https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 21 Apr 2026 21:29:31 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-a-puppy#post-2924797 Tue, 31 Aug 2021 10:53:34 +0000 CObee 2924797@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@erinbaderin: yep, that’s what I read too. Just the third tip worked for us - our puppy was one that got more excited when we’d say ‘ow’ or yelp, and getting the kids to not pull away when there were puppy teeth on them proved to not at all be possible, haha. The puppy/kid relationship is so tricky, because at least for us, even if the adults did everything right, getting kids to be consistent and reinforce the right stuff was so hard! I think that made it take a bit longer. Worth the hard times though, my kids are obsessed with their fluffy little brother now that they’re not scared of him anymore. 😆 </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-a-puppy#post-2924794 Tue, 31 Aug 2021 10:40:53 +0000 foodiebee 2924794@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yeah, the nipping thing is very normal behavior. Their teeth hurt and this is how they experience the world (pretty similar to a baby). We always did the super loud "OW!" which would often surprise our dog enough for her to stop, then we immediately redirected with a chew toy. It was a phase that she thankfully outgrew. I will say that I think certain breeds have a harder time with this (I'm thinking of small breeds that chase and nip even as adults, like chihuahuas?), but hopefully you can get some good progress by the above advice. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-a-puppy#post-2924790 Mon, 30 Aug 2021 20:14:35 +0000 erinbaderin 2924790@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@CObee: We don’t have our puppy yet (Sept 17!) but I’ve been watching a lot of dog trainer videos and he says that when they start biting you should do a few things: say “ow” loudly, don’t try to pull your hand away (they think you’re playing if you do that), and encourage a behaviour inconsistent with biting - either give them a toy instead or get them to sit/lie down and then reward them for that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-a-puppy#post-2924788 Mon, 30 Aug 2021 17:27:33 +0000 CObee 2924788@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Jess1483: we had the super annoying puppy biting problem with our pandemic puppy! My kids were 4 and 8 so your two year old might be too young to help with this, but we tried to have “training time” as often as we could where we’d have the kids run around in the backyard (doing what made the puppy crazy) with either a treat (8 year old) or a dog toy (4 year old) in their hand. (Otherwise we kept them separate too if they weren’t in a calm mood.) When the puppy came to nip at them 8 would tell him to sit or lay down (we worked on this separately too) and then give a treat. 4 would put the chew toy or ball in between himself and the puppy and basically put it in his mouth. He learned eventually that they would only run and play with him if he had a toy in his mouth so now he’ll go find a toy or ball and pick it up himself if the kids are running :) It’ll just take time but I so clearly remember these frustrations in the early months so I totally feel your pain!!</p> <p>Also.. what a cutie!!! ❤️ </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-a-puppy#post-2924787 Mon, 30 Aug 2021 16:05:37 +0000 Jess1483 2924787@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just brought this little punk home and I won’t say we haven’t regretted it a few times :wink: </p> <p>He actually came home at 8 weeks and holds it all night (we took him out for two nights and he didn’t go. Then he slept through the 3rd). He’s fairly easy except (and I’m super open to advice here…)<br /> He seems to think that my younger two (6 and 2) are puppies and nips and bites at them much more than the rest of us. He gets into a frantic mood when they’re around and loses his mind. He doesn’t do this with our 8 year old or us. Or maybe he’s just super nervous around them (and them around him). We will probably reach out to a trainer soon, but for now we just keep everyone separate. </p> [attach=5159/21/qyo7xd.600x450.A1CCD860-58DD-4362-AA5F-960FBABCDAB6.jpeg] https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-a-puppy#post-2924784 Mon, 30 Aug 2021 10:15:55 +0000 LabradorLover 2924784@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@erinbaderin: Weighing in on a few things here that I wish we did differently with our 2 labs, whom we got 5 months apart as puppies (bad idea!!) :grin: We let them go onto our bed and our furniture/couches and to this day, we can never get them off. They are 5 and 5.5 years old and while I do love cuddling them in our bed, have 2 90lb dogs in your bed with you can be a lot when you are trying to sleep, not to mention the hair! If you can avoid it, I totally would. My husband and I agreed that any future dogs will not be allowed on the furniture! :happy: </p> <p>We crated both of them at night and found that if you put a blanket/towel over the top of the crate and essentially "cover" them, they tend not to whine as much at night. </p> <p>PS - she is so adorable!! Good luck! They are a lot of work but so worth it! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-a-puppy#post-2924634 Tue, 10 Aug 2021 19:22:24 +0000 karenbme 2924634@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@erinbaderin: Yes to regular peanut butter (and cheese), dogs love it, but be super careful with your kids that they don’t cross contaminate the human peanut butter with anything that’s been licked by the dog. A friend got REALLY sick (went to the hospital) when we were kids because she shared peanut butter with the family dog. 😬 Now it is clearly terrible but it made total sense to a third grader. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-a-puppy#post-2924630 Tue, 10 Aug 2021 14:28:34 +0000 erinbaderin 2924630@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@foodiebee: Thank you! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-a-puppy#post-2924625 Tue, 10 Aug 2021 09:14:35 +0000 foodiebee 2924625@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@erinbaderin: I would move it upstairs, because you’re going to definitely want to crate at night and you really need to hear her when she cries to go out. Also she’ll sleep better being close to you. She’ll howl all night downstairs alone. Our crate is downstairs now and our dog just has a dog bed upstairs in our room, so it’s not forever! I used it as my bedside table actually! We did crate our dog at night until she was firmly out of puppyhood to avoid her getting into things that could hurt her at night.