Getting Off to a Good Start with Your New Puppy

Bringing a new puppy home is extremely exciting. You have a new member of your family, and it can be a little like bringing home a baby – in more ways than one. Puppies demand a lot of your attention, which is why it can be a good idea to take some time off when you first get one. Setting a foundation for your puppy to turn into a happy, healthy, and well-behaved dog is important in the early stages. When you’re getting ready to bring your puppy home, you can do a few things to get off to a good start and help everyone get along.

Getting Off to a Good Start with Your New Puppy

Create the Right Environment

Setting up the right environment for your puppy will help them to settle in. It can be difficult for a puppy leaving their mother to suddenly be in a new home and with new people, so one of the most important things you can do is make sure your puppy has their own space. Some people give their puppy a crate or kennel to sleep in, which can act as a safe space. You should also make sure that your home is safe for a puppy. This might include making sure there’s nothing dangerous for your puppy to chew and installing baby/puppy gates.

Put Time Into Training

Training your puppy is a must if you want a well-behaved dog. The earlier you start training, the more successful you can be with your training. Lots of things can affect how easy it is to train your puppy, in addition to their age. The breed can make a difference to trainability. Training a mini teddy bear puppy can be easier than training some other breeds, being fairly clever. Despite what you might think, plenty of smaller dogs are very clever and respond well to training.

Watch Kids Carefully

Children are always excited to bring a puppy home, but they’re not always the best at knowing how to interact with puppies. It’s important to watch children closely when you bring your puppy home to ensure both kids and puppy are happy. Make sure you talk to your children about the right way to play with the puppy and signs to watch out for that might mean the puppy wants to be left alone. Avoid encouraging the puppy to mouth on hands and other body parts or clothes, even if the children think it’s funny. Breeds like a spoodle puppy, are very social, gentle and affectionate.

Remember That Your Puppy Is Still a Baby

It’s a good idea to keep in mind that your puppy is only a baby. They’re still young and still learning how to be a dog. Training a puppy can be a lot like bringing up a human toddler, with some of the same things to consider. You need to reinforce good behavior and discourage unwanted behavior. You might also have to deal with some big emotions as your puppy gets used to being in a new place.

Get off to a good start when you bring your puppy home by being prepared and putting in the time to help your puppy get settled.