We got a dog!
Which you’ll have seen if you’ve been on my instagram over the last few days because I cannot stop with the puppy spam.
He’s an 8 week old toy labradoodle. His mum is a labradoodle, and his dad is a toy labradoodle.
Getting a Labradoodle Puppy
We actually nearly bought a puppy back in April but with all the uncertainty around Tom’s job, we decided against it. Over the past six months I’d been looking at animal shelters and rehoming sites for a suitable dog (we wanted to make sure the dog would be ok around strangers, children, next door’s cats etc) and might be able to run with me in future! Happily, there’s such a demand for pets right now that there were none available!
I had been scrolling through Pets4Homes, looking for labradoodles and goldendoodles (a mix between a golden retriever and poodle) and came across a photo of this guy…and fell in love immediately!
We’d been originally looking for a bigger dog, a ‘full size’ labradoodle but after seeing his face, we knew he was the pup for us.
We bought him from a registered breeder in Warrington.
She was lovely, and made sure we had regular photo and video updates. FaceTime calls and all the paperwork from the vets on his vaccinations, heritage etc.
A word of warning, apparently there has been a lot of ‘petfishing’ where the sellers aren’t real and the dogs don’t exist. I was messaging with one lady who wanted half of the cost of the dog upfront. And was then banned from the site and went totally silent. We paid £100 deposit for Chester, then paid the remainder when he was collected.
He’s settling in very well already. However, we’re not doing that well with the toilet training and have had quite a few accidents on the carpet! We take him out for ages, then he seems to pee on the floor 5 minutes after we come inside! Any tips are very welcome…
There’s definitely a cheeky personality in there. He loves playing with a tennis ball, football, rugby ball or his toys (or our feet!). He currently sleeps a LOT, more than I ever realised. Between naps, he’ll have ‘loon’ time where he goes a bit crazy, runs around, chases things and jumps all over the place. Having said he wasn’t going to be allowed on the sofa, he currently has prime position on our velvet chaise sofa while I type this. I’m such a pushover for those little eyes.
Chester is my first dog so I’m definitely second guessing everything.
Tom grew up with Labradors so he’s definitely taking the lead when it comes to disciplining. We’ve signed up for puppy training classes once he’s had his final injections – I could certainly do with some help!
Currently he’s only allowed in our garden but we can’t wait to take him for walks in the nearby woods and along the Thames Path once he’s able. And of course, running with me once he’s old enough.
I asked in a running facebook group whether anyone had any experience running with such a little dog. And the response was overwhelmingly that they can be great runners! My plan is to do Couch to 5K with him when I get the go ahead from the vet.
Our current routine is for Tom to put him to bed (Chester still cries a bit when we turn the lights off and go upstairs which makes me so sad) and I get up with him around 6am to let him out, have breakfast and a bit of playtime. It’s quickly becoming my fave part of the day. And I can’t wait until I can take him out for a quick walk before work.
For those of you that have dogs – any advice for training? Do you run with your dogs?
He’s so lovely! Some of the vets at work suggest at the puppy classes that taking them to the same spot in the garden/outdoors each time can help, as they recognise the scent that prompts them to go to the toilet (a puppy training pavlovs theory!!)
We have a phrase to encourage our puppy to pee on command – we started using it from 9 weeks. As it seems to work, we don’t feel too stupid calling out ‘be quick’ when out in the garden with him! Have fun with your puppy ?
Adorable! Training treats are useful to use when he does wee outside when you take him out. Routine for him too which he’ll get used to. We have a dog door which I’ve found is a must for me and my pup.
She’s 7 now and ever since I started running 5 years ago she’s my favourite running buddy. Harness is a must when running so you have full control of them and ensuring they know the road is dangerous so no sudden movements. I have commands for when we cross and stop so I have full confidence.
Chester is adorable! I’m currently reading easy peasy puppy squeezy by Steve Mann which a lot of people recommended to me for puppy training (we get our springador next weekend!) all of my family dogs have done well from puppy training classes though, and I’ve run with them all (we have had small fox terriers, labrador and German shepherds… The German shepherd doesn’t run as far as not great for his hips I’ve been told, but still enjoys a couple of miles) I’m sure Chester will love running with you once he is old enough ? ps. I’m here for the puppy spam!
He is Absolutely adorable. A little over 13 years ago my husband and I made one of our best decisions in buying our Labradoodle Ginger. She has been a joy and is just the sweetest dog ever.
Cheapest my running partner for over 11 years. Now our walks are slower and shorter but she still loves to get outside everyday. Enjoy your sweet dog for many many years.
Looks very cheeky – you clearly are in love with him but be careful – he’ll take over your life!
You wont have a problem training a Labradoodle. They are super intelligent, really easy to train. But they are super affectionate as well, they give, and need tons of love. We Love our Patch.
We got a wirehaired dachshund puppy in August and can relate that puppy life is hard as much as it is rewarding! Thankfully he’s not been too bad with housebreaking and we haven’t had an accident in weeks. It’s hard going, but you just need to be really vigilant and get him on a schedule so he gets used to when he can go out. The first week we had Jasper we were up and down three flights of stairs to take him out once an hour during the day and have just slowly increased the time once we knew he was reliable. Enjoy your pup!
So cute!! I have a black lab and training is tough because it’s hard to know what’s right. I bought a clicker from the pet store for maybe $2? Then I would click every time she did something good and give her a lot of praise and treats. It’s basically constant Pavlov’s dogs training haha. But it works! For potty training, I found it easiest to have her on a leash to learn to go outside. Then I can control where she walked and walking in circles like a dog naturally does helped her figure it out. The best way to do it is start every hour and see how he does, then go up to 1.5 hours and so on
One thing I learnt was to always carry on playing with your dog outside for another day 5-10 minutes after they have a wee. If you’ve been waiting for them to wee outside for ages, it’s very tempting to feel relieved when they finally wee so you can bring them inside again. But then they learn that weeing stops playtime outside so they tend to wait until they’re inside again and playtime has stopped before they wee (it can be the same with taking a dog on a walk if you end the walk as soon as they finally wee!). So however long it takes, always carry on playing with them outside after they wee!
That assumes you can get them to wee outside in the first place though ? i kept my doors to my garden open the whole time so if mine started to wee inside I would carry her outside mid-wee and put her on the grass. While they’re having a wee use a trigger word (I’d say “pee pee) then always praise them afterwards for going outside with a treat and say “good boy!”
Good luck! Chester is adorable!
How Cutie is he australian as the coat of an Australian Labradoodle can get long as it grows older so getting your puppy used to being groomed is a necessity.