Soon to be, first time EM Owner

[Neidermeyer]

Hi everyone! I am excited that in 5-6 weeks, we will be adding an EM ("Maddie") to our family. We met with the Breeder before the litter was born, so thankfully there is a strong relationship already there and we are getting photos and info from day 1.

To give everyone a little background information, I have raised some other breeds, a Yorkie and a Lab, so this will be the first time with such a massive breed. Thankfully we live right next to a very large park with an attached dog park, so socialization shouldn't be an issue. Right now I'm trying to prepare our place as much as possible for when she arrives. Any advice, or links to threads that are particularly useful would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Smart_Family]

Welcome!

 

[Neidermeyer]

Thanks! I really do look forward to getting to know everyone on here, as I have had great luck with forums in the past!

 

[joshuagough]

Welcome from Bham Alabama! EM's are a cut above the rest.. do you have a name picked out?

 

[Neidermeyer]

Yup. We are going to call her Maddie (although my lady insist on spelling it Maddy) lol. Short for Madeline.

We did a lot of research before deciding on which breed, so while I don't want to put too much pressure on poor Maddie (as she is only a week or so old), we are really looking forward to this experience.

 

[mimismom730]

How exciting, its really special to be able to watch your puppy grow and see all of the changes from such a young age. I am fairly new to the forum myself but I am addicted already. I have found so much useful information and I enjoy learning whatever I can about EM and hearing other peoples experiences. Good luck with your new pup and this is a great place to have all of your questions answered.

 

[jcook]

Welcome and congrats on your (soon to be) new addition! My only advice would be to protect anything you cant handle getting destroyed lol. Since have all tile floors we had a nice area rug in the living room, that was put away when we brought our pup home because we really didnt feel like cleaning pee and poop up off of fabric as opposed to tile, we are just now considering putting it back lol. We also bought several child gates and a DAP (dog appeasing pheromone) wall plug-in thing, not sure if it did anything but we thought it would be worth a shot Oh, and one thing that i have noticed about giant breed puppies is that their sharp lil puppy nails seems to dig into your skin more than the lighter pups, lol.

 

[Neidermeyer]

Thanks everyone! I have started trying to puppy proof the place as best as I can. Has anyone had any luck with chewing repellants, like the bitter apple stuff? Thankfully what we have is our first furniture (which means it is all used), so any damage won't be a huge deal. Since I'm only in school for a few hours a day, and pretty much home the rest of the time, I can get as much hands on training as possible. My impression is that it is best to get these gentle giants trained as early as possible, so as to limit damage. lol

 

[raechiemay]

Welcome & congrats on your little one. from my experience the bitter apple spray doesn't work all that well. I pet sit for a couple that has a yorkie that would just lick the stuff off & continue chewing. She's very hard headed. I'd make sure you have plenty of chew approved toys & just discourage chewing with a firm no & reward with a toy or bone that she can chew on. You'll probably run into it at some point like when you leave her out in the house for the first time. The first time I did so with my pup she chewed a hole in a chair. Lol.

 

[Neidermeyer]

Thanks! I have heard mixed reviews on the spray, so I will probably not purchase any. My goal is to only have her out of her crate when I am home, at least until she is old enough and well through the chewing stage. lol. Otherwise, I will be quite hands on in trying to teach her whats ok to chew and what's not. I have Kongs, ropes, going to get some plush stuffed animals, and probably some bully sticks. The plan is to keep her active, tire her out and give her other things to chew. Still though, I doubt I will make it out unscathed! haha

 

[Smart_Family]

No rope toys please! They can come apart too easily. We have a member who had a puppy who just passed due to an obstruction from a rope/string toy.

 

[raechiemay]

No rope toys please! They can come apart too easily. We have a member who had a puppy who just passed due to an obstruction from a rope/string toy.

I was going to suggest this also just couldn't remember what type of toy it was.

 

[Smart_Family]

I was going to suggest this also just couldn't remember what type of toy it was.

Unfortunately it's not just her pup who's had issues. In the other forum I belong too they are several dogs that died or had to have super invasive, expensive surgery to remove impactions and more often than not it's been a rope toy.

 

[raechiemay]

I've seen it happen at the clinics I worked for. Several surgeries to remove all kinds of stuff. OP I'd be sure to also keep socks & underwear out of reach. I know that sounds crazy but I've seen several dogs ingest those 2 items. One dog chewed & ate numerous pieces of underwear before the owners actually realized something was wrong & they took extra precautions to make sure the dog couldn't get into that stuff.

 

[Neidermeyer]

Thank you all so much! I really do appreciate the heads up about rope toys. So aside from the kongs, any other safe toys that will be ideal to leave with her while I'm gone?

 

[Rugers-Kris]

I would say a Nylabone. Ruger LOVES to chew on bones and the chicken flavored nylabone is his favorite and it is nice because it doesn't make a mess like his Femur bones do so I can take it to work with us also.

Thank you all so much! I really do appreciate the heads up about rope toys. So aside from the kongs, any other safe toys that will be ideal to leave with her while I'm gone?

 

[Smart_Family]

Antlers are great too

 

[musicdeb]

Welcome and congrats on your soon new addition to the family!

 

[Laurie]

I'm a EM newbie as well.... my 7 month old LOVES cow nails (or cow toes as I call them). I had a rottie that loved them too. I keep plenty around and so far she hasn't chewed on anything else!

 

[Neidermeyer]

What size Nylon bone should I get for an 8 week old puppy?