Hello Everyone,

I followed this board pretty closely 3-4 years ago, but just recently finally got a pointing lab puppy.  She is 11 weeks old, and I have a few questions.  (I did search first so I would not be posting a topic that has already been addressed and I could not find anything.)

The first question deals with whining.  I have had a couple of labs before, so I know the first few days there can be a lot of whining, but in the past it has died down pretty quickly.  This puppy still whines pretty regularly, especially when I put her in the car for rides and when our she is isolated from our other dog, which is a Cairn Terrior, like Toto, from the Wizard of Oz.  I assume her whining will eventually go away, but she is around the other dog 24 hours a day and I am wondering if she needs to spend more time separated from the other dog.

The other question is related to the way the two dogs play.  They get along great and play together all the time.  The question I have is how far I should let them go in their biting and wrestling with each other.  Both are willing participants with their tails wagging and there is no yelping.  Is it okay to let them go wild when they are playing, or will this create long term behavior problems with the puppy when she is older and is around other dogs.

My other two labs were both outside dogs, whereas this new one is an inside dog.  Perhaps the other labs whined a lot, too, and I just did not hear them because they were outside.

Any advice you can give me is appreciated.  Thanks.

Joe

Patience Grasshopper. 11 weeks...she's an infant!

Eli whinned for a awhile when he came home, when the other dog (Max was away) finally got used to him all was good.
Our three play and we do stop when they real rough. let the puppy be a puppy, just monitor

The most important thing is that the puppy has enough time alone with you to play and take walks and bond, so the pup wants to be with you, and not just the other dog. All the whining is a red flag for me-I have a dog with separation anxiety, and it is rough. Be sure the pup is well crate trained, and learns to be comfortable in her crate-give her something to do in there, a kong with peanut butter smeared inside or whatever you are comfortable giving her. Remember that she will be unsupervised so make it a safe thing. From the info in your post, I would start having the dogs have time away from each other. Put the pup in her crate while the other dog is out, and then switch them, or if the Cairn is not crate trained, put it in a bedroom with a chew toy or something. The pup needs to have some structure, and not just 24 hour play, or you will have to battle that when you begin training. She needs to learn it is ok to be alone, too. I would not correct the pup for any of this-just give her a schedule-when she can play with the other dog, when she can be with you, when she can be in the house with the family, and when she is in her crate. It will help in the beginning to have this close to the same times in the day, but later mix it up so she is comfortable doing what you say when. Ignore the whining for now as she gets used to the new routine, but if she gets lots worse or it doesn't stop in a couple weeks, post up again. Good luck!

I am by no means an expert, but i did a little research recently on hip dysplasia. There is a school of thought that the condition is not entirely genetic and may be partially developmental. Some of the material suggested that a pup should not engage in rough play, wrestling, etc when they are still growing. They even went so far as to recommend that the young pup spend minimal time on hard surfaces, etc. Might be something to look into in regard to the wrestling.