Soon to be doodle owner

[LaurieC]

Excited to join doodle kisses! We are picking up our f1b goldendoodle next Tuesday.
He will be 7 weeks old. Signed him up for training classes starting at 9 weeks.
We recently lost our family dog to cancer last month. She was a pit bull/lab mix. She was 12 and so good with my small children (1 and 3 years old).
We are so ready to have a new little guy to love on. A little nervous about raising a puppy since it's been so long, especially since I will have little ones around!
This will be our first doodle, but I've heard nothing but good things! I have a small crate for him and just ordered a snuggle puppy. Any advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Here is a picture of our baby Quincy!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Sweet looking doodle. I would suggest you leave him with his mother till he is 8 weeks old, which is the preferred minimum age to to separate a pup from his mom and siblings.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree, and in fact, in some states, it's against the law to separate them from the mother/litter before the age of 8 weeks.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

He's adorable.  I agree with F ad Karen....those last couple of weeks of learning from the Mom and litter mates are so important.

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

If you haven't done so yet, I suggest you check out the "Puppy Madness" group here on DoodleKisses.  If you click on "View All" you'll find page after page of discussions relating to all things puppy!  I'm sure every question you have (and probably things you've never even considered) will be addressed somewhere in these discussion threads. There's also a group called something like "Puppies and Babies" that might have some good information for you.

We currently have two puppies - one 11 months old and the other 4 months old.  It seems like we've been in puppy world forever.  It's a lot of work, but it's also so much fun!!  Good luck with your new puppy!!

[LaurieC]

Maybe I'm incorrect on his age? I will call the breeder tomorrow to see.
Thank you for the info!

[Kate C Pappas]

Congratulations! This is a fun adventure and being prepared will make it go easier. The training part is so smart. I too, started with twice weekly, in home training for both of mine when they were 9 weeks old. Study everything you can in the meantime and you'll learn lots here too.

Cheers, Kate and her "Y" Girls

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

What others have said- check on his age first. Our breeder always releases her pups "on the first Saturday at the end of the 7th week" which ends up pretty much being 8 weeks.

Lots of good info. in Puppy Madness- join now and start sifting through the posts.

AND, rest up! :-)  Raising a puppy is hard work! Especially if your pup ends up being very "mouthy" like a lot of doodles seem to be. I literally almost went crazy dealing with that part of things. But then, with lots of training, before you know it, 6-8-10 months rolls around and things settle down immensely...

[LaurieC]

So he was born on August 29. He will be 8 weeks the 24th of October.
So I guess he will actually be 10 weeks when he starts puppy training.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Laurie, you might want to check this with your vet, but it's generally advised that you not take young puppies to public places where other dogs have been (like training classes, Pet Smart, etc) until they've had their second set of shots, because of the risk of parvo. 

[Anita Lee]

Karen, I've heard the same but in a city you should be able to find training and socialization classes specifically for puppies. We did group training starting at 10 weeks and they wiped down the floors with disinfectant before class since all pups were super young and hadn't had their complete parvo series.

[Ginny Nightingale]

I raise pups and agree with all that has been said--and 12 weeks after the second set of shots is a better time for puppy classes--that gives him time to bond with you, mature a bit and learn a few basics at home.

Expect nipping--with such small kids, it will happen for sure--make sure there is a gated area for the pup so that he is not wth the kids all the time--you need to carefully supervise that. He is going to think of them as littermates and puppies play ROUGH--so it will take a while to get things settled--but it will happen!

[LaurieC]

Thank you for the advice! I have a crate for him, but after reading this I ordered a pet playpen on Amazon.
My kids are used to an old dog that they crawled all over and were constantly kissing and hugging. It will be a challenge getting them used to a puppy that nips. Hopefully between the playpen and fenced backyard, they will learn to give him some space so they aren't all chewed up!