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Reply To: new yellow lab puppy owner-advice please!

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theBCnut
Member

You are in for quite an adventure! Have fun!

You may have to wait even longer than 6 months to be able to let your puppy roam the house alone. My newest pup waited until he was 8 month before he all of a sudden grew up and quit trying to eat everything. I’ve know many dogs that took even longer. That doesn’t mean he can’t go all over the house, it just has to be with someone who can keep an eye on him.

Teach him a command that means go to your bed. And as soon as he is old enough, enroll in an obedience class. Don’t think that one class will be enough, just like education, training is lifelong.

One of the most important things puppies learn in those last 2 weeks with their littermates is to not bite too hard, so it’s important that you don’t just stop the pup from biting, but teach it to have a soft mouth. Allow the pup to put it’s mouth on you, but if it clamps down, yelp and stop playing with it. Make sure your kids are on board with this too. It takes a little time, but when he is older and stronger, he will know not to bite hard, even if something frightens him.

Socialization with other dogs will have to wait, but you can find places with people for your puppy to meet. Let many, many different people pet and touch your puppy all over. Have them touch paws, ears, tail. Look in mouth and ears. Pass him around.

If you want great foods at any price, the Nature’s Variety Instinct and Annamaet formulas are good. If you are looking for good food at a good price, the Earthborn formulas are good.