dog owners...

Part of the reason we got a fully grown greyhound was so we wouldn't have to deal with training puppies....retireds greyhound come house trained.

I do think it's a good idea to wait until you can spend enough time with them.

hey!

recall on dogy food:

http://www.diamondpet.com/

I would say get it now, highly recommend crate training

hooples3 said:

Yetserday's Mans best friend thread got me thinking.
My wife and I told ourselves once we get a house we will get a dog, a chocolate lab. Well we are in the house now. My wife thinks we should wait until summer when she is done with teaching and has more time for the puppy. Yesterday I called up a friend who is a bredder and he told me he has 4 chocolate labs from a great line available Jan 14th. I'm thinking to get them now, My work schedule is really slow during the winter months where i am home at 1:30. im am trying to convince my wife... but i think she wants to wait.
oh... and yeah.. i am thinking of getting 2 of them, brother and sister..
any advice on the matter?? any monkeys that have gotten two puppies at once?? how was it??
any advice/thoughts will be appreciated

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I have a friend who got a puppy and then a few months later got a second. She said it was the best thing she did because they wear each other out! So with a puppy, I might have done 2 at the same time. Also, with a boy and a girl there are less likely to be alpha issues.

With puppies, be prepared to clean up a lot in the house! LOL

also, puppy proof your house like you would for a baby. We once caught jewell chewing on plastic outlet covers we put in the outlet next to her bed. Needless to say, that outlet doesn't have any power to it anymore.

i have a yellow lab puppy...GET OBEDIENCE TRAINING!!!...otherwise they will go nuts constantly...as for crate training, i never did that mainly because i have a big backyard so i keep him outside most of the time...but if you want them as inside dogs all of the trainers will tell you crate training is the best...so all i can say is buy lots and lots and lots of toys and penut butter to keep them occupied...also another thing i learned is if you buy chicken boulion(sp) cubes and soak a rope toy in it then freeze that will help them a ton while they're teething...good luck

One advantage of getting a pup now is that they will get used to you being gone some during the day instead of having someone there all day long and then an abrupt change when your wife goes back to work in the fall. My mom's lab has seperation anxiety so it's always something I'm concerned about with dogs. She got another dog to help him with the problem, but it still hasn't corrected it totally.

As for 2 at once, that's a big undertaking but it can be managed. The advantage of getting them spaced apart is that you train the first one and that in turn helps train the next new puppy. They also will have a tendency to bond closer with each other than with their humans. But yes, having them tire each other out is great! Our 2 youngest dogs are a year apart and having it is nice that they have each other to play with.

And as some have mentioned, crate training rocks!!! All ours are crate trained and it's such a relief knowing I'm not going to come home to my house destroyed or one of them injured from playing and running into the coffee table (our dogs are slugs but when they get going, they get severe tunnel vision...hence why we have some drywall missing on the corners of the walls!!!!)

MancilG said:

I would say get it now, highly recommend crate training

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yup........

x2 for the crate traning for teh dogs. Not sure if it would be a good idea for one or two crates, but regardless, do it. Also, do the puppy school at the very least. Your dog will see that youre the boss and it will make life much easier for everyone.
you should also invest in a few crates of tennis balls and a Kong or three for chewy goodness

Learned something the other day... since we are in a doggy thread here. Our new pup likes just about any kind of food. Well I figured I'd buy her some super good to help her grow up fast and get lots of vitamins and sh!t. For 2 weeks she has had the runny sh!ts. Just yesterday her high end food ran out so to replace it we went back to Purina puppy chow and now... no more runny sh!ts. All praise the cheap dog food, screw that classy science crap.

