Bringing home a new puppy!
A new puppy in the house is as exciting as bringing home a new baby from the hospital and the similarities don't stop there. There may be some sleepless nights, hopefully just a couple. There will be an adjustment period and of course there will be a lot of love!
Some of the things you want to have on hand before bringing your new baby home:
- Distilled water, to avoid a major water change and the pup getting the runs.
- Some of the same food that the pup was on with the breeder. If you intend to switch foods, make sure you do it slowly and mix the 2 different kind together for at least a week. Maybe longer if the pup has a sensitive tummy.
- Yogurt, cottage cheese and/or a premium canned meat to mix in the kibble.
- Get some canned pumpkin and always keep an extra can on hand for the life of the dog. Giving a tablespoon or more if they will eat it will help firm up any loose stools very quickly. Remember, it's plain pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling with added spices.
- Have a collar with a quick release closure on it and a very light leash that the pup can drag around the house (with supervision) to start leash breaking. It's completely normal for pups to scratch at a new collar while they get used to wearing it.
- Pre-determine where the pup will sleep. If you value your sleep, we suggest putting the puppy in a small bathroom or laundry room with some newspapers and a pee-pee pad on one side of the room and a bed on the other side of the room. This way, if they need to get up to potty in the night, they can go to the paper and then can go back to sleep with out waking their owners. Some people would like their pup to sleep in a crate next to their bed so they can get up in the night. If you are a light sleeper and want to get up, then this is OK as well. If the pup sleeps in the crate, make sure they don't have an accident in the crate as this will create a bad habit very quickly
- Have some soft toys and some bones for the puppy to chew. They are used to biting their litter mates as a way of playing so toys and bones are a great deterrent from biting on soft human skin. One of the best kind of bones to get for puppies are called "knuckle bones" or often sold as "soup bones" in your grocery store freezer section. These will keep pups busy for hours and are the very best thing for swollen, sore teething puppy gums!
- A blanket or soft bed, however in summer, they probably wont want to sleep on anything warm. Allow puppy to "cry it out" when he first goes to bed. They are used to being with litter mates and it is an adjustment for them to learn to fall asleep on their own.
