Puppy

[Ardentfrost]

Through a lady my wife works with, we found out some people had 10 pure-bred (without papers) Great Pyrenees puppies they were looking to find owners for. We talked about it, and decided this was a good opportunity to get a dog.

We had always said we wanted a middle-to-large size dog once we bought a house. We were thinking something like a Border Collie or Australian Shepherd, but those were just ideas we were kicking around. After finding out about these Great Pyrenees puppies, we started doing research on the breed and it looked to be what we wanted: a loyal and intelligent breed that does well with other animals and people. And they are certainly large dogs, getting up to 100 - 120 pounds.

So this past Sunday we drove an hour to Athens, GA to see the 5-week-old puppies. On the way down there, we talked about how we wanted to stake claim to a female puppy that wasn't the most excited of the bunch, but also not disinterested in us. We arrive at a duplex and know we're in the right place due to the tumbleweeds of white fur outside.

The owners were these two young gay guys. One of them (the owner of the Great Pyrenees dogs) had been raised around the breed and knew a lot about them. He had the mother and father (showed them both to us, both very good looking dogs) as well as a mut he had rescued. The other guy had 3 Chihuahuas. So in all, they had 16 dogs (including the 10 puppies), but they were all well taken care of... it was just surprising!

Anyhow, we meet the mother and father dogs who are then taken to the back so we can spend some time with the litter. Despite our plans for the type of puppy to pick out, all 10 of them were pretty much the same. They were all very docile. Not one of them barked the entire time we were there (which is awesome). A few of them would come over to us to get petted for a minute, then go off exploring some more. Two were kinda wrestling in the corner for a minute. Five of them ended up heading over to the front door and falling asleep (apparently the breed tends to like to sleep in front of the door... something about it feeling like it is protecting its domain).

One of the puppies came right over to me first thing and put her head in my lap. I petted her and she was totally chill. I thought I was giving that one an unfair amount of attention, so after 10 minutes I put her over toward the middle of the floor, and she immediately goes to my wife and puts a paw on her leg. At that point we were pretty much both sold on that puppy. I think if we were breeders we wouldn't want this particular puppy since she was the one with the most badger markings out of the entire litter, but all my wife and I care about is getting a good-mannered dog that will take to training.

Here's a pic:


The owners, being college students in a college town, have people over all the time and given the 16 other animals in the house, the puppies are already really well socialized. My wife and I will continue that once we bring her home in 4 weeks, of course, but to be as exposed as they are to people and animals at this stage in their development is rare.

We decided to name her Zoë (in case your browser has trouble with the umlaut, that's Zoe, pronounced Zo-ee). Since the litter was unexpected to the owner (he thought the mother was too old to have puppies, or something) we're getting her for a real good price. Only $150... my mother used to breed Maltese dogs and would sell them for between $800 and $1200 with papers, and I always thought we'd just have to end up with whatever we could find at a pound. So we have lucked out big time.

So we have until about August 2nd to prepare for our new arrival. We gotta buy a big ass crate, a big ass water and food bowl, a big ass leash and collar, and a variety of other odds and ends (probably mostly big ass versions of them). We're both pretty excited about it.

[WickedLou9]

That's awesome! Those are beautiful dogs.

[motivez]

That's awesome, having a new puppy is always a lot of fun.. is it already house trained, or is that something you'll have to do yourself?

I used a method with mine that has worked great, he's only ever had 1 accident in the house, and that was on his first day.

[Ardentfrost]

The guy who has them now is doing his best to paper train them, but says it's pretty difficult with so many of them at once. We'll get her when she's just a scant over 2 months old, so I'm sure she won't be completely house broken, and in a new house I have no doubt it'll confuse her about where she should and shouldn't go.

I had planned on crate training, but if you have a better suggestion I'm open to it.

[motivez]

I did crate training as well, but unless you plan to keep her in the crate all the time she'll be wandering around the house and could have an accident.. so it's not a complete solution.

Essentially, the method is to keep the puppy on a schedule. Every hour, take her out, but don't let her walk (at first). Carry her, and put her down in the grass where you'd like her to go, and wait for her to go. Once she's gone, pick her up and take her back in.

That gets the puppy used to knowing that when she feels the grass, it means go to the bathroom, and she'll associate the two things together, meaning she wont go on your expensive persian rug or whatever.

You don't let her walk because you want the first thing she feels on her feet to be the grass, not the other textures like concrete or a wooden deck or whatever..

Eventually after the puppy gets used to it, you can walk her out normally, but I'd wait until you're sure she understands first.. probably a few weeks to be on the safe side.

It worked amazingly, like I said mine only had one accident, and it was on the very first day before I really got going on the training

I also taught him to ring a bell when he wants to go outside

I have a bell tied to a string hanging from the door handle, and when he wants to go out he'll push it with his nose, letting me know

[Ardentfrost]

Yeah, I was planning on trying the bell thing. I read about it recently and it's a fantastic idea.

