It may be your first puppy, you may have had a dog before but it was an older rescue dog. Or maybe you’ve had a puppy wyou had one when you were young, but it was more of a family dog and mum and dad had the real responsibility.
So this is your first dog, a super exciting time but with that comes the responsibiltiy.
Do you buy a crate? Do you need puppy pads? Do you need a clicker?
What toys do you need? Which bed to buy?
You probabaly don’t even know what a clicker is…..
So you need to make a start somewhere for help and advice
Friends and family will have lots of well meaning advice, but it can get a bit overwhelming as their advice may be contradicting each other.
So next you go on the internet and turn to Facebook breed groups for tips, again every dog and its owner has their own top tips – brain ache
and then start googling…..what could go wrong?
As much as I love having so much information at our fingertips, I do find it overwhelming when looking for help.
Lets just start with the basics and look at getting your puppy settled in at their new home with you before worrying about harnesses and clickers.
Here to get you started here is my Puppy Starter Kit List to you to get off on the right paw.
Get yourself a crate, this is going to help you big time with the toilet training and also is great to use when you can’t watch them to prevent them chewing table and slippers. This can be also used a den for them to sleep in at night time to give them a safe comfortable place to call their own.
I want you to forget buying puppy pads or using newspaper, just take your puppy out after every nap, after they eat and afer playtime to see if they need to toilet and make a note in your diary everytime they toilet and how long after you took them out there is was, until you can see a routine in when they will need to toilet – and don’t forget to praise and reward them each time too.
Pick youself up a Kong, or two. These are fab boredom busters and great to use to tire ou your puppy. The licking & chewing is great mental stimulation and will help your puuppy feel good and then have a nap. Got a land shark, gvie them a kong to chew rather than you!
Toys – there are so many in the shops and you dont need to come home with one of everything (as tempting as it is!). Provide then a rope toy or dried out fish skin to chew on to save your furniture. A plaited fleece tug to play with your puppy is great for you (Tug-E-Nuff have great toys for pups, pop in CARRIESCANINES and get free delivery) and your dog to have fun together and will help build your dogs confidence too. Don’t want to rely on treats? A game of tug is a great reward for your puppy and help them remember more of the training too. They will think you are just awesome and want to hang out with you all the time. And don’t forget the cuddly toy to snuggle with!
Cleaning products are a must, just be careful with what you buy as ammonia replicates the smell of urine which can cause puppies to return to the same spot to toilet again, and again, and again. Just take them out on a regular basis, make a note in your diary and keep and eye on them (and I you cant pop them in their crate). Don’t make a big deal with any accident, just clean it up and tell yourself off for not watching them close enough (you don’t have to do this bit!) but please don’t tell them off as they are still learning with our guidance and if you shout at them they may be too frighten to toilet in front of you.
Kibble, wet food, raw, home cooked – and that’s just a few. With so many options on the shelves to choose from where do you start and that’s before you look at the options online (which in my opinion are better than going to your local supermarket). Look at the ingredients, you ideally want a high % of meat content, and that isn’t meat derivatives, in the food and check what else is in the ingredients a they don’t need lots of grains – these are just cheap fillers for the manufacturers. If you are unsure give me a shout.
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We have a Puppy Special of our newsletters that includes advice and tips for your new puppy as well as how to teach some polite manners with your pup. If you would like one posted out to you, please drop me an email here with your address and I will get one out to you in the post.