new home - helping pup adjust

bpphoto785

H & I are buying our first home and we're so excited! I want to make sure our 4 year old mix, Boomer, enjoys this change as much as we do! For one, this new house will mean a fenced in yard, something our apartment dwelling pup has never experienced on a regular basis! But our current home is the only one Boomer has ever known. We're lucky in that we'll be able to move in slowly, so I'm planning to bring Boomer when we do that so he can become familiar with the house before we're moved in. Do you ladies have any other suggestions to help ease him into this transition?

My other concern is that we've never really lived in a neighborhood. Where we are now is pretty close to our downtown and has that grassy strip between the curb and sidewalk. We try to keep Boomer on this area, but our new neighborhood doesn't have this. What would you ladies suggest as far as dog walking etiquette and your pup doing his business?  We always clean up after our pup, but I don't want to cause any problems with the new neighbors. 

TIA!! 

chrisnjay05212010

I have no suggestions as our dog has free roam of our yard via an electric fence and we dont walk him to do his business.  But Congrats on your new home!!

formerlyGDaisy09

TJMaxx and marshals usually have good prices on poop-scoop bags.  It's what you have to do. 

our girl will often releive herself in her fenced in area, but once we get moving on a walk or run there's no telling if she might need to go again...tie a few bags to every leash and leave them in your coat pockets.  I'd say it's completely fine for your pup to poop in someone's yard as long as you scoop-the-poop. 

bpphoto785

@gdaisy09 - we already have one of those little dispensers that attaches to the leash. Makes it impossible to forget a bag! It's good to know that it's okay if he goes on the edge of the yard. I don't want to get the stink eye from the new neighbors! 

@chrisnjay05212010 I'm actually interested to hear that your dog sticks to the yard instead of walks. I was worried that we might resort to this instead of walking him 3x a day, and be bad parents. How do you make sure your guy is getting enough exercise out there? Is it all structured play or does he somewhat entertain himself? 

chrisnjay05212010

bpphoto785 said

@chrisnjay05212010 I'm actually interested to hear that your dog sticks to the yard instead of walks. I was worried that we might resort to this instead of walking him 3x a day, and be bad parents. How do you make sure your guy is getting enough exercise out there? Is it all structured play or does he somewhat entertain himself? 

There is no structure really- he is really good at entertaining himself, but i usually go outside with him when i first get home and we run around for a few mins, he goes out a few times on his own before calling it a night.  He obviously gets alot more outside time on the weekends when we are home.  We have a large yard and the entire area has the electric fence so sometimes if he is out there himself, i peek outside and i see him trotting around. 

Ben is a cane corso, so they are not overly active dogs.  A few mins of running around and then he is done. When we are outside, he will literally lay down when he has had enough!  There are some nights that he wont even want to go outside unless he has to go to the bathroom. We do play with him inside too with some of his toys.

It really depends on your dog.  My brother has a mixed breed, who is about 50 pounds and he walks him twice a day. My other brother has an american bull dog who is like ours- just hangs out outside and runs around.    

formerlyGDaisy09

chrisnjay05212010 said:

bpphoto785 said

@chrisnjay05212010 I'm actually interested to hear that your dog sticks to the yard instead of walks. I was worried that we might resort to this instead of walking him 3x a day, and be bad parents. How do you make sure your guy is getting enough exercise out there? Is it all structured play or does he somewhat entertain himself? 

There is no structure really- he is really good at entertaining himself, but i usually go outside with him when i first get home and we run around for a few mins, he goes out a few times on his own before calling it a night.  He obviously gets alot more outside time on the weekends when we are home.  We have a large yard and the entire area has the electric fence so sometimes if he is out there himself, i peek outside and i see him trotting around. 

Ben is a cane corso, so they are not overly active dogs.  A few mins of running around and then he is done. When we are outside, he will literally lay down when he has had enough!  There are some nights that he wont even want to go outside unless he has to go to the bathroom. We do play with him inside too with some of his toys.

It really depends on your dog.  My brother has a mixed breed, who is about 50 pounds and he walks him twice a day. My other brother has an american bull dog who is like ours- just hangs out outside and runs around.    

We had a Cane Corso in our Puppy class....he was so lazy, it was cute, he was really good at "stay"

chrisnjay05212010

@Gdaisy09- hahahaha!  that is too cute!!  He has his bursts of energy but they arent long lived

formerlyGDaisy09

chrisnjay05212010 said:

@Gdaisy09- hahahaha!  that is too cute!!  He has his bursts of energy but they arent long lived

he was the only dog that was successful at a stay when his owner left the room. It was energetic during puppy playtime...he taught my girl that humping other dogs is a fun way to play.