# What to expect...



## kashcheema (Apr 11, 2020)

Hi all, firstly this forum is awesome, thank you for your input.

I pick up my little puppy at 8.5 weeks at the end of May. We have 2 little kids (6 and 4) and am almost dreading how we’ll cope! Can i ask you experienced and seasoned veterans what a typical day should consist of in the first couple of weeks which i suspect will be the hardest to nurture him. I wake up at 5a, leave for work in London at 6a and my wife and the kids wake at 7.30a for school. Should i wake a little earlier and take him outside for potty and bring him back in to play for a while and then leave for work, or should i leave him asleep (if he remains asleep!) and let my wife deal with it. So many questions and i really don’t know the answers!

Many thanks


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

kashcheema said:


> Hi all, firstly this forum is awesome, thank you for your input.
> 
> I pick up my little puppy at 8.5 weeks at the end of May. We have 2 little kids (6 and 4) and am almost dreading how we'll cope! Can i ask you experienced and seasoned veterans what a typical day should consist of in the first couple of weeks which i suspect will be the hardest to nurture him. I wake up at 5a, leave for work in London at 6a and my wife and the kids wake at 7.30a for school. Should i wake a little earlier and take him outside for potty and bring him back in to play for a while and then leave for work, or should i leave him asleep (if he remains asleep!) and let my wife deal with it. So many questions and i really don't know the answers!
> 
> ...


I hate to tell you this, but having a new puppy is like having an infant child. You are sort of on the newborn's schedule. You can't decide ahead of time. You are going to have to see what your puppy needs and work around that. The GOOD news is that they don't STAY puppies for NEARLY as long as kids stay kids. So try to relax, go with the flow, and take lots of photos.


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## Wulfin (May 3, 2019)

And something to be aware of too.. there is something called the Puppy Blues.. kind of like the Baby Blues..where you will wonder WHY WHY WHY you got a puppy because.. it can be HARD. Denver was the easiest puppy we've had..but there were still times when I felt like banging my head against the wall 

Karen's advice is good. I know I had all these plans, thoughts on what had to be done, what we needed to do, etc etc.. and then when I relaxed and just let stuff happen and not be so "on guard", life got easier. The only thing I didn't relax was going outside every 30 mins while awake. LOL.  Just roll with it


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

kashcheema said:


> I wake up at 5a, leave for work in London at 6a and my wife and the kids wake at 7.30a for school. Should i wake a little earlier and take him outside for potty and bring him back in to play for a while and then leave for work


On behalf of your wife, YES PLEASE! Please don't leave her with a 4 and 6 year old to get ready on her own and a puppy who hasn't gone potty yet and has been holding it all night. She's still going to have to take him out, but at least it won't be as urgent in the middle of the morning chaos.

I really suggest setting up a schedule like you've suggested, to continue through the day. Since you're kids are so young, they aren't going to be taking the puppy out, but it's going to directly impact their routine, and it will help if they're invested in "helping" with the puppy's schedule. It will be a lot easier on the puppy, young children, and you as parents, to have a potty and puppy schedule that fits in with your routine.

Like Karen said, you'll have to be flexible. But I still think you can have a schedule and it will be helpful, it just needs to be adjusted based on the puppy's individual needs. It doesn't need to be really rigid. But it does help to have an outline and revisit it frequently as the puppy needs to go out less often, etc. And know there will still be times when he might wake you up to go potty once in a while.

It is overwhelming at first, but it becomes worth it very quickly. That play time before work will help you connect with the puppy and it won't feel like as much of a hassle.


