Expecting Too Much For 8 Weeks?

[Mark Ellis]

Socialising your puppy from the off is THE most important thing to do. These people who pick their dog up just because they see a bigger dog coming just do my head in
I have always let mine socialise with the biggest dogs going. Border Terriers however hold no place in my dog world.

With regards to breeds maturing at different rates. My 8 month old Lexie spent an evening recently being romanced by a 16 week old cavalier, bless him. Lexie being the tart that she is spent half of her time on her back and the other half fluttering her eye lashes. Sigh. But he is a gorgeous boy from a gorgeous mother

[betty storar]

A good vet will run socialising classes,, ours do and they will tell you at what age to take baby. Plus there is a trained vet nurse on hand should (god forbid) anything happen. ours is run from the surgery which I think is a good idea.
Betty

[Leogem]

There are two things that I think you should do when rearing a puppy and these are rarely mentioned in training books.
Firstly, start taking them out for car journeys at an early age, even if it's just a short drive around the block. Most people who show do this to acclimatize their dogs to long car journeys, but we often hear of pet owners who rarely do this. When the need arises to take their dog on a fairly long drive the dog is invariably car sick.
The second point is that you should leave the puppy alone for a short while during the day. We would never sell a puppy to people who are out at work all day and the pup is left alone, but at the same time is important to get them use to being alone for a short while. We have two friends, one with a Beagle and one with a Cavalier, who always made sure that someone was there with the dog at all times. This may sound quite admirable but they have huge problems whenever they do have to go out (maybe due to an emergency) because the dogs simply howl and howl. In the case of the Beagle owner it caused huge problems with neighbours.
Dennis

[davemcnally]

There are two things that I think you should do when rearing a puppy and these are rarely mentioned in training books.
Firstly, start taking them out for car journeys at an early age, even if it's just a short drive around the block. Most people who show do this to acclimatize their dogs to long car journeys, but we often hear of pet owners who rarely do this. When the need arises to take their dog on a fairly long drive the dog is invariably car sick.
The second point is that you should leave the puppy alone for a short while during the day. We would never sell a puppy to people who are out at work all day and the pup is left alone, but at the same time is important to get them use to being alone for a short while. We have two friends, one with a Beagle and one with a Cavalier, who always made sure that someone was there with the dog at all times. This may sound quite admirable but they have huge problems whenever they do have to go out (maybe due to an emergency) because the dogs simply howl and howl. In the case of the Beagle owner it caused huge problems with neighbours.
Dennis

I'm quite fortunate in that I work from home so I'm able to only leave the pup alone for short periods and I'm planning to work less during the initial few weeks to make house training and settling in much easier

[Frogkid]

I left Alfie on his own from his first day with us and that's the routine so he's always been used to being left! When I say left him it was for half an hour max as I have to take the children to school, nursery and pick up again so that has to be done hence pup had to learn to be left and I think that's the best way to leave him for a small time every day! I do need to take him out more in the car though! He travelled brilliantly on the long journey home to us but apart from that he's only been down to the vets twice really! Need to get him a harness for the car or he'll be crawling over me while I drive I think!!!

[Coco]

I would expect my pup to know these things after having had it for at least two weeks. Sit is very easy, your dog can learn this in a day, even a Cavalier puppy! Lay down can take two or three days, and then rolling over another two or three... and come probably the entire two weeks to get solid (as far as doing it regularly without distractions around... actually that goes for all the behaviors).

If you get your puppy at 10 weeks old, I do not think it is too much to have him sitting, laying down, rolling over, and coming by 12 weeks while in the house. It would only be too much to expect a puppy to do this in high distraction situations.

[dozyrosy]

When I got my previous two ruby puppies (litter mates) at ten weeks old they were learning to come, sit and wait for their dinner within a couple of days of arriving home with me. When they're hungry is a good time to do a little training as they'll pay more attention if they think there's dinner coming as a reward, and sitting is easy as they're liable to plonk their bums down when they crane to look up at you - and their dinner! A lot of what they first learnt was by me telling them and praising them for what they were actually doing at the time so they got to associate my words with their actions; they learnt down very quickly in this way. They are like little sponges and are learning all the time so I don't think it it hurts to do a bit of basic training with them as soon as you get them - it doesn't have to be serious, just make it a fun (and rewarding!) thing to do.

Rosemary

[Poppy'smum]

The book The Perfect Puppy by Gwen Bailey is a very good introduction to getting a puppy and using positive training methods. My pup is 16 weeks old and can sit, wait, down, paw, come and fetch. I'm trying to do roll over but don't think I'm explaining myself very clearly to her! The Perfect Puppy also emphasises socialisation and leaving pup on its own from the start (starting with walking out of the room and coming straight back in). Following the advice my pup can be left on her own for a couple of hours happily in her crate.