[connie777]

I think about getting another puppy also. And I probably will do it in the spring.
Now that I have a 10 minth old granddaughter who is here pretty frequently I'd have to ive it serious thought.
She and Bentley were good together...but she's not on the move yet.
And when she was here with Bentley I hve to admit it was like having two babies. he was never rough to her...and she was getting to the point where she's grab his fur. Once or twice it happened and he's siit still and not fight back. or he's let out a whine.
By spring she''d have better control over what she can do with her hands.
Sounds like your husband is really a nice guy and a dog lover.
My daughter and sister are saying to get another dog soon. I just want to be sure no one surprises me with a puppy in an effort to be nice.
Because I really would want to be part of the process and see the puppy's home and mom.
Since bentley was a male...I think I'd want another male.
It's nice to think about dogs like this...I just have to remember that I shouldn't be talking all day about dogs as a way to "pretend" to myself that I am still a dog owner.


I need to spend time thinking about it and preparing for a puppy again. There are a few things I would do differently if I got another puppy.
With Bentley I didn't use a crate...and of course on the first day home we brought him into the living room and set him down to play with him. I was establishing a precedent that he could romp about tthe living room. It just seemed like it would not be fun for him to bring him in an put him in a cage.
he had come from a great enviironment where the whole litter could go in and out of a nice clean garage...where the mother doog cared for them. And they could go in and outthe house once they figuredd that out. In the yard they had made a nice pen for the puppies and when they could watch them the puppies ould play in the garden. the mother dog was trained to an electric fence collar and the owner said she was so good about it...she wouldn't cross the boundary even if a puppy was on the other side.
And she didn't even wear the collar all the time. She just stayed in bounds.
But I can now see the advantage to having a crate available in the house right from day one...or at least gating off the kitchen and starting in there.
Once you let them go around...it seems cruel to confine them. If you start with a small area...they don't probably feel they are missing anything.
Another things I''d like to do differently....Bentley would never go potty on newspaper or a pad in the kitchen or any hard surfaced floor. It was outside or he'd pee on the carpet.
We got past that soon enough...but I think I could have started better.

Also...after a couple days I bought puppy pads....Now I think those pads are confusing since you praise them for using the pad in the house...and you praise them for going outside. But in their minds they are being praise just for going potty.
So...No pads if I do it a second time. Or only pads in the kitchen and really not let a new pup loose in any other room until trained.
It sounds simple...but requires a lot of discipline for the new mom. (I am a push over). Hard not to want him in every room.
Another thing I would work on earlier is standing to be brushed and toe nail clipping.
Bentley always thought brushing was a form of play and it was pretty difficult to get much brushing done. Finally, after I had my daughter cut off practically all of his hair because of severe matts (I got phenobarb from the vet to calm him for that). the new hair was growing in very nicely and didn't seem to matt like the first long hair did?
Maybe the first hair that a puppy grows tends to matt more?
He was beginning to enjoy brushing after we started over with short hair.
The third thing I would work harder on is mouthing. he didn't bite...but he did always want to mouth the brush and to keep his ball. He wanted to play fetch..and we did plenty of it. But it was always frustrating to get the ball back. That was part oof the game for him.
Also....if possible I'd start using the undeground fence that I installed this past fall.....if I got a new dog and when he was at least 8 pounds.