I will answer some training questions for you, I don’t do dog food questions. So I only allow a new puppy in the bedroom or living room, only one room at a time. (use the rooms that work for you.) I do not allow them in the whole house, as it overwhelms them. they have to graduate to more space. I use a crate for potty training, and when they are potty trained, I fold up the crate, and store it. I put blankets and a small food and water dish in the crate. Dogs won’t potty where they eat and sleep. Now I take them out the same door each time, and I tie a dinner bell to that door. Not a jingle bell because they could get their toe caught. When they are first little, I ring the bell and then open the door and take them potty. When they get bigger, I take their paw and whack the bell with it. When they get bigger they will ring the bell on their own to let me know they need to go potty. When they are first little I only expect them to hold their potty for 4 hours, working up to 6 hours, and then 8 hours, and so on. I set a timer or alarm to wake myself up to take them potty. puppies want to please you so it is important to let them know what behaviors please you and which ones don’t. so when they go potty outside, I praise them, so they know I am happy with them. If they have an accident I use a word like “shame” and take them outside. I never yell at puppies or spank them. If they are doing something wrong, I use a stern, firm voice, but I dont yell. Now I only have them in the crate when I am not watching them, When I am sleeping, or cooking or eating, or ironing etc. When they are not in the crate they are practicing “being a big girl” I use the time out of the crate to practice things like “no barking” “no biting” “no jumping” and “don’t eat the furniture.” They go potty when they wake up, after they eat, and if they look like they are sniffing around. Each puppy trains at their own pace. I expect my puppies to be potty trained around 6 to 8-months-old. They may not have had an accident since they were 12-weeks-old, but I don’t officially consider them trained. Don’t relax just because they went a few weeks without an accident. training is about routines and repeating and repeating and repeating. You get out of your dog what you put in to them. I train as many things as I can while they are little. In the house, I would put a leash on her and then try to get her to come to me. Outside (I have a fenced back yard) I would put the leash on her and see if I can get her to follow me. I don’t touch the leash right away. So when I am potty training……she gets a treat for going potty, however, I have her sit before I give her the treat, and I also teach her to take the treat genlty from my hand. Watch out for baby teeth. So if I am giving her a treat, and she lunges at my hand, I pull the treat back. You don’t reward bad behavior. Then I try to give her the treat again, and if she tries to take it too quickly I pull it back again, until she can take it gently. In the house, when we are practicing to behave in the house, I work on things like “no barking” “no jumping” “no Biting” and “don’t eat the furniture” (Don’t forget to teach them to play too, puppies need to be taught to play) So training is about routines and repeating yourself. So for “no barking” I say “no barking” over and over and over and over, in a stern, firm voice, but no yelling. I say this until she stops barking, and when she stops barking I say “good girl” you have to praise good behavior. Training is not easy, so while I may have to say “no barking” for several minutes, the next time I have to say it will be less and less time until I only have to say “no barking”once. Puppies train at their own pace, and it is stressful, but stick with it, even if you think you are going crazy. The biggest mistake I see people make is that they quit too soon. Don’t worry if you puppy has an accident, just shake it off and start over. Don’t forget you have to do what is best for you. If a command doesn’t work for your puppy, try another command. There is no one size fits all to training. Do what works for you and your puppy. Keep it real with the answers people give you, take the things that help, and leave the rest. This is a great way to get tips, tricks, and answers, but use what works for you. I think it is great that you are learning so much for your puppy before you get him. Some people get the puppy first, and then try to figure out how to train them. I think they sleep through the night around three-months-old. Good luck

The best source of information on what training and feeding should be done and when is the breeder you are getting your puppy from. Then consult your vet.

When we have a litter they are started on house training, have been on lead and learned to walk calmly on lead (most of the time they are after all curious babies), are used to eating, sleeping overnight with toys and riding places in their crates (only good things happen in their crates – food, toys etc – cause if puppy gets sick at any time in it’s life and needs to be kenneled at the vets over night it will be less stressful if they are used to being crated) and if the puppy is going to a home that will hunt it we have introduced them to birds.

Ask your breeder what puppy is used to and even if you go with a different diet it is best to switch it over slowly so you don’t upset the tummy and cause vomiting or diaheria. We recommend 3/4 of the old food to 1/4 of the new for 5-7 days then 1/2 and 1/2 for the same length of time, then feeding 1/4 old and 3/4 new for the same time and finally completely new food. We also recommend not switching until the puppy is settled in his new surroundings to again keep stress to the minimum for him. Puppies or the odd adult rescue we help rehome leave with adequate food for about a week.

Any new food will still have an adjustment period where you may see looser “output” for a while. If it lasts longer than several days (3 for a youngest – 5 months or older) contact your vet.

