Noob questions

Hey everyone! I'm brand new here and have been learning lots from the threads. Thank all of you for being kind enough to help everyone out.

My daughter (7 years old) just got a new black lab mix for her birthday. It is pretty much the family dog, but Nicole knows she belongs to her. Her mom and I are helping her with training and all. She is 8 weeks old and we got her from the humane society.

Everything is going smoothly with the usual ups and downs, but I was curious about a couple of things:

1 - when we take her out to "do her duty", she is shivering like crazy. I know that the few minutes she is out is okay, but what about extended periods outside. As a family, we often go to the park and walk. Is it too soon for her to participate? Will the activity get her blood going enough to warm her up? It has been really cold here in mid-Michigan lately (5-10 degress with windchill just under 0). Is there a good temp or age to wait for?

2 - We have a full grown male cat who has taken to her just fine except for the puppies great desire to play rough. Beauty ( the pup ) jumps on jack's ( the cat ) back and wants to play rough. For now, we have just been breaking it up. Surprisingly, Jack has been pretty patient as he is twice the pups size, but a little under her weight. He will swat at her, but nothing real aggressive. Any suggestions?

Thanks for all your help.

If the puppy hasn't had her first set of shots yet you should probably wait to take her out (other than potty breaks).

I think you should see how things play out between your cat and dog. Still supervise them of course but see if they can sort it out. My cat taught Maverick a lesson as a pup and he is VERY respectful of them now lol. Of course he was a big wimp to start and cried when he got his feelings hurt. Other dogs are more stubborn!

First, congrats and good for everything going smoothly so far. Ups and downs are to be expected!

I would keep it to a minimum. She's still a young pup!

Please do not take your pup out in public before she has had her shots. This is very important. Your vet should have her on a schedule.

Oh believe me- the cat will let the pup know when she has overstepped her boundaries! lol

Thanks for the replies.

I have watched the cat and pup closely. So far, no serious fighting or biting. The cat is being very patient so far, I must say. I'm sure he will establish some boundaries.

In terms of shots, the paperwork from the vet says that she has been given TEMPORARY (it is in caps, underlined and highlighted in my paperwork) vaccinations for:

Upper respiratory
distemper
dewormer
kennel cough
parvo virus
and a flea spray

Are these the shots necessary or is there a permanent set she needs? (stupid question maybe - duh)

Can she go out with the temporary shots or should we wait until the regular vaccinations have been given?

We do have a vet appointment for tomorrow for the free checkup the pound gave us.

I'm guessing that the "temporary" means one set of vaccines....one time. The pup needs the vaccines every 3 weeks until he's about 16-21 weeks old. After one more set, I think you should be able to get him around some new people and dogs who you know for a fact are vaccinated, adult dogs who are healthy who are friends' dogs that you know are friendly. He needs to be socialized but do take reasonable precautions not to go to dog parks or other places where a lot of unknown dogs are....no pet stores or crowded places. It's extremely important to socialize him to all kinds of people, environments etc or he will not develop normally and will be fearful and shy. This must be steady and a lot before he's 12-16 weeks old. And it needs to continue. But that window of time from birth to 12-16 weeks is critical that he gets out and about and has no frightening experiences. It is still somewhat of a risk to pick up a disease, however under socialization is worse than a risk. It's a given if he is not well socialized to different people, noisy places, grocery carts, different ground surfaces, the vets for a visit once or twice a week, just for a weight and cookie and a little pat from the receptionist. You want to associate the vet office with a pleasant time.

Congrats on the pup! I'm sure your child is thrilled. And the cat and pup will get used to each other, I'm sure. Hope you'll post some photos soon!

Thanks Doberluv. We had our first vet visit yesterday. Things went well. Another set of shots was given. I appreciate everyones advice and help. I'll post some pics soon.