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

Trying to think of an example, but for instance if your kids’ routine is 
Dress
breakfast
brush teeth
backpacks

You might try: 

Puppy potty
breakfast
Dress
brush teeth
backpacks
Puppy potty 
play with puppy for 5 minutes if ready on time

But you might find if your kids don’t dress quickly, maybe be needs to go potty again right after breakfast, and you need to make adjustments, etc.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Wulfin said:


> And something to be aware of too.. there is something called the Puppy Blues.. kind of like the Baby Blues..where you will wonder WHY WHY WHY you got a puppy because.. it can be HARD. Denver was the easiest puppy we've had..but there were still times when I felt like banging my head against the wall
> 
> Karen's advice is good. I know I had all these plans, thoughts on what had to be done, what we needed to do, etc etc.. and then when I relaxed and just let stuff happen and not be so "on guard", life got easier. The only thing I didn't relax was going outside every 30 mins while awake. LOL.  Just roll with it


I'll second that! With all three of ours, there was at least one early morning (or mid-afternoon) when we thought, "WHAT have we DONE?!?!?"

Then... You remember there is a REASON they are so.darned.cute. Because if they weren't, we'd just go right out and drown them! LOL!


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## kashcheema (Apr 11, 2020)

Thank you all for your responses, so kind. Thankfully I have recent experience of dealing with little ones! Like mentioned I think I’ll wake up 30mins earlier and take him out for potty. Should I wake him if he is asleep though? We definitely need a routine and I’m sure we’ll get in the swing of things. I remember being more scared than ever when both of mine were born and we’re a-ok right now! He is definitely a cutie, he is only 3 weeks old. I get weekly updates from the breeder every weekend so I will post a pic on here soon. 


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

kashcheema said:


> Thank you all for your responses, so kind. Thankfully I have recent experience of dealing with little ones! Like mentioned I think I'll wake up 30mins earlier and take him out for potty. Should I wake him if he is asleep though? We definitely need a routine and I'm sure we'll get in the swing of things. I remember being more scared than ever when both of mine were born and we're a-ok right now! He is definitely a cutie, he is only 3 weeks old. I get weekly updates from the breeder every weekend so I will post a pic on here soon.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


It's pretty unlikely that he will sleep through you getting up.


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## kashcheema (Apr 11, 2020)

krandall said:


> It's pretty unlikely that he will sleep through you getting up.


Can't wait till the end of May. Thank you. 5 hour drive to collect him though 

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## Wulfin (May 3, 2019)

You'll be fine  Plan some stops on the way home  We had an hour and 45 minutes and had to stop about an hour in


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## kashcheema (Apr 11, 2020)

Wife will probably sit in the back with him and yes we will probably make about 3-4 stops at service stations to allow him to drink some water and for us to use the bathroom facilities. He’ll probably wee himself in the car so we’ll lay out pads on the back seats!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

kashcheema said:


> Wife will probably sit in the back with him and yes we will probably make about 3-4 stops at service stations to allow him to drink some water and for us to use the bathroom facilities. He'll probably wee himself in the car so we'll lay out pads on the back seats!
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


You should have him in a crate for his own safety, and he will likely let you know if he needs to potty, so you can stop and let him pee on his pads as needed. He may have an accident, it's true! So deffinitely bring cleaning supplies along just in case. But it's not a given that he will! Plan for the worst and hope for the best! 

Two of mine were from a breeder far enough away that I had to fly to another state, then rent a car to get to the breeder's house, then reverse the whole process. It was a very long trip each time! The puppies did fine! It felt like a piece of cake when our last puppy was only two hours away by car!


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## kashcheema (Apr 11, 2020)

Thank you for the advice. We will be buying a medium sized crate for home user so will take that along with us. 


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

kashcheema said:


> Thank you for the advice. We will be buying a medium sized crate for home user so will take that along with us.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


You really should consider a smaller, dedicated, travel crate for him. These are often, though not always, soft sided, and made to be strapped into the seatbelt. They keep the dog, and everyone else safe in case of an accident, when even a small dog, loose in the car, can become a lethal projectile. It also is a cosy place that the dog can quietly relax during a car trip. And there are likely to be many in his life with you!


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## kashcheema (Apr 11, 2020)

krandall said:


> You really should consider a smaller, dedicated, travel crate for him. These are often, though not always, soft sided, and made to be strapped into the seatbelt. They keep the dog, and everyone else safe in case of an accident, when even a small dog, loose in the car, can become a lethal projectile. It also is a cosy place that the dog can quietly relax during a car trip. And there are likely to be many in his life with you!