As for this crate training thing... I've heard of it but it sounds kind of crappy for the dog, in a crate all day? We are training our pup in a 2 step method. First we had her confined to the kitchen when she was about 7-9 weeks. Had the whole kitched covered in newspaper. Now we have a small patch of newspaper in the kitchen that she knows to crap on. We are slowly training her to go outside... if we see her go toward the kitchen we let her outside until she does her thing. The hard part is when we are both at work. She's a pup so she has to go at least once while we are gone, she uses the newspaper and all but hopefully she will lear to hold it when she's old enough to be able to.

golgiaparatus said:

Learned something the other day... since we are in a doggy thread here. Our new pup likes just about any kind of food. Well I figured I'd buy her some super good to help her grow up fast and get lots of vitamins and sh!t. For 2 weeks she has had the runny sh!ts. Just yesterday her high end food ran out so to replace it we went back to Purina puppy chow and now... no more runny sh!ts. All praise the cheap dog food, screw that classy science crap.

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hooples, please don't feed your puppies any food that has _____ BY PRODUCT as the first ingredient - ie: purina puppy chow. and stay away from corn - it's a filler and it goes right throw animals as it does humans.

Do you plan on taking your dog for bike rides? Labs are great when young but they cant handle it very long. Having 2 pups at once will be difficult to keep their attention on anything but each other. I have a cattle dog and she can run at speed for 3-4 hours. She is very smart. about 38lbs and loves to ride in the car. She is very protective as well. just tie her leash to you bike and no one else will ever ride away with it. Unless they shoot her.

golgiaparatus said:

Well I figured I'd buy her some super good to help her grow up fast and get lots of vitamins and sh!t. For 2 weeks she has had the runny sh!ts. Just yesterday her high end food ran out so to replace it we went back to Purina puppy chow and now... no more runny sh!ts. All praise the cheap dog food, screw that classy science crap.

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Well you have a find a good food that agrees with your dog. Even the best food can give a certain dog the runs. Feeding your dog Purina Puppy Chow would be like you eating pizza and Spaghetti-o's every day. Sure it's food, but it's a lousy diet. Your dog will eat anything you put of front of her. It's YOUR job to make sure what she is eating is healthy.

BTW, if the food gave her the "runny sh!ts", maybe you should have stopped feeding it to her after two days.

Eukanuba is a really respected brand, Iams is its less expensive cousin. I prefer Nutro Lamb and rice comes in a green bag, very easy on the digestive system and its reasonably priced. You can try kirklands lamb and rice its about half the price and I think its made by Eukanuba/Iams. My dog is picky so she wont eat it.

Crate training is probably the best thing you can do for your dog. The way it was explained to me by a professional trainer is that the crate actually becomes a safe haven for you dog as they get older...kinda like when a teenager hides out in their room. I work from home now so the only time she is in the box is if we happen to be gone for more than 3 hours(about 4 times a month). But for a while she would spend 8-10hours during the day and another 6-7 at night. Seems cruel but really it isnt. I would talk with a pro about crating them together, I would imagine it would be ok for a little while but at some point they would probably need to be seperate im not sure.

It is hard at first kinda like letting your baby cry but sooooooo worth it. my pup destroyed about $2k in furniture and carpet before I stuck with it. I was on the verge of getting rid of her.

our dog was housetrained in 3 weeks as a 7 month old puppy using the crate method. get home, immediately let the dog outside and wait until they do their buisness. feed them and put it back in teh crate for 45 minutes. take it out of the crate and immediately outside again. rinse and repeat
never went in the crate and only had maybe 3-5 accidents in the house after that
a dog wont crap where it sleeps.

We feed our pup Innova Evo. It's expensive...like $50 for the biggest bag. The first two ingredients are chicken and turkey.

I Are Baboon said:

Part of the reason we got a fully grown greyhound was so we wouldn't have to deal with training puppies....retireds greyhound come house trained.

I do think it's a good idea to wait until you can spend enough time with them.

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Yep, my cousin got two of those Greyhounds right off the race circuit.
They are awesome, but they are the laziest dogs I have ever seen.
I guess they ran enough for one lifetime.
I liked them, but I have a chocolate lab, so I can't get used to the size of their tiny heads.ink:

And to the guy wanting a chocolate Lab puppy. Be careful what you wish for. I hope you have extensive training working with crack monkeys, because that is what they are like.
Wouldn't trade him though.

