[jkellyid]

Hey all, you my remember me from some other inquisitive posts. I just (last friday) acquired my first dog!!!!!!!! His name is Samson, He's a Mantle Great Dane from non other than LMS Danes. I had honestly stumbled into acquiring him in a rather serendipitous way. After nearly a decade of intent and years of premeditation to acquire a dog I'm so overwhelmed by how amazing it is to be a dog owner. My first vet appointment is set for this Wednesday, I have us signed up for a 6 week puppy course through pet smart. I'm committed to the transformation of my life to meet his needs (within reason guys) I'll be changing cars this winter (currently driving a Chevy Cruz...) and upgrading my fence.

I've tried attaching some pics I nabbed of him this past weekend. He's such a Velcro dog its hard to get 12 inches apart for a decent photo. I guess right now my simple question is what is the best supplier I should be considering for supplies? pet smart, costco, menards or perhaps something else???

I also was wonder if you can recommend chews he might be excited about, got a nyla, he enjoys that to a point but honestly doesn't chew it he loves to chew concrete and re-bar.. onder: I do my best to discourage that kindly.

How long does it take to house break a normal 3 month old pup (weighing 41 lbs) ??? I'll think we got it down then we'll have like 3 accidents in an hour.

 

[Sabina88]

How cute, and look at the size of those paws! Congrats on your new family member

For dog supplies, you can really find them any where. Petsmart is a good option since it is a petstore and will have a good variety of things. Correct me if i'm wrong (we don't have any around here), costco and menards are more grocery stores so while you might be able to find some dog stuff, it wont be like petsmart. Some other options if you have them around are, petco and pet supplies plus. You could also do a map search for dog/pet stores to see what you have around you and if you have any local petstores.

Chew's can by trail and error, if your puppy doesn't like one thing, you may have to try a few different things. Just make sure there not to hard on his puppy teeth. Kong is a good brand that sells toys for puppies. And there are a lot of options for teething that you can look into.

As for house breaking, I wont be to much help since ive never had a puppy that young. But usually the time it takes all depends on the dog and how quickly they pick it up. Some take longer then others, its just about consistency and making sure you give your puppy plenty of opurtunities to go outside. I would also suggest crate training, if you haven't already. It can be a big help in potty training a puppy.

Good luck with him

 

[mathilda]

awww~ what a beauty!
It can take a few weeks, for him to know that he should go outside and for you to know the signs of him starting get a comfortable peeing position.
generally if I'd got in with the mindset: every accident in the house is not an error of the dog, it's because i was to slow send it outside.
I'd take him outside every 2 hours (even at night) and after he ate, drank, played or slept.
it is good to always go to the same place outside at the beginning and praise him like crazy and give treats when he did it right.

for chewing...the Dogge has a very strong jaw, so I wouldn't recommend things that it could breack and swallow the pieces.
Sancho likes thr Kong and I've yet to see a dog break it.

 

[Sha]

He's gorgeous! Congratulations!

As for where to get supplies, you'll likely end up going to a variety of places. Don't set your heart on one place. It also depends where you're located. If you're in Wisconsin, for example, I'd suggest Mounds, as they are fantastic, but also super local.

Menard's (which is actually a hardware/building store ) doesn't have a huge variety of pet supplies, so unless you spot something when you're there for other reasons, I wouldn't really suggest it, just because you can get a larger variety elsewhere.

Kongs are a great chew toy, and I suggest them, but honestly, just try all kinds of different toys! It's good for your pup to have a variety so you can rotate through them (keep some put away, when he tires of current ones, put those away and bring out the ones in storage, rinse and repeat) and then you'll be able to see what kind of toys he prefers.

And, just in case you haven't read them, I highly suggest the two free books by Dr. Ian Dunbar: Before You Get Your Puppy and After You Get Your Puppy. Both have very useful information, and I like them because they're free. It also has a lot of really good information on housetraining, which is the other reason I like to recommend them. Free downloads | Dog Star Daily

 

[tiffanyandteddy]

Congrats on your fur baby! He is such a handsome boy!

 

[LexyLou]

So cute!! I go to www.schmab.com for all my toys that I want to have last longer than 2 seconds lol. Tuff balls and the firehose toys are awesome and hold up so well!