YOUR FIRST DAY HOME WITH YOUR PUPPY

Your first day home with your puppy is a special day for you and your family. Everyone is trying to find their new position in the household. There are new responsibilities, new adventures, and new toys everywhere!

Bringing a new puppy home is exciting but it can also be quite expensive, exhausting, and scary. A puppy’s needs are not unlike any new addition to the family. He needs lots of love, patience, and kindness, but he also needs clear rules and expectations from day one. He will need a place of his own and a safe environment all around him.

Your first day home with your puppy will bring challenges and rewards alike. Whether you are adding a Mastiff puppy to a household already teaming with children and pets, or a Chihuahua puppy who will be your sole companion, you will find that very special accommodations need to be made to insure the health, happiness, and well being of your new friend and her new family. Preparing for your Puppy Preparations for your first day home with your new puppy should begin well before she ever romps across your living room or leaves her footprints in the grass outside.

Your family should be made aware of the way having a new puppy can change the structure in your home. Children need to understand that puppies are not toys and can not be treated as such. Everyone needs to know that anything left out will get chewed, messes will get made, and puppy will need to sleep as much as she will need to play. Here are some steps to help prepare for your puppy. IntroducingPuppy to Your Kids Your first day home with your new puppy will set up what will become a standard of care. Make sure children are taught to be careful when handling a puppy and small children should NEVER carry a puppy around. An adult should monitor interactions with small children at all times. Some puppies are very fragile and all puppies are wiggly, and rambunctious. Children should be taught to treat a puppy with respect. Children should never be in charge of discipline or correction of behavior.

If you are introducing a puppy to children in your home, make sure you lay down ground rules first. The children should be clear on what the rules and expectations are before you start to teach them to the puppy. If a small child would like to hold the puppy she should first sit down so when the puppy wriggles away, she won’t fall and get hurt.

Some basic rules should include:
1. Pick up your toys...or they may get ruined.
2. Don’t wake a sleeping puppy. She needs her rest.
3. Don’t interrupt a puppy who is eating. You might get bit.
4. Don’t carry a puppy around. Puppies break when dropped.
5. Don’t hit a puppy. It’s an adult’s job to discipline.
6. Treat a puppy like a friend, not a toy. Introducing Your Puppy to Other Pets

If you expect other four-legged friends to welcome this new interloper you will have to allow them to make friends on their terms. Any pets already part of your home may feel threatened or at least infringed upon. Allow them to come and investigate at their own pace and to withdraw when the want to. Remember, this is their turf and the new addition will have to learn her place. Keep the puppy safe. She could become a target if your pets are not happy with her. The same could be said of children who were not receptive to having a new puppy. Just make sure puppy has a place to be if you can not be right with her.

The house belongs first to those who were already there. Puppy may need to be excluded for a little while to allow other pets to investigate freely for the first little while, taking in all the new scents around. Make sure to reassure and lavish affection on any old friends who are feeling a bit misplaced.

Feeding your Puppy Puppies need to eat often. A very young puppy should eat at least four times a day, and a very small breed may need to eat more often than that. Small breeds don’t have much fat or reserve and can experience attacks of hypoglycemia which can be life threatening. It is a good idea, in fact, to keep Karo syrup around just in case. If your puppy hasn’t eaten for a while and seems weak or dizzy, rub some Karo syrup on her gums and see if she improves, it should happen right away, within minutes. If she does, feed her. If she does not, get her to a vet immediately.

A general rule of thumb on feeding a puppy is that she should have as much as she wants to eat in about 15 minutes time. If she eats what you gave her right away and is looking for more, give her more inside that 15 minutes. If she leaves a lot behind, pick it up and throw it away and offer her less next time. Never leave her food down to get rancid, spoil, or attract bugs and stray animals.

Another reason to feed on a regular basis instead of ‘free-feeding’ is that her appetite or lack there of is often your first clue if she isn’t feeling well. A full bowl might mean she isn’t hungry because she just ate, or it could mean she is getting sick.

Free Feeding is not Advisible If your puppy will be home alone for long periods of time you may want to have someone come in and visit from time to time to make sure she gets a chance to go outside to relieve herself and eat regularly. Or look for a doggy day care that handles puppies. Puppies get very lonely and should have plenty of company and opportunity to play and grow. Good Rules of Thumb Make sure you find a good vet and follow the Doctors recommendations closely. Once she has completed her series of vaccines you can start taking her out in public. You should plan to properly socializeyour new puppy to allow her the experiences needed to help her discern what to nervous about and what not to. An obedience class is a must to help her learn that she needs to listen to you even when there are many distractions around.

That tidbit could save a lot of grief, it could save her life. If she gets out and knows to listen, she may not decide to dart into the street in front of that Chevy.

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She should be socialized to make her safer to be around. A fearful dog can be dangerous to friends who may visit, or even to your even to your own family. She doesn’t have to be big to be dangerous so socialization should be a focus. Some breeds are more naturally social than others of course. Having a new puppy should be a great deal of fun but if you understand what you are getting into before you bring her home, your transition will be much more smooth and enjoyable for all. Congratulations on your new friend. May it be the beginning of many new memories for everyone.