Bringing home a new pup

True dat on the digging thing. Our C.J. was just a Beagle mix but she showed all the Beagle traits. And when she got bored, she'd tear up just about anything. If you value your shoes, don't leave them on the floor. In fact, don't leave much that he can reach without having to climb. C.J. (my roomie named her, short for "Calamity Jane" and, boy, did it ever fit) would start on CD boxes if left alone too long.

When she was calm, she was sweet as anything, though.

 

two nevers: never feed that dog human food and never hit the dog ... ever.

99 times out of 100: if the dog fucks up, it's because you allowed the dog to fuck up. don't want him to eat your good leather shoes ... don't leave them out. be smarter than the dog. one thing i learned with my rott pup was if you want to use corrective modeling, you can grab the pup on the back of the neck, where the fat is and give it a gentle shake, like its mother would, and tell it no.

and don't let your single friends fuck with it. they'll undo a month's worth of training in an hour.

enjoy.

 

Damn you, Versatile.

 

At six weeks old, I'd feel bad leaving the poor thing alone for more than hour. When it's a little older, it'll get on a more regular routine, but you've got to build the routine. You set the access to food and water, and you walk at the same times. If the housebreaking is good, it'll be good for three to four hours. I wouldn't leave a dog any longer than that until it's at least six months old.

Beagles are often barkers/howlers. That would worry me in an apartment.

Good luck with it. Dogs are great.
We have a pointer we adopted when she was about 1. The other family couldn't keep her. Great dog.

 

No, no he does not. But I want him to. Or I want that dog.

 

Petty is dead on. ALWAYS realize anything the dog does is it's nature, and it's YOUR responsibility to make him happy and healthy and learn. Any failings in training are not the dog's fault, they're yours. It's why dogs are so draining. Winston has made me doubt myself many times over the past 10 months, but I wouldn't trade him for anything.

I call Winston a pug/bassett mix, but I'm pretty sure he has some beagle in there too. He has beagle eyes and boy oh boy does he love to dig. Thankfully I don't have a fence (first time I've ever said that) so when he starts, I can stop him with a quick tug on the leash and a "NO DIGS!" and he runs away from that area.

One recommendation for food: Make sure the first ingredient is always a protein. Chicken, beef, duck, something. The really cheap foods load up with flours, and your dog won't get the nutrients it needs. ALL the foods at my grocery store have wheat or flour as the first ingredient, so I buy food at Petsmart. They have them sorted into three rows ... cheap, better and best. I buy from the middle row, and right now he's on Nature's Recipe Grain Free Easy to Digest chicken, sweet potato and pumpkin. The 14-pound bag is about $30 and lasts him about a month. He gets 3/4 to 1 cup a meal, twice a day. He LOVES it.

 

Nothing pisses me off more than seeing someone beat their dog, especially when it's just a pup. I am all for a law that says what they did to the dog should be done back to them. Disgusting.

The howling I'm a bit worried about, too, and I'm hoping that if I can get him comfortable in his kennel as young as possible, then maybe he'll see it as a safe place for when I'm gone and not howl. A friend of mine trained her Beagle that way and as long as she puts him in his kennel while she's gone, she said he's great; it's when she leaves him out to freely roam the apartment that the neighbors start to complain. We'll see how it goes.

 

Favorite part of this discussion:
Mr. C leaves Animal Planet or NatGeo for the dogs.
As if they'd be unhappy with QVC or Logo.

 

Be sure to puppy proof your apartment. Anything on the floor or within reach is a chewing opportunity so should be things that can safely be chewed and are things that you want him to chew.

IJAG's advice on dog food is right. The cheap foods have a bunch of filler crap in them which is why you end up feeding more to get equivalent nutrition to more expensive food. More crap food in also results in more crap out. I am pretty sure that the breeder of my younger dog told me proplan was the best food to buy if I was in a pinch and had to do grocery store food.

Like gingerbread, I question the breeder's willingness to place a six week old puppy. Any chance you could leave him with his mom a few more weeks?

 

That sounds delicious.

 

D_K, Do you have a neighbor that you're friends with or that you trust in your building? It might be a good idea to talk to them and see if they'd be amenable to checking on your dog the first few weeks if you're going to be gone more than a few hours. That way, you'll know how your dog is doing with the crate training the first few weeks and whether or not he's howling a lot while you're gone.

Also, when you're transitioning him for food, make sure to mix in old food and new food, especially if you're going from a puppy food to one that's high in protein. Some animal's stomachs aren't able to handle the really high protein foods without some adjustment. Also, get food recommendations from your vet. They'll be able to tell you what's legit and what isn't, while still being able to give you recommendations so you won't break the bank.

 

With socialization, don't let your puppy around other puppies because they can transmite disease. Your dog needs to be about 6 months old when it can handle being around other puppies.
With your crate, make sure the dog has room to only turn around to sit and sleep. The closer it is to food/water it won't shit or piss near it (unless you are gone for a really long time). When I got my dog, I did this and it worked like a charm. Only time it didn't was when I could get home for 10 hours and he had to go.
Also, this is key, remove the water bowl from his crate at night. It will save you a couple hours of sleep the first couple months. I didn't do this, initially, and I paid for it because my dog had to piss every two hours.
Leash train the dog immediately and enroll in obedience classes ASAP. You'll learn good tools to train the dog.