preparing for a puppy....when is the "BEST" time to get one?

Those who have gone through getting and training a puppy....can you make any recommendations of what to do, get, read, etc.?!

We are expecting our first baby in March and we thought since I am not working, now would an ideal time to spend training a puppy. If not, we will probably wait until after the baby and life is a little settled again.

Any advice?

Message edited 12/10/2007 12:45:09 PM.

Re: preparing for a puppy?

Make sure you have TONS of chew toys for them, and liver treats for training.

Our puppy killed nearly every toy we bought her as she was teething, and we had to replace them.

Re: preparing for a puppy?

I forgot who wrote it but there is a book that was recommended to me and it was great. its called, Good Pets, great owners.

Re: preparing for a puppy....when is the "BEST" time to get one?

puppies are a ton of work, just like having a little baby...I would def agree that since you are home now, it would be ideal for training a puppy; plus you can practice waking up during the night ;)
I have 3 dogs now and each of them has been a different experience with training.
Jessi our oldest, took a little while to train, b/c she was DH's and he always worked, so she was alone a lot...So we had her professionally trained and she has been the most amazing dog since.
Morgan we adopted when we moved down here (from the Guilford County Shelter) She was around 7mths when we got her, so a little older than your usual pup, but she was great...we crate trained her from the beginning and Jessi pretty much helped with the rest.
Our newest addition Riley, we got in June at 6 weeks old. She is a a ball of energy and she is probably almost 60lbs and still runs around like she is 6! Again we are crate training her and that has gone well since the beginning, and we keeps LOTS of toys in the house. It def helps that we have the other two dogs b/c they model good behavior, but Riley is your typical puppy....loves to run and jump and be wild.
Just trying to break her out of the jumping thing quickly b/c I anticipate her being a big dog and I don't want her jumping all over people.