Dog owners, need advice on a new puppy

Overboost

Overboost

Forum Member
As the title states, we get our golden retriever puppy on the 30th. This is our first dog together, and, while we've both grown up with dogs (I've had labs, she's had shelties), I'm just looking for advice, suggestions, recommendations on stuff to use to put us in the best position possible to have a good, well behaved dog. Thanks in advance for any help.
 
Buy a crate. Read up on crate training. Set boundaries, limits. No puppies on the bed/furniture....ever.
Keep the dog secure at all times.... inside or out.
Its a animal, not a human, expect it to behave like one.
 
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Detroit Gearbox said:
Buy a crate. Read up on crate training. Set boundaries, limits. No puppies on the bed/furniture....ever.
Keep the dog secure at all times.... inside or out.
Its a animal, not a human, expect it to behave like one.
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Picked up a crate today. And I'm in agreement about the furniture and bed. Thanks for the advice.
 
Walks, walks, walks. My nearly 4 year old has only missed a daily walk 3-4 times in his life, despite the weather. We go out every single day, no matter what the weather or life situation is. Too many dogs never or don't get out. It's good for all, meet neighbors, got socialized with other dogs, and most importantly, give them the time away from their own yard.

There's a level of respect you get back from a dog when you give them what they need everyday. My dog never gets crated, he doesn't need it. He knows he's going on a walk everyday, and he can burn off energy there...or chasing squirells.
 
04GoaT said:
Walks, walks, walks. My nearly 4 year old has only missed a daily walk 3-4 times in his life, despite the weather. We go out every single day, no matter what the weather or life situation is. Too many dogs never or don't get out. It's good for all, meet neighbors, got socialized with other dogs, and most importantly, give them the time away from their own yard.

There's a level of respect you get back from a dog when you give them what they need everyday. My dog never gets crated, he doesn't need it. He knows he's going on a walk everyday, and he can burn off energy there...or chasing squirells.
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Cool, thanks.

Here's a pic of her at 4.5 weeks. Her name is Shelby.
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If you walk in the winter make sure you clean the paws, the road salt isn't good for them. Also, buy Kong chew toys. While pricey they are almost impossible to destroy.
What are everyone's thoughts on the Invisible Fence?
 
Invisible fence is probably second inline to an actual fence. Look into a fence, nice addition to any property. Even look into padlocking the fence because dog thiefs do exsist.

Run the pup along side your bike. Walking is for the birds....ummm... biking is fun...er...

we did the Mega March this morning with our lab Frank. A few thousand dogs on Belle Isle made for a fun morning.
 
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mrvids said:
If you walk in the winter make sure you clean the paws, the road salt isn't good for them. Also, buy Kong chew toys. While pricey they are almost impossible to destroy.
What are everyone's thoughts on the Invisible Fence?
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A co-worker has Invisible Fence for her two dogs and swears by it. It does sometimes take some getting used to. One of her dogs bolted through it and was petrified to come back anywhere near it. IF came back out and adjusted it free of charge, and it never happened again. There's also a house near us with four dogs and invisible fence. There's a rut around the edge of their yard where they run. They go up and stop and know their limits, but just bark and fight one another.
 
Our new place forbids fences, so we will have to go invisible. I'm dreading that lesson, cause our pup has always had free reign for almost 4 years
 
We crate trained our Golden Retriever.

Once he hit 2 years old, he finally calmed down.
Great dog now. Very protective of my wife and daughter, which is exactly what I wanted, but, I can take him to the local parade and he is perfectly behaved in the very crowded area and with children, adults, etc...
 
But Goldens need to stretch their legs at least once a day.

Grab a tennis ball/frisbee and tire him/her out.

Mines about 105-110lbs right now. He was always on the big side.
 
Don't ever teach them to jump up on you. Punch whoever tries.

Take them for car rides early on so when you have to it isn't a big deal.

No food from the table and force them to sit at the entry way to the kitchen / dining room when you are eating. Our dog would not cross the invisible line with a simple ah ah.

Figure out and use a unique whistle with your dog from a pup. They'll listen and recognize it all their life. My kids even come to it. LOL and my wife when we're at the store. Don't have to yell names. Hahaha

Get them use to walking next to you on a leash never leading you.
 
wikdsvt said:
We crate trained our Golden Retriever.

Once he hit 2 years old, he finally calmed down.
Great dog now. Very protective of my wife and daughter, which is exactly what I wanted, but, I can take him to the local parade and he is perfectly behaved in the very crowded area and with children, adults, etc...
Click to expand...
Do you let him roam around now that he's calmed down? We'd like to let ours roam the house, but the bedrooms are off limits. The breeder told us 18-24 months before that's a good idea. Also, we were told to do it in stages to see if she gets anxious and destructive.
 
Does anyone use a gentle leader or a harness as opposed to their collar for walking them? I've heard of some using it to break them of trying to pull.
 
We have one of those front attached harnesses and it works good. It pulls the dogs shoulders sideways, makes him off balance when they pull. I like it. My dog still pulls too much when other dogs are around. Desperate to sniff a butt.

I'd also reccomend taking her to a day care place once a week for a period of time. They ammass a lot of dogs, similar size, to play, get used to other dogs. We did this on fridays and frank was dead tired for the next few nights. It allow us to easily go out on a friday night.
 
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