At last the day you have been waiting for, your new puppy has arrived. It is important to plan in advance before you bring your new baby companion home. Remember it takes time to adjust to life with its new family. Puppy may seem anxious and possibly fearful of its new home having spent the first several weeks of life with its mum and siblings. In a couple of days with love and patience on your part the transition will be smooth.
As part of the preparation, it is important to have a vet who can provide quality health care for your puppy in the form of regular check ups, ongoing vaccinations and prompt medical attention in case of emergencies.
Make sure you keep your puppy away from parks and unfamiliar lawns until fully vaccinated.
Socialization and puppy training are of utmost importance as puppy hood is the most important and critical time in your dogs behaviour development. What you do and do not do right now will affect your dogs behaviour forever. Make sure that each of the following events are pleasant and non-threatening. If your puppy’s first experience with something is painful and frightening you will be defeating your purpose. In fact you will be creating a phobia that will often last a lifetime. It’s better to go slow and assure your puppy is not frightened or injured than to rush and force your pup to meet new things and people.
Invite friends over in small doses.
Take your puppy for short rides in the car to get him/her used to traveling.
Find a groomer that will help educate you on brushing and bathing between grooms. The earlier the better. If you wait till your puppy is 4 months old to get them into a groomer they will not be stared puppies like they should be during grooming.
Prevent your puppy from chewing and destroying your house and belongings by providing proper training and chew toys. After all, chewing and playtime are part of a normal puppy’s growth and development.
Remember if you don’t want the shoe etc to be chewed it shouldn’t have been left in pups reach. Do not punish pup for chewing your things if you have left them in his/her way. If pup has your shoe etc remove it and replace with his/her chew toy.
Start now to teach puppy not to jump…
Gently put pups feet back on the floor and reward him/her there.
Be consistent.
Get down to his level to give affection and attention.
Do not allow pup to jump up, Do not pet, talk, cuddle or reward him/her for jumping.
Do not give in.
Do not allow other people to let him jump on them.
Do not give up.
Jumping can be harmful to puppy and other people, especially small children who can be knocked over when dog is older and still jumps.
After bringing pup home you may notice his stool become soft after a few days. This can be due to stress, change of food or change in water. The stools will normally go back to being firm again in a few days. If not then contact your vet. I use filtered water for all dogs and puppies at LRD.
*******If you decide cannot cope with our puppy, please let us know ASAP so we can find puppy a forever home.
Thank you
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