September 26, 2023

Your puppy is FINALLY home! Everyone is SO excited!!
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This part is VERY important, so PLEASE read! Until your puppy has completed its vaccination schedule, do NOT take your puppy anywhere that there has been a lot of dogs. When you take it to the vet, carry it. Don't let it on the floor. Don't take it to dog parks, or anywhere else, that would be a high risk area for the puppy to contract an illness from other dogs. That could be quite life threatening to your puppy, if it has not had all of its vaccinations first.
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Try to schedule your day to day activities, so that you have plenty of free time for the puppy when you first bring it home. It will help greatly to get the puppy adjusted to its new surroundings and routines.
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The puppy is likely to be a little scared at first. It is important to not overwhelm the puppy with too many loud people or a lot of commotion. It is best if everyone is calm and just lets the puppy adjust in to the new area. Do not let small children carry the puppy around. The puppy will be wiggly and may get dropped. ALWAYS supervise small children with the puppy. Show the puppy around and let it get used to its new home, inside and out. Find a spot in the yard that you want it to use to go potty, and show it that area. Always praise the puppy when it does something good, and start growing a bond and trust with the puppy.
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Keep the puppy near you. If you use baby gates or doors, to keep it near you, you will be able to see if it is getting into something it shouldn't be, and you can distract it with a toy. Also, pay attention to signs that it may need to go potty. They will usually start sniffing around, or try to find a place further away from you to go. Quickly get the puppy and take it outside to its spot that you want it to use. If it goes potty outside, immediately, praise the potty and repeat a command such as "go potty", so it can start corelating the command with the action. Keep in mind, that if the puppy has been sleeping, as soon as it wakes up, take it out. If the puppy has eaten, take it out. If the puppy has drank a lot, take it out. If the puppy has been playing hard for a while, take it out. It is very important to get your puppy on a feeding schedule. If it is on a feeding schedule, it will start having bowel movements on a schedule, which makes house training much easier as well.
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It is good to use the proper sized crate for the puppy. Too large of space, and the puppy will be more likely to have accidents in it. Some of the wire crates come with dividers, so the crate space can grow with the puppy. I always suggest that people crate the puppy next to their bed. The puppy wants to be near their humans, and will usually do much less whining if it is close to them. It also helps in crate training, because you will be more likely to hear the puppy moving around or whining, if it needs to go outside in the middle of the night. If a puppy still continues to whine a lot, sometimes draping an old blanket over the crate, seems to make them feel safer, and usually settles them down and whine less.
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Make sure to feed the puppy early enough in the evening, to give them a chance to have a bowel movement before bedtime. Also, restricting the amount of water before bedtime, can also help minimize accidents in the crate during the night.
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ALWAYS remove collar before crating the puppy. The collar can get caught on the crate and strangle a puppy/dog. I always keep paper towels, garbage bags, or empty plastic shopping bags, and a spray bottle near the pen, to make cleaning more convenient if an accident happens during the night. You want to make sure that you use a non toxic cleaner for the pen. I use a spray bottle of water, with just a little bit of dish soap in it. It is best to not use bedding in the puppy's crate until they are fully crate trained. It seems to make them a little more likely to potty in the crate.
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The only toys that I allow in the crate for them to play with unsupervised are nylabones, rope toys, and some very sturdy stuffed toys, that are made from canvas, and advertised as very durable.
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Hopefully, this info will give you some helpful tips in having a successful first day home with your puppy.
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by KJE