New Puppy Owner's Manual: Part One
It's such a wonderful thing to bring your new puppy home. They're full of love and kisses, and snuggle in your lap on the ride home. Puppies are great!
Your puppy came with a bowl, a small bag of food, and a leash, so you set him down, and fill up his bowl. He has a couple bites, and then runs off. He squats and pees on the carpet! You have no idea what you're in for!
Adding a new family member is awesome! It's great to have that unconditional love that dogs offer, but starting a good working schedule for you and your puppy from the get-go is important. Puppies are full of energy, they nip, chew, dig, poop and pee anywhere, even on you! Your first step is to contain them to a safe spot in your house, usually the kitchen. A playpen, or baby gates will keep them from getting into too much trouble, but still give them room to explore a little. Small puppies can not hold their bladder for more than an hour or two at a time. They don't know not to potty on your fluffy shag rug, or eat your TV remote!
Puppy Proofing Your House
You will want to have a place to store toys, a bed, and cordon off part of the house where your puppy will stay most of the time. The kitchen is usually a good place if your house is carpeted. Otherwise, the living room will be a good place for them to stay. They will have their crate, with some busy toys and a bed in it, and you can put up baby gates or set up a playpen around it. They've got their sleeping spot, and their play and training spot. Don't give them too much space at first, and if they behave there consistently, you can give them more space as they earn it. Don't worry if they mess up a few times, you can always backtrack and repeat steps until they are consistent.
Check your essential oil diffusers. Some have scents that are toxic to dogs. Do not leave plants, electronics, small objects, and furniture where your puppy can get into it. Don't worry, they will graduate to the couch when they're older!
Puppies explore the world with their mouths, so always leave age appropriate toys and chews available to them. They will chew or swallow anything they can get their mouth on, including pencils, beads, chair legs, cords, thumb tacks, and so much more! Stuffed toys can be shredded, and the stuffing swallowed. Rope toys can be swallowed and are a choking hazard. Small toys that can fit in their mouth are a choking hazard. Always supervise your puppy when playing. You can have rope tugs and stuffed toys, just don't leave them alone with them. Kong offers a variety of busy toys which are safe for puppies.
Set Them Up For Success
Before your puppy has all of his vaccinations, you should limit the time they are out in shared spaces where other dogs pee and poop. If you have a yard, it's much easier. If you don't, just be careful, and don't take him out to too many places. Try to take him to a potty area that isn't used by other dogs. Parvo is a very real danger.
The main thing you will need when acclimatizing your puppy to your home is patience! For the first few weeks, they will still be getting used to being without their mom and siblings. Know that they may be sad, or anxious, and destructive. Training sessions should be short and fun. Give them plenty of love and cuddles, but also get them used to you not being there. Play music when they sleep. Classical music is relaxing. YouTube even has dog sleep playlists. Also, let them hear sounds of dogs barking, children playing, vehicles, fireworks, and thunder, and anything else that they might come across when they're older. YouTube is a great source of a variety of sounds your pup will come across in their life.
Outside of playtime and training, your pup will need to learn to settle and relax. Creating a good off switch from the start will do wonders for your future relationship with your dog. It's very simple! After a play or training session, leave a stuffed kong in their crate, or scatter kibble on a snuffle mat. Then, sit on the couch with your phone, or lay on the floor, reading a magazine. Ignore your pup for awhile, then reward them for lying down, licking at their kong, or quietly sniffing around for kibble. Start with 5 minutes, then go to 10, 15, etc. This will help with place training in the future. They need to be able to relax outside of the crate or place first. Raising a puppy is about balance. You get what you feed.
Introduction to Crate Training
I use crates, to give them a safe space to go to, their own room. I also use them for potty training, and they do wonders!
At the beginning, your puppy will want to be close to you all of the time, and you will probably have more than a few sleepless nights. In raising several puppies, I have learned a few things to get you started.
Get a crate that is big enough for your pup to stand, lie down, and turn around in. Any bigger and they will potty in one corner of the crate. I prefer to use a full size crate that has a divider, that way, they can grow into it as they get bigger.
Feed them meals only in their crate. Leave a couple safe chews or toys in there. Toys shouldn't be destructible, or small enough to swallow. Stuffed toys, and hard bones are not a good option. Check your local pet store for puppy teething toys.
At first, leave the door open, and work on tossing treats in there, letting them sniff, and explore. Repeat this, until they are used to going to the kennel for their reward.
Make it fun! Never shove your puppy into his crate, let him go in on his own.
Start closing the door a little at a time. Toss treat inside, when he goes in, close the door a little and toss another treat. Start with small increments, like 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes. Try to let him out before he cries. If he cries, wait til he's stopped crying, then let him out. Don't walk away until he's comfortable with the door closed. Then do the same, starting with a few seconds, to minutes at a time. Always reward for being quiet, and not showing signs of stress. We don't want him to be stressed in the crate. It's about making it a comfortable space for him to relax when he cannot be supervised. Even if you don't plan on having your puppy sleep in the crate at night, it's good for them to be comfortable with it when needed, such as vet visits, etc.
When crate training, don't just put your puppy in at night, put them in at random times during the day for a few minutes, or they will become used to only being in it at night. Remember, their bladder can only hold for so long, so they shouldn't be in it for more than 2 hours at a time during the day starting out. At night, 5 or 6 hour intervals for a potty break. If your puppy cries at night, you might want to have the crate near your bed at first. They may be crying because they need to go potty, so let them quiet down, then take them out.
Potty Training
Potty training starts from day one. 2 month old puppies only hold for about 2 hours, add an hour per month, up to 8 hours at adulthood. Small dogs can't hold like bigger dogs, so take that into account. Pee pads are not a good idea past 2 or 3 months old. They will learn that going potty in the house is okay, not just on the pad. If you live above the 3rd floor and have a balcony, a mat of pet grass can help, and treat it as outside. Be ready to take your puppy out to potty every 2 hours, and when they have eaten, played, or when they wake up from a nap. Making sure that fresh water is available all day is important, even if it means you need to be extra vigilant. I typically cut water off at 8 pm or 2 hours before I am going to bed, so that I have time to take them out to potty before going to sleep.
Bring treats with you, and take them to a grassy spot outside. Let them sniff around a bit, and when they go, give them plenty of praise and reward!
If they don't toilet after 5 minutes, put them back in their crate (playpen is too large, and they might just go in there instead), and try again 5 minutes later. Potty time is not play time. Once they have gone, then you can play with them. Don't take your puppy immediately back in the house, or might associate going potty with having to go back in the house. Let them explore a little before going back in.
After they have been going potty within the first 5 or 10 minutes of being outside, put a word to it, so they will know the command. You can use "go potty", or any other word that suits you. I train a pee command as well as a poop command. It's especially helpful for male dogs, when they reach marking age.
If your puppy isn't letting you know when they have to go out, you can get a set of bells, and tie them near the door. Whenever you take them out to potty, ring the bells, and then let them do it. Ringing the bell just to go out is okay! Puppies may start with that, but if you only go out to potty when the bells are rung, they will get the picture over time. To teach your pup to ring the bell himself, teach him a touch target. Hold a treat in one hand, in a closed fist, and hold the other out near his nose, palm out. It helps to rub treat smell on your hand at first. When he seems curious about your hand, give him a reward. When he touches it with his nose, have a party! Lots of reward and praise! Next, put a word to it, like "touch", or "target". Once he has learned that, hold the bells, and tell him to target. Once he is consistent with ringing them, move them closer to where they will be.
After enough repetitions, he should be able to touch target, and ring to go potty!
This is only the beginning. Start your pup out, ready for success! Learn more in Part Two!
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