New Lab, New to owning

[CHeK15]

Hey everyone, my name is Caitlynn & tomorrow i am bringing home a 9week old black lab retriever named Loki
My main questions are regarding food. As in, the amounts to be giving, how many feeds during the day, is there a chart based on weight? I will ask the breeder tomorrow how much shes been feeding the puppies & later on the vet, but any advice from you experienced owners would be greatly appreciated. My little guy was the smallest of the litter, but has quickly been growing into his large paws; the breeder has told me that he will most likely be the largest of the group once hes full size, so thats exciting hahah
I am so ready to start this long and tough journey with training him. My only other question is crate training in the first few nights that i have him home. I will be crate training him, however, for the first few nights ive been told by some friend dog owners that having them in your bed is okay as they may be anxious with the new surroundings & missing their family. Are you not worried about pee mistakes in your bed though? Or whats a better solution to be nearer to them?
Anything helps

[barry581]

Welcome to the board!

1. Your breeder should provide you with all the info on what food to feed, quantity, and frequency. Amounts could vary depending on the food, but at this age feeding at least 3 times per day. Their intake will increase pretty rapidly as they grow, you'll likely be adding as much as 1/2 to 1 full cup every 7-10 days. They can put on as much as 2-3 pounds per week up til 6-7 months.

2. Size at 8 weeks has no correlation to size when full grown.

3. Start crate training from day 1. Yes the pup will cry, whine and carry on the first few days while in the crate, and hopefully your breeder has already introduced the crate so it won't be such a big deal. Even if they haven't, it's still not a big deal. Take a couple of old towels with you to pick up the pup, and rub them all over the pup's mom and any siblings that are still there. Put this in the crate with the pup when you get home, it will give the puppy familiar smells and help him settle in.

There is no way I'd put a small puppy in bed with me, for several reasons. Once they are in your bed, you'll never get them out. Second, there is danger that the pup could fall off the bed and injure itself. Third, you could roll over onto the pup and injure it.

You can always set the crate up in your bedroom, which is convenient as you'll be able to hear them when they need to go out. And they will need to go out at least 2-3 per night the first few nights. Once they settle in to a routine, you may still have to get up once a night to let them out as the have little tiny bladders and can't hold it very long. Most dogs will not go where they sleep, so get a kennel with a adjustable inner panel so you can increase the size as the puppy grows.

I won't lie to you, the first couple weeks can be rough. Lab puppies can be pretty horrible with the jumping and biting and chewing, but with a LOT of patience and love, they quickly grown up to be amazing companions.

Raising a Lab puppy is not a destination, it's a journey, you'll have ups and downs, there will be days when you wonder what the hell you got yourself into, and there will be other days you'll just laugh and be amazed at what a great dog you have. Enjoy your journey, there's really nothing better.

[SunDance]

Hello and welcome!

I agree with Barry....two small things to add.

Crating whining. If you hide somewhere close but where Loki can't see you, you can say (firm voice) "No" the second you hear a whimper start. Repeat. You will probably have to do this no more than four or five cratings before he gets the message that the minute he thinks about whining, the unseen voice will tell him "no". You can hear the whimper start when it's still just a change in breathing. I've found preempting the whine to be much more effective than reacting to it. When you react, he's getting the attention he seeks.

Firm voice. Not mean or loud, just assertive. If you use a passive voice, you'll get no respect. [My husband couldn't have trained a dog if his life depended on it. Only our last dog....the smartest of any I've ever had...was so agreeable and intuitive that he actually responded to Bob's half-hearted commands. Most of the time. When Bob actually remembered to attach a command to Dan's name.]

Good luck. We look forward to meeting Loki.

[smartrock]

Loki- a wily trickster. If you're a first time owner, you have no idea how apt this name will seem in a few weeks! I agree with what has been said above. I always put my puppies in a crate from their first night but I have a crate beside my bed for a new puppy so I can take them outside if I hear them start to get restless. It may mean 2-3 trips outside at first. Just remember, you're taking them out in the middle of the night for one reason only, to pee and/or poop. Not play time, not cuddle time, not treat time. You don't want them to think they need to wake you up to play in the middle of the night every night. It doesn't usually take more than a couple of weeks before they can sleep through the night.

[Snowshoe]

Welcome to the board. Barry has given you some very good tips and the others have added good ones too. I will likely be odd one out but I am not a fan of traditional crate training. As experienced owners told me I ignored the crying and whining the first night till I couldn't stand it any longer. I found my puppy in the crate at recommended size, big enough for him to lie down in, covered in pee. Soaked. He had his first bath that night. I learned he only cried for a very good reason. I made the crate as big as I could and I left the door open but the crate was in our gated kitchen. That way he could, and did, leave the crate to potty, pee or poop, out in the wider space of the kitchen. This only happened a few times as I still heard him rustling when he needed outside, which he did twice a night for the first month and half. For the next month he only needed out once a night. In winter. In an unusually cold and snowy winter. I left boots, coat and mitts by the door. Huge caveat, puppies can wreck your kitchen and injure themselves doing so. The first puppy was crated in a pen we built. The first puppy, the warm spring puppy, didn't need out at night at all. Figures the winter puppy would be the one to need out.

[Black Labbies]

Hi, welcome to the board and congrats on your new puppy, Loki, coming tomorrow!!! Exciting for you and Loki to begin a future together!

We're not new to Lab puppies, but have a new puppy as well. Expect to have FUN with Loki, but also a lot of work. Once you get a nice routine going, it becomes second nature.

As for the food. Follow what your breeder is feeding and use the times and amounts. Don't follow what the kibble bag says, as they want you to overfeed and buy more and more.

Crates; we have one puppy and 3 crates going for her - 1 for night-time sleeping, 1 for daytime naps (in her expen), and 1 for transporting her in the car. Puppies need crates to den-up in, much like wolves, etc. Loki will feel safer in his crate then on your bed, and he'll adjust quicker to his crate than you think. It took Loua 2 nights in her crate and she was/is happy.

We buy cheap, used crates on Kijiji and either keep or resell them when puppy outgrows them. I bought a really nice crate for $40.00 on Kijiji 6 weeks ago knowing that Loua would outgrow her wee puppy crate in a few weeks. Both our Labs sleep in my room in their crates, this way if they need to go potty during the night, I'm right there to take her outside. Be forewarned though, Labs snore LOUDLY, lol.

Have FUN with Loki and post lots of pictures of him .