Hi, thanks for the advice, just ordered one 

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## kashcheema (Apr 11, 2020)

Also presumably i should expect sleepless nights for a few weeks? We need to manage the kids and the puppy, so i suggested that my wife deals with the kids and i look after the puppy at night time for potty and feeding. Bearing that in mind, should i take his crate upstairs in the spare room or remain downstairs with him?

Sorry for the silly questions, i like to prepare and this is something i know nothing about!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

kashcheema said:


> Also presumably i should expect sleepless nights for a few weeks? We need to manage the kids and the puppy, so i suggested that my wife deals with the kids and i look after the puppy at night time for potty and feeding. Bearing that in mind, should i take his crate upstairs in the spare room or remain downstairs with him?
> 
> Sorry for the silly questions, i like to prepare and this is something i know nothing about!
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


It really varies. FOR SURE there should be NO night time feeding! Night time pottying, if necessary, shiuld be quiet, gentle and all, business. No sweet-talk, a gentle "good boy" when he's finished, and popped straight back in his crate with a gentle "go to sleep!" No fooling around allowed, no matter how cute he is!

I was really lucky with all three of mine. (from two different breeders) All of them went easily into their crates when we all went to bed. They slept though the night in their crates beside our bed from the first night, from about 10-6, got up and pottied, then went back to sleep for another hour. During the first week or two, I think two of them had one or two times that they woke up crying and we needed to take them to their indoor potty to pee, then they went right back to sleep. But it was nothing like every night, and never more than once in the night.

But it really does vary. It is NOT unusual for a puppy to need to get up a couple of times for the first week or two until their bladders mature a bit, and depending on whether the breeder has started crate training befor they go home (both my breeders had) some puppies have some trouble adjusting to sleeping alone in their crate, when they are used to sleeping in a pile of brothers and sisters. So there can be some trouble settling down too.

Again, prepare for the worst and hope for the best!


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## kashcheema (Apr 11, 2020)

krandall said:


> It really varies. FOR SURE there should be NO night time feeding! Night time pottying, if necessary, shiuld be quiet, gentle and all, business. No sweet-talk, a gentle "good boy" when he's finished, and popped straight back in his crate with a gentle "go to sleep!" No fooling around allowed, no matter how cute he is!
> 
> I was really lucky with all three of mine. (from two different breeders) All of them went easily into their crates when we all went to bed. They slept though the night in their crates beside our bed from the first night, from about 10-6, got up and pottied, then went back to sleep for another hour. During the first week or two, I think two of them had one or two times that they woke up crying and we needed to take them to their indoor potty to pee, then they went right back to sleep. But it was nothing like every night, and never more than once in the night.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the great advice again. I didn't know about not feeding at night, I'm glad you told me that. Night time potty i am prepared for. I guess once he starts whining at night, this is the sure fire indicator? You were lucky to have them sleep from 10p-6p! I think I'll place him in the spare bedroom with me in his crate.

The breeder i am buying from is really good and I wouldn't be surprised if she hasn't already or will start crate training, Milo is only 25 days old at the moment.

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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

Mine came home later than it sounds like your puppy will, about 12-13 weeks, because of the holidays. He was a little older than yours, but he woke up in the night and cried to go potty not quite every night, for about two weeks. I think it was partly adjustment and partly just development. It actually wasn’t bad because he went potty much faster than he did when we were potty training during the day. I’m a light sleeper so it wasn’t a problem, but he was in the same room. After that he woke up very early for a while longer, around 5am. At first he tried to play and act like it was morning but we ignored him and he stopped very quickly. It then became his fastest, most efficient potty time of the day. Afterwards he went right back to sleep. I did give him a bully stick occasionally, mostly on the weekends when it was really close to his weekday breakfast time and I wanted to sleep in.


