7 days to go!!!!!!!!!

[Dean C Hood]

 :arrow: 7 days to go untill we pick "Nelson" up, our new male cocker.
He will be 8 weeks old and its the 1st dog we have had since my wives cocker 7 years ago and my boxer 10 years ago. Any last minuite tips and advice would be appreciated. By the way he is a blue roan with a dark patch to one eye, hence "Nelson". :wink:  :wink:  :wink:                    

[picklesmum]

You must be getting soooooo excited, you lucky thing!
Only advice I can give (apart from all the great advice on different forums here) is to get lots of sleep while you can, as there's bound to be a good few sleepless nights when wee Nelson first comes home!!!! You'll be a puppy-zombie in no time!!
Good luck, and hope Nelson has a long and happy life with you!
Emma and Pickle xx                    

[PennyB]

The best thing I did for mine was to carry them everywhere I could to socialize them to the sights and sounds of the world (mine spent 3 weeks visiting shopping areas, saying hello to kids, riding on buses/trains/cars and basically meeting every one of all different shapes and sizes). Even though you can't put them on the ground its great fun showing them around. My 2 were raring to go once they could go on the ground and so had no fears at all about walks etc.

Get hold of Gwen Bailey's 'The perfect puppy' book if you can as its full of good tips (worth getting now).

The next best thing I got was a crate to put them in. They do sleep a lot when tiny and so their crate became their safe haven (and also you could go away upstairs or whatever knowing they were safe from harm).

Don't forget to take him to the vet shortly after you get him. I do with mine even though they were vet checked just to make sure all is as it should be and a great way to socialize them to the vets (take them often just to weigh them so they get used to being there and not just a place to have horrible things done to them).