calendar and wrote in all the different ages that the book said things would "happen". Then I read "Puppy Primer" by Brenda Scidmore & PAtricia McConnell, and "Your Outta Control Puppy" by Teoti Anderson. A friend of mine breeds Silken Windhounds, and she recommended these. They were GREAT reads! I also read one of the books by the Monks of New Skete; "The Art of Raising a Puppy". That was also pretty interesting. Then I got an AKC book on sheepdogs, and mostly just looked at the pictures. 
I shopped ALOT online. I got several "baby gates" so I could control the areas my pups could get into. Also, to insure that my cats had "safe", puppy-free zones. I bought bowls, leashes, collars and little harnesses, crates, food, training treats, and LOTS AND LOTS of cleaners. I got Natures Miracle spray cleaner, as well as their laundry detergent. In the beginning, I did ALOT of laundry. I had blankets on the floor to cuddle with the pups on, and they seemed to get soiled several times a day. I also ended up getting my clothes pretty filthy, pretty often. And I got a floor cleaner specifically for pet soiling on hard wood floors. AND a multi-purpose cleaner that was non-toxic and Petsafe. The sort of stuff I could mop my floor with for non-accidents, and not worry about puppies walking on and later licking off thier paws.
OH! AND i eventually bought a pair of Croks for walking in the lawn. With 2 pups that turned out to have sensitive stomachs, that pooped every hour on the hour, my lawn was a serious hazard. I stepped in so much poop that I eventually abandoned wearing my shoes out. I'd slip out of my shoes, and into my Croks on the front porch. With Cooks being made of rubber, it was alot easier to hose them off when they got soiled. I know I'm forgetting alot of stuff... |
| oh yeah; shampoo. All that poop can be fun for un-watched pups to play in as well!!!!! Or accidentally step in, sit in, roll in, fall in... you get the idea. I swear we were always washing one or the other, in the kitchen sink. I look at them now and am stunned they ever fit up there, and its only 6 months since we brought them home. |
Darth Snuggle wrote: I read "Puppies for Dummies" cover to cover, with a highlighter pen. Then I went to my calendar and wrote in all the different ages that the book said things would "happen". Then I read "Puppy Primer" by Brenda Scidmore & PAtricia McConnell, and "Your Outta Control Puppy" by Teoti Anderson. <snip> ! I also read one of the books by the Monks of New Skete; "The Art of Raising a Puppy". That was also pretty interesting.
Excellent advice, Allison. And great reads for the most part, but avoid the Monks of New Skete book - it's incredibly outdated and even they later came out and said they wish they hadn't made some of the recommendations they did. That whole alpha roll/slam is a recipe for disaster. I do put my puppies on their back - every day for a long, long time; while I'm holding them in my arms, or they're on my lap or on the grooming table and I stroke them till they stop wiggling. It's a trust and self control issue more than a dominance issue. If you watch the momma dogs, they don't bother slamming them down; it's a quick, sharp but completely inhibited bite to the muzzle when the little beast crosses the line, at which point the beast screams bloody murder (the indiginity of being told no, I think) and all of the other momma dogs come running to make sure the beast is OK
If you don't have momma dogs on hand, and most people do not, you do have to learn how to explain inappropriate behavior to the beast on your own and it's a bit more work. As soon as the needle teeth arrive and the shark attacks on your body commence, practice your dramatic, high pitched screams. If they don't wake the dead, you aren't being dramatic enough. I sent a little puppy boy running for his life yesterday with nothing more than the volume and pitch of my voice. No fun using the human as a teething device if they're going to go ballastic on you. All of this heavily on my mind as I spent the better part of the afternoon yesterday with some people who have their first OES puppy - he's an only child as far as four leggeds are concerned. Their puppy raising instincts are very, very good, but they were doubting themselves. Suggest you have your puppy's breeder on speed dial and/or someone near and dear to you locally who is used to raising puppies to reassure you that you're doing the right things and puppy is just being a puppy and this too shall pass.... 