</p> <p>And we just used regular peanut butter! She still comes running when we open the jar :silly: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-a-puppy#post-2924623 Tue, 10 Aug 2021 08:09:43 +0000 erinbaderin 2924623@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thank you all, this is all great advice!</p> <p>@foodiebee: Crate question! We were planning to keep it downstairs in the living room, and our room is upstairs. Would you recommend having the crate upstairs for nighttime and then a playpen in the living room for her daytime naps and stuff? Having moved the crate from the car to the house yesterday it is HEAVY and I'm not sure I'm up for lugging it up and down every night. And towels are smart! I bought two crate mats so we can wash one but towels might be simpler, at least to start.</p> <p>And can she have actual (natural) peanut butter, or is there some special dog peanut butter? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-a-puppy#post-2924619 Mon, 09 Aug 2021 21:20:44 +0000 foodiebee 2924619@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@erinbaderin: Yep, like pp said, it'll be a bit like having a newborn with the waking to go out! I think the rule of thumb is something like they can hold their urine for one hour per every month of age. When you go out with her, even at night, always go to the very same place and say the same potty phrase to her. Something magical happens around 8-12 weeks and it'll start clicking for her, and she'll already have that established pattern to draw on.</p> <p>We kept our puppy in her crate right next to our bed for faster night trips. Our dog, now 11, still loves her crate and knows it's her room. Feed her in the crate to establish a safe and happy feeling for it from the beginning. Also, be sure you get one that will fit her when she's grown but comes with a moveable divider that you will put up and move as she grows. You only want enough space for her to be able to turn in a circle and lay down. We padded ours with towels until she was potty trained, then we removed the divider and gave her the whole crate and a fluffy bed insert. The towels will help make accident cleanup easier and the divider will ensure she doesn't want to have an accident in her bed and will ask to go out instead. Otherwise, she'll just walk over to the other empty side of the crate and go there.</p> <p>For teething, get a hollow puppy Kong and fill it with peanut butter, then freeze it. That'll keep her entertained for a while! Also, wet and freeze old hand towels in the shape of a rope to soothe her teeth. We trained our dog to go to her crate with a repeated phrase and a peanut butter frozen Kong from an early age because she always got it when we crated her before going to work. In no time she would RACE to the crate when we went to leave. </p> <p>Also, when they're very little, we mixed yogurt into her food with some water to soften it, but I'd ask your breeder or vet if they still recommend that and for how long (I can't recall).</p> <p>We also bought this playpen that we kept in our living room. <a href="https://www.chewy.com/mypet-plastic-dog-pet-yard/dp/111456" rel="nofollow">https://www.chewy.com/mypet-plastic-dog-pet-yard/dp/111456</a></p> <p>When she was very little and still didn't know the house rules or wasn't potty trained, we followed the rule that she had to earn free reign around the house. We took her in and out of the playpen of course, but when we were busy, she was in there with toys and her water and space to play. We then unfolded the pen and used it to block off access to certain rooms, expanding her access from room to room as she grew. It helped maintain her "destructive" area and let us ensure we wouldn't end up with pee and poo all over the whole house. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-a-puppy#post-2924607 Mon, 09 Aug 2021 12:30:10 +0000 JennyLayneAZ 2924607@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@erinbaderin: she is adorable! I think @KARENBME gave a lot of great advice! One thing I'll note, which I'm not sure why I didn't think of it before having puppies, but they'll need to go out to pee in the middle of the night. So, just be prepared for that lol we got our dogs pre-babies and I felt like I was up with them as much as I was with a newborn. </p> <p>Also, your vet will likely re-vaccinate even if the breeder says they did their own, FYI.</p> <p>Good luck :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-a-puppy#post-2924603 Sun, 08 Aug 2021 23:14:54 +0000 karenbme 2924603@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So cute! I’ve had dogs my whole life including a couple of puppies, they are great! 😃 You really don’t need a ton of stuff—bowls, a collar, one or two beds are givens, but they don’t need a ton of toys besides things to chew on. You’ll want a crate at least for while you’re potty training, possibly longer (a lot of dogs like them). If your labradoodle expresses more of the lab side a ball and chuckit are great, too, especially if your littles want to throw further. Planning for potty and obedience training, exercise, socialization, and routine vet care will serve you really well at this point. If you’re new to dogs a good trainer is worth their weight in gold. They’ll teach you how to teach the dog so that you can be consistent. And you’ll probably want to do a vet check when she comes home to cover your bases even if she’s been checked by the breeder.</p> <p>Have fun!! You’re definitely going to need patience but I am a firm proponent of pets for kids! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-a-puppy#post-2924602 Sun, 08 Aug 2021 22:25:28 +0000 yellowbeach 2924602@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Oh man no experience with dogs at all but she is a cutie pie! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/getting-a-puppy#post-2924595 Sun, 08 Aug 2021 06:07:11 +0000 erinbaderin 2924595@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So I know we’re late to the pandemic-pet-party but my husband and I decided last week to get a puppy - my parents got one about a year ago and the boys (5 and 7) have been asking ever since. This is the first dog for both of us, so I’m looking for advice! What do we need? What should we do? What should we NOT do? </p> <p>And just because I’m so excited, a picture - she’s a labradoodle, we’re going to name her Lucy, and we get to pick her up the weekend of Sept 18. </p> [attach=6329/21/qxipjz.600x334.E8461C67-7EA9-4CFC-89FC-564DBEB1BACC.jpeg]