It's true that the lab is not the best dog to run along on a mountain bike ride. My roomate's dog (90lbs chocolate) is pretty fit and strong but still doesnt have the endurance to run long enough for a mountain bike ride. Im hoping to get a pup this summer, not sure what breed yet. I almost adopted a stray that Digger (the lab) brought home a few months ago, but I was short of cash and she ended up going to a good home. Good luck with the pups, it's rough at first but you get used to it and they grow up much faster than kids! Digger just turned one year and we can leave him alone in the house all day and he wont hurt a thing. I believe they did use the crate alot at first but he's a very quick learner so I dont think they had to do it for long.

A food I learned about through the greyhound rescue I work at is called NutraNuggets Lamb and Rice(not Nutro). It doesn't have corn in it, but it does have wheat although in moderation (actual meat and several types of rice are list first). It also contains good stuff like flax seed, glucosamine, egg, brewers yeast, fish protein, and lots of vitamins.

It is available only at a couple stores (fred meyers being one of them) and only costs between 17-21 per 40lb bag. A lot of the volunteers who foster use it because some of them have anywhere between 3-10 dogs they are fostering, not to mention their own so the high dollar food just isn't an option.

The NutraNuggets Lamb and Rice is almost identical to several of the high quality/high dollar foods, but at not nearly the cost. One of my dogs can't eat anything else or her tummy goes crazy. Compared to many foods, it also produces the smallest and least "dog by product" if you know what I mean. My vet tells me this is the difference a lot of times between good/bad foods. With the good foods, a higher percetage is actual usable food, and therefor more is getting absorbed in digestion (which means you also don't have to feed as much as some foods because more of it is being used). Bad foods that are high in fillers yield the largest yard bombs because more of it is undigestable, and you have to feed more of it.

So the cheap food often times isn't as cheap as one thinks because you have to pick up more dog poo, and you have to feed way more to give your dog the nutrition they need every day.

hooples3 said:

well i dont have them yet.. but any suggestions???

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Just read the labels!

GOOD LUCK!

Crate train them. My brothers dog Leo is crate trained and he loves going in the crate. You go to the dog treat bowl, break off half a treat, and he tears @ss up the stairs and is waiting in the crate by the time you get up there.

Get the dog now. Puppies are tons of work, but now that mine's a year old, he's more just like a roommate and ride partner. I crate trained him, but I dont know that its really the best method. If you had time to monitor him constantly and just take him outside whenever he had to pee or ****, it'd be much more comfortable for the dog...though the crate training does work.
As for food, my dog eats the petsmart brand "authority" and seems to suit him fine.
As for obedience training....meh.
I took my dog for the first few sessions and then figured out it was just a waste of time. They way most of these places teach, your dog will rarely obey you unless you constantly keep a pocketful of treats. Training a dog is a fairly simple thing to do and paying some "expert" hundreds to bribe your dog hardly seems worth it to me.
Just my 2 cents.

BurlyShirley said:

As for food, my dog eats the petsmart brand "authority" and seems to suit him fine.

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from petsmart's website: "Made with high quality chicken for great taste and nutrition. No by-products, artificial colors, or flavors. Naturally preserved with Vitamin E. Highly digestible for better nutrition and less backyard clean-up. 100% complete and balanced. 2 kibble sizes: chunks and mini-chunks. "

If you are going to be at home in the afternoons then I would get them now. Like someone already mentioned you dont want them to suffer seperation problems as this is when they start to destroy stuff.
If you are home for some of the day then you can train/spend time with them but also get them used to the fact that you both come and go and thats ok.
Crate train them, had never heard of it till I moved to the US but I swear by it, our dog loves her crate. We take it when we go away and she sleeps in it when we are camping/at races etc and she seems to feel safe in it. On that if you get two dogs then give them seperate crates, its not good to lock two dogs no matter how big in a small space together, it leads to aggressiveness towards each other for dominace, each dog needs its own space just like humans.
Anyway thats my Two cents.

