From the outset, let it know who's boss   Always feed yourselves before it, as they think they are king of the household and can do what they want.

Not into pets...but here's a  

A dog of that size would need at least 2 decent walks a day.  (Our neighbour has a chocolate lab and they walk it to the corner and back once a day letting it shit it's merry way down the street without ever picking it up )

Make sure you have lots of bags for picking up the shit, nothing worse than a dog walker not picking up the dog mess.

Bring it over to mine and we can walk it with my 2 dogs, they'll knacker it out for you

Kennels?

Just a thought, sorry !

Make it plain there are no-go areas - the sofa, your bed, etc.

Don't put anything light within reaching distance of its mouth (our golden retreiver once ate all of my sponsorship money!)

Once you're sure it will come when called, walk it somewhere you can let it off the lead (it's so much less exhausting).

I'm quite looking forward to taking dog for walks, but not sure for how long i should be walking for?, i can see me being like an empty husk at the end of the day 

I am going to try to control her excited behaviour 

I'd imagine that a half-hour walk every day would be enough. I've never had a dog though... my friend has two and every day they go out in the garden for hours on end to have a run around Mind you, it was a large garden...

Can't beat a run in the park either

Thanks lovely.

You just know, i'll need them 

  Ok, gets bags at the ready. Im sure they have these at the house, but just to be safe, i will bring some, thanks for that 

She never left me instructions, but as she is working heavy shifts for a small while, its like the blind leading the blind 



OOOH yeh, am up for some dog walking  over to yours.... brill idea 

How fit will i be soon  !!

I'd imagine half an hour either end of the day 

Watch the amount of food you feed Labs,they are greedy buggers and will eat everything...food or otherwise,you don't want a puppy with the squirts!

http://www.dailypuppy.com/arti...26-5562-745d9e44ee8f

Lots more sites out there..good luck!

Cheers for that. 
I'm sure it will take some time, but will keep you lot updated as to my patience, behaviour etc.

*gasps*  


*Covers AJ's ears*

I'd sooner ban the kids from the sofa than the dog 

Really? Ours aren't even allowed in the living room, never mind upstairs 

Everywhere I go there are puppies! I WANT ONE!!!!

Good luck Evie

kids?  or dogs?

we allow both in the living room...    but the kids are banned from our bedroom! 

AJ comes up onto our bed for his bedtime treats.... and then sleeps under the bed most of the night.

To be fair... he is quite a small dog... and he doesn't shed hair

Your cat wouldn't be too pleased though Hoppy!!

Erin..who is that in the pic? is it Alex Reid..and at last I can see a pic that you've posted.

Dogs.  The boy is kept out by a lock on the inside of our room   I love my dogs, but they are dirty beasts, and I would hate to have to clean all of their paw mess/hair loss from the whole house, so I contain to to a few rooms downstairs.

Yay!!  lol   

I'm still not sure what ive let myself in for. 


Thanks.... Hoppy  ...

yeah, I can understand that.     In all honesty my kids make more mess than the dog.  But he is just one smallish dog...

Neither will mine!


That's another thing.

But i have a plan.  


Thanks for advise above as well Charli.

Alex reid it was

My dog and cat love each other.

   for links

What do you do if puppy  nips you?

Aww he  is a bit of a dope ain't he..

  

Marley the Labrador  is the spit of this dog, right now... size... the look


 

you absolutely don't tolerate it. 

A sharp "No" immediately...    and then you ignore the dog...    withdraw from it, and don't make eye contact...   and don't give it any attention for a good ten mins.

If you do that every time it will get the message.

My friend has a 7 month-old one. She is lovely.

2 x 1 hour walks per day morning and evening - boundless energy.

She only feeds it dry dog food (pellet thingies) - I don't know why but there isn't that smell of dog meat in the house cos of it. The bowl usually has something in it all day - the dog doesn't scoff the lot straight away.

My friend has installed a baby gate between the kitchen and the lounge so that the dog can be corralled if necessary.

She is very boisterous, requires constant diversion, has lots of toys. Chews the skirting boards, has destroyed the garden, isn't allowed upstairs or on the sofa although she is allowed onto humans if they are sat on the sofa.

She is great around other dogs and assumes every other dog, cat and human loves her.

Here she is a few months ago...






She bounds up to and pounces on the cat - she thinks the cat is another toy.

At first the cat was scared, now the cat is da boss.

Maybe take it to puppy training classes if there are any available in your area.If it nips a good firm loud "NO!"  and if it persists take it to a time out place ,A different room.Training classes use the "Clicker " method to help train them,check the web for info.I don't have a dog myself,just rabbits,budgie and a hammy.

I was going to say...  enrol it in Puppy School.

Its as much about training you how to train the dog...   usually about a 10 week course.

We did it...   well worth it

We did that as well Ditty, and I totally agree it was really worth the money, especially after we got our 2nd 6 months later and had the puppy trainer to the house for several sessions (one really funny one involved her saying 'and you will see them "bark bark bark bark" - husband and I looked at each other and sang 'until you can hear them all over the park' then laughed our heads off, while the trainer looked very confused).

Anyway, I don't think Eve is looking to get a trainer as she is just looking after the dog.

  I will remember this. So no attention to bad behaviour, and really praise the good i think should do it. ? 

Ive only ever had cats.

Yep.    And it has to be immediate.     And the praise has to be over the top silly voice type stuff... 

its not that different from dealing with kids really

Alas it's that time of year when puppies etc are getting dumped at RSPCA centres etc.The Christmas novelty is wearing off. I'm not directing this at anyone on here by the way. But the fact is that are too many eejits out there that ain't got a clue.Staffie type dogs are being dumped in their hundreds country wide.,Mainly because  so called dummies see them as "Status dogs" and expect them to be mean etc.However Staffies by nature are a nurturing type breed.So they get ill treated ,beaten etc to try and get them "mean".When that doesn't work,they get dumped.Then due to their undeserved "Mean" label,no one wants to re-home them...so sad.

  Cinds... 

I learned how to deal with our dog at puppy school.    He learned a few clicker tricks, sit, down, ... 

and that he hates big dogs but is stupid enough to think he can have a pop at them 

and in the setting of a village hall..    my dog learned recall.

but only in the setting of a village hall.     He understands recall in the outdoors, just chooses to ignore it