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V day tomorrow and feel more nervous than when I had my first child!

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4.4K views 12 replies 9 participants last post by  MilesMom  
S
#1 ·
Hi,

I feel life as we know it will end tomorrow morning when we collect our 7 week old little man lol ! Why do I feel more anxious about getting this puppy than having my children. Is this a normal feeling?

I've never owned a dog before and worry that I'll make a rubbish owner. My family think I'm mad paying over £800 for a pup, let alone all the other start up costs but you do don't you when you fall in love with a breed. I'd like to adopt a rescue vizzy when my boy is old enough. I have this deep down feeling that one V won't be enough lol!

I believe I have everything in place for his arrival. I dropped off a soft toy at the breeders last week in order to get his litter mates scent on it. Anything to help him on his first nights here. The kids are excited, they're all under 12yrs of age, so that's a lot of high energy lol !

A few questions for you guys.

How did you cope the first week with a V pup?

What advice would you give yourself?

How did you go about socializing your pup?

What mistakes if any did you make?

Thanks for any advice.

Sunflower. Xx
 
V
#2 ·
I was recently in your position! We brought Olive home a few weeks ago when she was 8 weeks old. Olive is my first dog ever, although my husband owned dogs growing up.

We have 5 kids ranging in age from 16 down to almost 4. I felt exactly the same way you did! I felt so nervous and panicky on the 3 hour drive to pick up Olive. As soon as we pulled up to the breeder's house and I saw her happily romping in the front yard, I was in love! I know instant love may not happen for all V owners but I was immediately felt protective over her. I guess my strong, maternal instincts just kicked in, lol!

As far as advice goes, make sure you have a crate or quiet spot for your V the first night. Olive was very overwhelmed by the kids at first. Her breeder didn't have any kids so she wasn't used to them. The first night she ran under my son's bed and refused to come out. She was shaking and scared and I felt terrible for her! We put her in her crate and she looked so relieved to have her own space where the kids couldn't bother her.

By the next day she was happily playing with the kids, so she warmed up pretty quickly, but that first night she really didn't want much to do with the kids.

I'm sure there are probably plenty of mistakes we've made. It's a learn as you go process, very much like bringing home a newborn baby for the first time. We are still trying to work on getting her potty trained (she's still having accidents in the house from time to time) and we're still working on crate training which is slowly getting better. One mistake I made was not making crate training a priority the first week.

Olive can be a bit rough with our youngest child. She doesn't challenge the other kids but she messes with our 4 year old. Puppies can play pretty rough (sharp teeth) so you have to be careful leaving the puppy alone with the kids.
We are very diligent about making sure Olive isn't left alone with him (not that any puppy should be left alone with young kids). We also got some baby gates so we have control over where she can be in the house.

I was so scared that I would never be able to handle a puppy, but after raising 5 kids, it's honestly not that different. I think being a parent to multiple kids is an advantage for me. I think it will be for you as well :)

Good luck to you and enjoy your new puppy! They grow so fast! My husband and I are shocked at how much Olive has changed in just a few short weeks.
 
H
#3 ·
Come on Sunflower... The Kids are excited!!!!!!!! ;D

I can see it in your post, your not sleeping tonite!!!!!!!

You've NEVER OWNED A DOG BEFORE!!!!!!!!!

What are you thinking?????????????????

Answers to Questions,

Q1: Didn't Cope.

Q2: Cancel that gym membership.

Q3: Take it to the PUB.

Q4: Loads of mistakes, too many to mention ;)

Sunflower, welcome to a fab breed and an even better forum :)

You will do fine just read plenty and enjoy him. I'm sure the kids will :D ;D

Show the kids and read the link below the film ;)

http://youtu.be/ZSm5-e7uga4

Only one quiet SLEEP to go!!!

Hobbsy 8)
 
S
#4 ·
I'm in the same boat as you Sunflower only we get our boy in just over three weeks. You'll have to keep us updated on how it goes. I don't have children and my boyfriend and I both work full time (I work 12 hr shifts as a nurse so I have seven days off, the days we're both at work we'll have someone to let him out).
I'm also very nervous and am so terrified that we'll make a mistake that will effect the dog negatively forever.

Good luck to you and your family! let us know how it goes, I especially would love to know
 
N
#5 ·
Sunflower, congrats! ;D

The night before, sorry, the 8 WEEKS before we picked Nelly up I was shaking in my boots. Went to visit her little family every week or more from about 5 days old I think. The last visit before picking up was well, you can imagine; 11 Vizsla pups all dying to get into the outside world - mental.

I made the mistake of reading Cesar Milan books/watching shows. Don't do that until you're more comfortable with your puppy. Everything he seems to talk about is aggression rooted and will only cause you to worry about it happening to you!

Enjoy your sleep tonight ;)
Hide the toilet paper
Be prepared to set your alarm every few hours to catch your little boy before he cries to go out, had we done that from the beginning it would have really paid off (contrastingly, he could be great in the crate and not a frequent pottier, most are as babies though so plan ahead)
Go and sit in on a local/well reviewed puppy class before you actually take the pup, if it looks good (fun but controlled, not too many in the class etc) enrol him for when he is old enough
Take him everywhere with you in the car or being carried (before shots), get him used to plenty different places, noises and people (dogs can come later after shots if you are not sure how immunised other dogs are)
Get some Nylabones for teething (tough plastic, taste like meat)
Purchase a Kong toy for brain game and crate time
Always exchange things from his mouth with something better so that he sees you taking something from him as good
Be consistent, if it is not allowed, it is never allowed and if it is allowed, it is always allowed (I think that's key)

The above is a mixture of mistakes we made (how we should have done it) and things we actually did do. There are so many more, as Hobbsy said 'too many to mention!'