I might try your picking-her-up-take-her-to-the-grass technique Crates are for more than just house training though.

[motivez]

It's awesome, he picked it up so fast, within the first day he knew what to use it for.. and now consistently lets me know when he needs to go out.

And yeah, but I was talking about it in the context of being house trained.

As far as the grass thing, as she grows it doesn't have to be each hour, you can lengthen the time between trips as needed obviously.. but at the start it's probably a good idea.

[Ardentfrost]

Yeah, it also has to do with when you feed them. I think my wife and I will be feeding her when we get home from work because we'll be able to take her out at that time, then take the food away an hour before bedtime. That reduces a lot of accidents.

[motivez]

Yeah, that definitely helps, but the puppy will still have to go to the bathroom regularly

Btw, we're going to need more pictures of puppy doing cute stuff

[Ardentfrost]

Originally Posted by motivez

Yeah, that definitely helps, but the puppy will still have to go to the bathroom regularly

Btw, we're going to need more pictures of puppy doing cute stuff

haha, as soon as we can bring it home, I'm sure there will be an abundance of pictures

[7960]

Originally Posted by motivez

I did crate training as well, but unless you plan to keep her in the crate all the time she'll be wandering around the house and could have an accident.. so it's not a complete solution.

Essentially, the method is to keep the puppy on a schedule. Every hour, take her out, but don't let her walk (at first). Carry her, and put her down in the grass where you'd like her to go, and wait for her to go. Once she's gone, pick her up and take her back in.

That gets the puppy used to knowing that when she feels the grass, it means go to the bathroom, and she'll associate the two things together, meaning she wont go on your expensive persian rug or whatever.

You don't let her walk because you want the first thing she feels on her feet to be the grass, not the other textures like concrete or a wooden deck or whatever..

Eventually after the puppy gets used to it, you can walk her out normally, but I'd wait until you're sure she understands first.. probably a few weeks to be on the safe side.

It worked amazingly, like I said mine only had one accident, and it was on the very first day before I really got going on the training

I also taught him to ring a bell when he wants to go outside

I have a bell tied to a string hanging from the door handle, and when he wants to go out he'll push it with his nose, letting me know

a friend of mine trained his dog to go on command. we were outside playing volleyball and the dog was playing with a toy and it was time to leave so he looked over and said "johnson" and the dog looked at him and he said "SMASH!" and the dog made 2 circles and shit right there.

[six6ftr]

Originally Posted by Ardentfrost

haha, as soon as we can bring it home, I'm sure there will be an abundance of pictures

Congrats on the dog very cute but aren't you forgetting the approval of one very interesting family member? GABBY!!

[Ardentfrost]

Originally Posted by six6ftr

Congrats on the dog very cute but aren't you forgetting the approval of one very interesting family member? GABBY!!

haha, I'm going to train the dog to torture her. I hate the cat!

[Dispatcher]

Beautiful dog. I would have picked the same one you did for the same reason. I have had the same Chow for 14 years. I lucked out on her also.
Never had to house train her, she has never had an accident. Much less aggressive than most Chows, and she is very loving even around other animals. Frankly, I don't have the patience for a problem dog, and I have had a few problem dogs in the past that were raised by other people.
It looks like you got a great puppy. Congrats on the new addition.

[MagytheKat]

Originally Posted by Ardentfrost

haha, I'm going to train the dog to torture her. I hate the cat!

Gorgeous puppy Ardent!! I'm fanatical about all dogs, all breeds, large and small. I work with a rescue organization and it's so gratifying to place these precious animals in good forever homes.

[Ardentfrost]

I'm reviving this thread to show a few pics taken over the past few months. My wife has a lot of pics of her, but they're on her computer... she needs to share

These are in order from oldest to newest

My wife entitled this one "Envy: It has fur and sits in a window"


She's licking my infant half brother in this pic... 27 years younger than me.


My wife calls this one "Patience, soon vengeance shall be yours"


This has become a weekly ritual... me bathing her


We left her with a friend who has a lot of land and 3 dogs when we went on vacation. This is what she did pretty much the whole week.


And here's a few videos my wife has taken of her:

She LOVES car rides

YouTube Video

And two vids of her playing with those dogs she stayed with

YouTube Video

YouTube Video

[DosEquis]

Originally Posted by Ardentfrost

Here's a pic:

Moar pics of all 3 of your puppies

[Ardentfrost]

Originally Posted by DosEquis

Moar pics of all 3 of your puppies

haha, douche

[six6ftr]

Gabby does not look happy at all! I think there is revenge coming to a dog near you!!

[David Octavius]

Nice looking dog congrats!

The cat looks a bit evil though in those pics