The First 48 Hours with Your New Puppy
Bringing a new puppy into the house can be a chaotic and exciting moment for both you and the puppy. The first 48 hours with your new puppy can sometimes be overwhelming; this experience is a lot like bringing a new little toddler into your home for the first time. In order to prepare yourself, and your puppy, for this moment, here is what to expect in the first 48 hours with your new puppy.
What to Expect
Depending on the puppys' attitude, the puppy will either be into everything at once or the puppy will be scared and timid. If your new puppy is all over the place, you will have to increase your supervision and make sure that you have effectively puppy-proofed your household. If your puppy is shy and timid, try to quiet the household, and let the puppy get to know the home, and you, on its own terms.
Excitable and nervous puppies, and puppies that have just been separated from their mother and siblings, will often bark and wine more than usual. You can expect a lot of barking and whining in the first 48 hours of bringing the puppy home. As the puppy gets used to its surroundings and new home, the barking and whining should calm down.
Puppy puddles and accidents will more than likely occur multiple times. Excitable and nervous puppies are especially prone to having accidents. Prepare yourself with plenty of clean up tools, and if possible restrict the puppy at first to an area without carpeting.
A change in environment, and especially a change in diet, can cause the puppy to experience diarrhea or loose stools. If the puppy has diarrhea, make sure that the puppy is getting enough liquids and decrease the amount of food the puppy is getting. If the diarrhea does not begin to improve within 24 to 48 hours, take the puppy to the veterinarian and have the puppy checked for intestinal parasites.
Source: PetWave
Source: All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
Puppy Training For the First Few Weeks
Introduction
Your new puppy is going to need a lot of instruction from you at first in order to learn the rules of the household. Training your puppy the right way, the first time, will ensure that your puppy grows up into a well behaved dog. In addition, a puppy that learns that rules of the household is a happy puppy. The puppy knows that he or she is doing a good job, and the puppy adores the positive feedback from you.
Positive Reinforcement is Critical
Whenever you are training a puppy, or a dog, always use positive reinforcement. This type of training method rewards good behavior, and ignores bad behavior. Punishing a puppy for bad behavior can confuse the puppy, teach the puppy the bad behavior still gets attention, and encourage the puppy to continue the bad behavior. Rewarding the puppy for good behavior will help the puppy to quickly learn that good behavior pays with lots of attention and affection from you.
Bathroom Training
Bathroom training should always be achieved through positive reinforcement. Take the puppy to the same area every time to go the bathroom, and when the puppy uses that spot lavish a whole lot of attention and affection on the puppy. If the puppy has an accident in the house, take the puppy to the bathroom spot immediately. Reduce accidents in the home by giving the puppy plenty of opportunities to go the bathroom. Puppies usually need to go to the bathroom after they eat, wake up, and play.
Leash Training
Begin to leash train your puppy as soon as possible. A harness will give the puppy more support instead of a collar. Take the puppy on a leash outside to go to the bathroom, or even for a short walk outside or around the yard. When the puppy walks well with you reward the puppy. If the puppy is not behaving, stop and ignore the puppy until it calms down and then try again.
Interacting With Your New Puppy
Introduction
Puppies are delightful little bundles of joy, though they can also be almost uncontrollable little bundles of energy. Your new puppy is going to be testing boundaries at every turn, and your interactions with your new puppy will help your puppy to quickly learn appropriate and acceptable behavior. These beginning interactions may also determine whether or not you have a well behaved dog in the future. In order to ensure that you are getting off on the right foot with your new puppy, here are some do and don't tips for interacting with your new puppy.
Thing You Should Do
Do encourage positive behavior by lavishing attention on your puppy every time it follows instructions and good behavior including: playing with the right toys, going to the bathroom in the correct spot, and interacting properly with people and other animals.
Do promote good bathroom training by picking a spot for your puppy to go the bathroom. Take your puppy to that spot frequently to give your puppy the opportunity to go. Praise and pet the puppy when the puppy uses that spot.
Do encourage good play behavior by using the appropriate toys during play time and interactions with your puppy.
Things You Should Not Do
Do not give your puppy attention when it behaves in the wrong way. Any kind of attention, even negative, will encourage your puppy to repeat that behavior. Instead you should ignore your puppy when it engages in bad behavior.
Do not encourage behavior in a puppy that you do not want in a dog. For example, if you do not want your grown dog on the furniture or in bed with you don't take the puppy to bed or let the puppy on the furniture.
Do not play with your puppy using your hands or feet. The puppy will begin to think hands and feet are appropriate play toys. This type of 'play' can encourage nipping and biting when the puppy grows older.
Source: PetWave
Source: All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
