Meet Angus (And Me)

[Kris and Angus]

Hello All,

I am a married mother of four (2,3,10,13) and my husband and I just brought home our sweet Angus about a week and a half ago. He is a funny and beautiful 10 week old F2b (medium) who weighed in at 12lbs at his vet apt last week.

We had been talking about adding a puppy to our family for the last few years and decided we might as well get all the toddler stages out of the way at once :) The kids have been really good with Angus so far, although our 2 year old wants to hug him all the time. Angus does great and seems really laid back with them - they are always monitored though, and if I think any of them are getting too excited we separate and take a little break.

So far potty training is going pretty well. He does not really like his crate though, and like a bad mommy I gave in and have been letting him sleep on his bed in his ex-pen. That alleviates all the whining and he goes right to sleep like a champ but he wakes up and goes potty inside before we get him out in the AM(he doesn't whine to let us know he needs to go so we can take him out in the middle of the night - probably because he has too much room in the pen?). We don't have any potty accidents during the day and he will go right to the door if he needs to go.

We are also dealing with chewing - EVERYTHING - but typically if I redirect him a few times he will take his toy and leave whatever he was destroying. I just have to keep an eagle eye on him because once he realizes I'm not right there he will sneak back over!

We are loving getting to know his personality and I'm sure if we are consistent with training he will be the best dog.

This site seems to be a wealth of information and I am enjoying reading it all!

Without further ado.........

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Hi Kris, welcome to DK. Angus is adorable.

Regarding your kids interactions with Angus, here is a link to a very important resource for parents with dogs and young children in the home. Please take a moment to watch the video. The website also has videos for kids of all ages, very well done, fun, and not at all "preachy". 
http://stopthe77.com/

[Kris and Angus]

Karen,

One of the things we talked at length about before getting a puppy was how the kids would handle it. We have been working on what we call "walking quietly" when we are around Angus - no running, screaming, jumping etc. They seem to be getting that one figured out. I also saw some information about dog body language that was interesting and I am definitely trying to pay attention to that. I don't know why I never thought about teaching them not to hug the puppy before he came home but the thought just never crossed my mind - something we will address. I really appreciate the resource and will share with my husband and the kids.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Sounds like you are all off to a good start! 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Angus is absolutely adorable.  I know it's so hard to hear them whining in their crate, but I know from experience that it really does help a lot with the housebreaking.  They hate to go potty where they sleep, but the ex-pen allows them to go a bit away from where they are actually going to sleep.  I think it can still work....it would just take a little longer.  All puppies LOVE to chew...it sounds like redirecting him to his toys is working well for you.  Good luck and enjoy this sweet guy.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Handsome fellow,enjoy him.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Welcome Kris and Angus.  What a cutie.  Teaching kids and animals to respect each other can be time consuming, but oh so worthwhile.  Angus truly is adorable.  Crating at night really helps with the housebreaking- much easier on you actually, especially if the crate is in your room.  Obviously you have the determination to make it work, whatever method you choose.  Good luck and enjoy your pup.