16 Week old Male Labradoodle

[Lori Nye]

After a long search, we are getting our first 16 week old male labradoodle this Saturday (9/4)!  Does anyone have any suggestions about the following:

Introductions on bringing an older puppy into the family

Introductions to our 4 1/2 year old male cat

Initial training resources and/or trainers in the Seattle area

Other tips and suggestions are welcome...Thanks!!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Congratulations!!! That is SOOOO exciting!! I suggest that you join the "Puppy Madness" group here on DK. You should find many of the answers to your questions there!

[Adina P]

Congratulations! Pups are so fun! We got our current pup when she was 16 weeks and I am thrilled that she was older because house training has been virtually a non-issue and she was out of the mouthy/bitey phase of puppyhood.

Introductions: No special recipe. Just enjoy the puppy, have some treats available for everyone to give a piece. Maybe do it in the backyard to keep piddling off the carpet...but otherwise just have fun.

Introductions to cat: As long as your cat has easy access to escape when she decides "ugghhh...this pup's annoying!" I wouldn't do anything special. Let them do their thing but don't let puppy spend much time in 'chase' mode.

For trainers I would ask in the Pacific NW group. Or look at the bottom two training organizations on our Links page (found under the Extra! tab at the top).

[Eva (Lilo and Rocky)]

Hi - that's great, congratulations!

We completed basic dog training and also took agility lessons at Pawsabilities in Tukwila - see http://pawsabilities.com/ (owner's name is Dana - she teaches some of the classes and will help you find the best class for your pup).

I have done track training with one of my dogs at Positive Dog Training in Woodinville (the owner's name is Joan; she's THE local tracking expert) - see http://www.positivedogtrainingschool.com/ - they also offer obedience traning and other classes.

Both places are great. Good luck with your doodle and feel free to email me if you have any other Seattle doodleowner questions :) This is such a great area to own a dog, especially if you like the outdoors! Tons of trails and lots of offleash parks.

Oh - there's also a Seattle-area group here on DK: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/seattleareadoodlegroup

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Name, color, size?

[Allen and Pamela Kerstetter]

We got Duke at a little over 3 months. He was so timid we weren't sure how to draw him out. We gave him the best thing to cozy up to was a large stuffed animal (a moose) that he could lay with. He will be a year this month and he still is very attached to it, even though he tears up his other stuffed toys, his moose is his baby. How thrilling to get a new puppy.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Tara was only 2 months old when we got her-so younger than your baby- but we also had a cat about the same age as yours. One thing that really helped us manage the interaction between them was to keep a leash on Tara in the house. It gives you a great advantage when they make a dash for the cat.

Tara only had access to a small area of the house at first and slowly earned her way to more and more of the house with her good behavior. In the meantime much of the house was closed off with doors or baby gates. This gave the cat some safe zones where she could relax.

Early on we thought it was a hopeless case and that Tara would never leave the cat alone or give her any peace. Eventually the cat learned to hold her ground and then she became a lot less interesting to Tara. Now they are friends and like to lay out on the deck together and hang out. It took some time though and efforts on our part and the cat's part to train Tara to respect the cat.

We also made a point to put the cat before Tara in the pack structure. The cat always gets treats first or goes in and out of the doors first etc .

Much of it depends on the temperament of your cat. Amber is a pretty laid back cat so it took some time for her to be assertive and stand her ground. If your cat is more assertive it may not take as long for them to work things out but also we careful of your cats claws as they might scratch an eye or something during the "training" between them.

As far as their first introduction, ours was a disaster-I can tell you what NOT to do!! After a very long day, we arrived home from picking Tara up at the breeders. We had Tara's playpen set up and I set her down in it for a minute and Amber came around the corner (we didn't know she was there ) and FREAKED OUT when she saw Tara and charged her hissing and growling at her (doesn't sound very laid back does it!!). Fortunately, the pen separated them and there was no contact but poor Tara was terrified and ran into her crate to hide! And that was her first minute in her new home! Poor baby! Like I said-REALLY bad!!! But even with that beginning it has all worked out find-just give it some time. Good luck and enjoy your new family member!!

[Lori Nye]

Thanks for the insight!