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## kashcheema (Apr 11, 2020)

EvaE1izabeth said:


> Mine came home later than it sounds like your puppy will, about 12-13 weeks, because of the holidays. He was a little older than yours, but he woke up in the night and cried to go potty not quite every night, for about two weeks. I think it was partly adjustment and partly just development. It actually wasn't bad because he went potty much faster than he did when we were potty training during the day. I'm a light sleeper so it wasn't a problem, but he was in the same room. After that he woke up very early for a while longer, around 5am. At first he tried to play and act like it was morning but we ignored him and he stopped very quickly. It then became his fastest, most efficient potty time of the day. Afterwards he went right back to sleep. I did give him a bully stick occasionally, mostly on the weekends when it was really close to his weekday breakfast time and I wanted to sleep in.


So am I correct in saying that they won't soil themselves? The crying and whining is what I need to listen out for then. Like you I'm also a light sleeper, so shouldn't be a problem.

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## Wulfin (May 3, 2019)

As long as the kennel isn’t too big, most puppies will keep their crate clean


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

kashcheema said:


> Thanks for the great advice again. I didn't know about not feeding at night, I'm glad you told me that. Night time potty i am prepared for. I guess once he starts whining at night, this is the sure fire indicator? You were lucky to have them sleep from 10p-6p! I think I'll place him in the spare bedroom with me in his crate.
> 
> The breeder i am buying from is really good and I wouldn't be surprised if she hasn't already or will start crate training, Milo is only 25 days old at the moment.
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Normally, by the time puppies go home, they are eating three meals a day. Breakfast, lunch and supper, with supper being no later than 5 or 6 pm, so they have time to poop BEFORE bedtime if they need to!  By the time they are about 5 months old, most have dropped the mid-day meal and are only eating twice a day. A FEW people only feed their adult dogs once a day, but most of us continue to feed twice daily for life.


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## kashcheema (Apr 11, 2020)

krandall said:


> Normally, by the time puppies go home, they are eating three meals a day. Breakfast, lunch and supper, with supper being no later than 5 or 6 pm, so they have time to poop BEFORE bedtime if they need to!  By the time they are about 5 months old, most have dropped the mid-day meal and are only eating twice a day. A FEW people only feed their adult dogs once a day, but most of us continue to feed twice daily for life.


Thanks Krandall. This is good as it allows me to manage when I give him his dinner!

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## pvlahos (Jan 2, 2020)

Is there any chance you could work from home for a couple of weeks? I did this when we got ours and it was the best thing we could have done. We got ours over Christmas so I was WFH for 3 weeks and my husband was off for a couple of weeks too. Both us being around our puppy around the clock really helped us learn so much about him and also helped us formulate a schedule and training, etc. (I was naive to think he could be trained in 3 weeks; we are still working on it and he is now 6 months!!) I know this may not be possible, so whatever you do, make sure you and your wife are on the same page with everything. Consistency is KEY!!

I have two kids as well (15 and 8). Getting the puppy was the best family decision we've made. It is super hard at times but also so rewarding. Good luck!


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## pvlahos (Jan 2, 2020)

Mine slept in his crate at night from day one (8 weeks) and has been since. He is now 6 months old and we've had absolutely NO issues with nigh-time sleep. He hasn't woken us up once! We've been super fortunate in that department. We were just consistent from the very beginning with his bedtime routine. We came up with a word for bedtime, then repeated that word as we gave him some gentle snuggles and got his crate "bedtime ready" around 9 pm (putting some of his favorite toys in there, we also put a potty pad in there at the beginning in front of his bed). Then we placed him in his crate, said goodnight, locked it, put a blanket over it, dimmed the lights and that was it. After a couple of weeks he started going in the crate on his own at night when he was tired. 

We have our puppy's crate attached to an exercise pen in our living room - see below. We put the blanket over it at night so he could go to sleep while we were still in the living room. Otherwise he would see us and not want to settle down. We don't have him in our bedrooms because we are all allergic and do allergy shots so the bedrooms are a dog-free space. 

One additional thing I'll mention - if you crate train him at night do not ever put him in the crate as punishment if he does something he is not supposed to. He'll associate the crate with something bad/negative and then may not want to sleep there at night. The crate should be a positive, safe space for your puppy.