As for training – your breeder will know their lines the best. Some families of dogs will handle training best doing one thing at a time until they ‘get it’ and some can multi-task. Ask them what they do with the pups they keep. And see if they recomend a trainer in your area. I’ve found that puppies in general tend to be little sponges of information until they hit their teens then some will seem to forget it all but it will come back with consistent gentle work and patience

Enjoy your new puppy

Do NOT make your puppy food … go to a good pet store and buy Royal Canin for Puppies or a similar brand … it’s more expensive, but your puppy will thrive on it … puppies need more than their tummies can hold when they get ‘home-made’ food. After your puppy is a year old, you may switch to the home made food, but YOU MUST get good recipies and ‘vary his diet’ enough that he gets all of the vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrate, and vegetables and fruit the dog needs to be a HEALTHY AND HAPPY one.
Training and how you do it will depend on your personality and the puppies personality. Start ‘potty training’ immediately … put the puppy in a small room or ‘caged area’ that has LOTS of newspaper, and take the puppy out for walks right after meals, before bed, and any time the puppy seems to be ‘looking around for a place to go’ … put the puppy on a leash and at first let it just walk along with you … most puppies, especially golden retrievers are very curious and friendly and the puppy should ‘follow’ automatically. Start training it by teaching it the ‘call name’ (it should always come when you call this name) … then teach the following in this order: sit, stay, down (lying down with all four paws on the ground, head up and looking at you, and ‘rest’ (lying down but not looking at you). Once you have all of that done, you may start teaching the dog to ‘heel’ (walk directly below your left hand, touching it if your hand is hanging down at your side when it’s grown). Teach your dog to take food ONLY when you give it with your LEFT hand … people want to give dogs treats, but many are bad people and want to add poison to the treat … teach your dog to eat ONLY food given by the left hand (that means NOT eating any food lying on the ground, the dog MUST take the food from your hand or eat from it’s own bowl and your dog can NEVER be poisoned. NEVER let your dog outside without a leash or good fence, and BE SURE you know where the dog is at ALL TIMES and NEVER let the dog be around a vehicle (even a parked one) unless you are there, too … and NEVER let the dog lick at any ’stain’ on the street, grass, or dirt, since anti-freeze tastes WONDERFUL to dogs but is deathly poison.

I am still learning the in’s and outs of training myself I say try a few things at a time and if it seems she picks up on them add more but potty training can be included with all the other training and will be an on going thing.

I looked at the diet site and didn’t like it for myself because I do believe that dogs need very little carbs all of which can be obtained with fruits and veggies they don’t need grains. do I think grains will kill them not really. Dogs are surviving on extreme junk food that would probably give each one of us a million health problems. I prefer a species appropriate (raw) diet but again that is me. If you feed your dog the diet on that website he is way far ahead of millions of dogs being fed commercial dog food and he will be fine as long as you learn how to supplement.

Raw feeding is much easier to balance I don’t do BARF I just feed raw meaty bones (like complete bone in chicken leg quarters) and every other day they get a preground buffalo grind (primal is the brand) that has organ meat bone and of course buffalo meat. The little one gets some veggies and fruits because she likes them but they are more like a snack. I put a few raw eggs a week in again the little one will eat the shells not the big one. You need to make sure you get enough organ meat in but I found for my big dog the beef liver is too rich so I am going to try chicken liver. Also if you want to go with the barf diet then you can look it up there are many sites and books to help you with that and raw feeding. I am still working things out with the extras but I also give them a good multivitiman to help where I may be a little lacking. In a raw diet balance is achieverd over time just like in a realistic human diet.

As far as food, it’s great that you are planning to cook at home for your dog. As long as it is balanced it is the most natural, wholesome approach. I would discuss this with your veteranarian and if either of you are nervous about meeting all the puppy’s dietary needs there are several great brands of dog food out there. Wellness, Innova, and California Natural to name a few.

Now with training, you CAN work on several things at once but be prepared for mistakes. A nice place to start is sit and watch me. Practice those first at home with no distractions then gradually add in outside interference. Then once they know to watch you and how to sit it will be much easier to get them to do those things while walking. I would recommend, in order to socialize and get basics down, that you find a puppy class near you. This will give him a chance to be around other dogs and people as well as get you started in training. Although I wouldn’t recommend it for more advanced training, Petsmart has a fine puppy class you could try. We went through it with our Boston Terrier when he was about 3.5 months and he came out well socialized and a good knowledge of sit, down, stay, and leave it. Not to mention he’s deaf, so you should have an easier time with yours

Good luck and ENJOY the puppy. Don’t stress too much because he won’t be a puppy for long.

I think that the food will work. It will be more healthy than commercial dog food. I would start out with house training and leash training first. The dog will have to get use to the lease. At first they will try to fight it but eventually they will get use to it. I would then move to more complex things.

I kno how u feel! I just got my first puppy and I went through the same things u did and i did doubt myself but once u get him/her home it just feels right!! I hav 2 feed my puppy a natural diet. We feed him chicken and rice and so far its been okay and he lovesss it!! I think you should train him one thing at a time. My puppy is now 11 wks old and he is potty trained, he knows how to sit, lie down and roll over.(hes pretty good with the leash…thats a little tougher) I did everything separately but if you get a smart dog and he/she catches on quickly then u can move on 2 something else!!

I haven’t checked out the link yet, but I will.

As for training, you’ll want to do a few things separately… however, house breaking and leash training should begin immediately regardless of other things. You can be working on housebreaking and training while teaching it to sit, down, etc.

You don’t want to combine tricks, however. Let me be clear here, as in, you can work on sit, (he’ll get it fast!), and then work on down, then practice some sit, then work on down, then practice sit, practice down, and work on shake, or whatever you want to do. Just don’t forget that when you move on to other “tricks” to continue to practice the ones you know already.

EDIT:**The link looks like an intelligent and high quality way to feed your dog, but I suggest you share all of that information with your vet, and ask them what they recommend.

Congratulations on your new family member!