8 week old behavior

H

HanFam

Forums Regular
Folks:

New member. Brought home our new boy last night. He's about 8 1/2 weeks old. Born to a wonderful breeder who knew how to treat him--and his 6 siblings.. YIKES.

Anyway, I've done a great deal of study on training him properly--and some regarding socializing him as best we can.

Few observations I wanted to throw out there and get some thoughts on:

1) Crate or kennel. He hated it first time I put him in. But after patiences and not simply letting him yelp forever, I've got him to never cry when he goes in and in just 24 hours, he'll rest inside with the door open and not try to run out. That was REALLY quick.

2) Bathing. We gave him his first bath. Interesting. He was a nervous wreck. Mostly because of the sound of running water. I got him through it ok but when it came time to blow him dry, I couldn't do it. After only a few seconds it was clear the blow dryer would cause a nervous wreck. I will attempt to use it just in the room each day to see if that sound can become something less alarming. Has anyone successfully socialize their dog to that noisy tool?

3) Spray bottle. I sprayed water on him to brush him a bit and the noise of the sprayer put him nearly into a panic. Again, I'll try to get him more accustomed to that sound over the next day. Is this normal fear behavior in this breed or is that normal to most puppies?

Thx,

TKH
 
I might suggest that this was simply all too much for a first day at a new home - especially the bath & blow dry. Give him a few quiet days with low activity and a chance to get comfy before you start with grooming. Starting early with the crate would be the exception, make all good things happen in there and soon he will love it.

Our breeder had given Hanna her first bath - it wasn't until she'd been with us a month and got herself pretty mucky playing outside that she needed a half bath ( lower body only). By then she was familiar with the blowdryer as I use it almost every morning to dry my hair, and she's always in the bathroom when I'm in there having a shower. I blow some cold air at her feet in fun now and then - she thinks it's a game. For her first mini bath we used a towel to get her mostly dry and then the hair dryer on a low setting making sure to avoid her face to fluff her out a bit before letting her air dry the rest of the way. Helps to have some treats handy so there's a positive association.

Congrats on the new addition - have you settled on a name yet and do you have any photos?
 
Give your lil guy some time. New house, new people, new everything. Just walking around your house is an adventure for a 8 wk old! My first sheltie puppy (now 9 months) was so overwhelmed by the freedom I gave him by my inexperience with puppies, that I learned I had to restrict his experiences until he was a bit older. Baby gates are good :)
 
Howdy! Welcome to the Nation and congratulations on your new furever friend! Have you picked a name yet? Can't wait to see pix!:biggrin2:

Just give him time. He's been through a lot already. Remember, he's just a BABY, you don't whan to overwhelm him. Good luck and keep us posted as he grows, we LOVE pictures!:winkgrin:
 
I'd say give him some time to get inured to the normal things that go on in the household. His natural curiosity and desire to be with you will help him get over the things that are shocking him now. Don't mollycoddle him, but if something is truly terrifying him, don't force it on him; let him get used to it gradually.
 
Thanks to all your advice. We are now 10 days into this (photo below) and he's doing MUCH better. I've had to rinse his paws off 3 or 4 times a day for a 3 day stretch. We had some nasty weather and I'd let him have a ball in it and get muddy. I'd not use shampoo, just wather to remove the dirt. That 3 day stretch got him so used to the sink that he doesn't even squirm now. I've not given him a full bath again (trying to wait as long as possible) but I'm confident he is adjusting well. I'm doing heavy socialization right now to get him acclimated to as much as I can. Car rides in crate, LOTS of people, vacuum cleaners, loud kitchen, music, piano lessons, you name it. He is coming along nicely. Just need to nail the house training and my wife's stress will decrease.

Photo of his play area and crate. --> http://www.flickr.com/photos/trevorrobynphotosharing/11050069185/
 
I really couldn't follow the idea that he needed to be bathed within the first 24 hours. It's like getting a new car, that arrives dirty. Wasn't he bathed just before you picked him up?

His pen looks great...but I would add one suggestion. You have him on hard wood flooring. Unless you are planning to replace it, I would cover it. You can go to Home Depot and for $29 get a roll of sheet vinyl 4x6. Pick something that compliments your décor, you'll be living with it for a while. Put that down and then your pen on top of it. It cleans lickity-split, and saves your floor. Also, I would provide a small amount of paper, just a several thick 2' x 2' square. It gives him a place to relieve himself if you can't get to him. Otherwise, he will probably use the nice bed or towel you provided. Having him pee on a towel teaches him to pee on absorbent things, like rugs.

He looks adorable!
 
missjenneygirl said:
I really couldn't follow the idea that he needed to be bathed within the first 24 hours. It's like getting a new car, that arrives dirty. Wasn't he bathed just before you picked him up?

His pen looks great...but I would add one suggestion. You have him on hard wood flooring. Unless you are planning to replace it, I would cover it. You can go to Home Depot and for $29 get a roll of sheet vinyl 4x6. Pick something that compliments your décor, you'll be living with it for a while. Put that down and then your pen on top of it. It cleans lickity-split, and saves your floor. Also, I would provide a small amount of paper, just a several thick 2' x 2' square. It gives him a place to relieve himself if you can't get to him. Otherwise, he will probably use the nice bed or towel you provided. Having him pee on a towel teaches him to pee on absorbent things, like rugs.

He looks adorable!
Click to expand...

He was bathed within the first 24 hours, as the breeder had not bathed him yet. No worries there. We used the most gentle soap, didn't scrub long and rinsed 3 times. That experience was more good than bad to him as he is now more used to running sink water--after rinsing his paws nearly every day during the rainy fall/winter and mud being everywhere. I get it not to bath them too much but,\; however, we have to spray down his paws almost daily when he gets in the mud that we have since it is a wet fall/winter and he digs in the mud when he can.

We also put nice rugs down so his exposure to hard wood floors is now minimal and bought him a bed to replace the blankets/towels. For me, it's all about exposure to new environments at this point so he is well adjusted as he gets older. He's 10 weeks old, so I've only got 2 or 3 more weeks till he isn't easily adoptable to new environments. To that point, just today took him to a large, open park to experience tennis courts, kids playing, basketball games, LOTS of grass fields. Also took him near the road to get him used to cars driving by (didn't like that) and even experienced 2 horses walking around a fenced area. That was an interesting experience. He shows nerves at first but calms down after a few min of exposure. I didn't know it took this much time and effort to help give him positive experiences at a young age, but everything I've read has said this will pay off tremendously.
 
HanFam said:
We also put nice rugs down so his exposure to hard wood floors is now minimal and bought him a bed to replace the blankets/towels. For me, it's all about exposure to new environments at this point so he is well adjusted as he gets older. He's 10 weeks old, so I've only got 2 or 3 more weeks till he isn't easily adoptable to new environments. To that point, just today took him to a large, open park to experience tennis courts, kids playing, basketball games, LOTS of grass fields.
Click to expand...

It's great you are exposing him to lots of experiences when he is young. The window for introducing things will always be open, you have much more than the first 3mths to introduce him to new things. Dogs are more adaptable than most people assume - think of all the rehabilitated shelter dogs. But do take care about where you take him before he has his final booster shots as there is a risk of him picking up things if you take him places where other dogs have been, particularly something like parvo.
 
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