If I could go back and give myself advice I would have told myself not to take it so seriously at puppy time, by that I mean enjoy it. I eventually learned to live like Nelly does but that did take time. You need to be a step ahead for a lot of the training, just enjoy the rest. You will also come to know your dog individually and when you do, you know what he means by a look and vice versa.

I am never happier than when exploring the world with Nelly (who is half way out to sea chasing a kite-surfer and seagulls) ::)

You will have a blast and you have the added advantage of having kids in the house to help training for everyone. They will grow up wanting to own Vizslas, no question :)

Enjoy and good luck.

Chloe

Also, use the search bar above for things like 'new puppy' 'crate training' 'potty training' - heaps of great advice.
 
H
#6 ·
Nelly said:
Sunflower, congrats! ;D

The night before, sorry, the 8 WEEKS before we picked Nelly up I was shaking in my boots. Went to visit her little family every week or more from about 5 days old I think. The last visit before picking up was well, you can imagine; 11 Vizsla pups all dying to get into the outside world - mental.

I made the mistake of reading Cesar Milan books/watching shows. Don't do that until you're more comfortable with your puppy. Everything he seems to talk about is aggression rooted and will only cause you to worry about it happening to you!

Enjoy your sleep tonight ;)
Hide the toilet paper
Be prepared to set your alarm every few hours to catch your little boy before he cries to go out, had we done that from the beginning it would have really paid off (contrastingly, he could be great in the crate and not a frequent pottier, most are as babies though so plan ahead)
Go and sit in on a local/well reviewed puppy class before you actually take the pup, if it looks good (fun but controlled, not too many in the class etc) enrol him for when he is old enough
Take him everywhere with you in the car or being carried (before shots), get him used to plenty different places, noises and people (dogs can come later after shots if you are not sure how immunised other dogs are)
Get some Nylabones for teething (tough plastic, taste like meat)
Purchase a Kong toy for brain game and crate time
Always exchange things from his mouth with something better so that he sees you taking something from him as good
Be consistent, if it is not allowed, it is never allowed and if it is allowed, it is always allowed (I think that's key)

The above is a mixture of mistakes we made (how we should have done it) and things we actually did do. There are so many more, as Hobbsy said 'too many to mention!'

If I could go back and give myself advice I would have told myself not to take it so seriously at puppy time, by that I mean enjoy it. I eventually learned to live like Nelly does but that did take time. You need to be a step ahead for a lot of the training, just enjoy the rest. You will also come to know your dog individually and when you do, you know what he means by a look and vice versa.

I am never happier than when exploring the world with Nelly (who is half way out to sea chasing a kite-surfer and seagulls) ::)

You will have a blast and you have the added advantage of having kids in the house to help training for everyone. They will grow up wanting to own Vizslas, no question :)

Enjoy and good luck.

Chloe

Also, use the search bar above for things like 'new puppy' 'crate training' 'potty training' - heaps of great advice.
Click to expand...

Nelly, 'TOP' post, that's what I meant to say!!!!!! ;D

Hobbsy ;)
 
M
#7 ·
Oh so fun!!!

My best advice is focus on the basics first. Potty training, crate training, and bite inhibition. Little things like "sit" are ok, but for the first week just get used to each other and let the puppy be a puppy.

Not trying to brag here... but I strongly believe that with diligent training and consistency a Vizsla puppy can be potty and crate trained quite quickly. Miles only had a few accidents over the course of a month, slept quietly 3rd night with one potty break, and only broke skin on my hand once. We thought we was an angel puppy, and were expecting a much more difficult time with Chase who is currently 19 weeks. Chase slept 6 hrs quietly his first night one potty break. He was fully crate trained in a few days, and he never has broken skin on me.

That's my best advice. Once you can stop scrambling around after a potentially peeing puppy, fretting about a crying crated puppy, and worrying about puppy biting your kids, you can really dive into other training and relax more and enjoy the sweet boy. It's hard the first few days taking a puppy out every 20-30 min and hardening yourself to crying that first time in the crate, but it's so worth it.
 
#8 ·
Sunflower ;D welcome to the roller coaster of torment that is V puppyhood!
I'll try to answer your questions as honestly as I can,
1) week one was horrid, but actually I treat her like I did my kids as newborns, "right, they're fed, watered and clean, I don't need to get up to them".....my wife did though, breast fed etc, but that obviously didn't apply to Ruby. First night she howled and howled and then some, in my determination I refrained from getting out of bed till morning, only to discover that pup had actually got out of the cat flap to the garden and couldn't get back in the house..oops!
2)with a puppy, the "No" command, especially when the shark attacks are happening!
3) and 4) I feel I didn't socialise Ruby enough, and that I think has been my biggest mistake, very stranger wary. I should've taken her into town more (we live out in sticks in South Lakes, Cumbria), and yet, when we're out on a shoot she's absolutely fine with everybody, canines and human. But given time over again, deffo more socialisation wwas needed.
 
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M
#13 ·
Hahaha. Seriously, he did train Chase a lot. The first night when Chase whined, Miles growled at him and Chase quieted and slept.

The second night, Chase pushed a little harder and yipped a bit, and Miles walked over to the crate and barked at him. Chase quieted and has not fussed at night at all.

We did our part by providing Chase exercise and appropriate potty breaks , but Miles helped so much.
 
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