Caring for a new Puppy is exciting but also challenging, here we are sharing how adding a puppy to your family brings many rewards.
To a certain extent, bringing a new puppy home can sometimes feel as intense as bringing a new baby home. Of course, the parallel isn’t perfect, as if our babies were able to crawl around and jump on everything they see within the first few minutes of coming into our household – we would have bigger problems on our hands.
Puppies are great fun, they deserve love and excellent treatment, but they can sometimes be a bit of a handful to deal with. As they grow into a loving member of your family, it’s worth training them, showing them their boundaries, and helping them know what areas of the house are off limits.
If this is your first time owning a puppy, it can be helpful to read a couple of books about your breed or simply take a healthy interest in online assistance. In this post, we hope to discuss a few measures you can take to make caring for a new puppy a little easier to deal with – so that you can also attend to everything else you have to do.
Caring For A New Puppy
Here is everything that you need to know!
Buy The Implements You Need Now
A reliable flea and tick collar can work up to seven months, and that’s quite useful for obvious reasons. Furthermore, while your puppy may not be suitable for a small collar at the moment, they will certainly grow into one, and it’s best to have this on hand.
Before bringing a puppy home, it’s also a good idea to make sure you have their bed prepared and that you have a few toys for them to gnaw on, suitable for their size. It’s a good idea to find a lead that is easily holdable or even retractable in some circumstances, prepared for when it’s suitable to take them on walks. And of course, vaccinations and other medical necessities are essential to invest in – or finding a breeder who has that all taken care of is important, too.
Certain lifestyle preparations can also make sense, like making sure the dog groomer in your area is well reviewed and caters to your particular breed.
Use Room Gates
Puppies, like babies learning to crawl, have an insatiable desire to explore everything. Thankfully, they don’t have opposing thumbs, which means that opening your cupboards or getting into your cleaning supplies is hardly appropriate for them.
But they can run, and they will follow wherever their nose leads them. This means that using small gates to prevent them from running up or down the stairs (and hurting their little joints), or that your front and back gates prevent your puppy from leaving your lawn is essential. In this light, you’ll be more able to make sure your puppy only stays where they need to be, and where is safe for them to occupy. This can sometimes even help you split up two dogs from each other (if you have them at home right now) while both parties get used to the smell of the other pet.
Purchase Food In Bulk
Purchasing food in bulk can also be quite helpful, provided it all stays within its use by date. Finding a few nutritious brands suitable for when your puppy stops taking milk is important. This might involve vitamin and mineral-fortified meals, different meats, and more. Just make sure that you don’t fall victim to the ‘dogs can be vegan’ crowd, unfortunately this misguided movement, however well-intentioned, deprives dogs of the nutrition they truly do need.
Use An Appropriate Trainer
Trainers are best to attend the moment your puppy begins becoming a fully-grown dog, anywhere from sixteen months to sixteen months old. An appropriate trainer can help them become introduced to new dogs in a safe environment, which helps them understand that they will encounter ‘strangers’ throughout their life.
A trainer can also help them define you as the authority of your dog, helping them to take your commands and to learn behaviors based on rewards and positive reinforcement. They may also help you become better at staying consistent in that discipline. The sooner you do this the better, because a well-behaved and trained dog is better to mold in their younger years than if they become older and develop behavioral issues.
Stay Patient With Potty Training
The facts are in – your dog will unfortunately have a few accidents on your carpet, laminate or floor tiles before they are fully potty trained. It’s just the way of the world, and ‘a few’ is probably being a little too conservative.
For this reason, it’s important to stay patient with potty training. Continue to encourage good behaviors, such as letting them out at pre-ascribed times to help them wait until necessary to perform their business. Little helpers, such as padding out the door to their cage, or making sure that you keep them where an accident wouldn’t cause too much trouble can be essential. They’ll get it eventually, but you have to reinforce that behavior.
Set Boundaries Consistently
There are some boundaries that must be kept throughout your household, and all of your family members must keep up with them. For instance, while it can feel lovely and calming, it’s not a good idea to allow your dog to sleep with you on your bed. This is because even puppies are often unhygienic despite their best efforts, and this can lead to unwanted bacteria.
This can also go for making sure that you do not allow your dog to jump on your sofa as they become larger, that they know where they’re supposed to sit and retire to at night. While you can of course cuddle with your dog, make sure they know that certain restrictions apply, and that these must be adhered to. This might involve stopping them from jumping on visitors as soon as they arrive.
With this advice, we hope you can make caring for a new puppy easier to deal with. With the included information, you should continue to be the best owner you can be (and likely already are).
For more posts on caring for a new Puppy read First Week with a Cavachon Puppy story and Disposable Training Pads vs Washable Reusable Puppy Pads – What’s The Difference?
