Big Moments, Little Paws
Big Moments, Little Paws
Dah Heeler Boy's coming home, plus major tips for welcoming your puppy home!
Today we have any exciting topic… Gotcha Days!
We vlogged the first 24 hours home with our boy for you to watch and below we are sharing our top 5 tips for your first day home!
Welcome Home ‘Oli!
It is so special to get to look back on these precious moments with our baby boy.
Looking back, I think the tips I share below really helped create a strong foundation for ‘Oli in his development and got us started in the right direction for raising a balanced dog.
So here is to the art of puppy raising!
Our Top 5 Tips:
1. Set Your Puppy Up For Success
This means creating an environment in which natural puppy behaviors are directed appropriately and the opportunities for the puppy to rehearse undesired behaviors are minimized.
(Thanks for ingraining this in my mind Amy, from The Puppy Training Podcast)1
An example being, the pen we set up for ‘Oli: this environment gave him a safe space to be a puppy with the available stimulus being puppy toys. This way when he wanted to chew on something he turned to a toy not an electrical cord.
Starting your puppy in a small area in the house and gradually opening up more spaces to them as they learn and develop an understanding of commands will decrease the amount of time you have to jump up to react to the puppy doing something “naughty” and also show the dog that as they behave in a certain manner they will gain more privileges.
Basically, set the dog up to be able to earn privileges rather than lose privileges as they act in puppy ways.
Additionally, setting aside a puppy space will help the puppy to feel comfortable and confident in their new home and start your relationship off on the right foot.
A relationship where the puppy is primarily receiving praise as they act like a puppy rather than consistently being scolded for their natural puppy behaviors: like chewing a shoe or the couch or even potty-ing somewhere they shouldn’t, etc. is far more likely to result in a balanced dog.
2. Prepare Ahead of Time
Piggy backing on tip #1… You wouldn’t come home from the hospital with a baby and run out that day to get a crib, clothes, toys, etc. Bringing a puppy home isn’t all that different. Preparing them a safe space, puppy proofing the house, having toys, treats, food, etc. is all important for a puppy to!
I highly suggest removing the stress of obtaining all that stuff from the gotcha day and gathering it all ahead of time! It helped ‘Oli settle in and feel at home to have his puppy nursery all set up prior to the day he came home.
This allows for all your energy and attention to be focused on your new puppy and building a strong foundation of trust between the two of you.
Your puppy will have needs from day one. Being able to meet those needs right off the bat will add monumental progress to the formation of a strong owner/dog relationship!
3. Most Introductions Can Wait
In the first 3 days while the puppy gets acquainted with their new life the addition of overly excited friends, family, and neighbors can overwhelm the puppy and disrupt the confidence building and feeling of safety.
While everyone loves meeting a new puppy and it is such a good experience, these introductions can be dis-regulating when a puppy does not have the calm and safe foundation in the new environment or bond with the primary handler, SO it is best to minimize this at least for a few days until the pup is confident in their new home and with their new owner.
Of course all the people that live in the house can spend time with the puppy, we just suggest leaving the introductions of the pup to those outside of the house to another day later in the week.
It is already quite an overwhelming experience for a little pup to leave everything they have known and their dog family to live in a totally new environment with people they barely know.
In fact, many experts say on average it will take the puppy about 3 days to feel comfortable and confident in their new home. Focusing on giving the puppy a calm and safe environment at home for these first few days will be foundational in creating a well-balanced adult dog.
4. Keep a Timer Handy
Puppies need to potty a lot! Most everyone plans to begin potty training on day one of the puppies arrival. Having a timer2 handy (this can just be your phone) will help remind you to take the puppy out consistently.
‘Oli napped a lot on his first day home so if the timer went off while he was napping we would wait for him to wake up and then immediately take him out as uninterrupted sleep is good for the growing puppy! However it is easy to loose track of time and on the first day while he was awake ‘Oli peed about every 25 minutes!
And personally we would rather have unnecessary trips outside and phones buzzing regularly, over having to soak up accidents every 25 minutes.
5. [Top Tip!!] Bring the Scent of Their First Home with Them
This may take a bit of planning ahead to accomplish but it is SO worth it!
And it is actually my number one tip, if you plan on getting a pup from a breeder. When we first visited ‘Oli at 4 weeks old we left a small bandana at the breeders right near the whelping pen. This allowed the fabrics to saturate with familiar smells.
Dogs, especially puppies, primarily navigate the world through smells, being able to bring the smell of home with you to your actual home will do so much good for your new puppy! I cannot recommend this enough!
Make sure to check out the YouTube video if you want to hear more on this. We captured the first 24 hours home with ‘Oli in a YouTube video linked HERE
The Puppy Training Podcast is presented by Amy Jensen, Owner of Baxter and Bella Puppy Training and online puppy school. See our post linked above if you are interested in learning more!
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