For indepth OES knowledge, including the history of the breed, my favorite book is John Mandeville's, The Complete Old English Sheepdog, even though there are more recent books out there. Kristine |
| I would suggest the person you're getting the pup from place that blanket in with the pups mom and littermates. That will go along way to comfort the pup on its trip. |
Mad Dog wrote: And great reads for the most part, but avoid the Monks of New Skete book - it's incredibly outdated and even they later came out and said they wish they hadn't made some of the recommendations they did. That whole alpha roll/slam is a recipe for disaster. Kristine
I've never done the "alpha slam" as you call it. But i did like the begining of the book; it talked about how the puppies behaved at different ages and what to expect; that was very helpful! And I agree with the dramatic screaming practice. I think it was Puppies for Dummies that told us about helping the girls learn what they called "bite inhibition" and others call "Bite Control". Yelp LOUDLY, as a puppy would, when your pup accidentally bites too hard. It proved to be a BIG help to us; as many know, my girls went through a bad period of fighting with one another. But even at their worst; we never needed a trip to the emergency vet. We were told they had great bite control; they never actually hurt one another. We were praised by our trainer later; that we had taught them this when they were little. Oh and I heartily endorse the "get a camera, get film, get memory chips" advice. We are a two-digital camera household, and I wish we had a video recorder too! I've shot so many images already, and right before Sheepie Palooza Adam went out and bought ANOTHER camera, so we'd have two high end ones, and not miss any of the action! |
| If you have carpet buy a shampooer even if its one of the little spot cleaners. We started out with a spot cleaner and with the second sheepie graduated to the full blown carpet steamer |
Trash cans with lids. Not just in the kitchen - bathrooms too. Puppies like paper products. Bailey would eat used tissues, toilet paper rolls, and other things that still make me squeamish to think about. Lidded trash cans gave me one less thing to worry about  |
Bailey's Mom wrote: Trash cans with lids. Not just in the kitchen - bathrooms too. Puppies like paper products. Bailey would eat used tissues, toilet paper rolls, and other things that still make me squeamish to think about. Lidded trash cans gave me one less thing to worry about
Practice closing doors now. it really is important to limit where the dog can roam and when. |
kerry wrote: it really is important to limit where the dog can roam and when.
Agreed! We did it with baby-gates (we have less interior doors). Our biggie was that only well behaved dogs could come in the living room. It felt like FOREVER until they learned it, but it was really not that long, and worth it! |
Darth Snuggle wrote: Agreed! We did it with baby-gates (we have less interior doors). Our biggie was that only well behaved dogs could come in the living room. It felt like FOREVER until they learned it, but it was really not that long, and worth it!
The dogs have done a lot less destruction to our living room that my husband has! |
ButtersStotch wrote: Darth Snuggle wrote: Agreed! We did it with baby-gates (we have less interior doors). Our biggie was that only well behaved dogs could come in the living room. It felt like FOREVER until they learned it, but it was really not that long, and worth it! The dogs have done a lot less destruction to our living room that my husband has! okay point taken  last night I was brushing His dog and He was in the LR with His sneakers on again. I just pointed to the rug shampooer and told him it was his turn. Never saw him take his shoes off so quickly or without an argument before!! |
| hahahahahhaahahahahhh!
my point was as much about CALM dogs as it was about destructive ones. Our guys now have free range in the house, but the sit in the livign room when its time to chill out; which is so nice.... |
| I bought new coffee tables after Clyde was done teething. Clyde and Bear have never made another mark on them but there are HUGE scratches all over them from James tossing his keys, sliding his laptop around on and, one day I even caught him cleaning a gun-- yes, on the !@#$ coffee table. Needless to say, when this puppy comes, I'm going to let him go nuts on the tables so I can get new ones. I assume he won't even look at them since I actually want the tables destroyed! |
ButtersStotch wrote: Needless to say, when this puppy comes, I'm going to let him go nuts on the tables so I can get new ones. I assume he won't even look at them since I actually want the tables destroyed!
BWAGHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!! I love it! What a great way to re-decorate!!! |
| Ahhhh... I'm going out of my mind!
I'm down to 15 days 2 hours and 45 mins until Luna is in AK .... I know I'm a nerd .. but I have a count down timer on my computer ... so it reminds me every time I sit down at the comp. I'm so impatient and can't wait... At least I get Luna's flight schedule this week and get more updated pictures. So that makes me pretty happy |
| you are much stronger than I am; I'd be on a flight going there to visit!!!! |
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