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## kashcheema (Apr 11, 2020)

pvlahos said:


> Is there any chance you could work from home for a couple of weeks? I did this when we got ours and it was the best thing we could have done. We got ours over Christmas so I was WFH for 3 weeks and my husband was off for a couple of weeks too. Both us being around our puppy around the clock really helped us learn so much about him and also helped us formulate a schedule and training, etc. (I was naive to think he could be trained in 3 weeks; we are still working on it and he is now 6 months!!) I know this may not be possible, so whatever you do, make sure you and your wife are on the same page with everything. Consistency is KEY!!
> 
> I have two kids as well (15 and 8). Getting the puppy was the best family decision we've made. It is super hard at times but also so rewarding. Good luck!


I am currently on furlough and back to work on 1st June. London is a no go area right now so I'll be working from home anyway. My wife has taken the first 2 weeks of June off to look after/play with him.

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## kashcheema (Apr 11, 2020)

pvlahos said:


> Mine slept in his crate at night from day one (8 weeks) and has been since. He is now 6 months old and we've had absolutely NO issues with nigh-time sleep. He hasn't woken us up once! We've been super fortunate in that department. We were just consistent from the very beginning with his bedtime routine. We came up with a word for bedtime, then repeated that word as we gave him some gentle snuggles and got his crate "bedtime ready" around 9 pm (putting some of his favorite toys in there, we also put a potty pad in there at the beginning in front of his bed). Then we placed him in his crate, said goodnight, locked it, put a blanket over it, dimmed the lights and that was it. After a couple of weeks he started going in the crate on his own at night when he was tired.
> 
> We have our puppy's crate attached to an exercise pen in our living room - see below. We put the blanket over it at night so he could go to sleep while we were still in the living room. Otherwise he would see us and not want to settle down. We don't have him in our bedrooms because we are all allergic and do allergy shots so the bedrooms are a dog-free space.
> 
> One additional thing I'll mention - if you crate train him at night do not ever put him in the crate as punishment if he does something he is not supposed to. He'll associate the crate with something bad/negative and then may not want to sleep there at night. The crate should be a positive, safe space for your puppy.


This is great advice. We intend on getting him used to the crate as soon as we get him home. Putting a blanket let over the crate is a good idea, much like how we close the curtains and turn the lights off. We collect him in 30 days, counting down the days. Would've been convenient to have him while on furlough during the month of May so I could also dedicate time to him.

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## kashcheema (Apr 11, 2020)

We get weekly updates on Milo from the breeder. He has 4 siblings the same age (4.5 weeks). They are extremely active, one more so than the others in fact. Milo isn’t that active, ais he just likes to sit there and chill out and drink lots of mum’s milk. Is his lack of “activeness” a concern, or is that just his character you’d think? His dad is a very placid docile character and the mum is very active. 


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

kashcheema said:


> We get weekly updates on Milo from the breeder. He has 4 siblings the same age (4.5 weeks). They are extremely active, one more so than the others in fact. Milo isn't that active, ais he just likes to sit there and chill out and drink lots of mum's milk. Is his lack of "activeness" a concern, or is that just his character you'd think? His dad is a very placid docile character and the mum is very active.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


It may be that he is just more mellow, but it is REALLY much too early to tell for sure. Puppies develop an awful lot in the next few weeks! I would NOT think there was anything wrong with him as long as he is eating well, gaining weight and meeting developmental milestones. Just like babies, every puppy is different!


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## kashcheema (Apr 11, 2020)

krandall said:


> It may be that he is just more mellow, but it is REALLY much too early to tell for sure. Puppies develop an awful lot in the next few weeks! I would NOT think there was anything wrong with him as long as he is eating well, gaining weight and meeting developmental milestones. Just like babies, every puppy is different!


Thank you.

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## kashcheema (Apr 11, 2020)

Thought I'd put a photo to a name! This is our Milo at 5 weeks. He is white with champagne/apricot colour markings. We collect him in 3.5 weeks!










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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Awww... precious baby! 🥰


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## Wulfin (May 3, 2019)

Ahhh, he is so cute!!


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