Feeling overwhelmed

Fire_Fox

emsywoo123 wrote: »

Not sure if looking for advice or what really...........
Basically got a 12 week old black lab girly about 5 weeks ago..........3 days before I found out I was pregnant :eek:
Fast forward 5 weeks, she has been to the vet numerous times, as she has had an unresolved cough (still unresolved I hasten to add, despite x-rays, scopes, all sorts)
She has not had her jabs due to this, so not been to classes and only minimal walks.
I have such a fear that she will bite/scratch the baby when it arrives, and I just feel I cannot cope with everything. She is a normal hyper puppy. not aggressive, but "excitable"
My parents are putting pressure on for me to re-home her, OH will walk out I think if I do. I'm sitting here in tears overwhelmed. Any advice appreciated.

There is lots of training stuff you can do at home, a clicker is only £2-3 and there are 'how to' videos on YouTube: you have seven months for the two of you to train this puppy before the baby is born, and a good few months more before the dog and baby will be in the same room. Use baby gates to keep them apart initially. OH should be willing to get stuck in with the training if he wants to keep this puppy, even if you do need to rehome good training will make him more desirable.

If you are not willing/ able to invest time in training take him back to the breeder immediately as he is rehomable whilst young, but not so easy as an adult. TBH I am surprised you haven't been back to the breeder with the cough?? You have chosen one of the best breeds with children, I too have seen toddlers pulling (hard!) on a lab's fur only to see him sigh and saunter out of the room. :rotfl:

trudij

Firstly - big hug, it sounds like you are completely confused and overwhelmed with everything at the moment - and I know what the early pregnancy hormones do to a normally rational woman !!

secondly - (and Im not offering medical advice - just experience!) but it could be worth talking to your vet about lungworm - Ive just treated my retriever for it,cos she has had a cough that wouldnt clear - one treatment of the advocate wormer,and shes a different dog... its getting more and more widespread now, and is easily treated.

xx

CRANKY40

Labrador behaviour is often...ummmm...challenging to say the least, but she will be fine with the baby. Labs are great with kids. I second Chris's advice - let her lick and sniff your baby when you bring him/her home, and the child will have a guardian for as long as the dog can walk, not to mention a fabulous friend who will help you child get up to all sorts of mischief.
Ours was quite easy to train because he would do anything for food. Teaching him to give a paw took approximately 45 seconds and a digestive biscuit, lol.

BubblyMumbles

I reckon as long and you and OH are willing to put in the time and effort it takes to train a puppy then you'll be fine.

Make sure your dog knows who is in charge, ie you and OH not her, you set the rules, you set the boundaries. Get a clicker, it's a brilliant way to train, always use positive training and be prepared for a lot of hard work and sometimes one step forward and two steps back!

But the thing is if you're willing to do it then you, your family and your pup will reap the rewards.

My boy's 17 months now and was a real handful, like literally bouncing off the walls as a pup! All of a sudden he's completely calmed down, has discovered the joy of lazing around on the couch all day and generally having 'a dog's life' as they say! I miss my wee mad pup, which is something I didn't think I'd ever say!

And on the cough thing, lungworm could be apossibility if the vet hasn't checked forthat already? My boy gts Advocate every month, no problems.

Good luck!

foreign_correspondent

You say your OH is keen to keep the dog - is he as keen to work on training and exercising the dog... just wondering, 'cos its all well and good him being keen, but if you are being left with the brunt of the work, I can see why you may be feeling tired and frustrated. I expect the pup is pretty frustrated too, and he does need to be out and avbout to socialise - do you know any jabbed dogs he can meet, perhaps in your back garden? Please do ask the vet about lungworm too, its not common in all parts of the country, but is certainly on the increase.

The dog will get better with time and training, but it does take a lot of input to train a pup, and the dog will be a fixture in your life for the next fifteen years. I dont know if you already have kids, or if this is a first child, and whether you (both) work, or if you and your OH have the time and energy to look after a dog, baby and your other responsibilities.

It will get easier if you put the work in, but if you cannot, then it may be better to rehome him now, whilst he is still young enough to be easily rehomable, and before he falls into too many bad habits.

BubblyMumbles

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

It will get easier if you put the work in, but if you cannot, then it may be better to rehome him now, whilst he is still young enough to be easily rehomable, and before he falls into too many bad habits.

Definitely agree with this.

Don't mess the pup around, if you can't manage it all then do what's best for the pup.

emsywoo123

Thanks everyone for your kind words.
To fill in, I work from home,so am with her all the time. She is responsive to training, is house trained (on the whole! ) and as I said, is not aggressive, just hyper, which under normal circs I could cope with.
OH talks the talk but when it comes to it, I am here, he works full time, so he thinks that I should do it. Suggesting otherwise would result in *another* row.

aliasojo

Aw ems, you're just one big bag of worry right now.

The pup is an unruly child, sort her out then you've got it cracked for when baby starts his/her terrible 2's, you'll be an expert.

Seriously though, you're fretting far too much. Millions of peeps have pups and babies and as people have already said, your little one will have a loyal friend for life.

You may not be able to do too much on the training class front right now, but do look into the clicker training suggestion. there's loads you can do with that and the fact you are occupying her mentally will help calm her a little too.

toby_puppy

emsywoo123 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your kind words.
To fill in, I work from home,so am with her all the time. She is responsive to training, is house trained (on the whole! ) and as I said, is not aggressive, just hyper, which under normal circs I could cope with.
OH talks the talk but when it comes to it, I am here, he works full time, so he thinks that I should do it. Suggesting otherwise would result in *another* row.

Most of the training classes I've taken my dog to are evening ones, so would he be able to attend in the evening. I work full time but one evening a week would be really helpful, he must be able to fit that in?
Or (and I know it's more costly) is there anyone local who could walk her for you or do one to one training? I have to use a dog walker twice a week as I work full time and have to go to a college twice a week in the evenings and he's too strong for my mum to walk.

Re; the baby - there are CD's and things you can get online such as baby sounds which you could use months in advance to accustom your dog to the new sounds she would encounter when you have the baby x

emsywoo123

jostenning wrote: »

Most of the training classes I've taken my dog to are evening ones, so would he be able to attend in the evening. I work full time but one evening a week would be really helpful, he must be able to fit that in?
Or (and I know it's more costly) is there anyone local who could walk her for you or do one to one training? I have to use a dog walker twice a week as I work full time and have to go to a college twice a week in the evenings and he's too strong for my mum to walk.

He leaves for work at about 9.30 and gets in about 8.30, so not really.

She has just caught my daughter with her teeth when they were playing, DD is now convinced she has been bitten, she will tell my parents later, they'll probably try to make me choose or do something to say DD and baby not safe.