Skinner’s Top Tips on Bringing Home a New Puppy

Have you made the decision to get a new puppy? Here are some top tips on what to do when you first bring your new puppy home.

Food

Starting your puppy on the right food is important to ensure it gets the right nutrients for development and healthy bone growth. Skinner’s offer free Nutritional support and guidance help you through these early stages, and can recommend the best food for your new family member. Contact our team here.

Field and Trial Puppy

Field and Trial Puppy Duck and Rice (sensitive)

Field and Trial Puppy Lamb and Rice (sensitive)

When you first get home

Before you go inside your home with your new pup, take them to there ‘potty spot’ outside and wait until they are able to go to the toilet whilst saying a word you will stick to saying when they are to go out to the toilet; such as ‘tree’.

When you get them indoors, let them get used to their new surroundings by restricting them only to a couple of rooms. Supervise them at all times, there may be certain objects which need moving that you hadn’t thought of before.

Make sure you are certain you want them to go on the sofas before you start letting them on them. This can be a tricky habit to reverse if you change your mind!

Introduce them slowly to new dogs in the household and make sure they are not left unattended, even if they look like they are getting on really well!

Establishing a routine

It is best to get your puppy into a routine as quickly as possible. This will dramatically help the training process. Much like a new born child you need to establish the following:Feeding time – you should still be feeding your puppy at least 3 times a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Toilet- getting to know your puppies habits. Most will like to go to the toilet straight after they have eaten, so stand ready to pounce and get them out the door to their ‘potty patch’!

Play time- make sure your puppy has plenty of toys to keep them occupied plus allocated play time with you to help build up bond and respect.

Bed time- try and keep bed times and wake ups the same times every day. This will also help with toilet training!

How to cope with the first night

Do not let them sleep in your bed- this can be a dangerous mistake as they can expect to be allowed in there every night and it could be more troublesome than them crying.

Let them sleep in a cage which is in their own area of a room and that they associate with bed time. Dogs don’t like to go to the toilet in their sleeping area, so this is good at helping them wait until the morning to go to the toilet.

Make their cage like a proper den, by laying a blanket over the top to make it cosy and the lighting dimmer which will help them get to sleep.

Once you have put your puppy in there to go to bed, leave them. However hard it may be to not go in and give them a cuddle when they are crying they will soon get used to it. Giving them attention when they are crying will only make it worse.

Be prepared to get up early in the morning and throughout the night to let them out to the toilet. Unless they have a larger pen where you can put some newspaper down to try and encourage them to go on the paper. This can eventually be moved nearer and nearer the door until it is outside.