BurlyShirley said:

Get the dog now. Puppies are tons of work, but now that mine's a year old, he's more just like a roommate and ride partner. I crate trained him, but I dont know that its really the best method. If you had time to monitor him constantly and just take him outside whenever he had to pee or ****, it'd be much more comfortable for the dog...though the crate training does work.
As for food, my dog eats the petsmart brand "authority" and seems to suit him fine.
As for obedience training....meh.
I took my dog for the first few sessions and then figured out it was just a waste of time. They way most of these places teach, your dog will rarely obey you unless you constantly keep a pocketful of treats. Training a dog is a fairly simple thing to do and paying some "expert" hundreds to bribe your dog hardly seems worth it to me.
Just my 2 cents.

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I have a german shepard, all it took was once telling her "bad dog" for peeing in the house, and a couple of "good dog"s for going outside and she was trained.

Reactor said:

I have a german shepard, all it took was once telling her "bad dog" for peeing in the house, and a couple of "good dog"s for going outside and she was trained.

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Some dogs definitely respond better to verbal discipline. Greyhounds are very sensitive to any kind of discipline. Usually a firm "NO!" and ours will cower in the corner. She learned really quick that way that the cats are off limits.

I Are Baboon said:

Some dogs definitely respond better to verbal discipline. Greyhounds are very sensitive to any kind of discipline. Usually a firm "NO!" and ours will cower in the corner. She learned really quick that way that the cats are off limits.

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I bet those cats had a hard time getting away from your dog. My bro in law has a badass Pittbull. The ones with the longer legs and the giant head. He looks like a GQ model dog, super muscular and really stout looking. I'd faint if I saw that dog coming at me... anyway, the dog was in town with the bro in law and as soon as they got out of the car he spotted sis inlaws really overweight cat and was off in a flash snarling and barking. Personally I thought the cat was dead meat but fatso managed to haul some major butt and get in a crevice that frosty (the pitt) couldnt fit.

Aparently he HATES cats and there is absolutely no stopping him once he see's one. His eyes roll back and he loses it, he's like the incredible hulk. When he see's a cat he becomes a different dog. Josh (bro in law) described him as the Shark in Nemo... he's cool until he smells blood (or in his case cat) then he freaks.

Our dog just tries to play with the cat and the cat runs and jumps up somewhere she cant get at him. I'm a little scared for him when she gets older and large.

2 puppies is a lot of work. Crate training is for people who don't know how to train their dogs. Obedience training is to train you how to train your dog. It's a lot of work, but it pays off in the end.

golgiaparatus said:

I bet those cats had a hard time getting away from your dog. My bro in law has a badass Pittbull.......

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Heh heh.....our cats don't try to get away. They want to be friends with the dog. We had to teach the dog that the cats are not a snack. It's worked too well because now the dog won't go near the cats out of fear of being yelled at.

A greyhound has a bit different temperament than a pitbull. A pitbull thinks "CAT. EAT." A greyhound thinks "Kitty...looks yummy...but I don't want to get yelled at."

Flakey Jake said:

2 puppies is a lot of work. Crate training is for people who don't know how to train their dogs. Obedience training is to train you how to train your dog. It's a lot of work, but it pays off in the end.

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Most of the best behaved and well trained dogs are crate trained. Has nothing to do with not being able to train your dog. Seperately I would trust ours to be left alone in the house but together I can't leave them uncrated because I don't want to come home to one of them hurt because they started playing and rough-housing. They start running around and could accidentally hit the coffee table, the corner of a wall, slide on the hardwood floors into a wall, or have one of them wind up with a broken leg. They go into their crates without a fuss. We just tell them "everybody in" and in they go and they patiently wait for the treats they know are coming. Even when we're home they very often hang out and lay/sleep in their crates.

Using crates has nothing to do with our ability to train our dogs (because I really don't want to train them not to play...their dogs, dogs play) but it has to do with wanting to come to a dog that is safe and happy.

Velocity Girl said:

We just tell them "everybody in" and in they go and they patiently wait for the treats they know are coming. Even when we're home they very often hang out and lay/sleep in their crates.

