New Puppy...are you really ready?

I have a confession… I’ve had a lot of puppies over the last 9 years, probably about 10!!. Now, they weren’t all my puppies, some were foster puppies for rescue and some were client puppies and some I was lucky enough to keep

And you’d think by puppy number 10 (Summer the Flatcoated Retriever) I’d find puppy raising a walk in the park, wrong! Each and every time it’s blooming hard work.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got excellent strategies and management skills for toilet training, dealing with mouthing, teaching the puppy to be happy alone, training etc. but all of that takes time and commitment.

The hard work is getting up every 30-45 mins to take the puppy out to toilet, making sure I have tug toys everywhere for playtime (instead of puppy using my trousers), managing interactions with my dogs so nobody gets bullied (Spencer the German Shepherd is such a softie he often gets picked on by puppies), sitting next to puppy’s crate until they fall asleep at night (and sleeping with my hand on the crate). The daily time dedicated to taking the puppy somewhere new and having a new experience…..I’ll stop there, you get the idea.

Preparing for a new addition

This week I went to visit Emily and Mike and their amazing Working Cocker Spaniel Sully. Emily and Mike will soon to be adding a new addition to their family, Buzz the Working Cocker Spaniel puppy. Emily and Mike have already successfully raised one puppy, but they wanted some extra help with a few things to prepare Sully for the new puppy coming home.

We talked about how they might manage the new puppy and Sully at home to ensure both dogs get human time without any issues. How, when and if we might want to intervene when the dogs are interacting together.

Puppies are hard work, even if you’ve already raised one puppy or are an experienced puppy raiser…are you ready?

Where to find extra support

One of the best ways to make sure you get some additional support with raising your puppy is to attend a well run puppy class, with instructors who are experienced and ideally qualified to teach you and your puppy. 

We are happy for prospective puppy parents to come and observe our classes before they commit to booking with us so they can meet the team and see how we train. 

Find out more about our Puppy Classes by clicking below

If you’re not local to us try looking on the APDT website for a trainer who runs classes local to you.


Already attending our classes but need some extra help? Don’t forget we can offer a discounted Puppy 121 session for those attending classes, you can email your trainer directly or the office info@wellconnectedcanine.co.uk

Happy Training 

Clare and the gang

P.s. Do you have a gundog puppy? Interested in learning more about these amazing dogs? Want to get started with some gundog foundation training? 

Watch this space - Baby Gundog Training workshop coming soon!