Bringing Home a New puppy
By: Di Ellis
Moving to a new home can be very stressful for a new puppy, especially if they are being separated from their littermates for the first time. You can help your puppy transition more easily by doing some pre-preparation before they arrive.
Have a bed set up ready for new puppy, and a bowl filled with water nearby. Puppies should have a nice warm, dry place of their own, as young pups need a lot of rest! You should also have a few toys for your puppy to play with.
Don't feed your puppy for about an hour after getting them home for the first time, and try to make it as near to a normal meal time as possible. Young puppies should be fed very small meals 4 times per day up to about 3 months of age. You can vary these between puppy biscuits, commercially prepared puppy food, and home cooked food. Remember that puppies have very small teeth, so you may need to cut meat into very small pieces for the first few weeks. Also remember that puppies need lots of calcium for growing bones, so an all fresh meat diet at this age is not recommended.
Schedule a trip to your vet within the first 2 weeks, just for a general check up to make sure puppy is OK. You can also discuss a vaccination & worming program and desexing with your vet at this time.
Get your puppy used to a collar and a lead as soon as possible. When fitting the collar, you should be able to fit 2 fingers between the collar and their neck. And don't forget to keep checking the collar size as puppy grows!
The first few times you attach the lead to puppy's collar, just let the puppy trail it around the floor for a while. You can then move to picking up the lead, and encouraging puppy to walk beside you.
There may be other things you want to introduce puppy to at an early age:
- Having their coat brushed / groomed
- Having their teeth cleaned
- Getting their nails clipped
Above all, make sure puppy is part of the family, and has a safe, quiet area it can retreat too when things get too much!
And for more information about puppy training, don't forget our article 10 Things You Must Teach Your Puppy Before They Are A Year Old.
About The Author
Di Ellis is one of the owners of BestDoggieTips