Using crates has nothing to do with our ability to train our dogs ....

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Our dog runs and skids into the walls trying to get to the kennel at night so she can get her bed time treat. She loves the kennel. She also goes there on her own volition when she gets in trouble for hassling the cats or the garbage can. We never tell her to go there. I guess she thinks that nobody will yell at her if she's sleeping quietly in her crate.

I would call that pretty well trained. Wouldn't you?

My dog has one of these crates. He is free durring the day and sleeps in it @ night. He also will go in there when he wants to feel safe & hide. It's more like a tent/playhouse than a kennel.

jdschall said:

Our dog runs and skids into the walls trying to get to the kennel at night so she can get her bed time treat. She loves the kennel. She also goes there on her own volition when she gets in trouble for hassling the cats or the garbage can. We never tell her to go there. I guess she thinks that nobody will yell at her if she's sleeping quietly in her crate.

I would call that pretty well trained. Wouldn't you?

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Exactly...People who use them effectively are not doing so because they can't train their dogs or to avoid training them (as Flakey Jake said). And even better, when you travel or visit, you can always have a piece of the dogs "home" that they can feel safe and secure in.

we got roxi @ 5 mos. old & she was house broken the first week & didnt chew anything, or destroy anything, but we were with her A LOT for the first few weeks. We were both working opposite schedules so someone was always home. I suggest waiting until you have enough time or the experience could be sour. Just ask Toshi.

Get a big crate, we got one when our lab was a puppy, it was for "meduim size dogs." Well our lab topped out at 110 pounds (no hes not even fat) and its safe to say he does not fit in the crate anymore.

Flakey Jake said:

2 puppies is a lot of work. Crate training is for people who don't know how to train their dogs. Obedience training is to train you how to train your dog. It's a lot of work, but it pays off in the end.

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Excrement dealer?

Obedience training is great. One of the clients at a clinic I worked at in Nashville taught obedience classes. Two different times his chow bit me while being boarded at the clinic and it eventually had to be put down for biting house guests.

As for this crate training thing... I've heard of it but it sounds kind of crappy for the dog, in a crate all day?

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I'd like to add this to the other good comments about crates. Dogs are by nature den sleepers. If they lived in the wild they would be sleeping in dens, burrows or small caves. A crate is a modern day equivilant to a den. When you properly crate train a dog, it feels safe and secure in it's crate, plus it protects your hours if they are prone to nervous destruction of property.

gg

Good for you. A good friend of mine picked up a German short-hair puppy last week. Its 8 weeks old yesterday. At that age the thing sleeps most of the time. It came from a good breeder and is almost fully house trained. No significant accidents yet. The breeder trained them on paper from the very beginning. Mostly the thing just sleeps so they don't seem to need much hands-on care early on. When it does play, its for a couple of hours and then its back sound asleep. I want one so bad now that I have no choice but to tell you to get one. With 2, it'll be that much easier keeping them from getting lonely. Buying from a good breeder also seems to be a very good idea. The good ones seem to develop friendships rather than just client relationships.

EDIT: I've also heard good things about crating. WHile "Don't s* where you sleep" is easily learned, it'll still pee. My friend had planned on crating but so far hasn't had to.

As I said, my dog was crate trained and overall It did a good job of making sure he didnt mess the house either by chewing or defecating all over it...but my issues with the training have more to do with that the training relies on a necessary constant. The crate (obviously).
I take the approach now that the dog is a part of my family and shouldnt be locked in a confined space either as punishment or reward. If I go camping, my dog feels secure being with his "pack" not a crate. I dont want to lug one around and I dont want for my dog to want me to. He sleeps at the foot of my bed and wakes me whenever there's a disturbance outside. He sleeps next to me when I camp just the same.
The crate just isnt necessary for a well trained dog. Yes, its an easy tool, but for my tastes, it doesnt work for the way I want my dog to be.
Constant attention, repitition and consistency are the best tools around and will work wonders.