Bringing Home a New Puppy. Complete Guide On How To Prepare Yourself And Your Home.

First of all congratulations on the arrival of your new family member !. Bringing home a new puppy can be exiting and challenging at the same time .It is important that you and your fur baby are well adjusted and stress free .A new environment can be stressing for your baby ,so this article here is to guide you to detailed process on how to prepare yourself and your home .

Whether you are a first time owner or have had previous experience ,nonetheless every puppy can bring its own surprise element for you .

PUPPIES ARE LIKE BABIES

There is reason dogs are refer to as Fur-Babies ,its because they are like them .Just as we prepare our home and surroundings for new born babies .Puppies also need similar kind of care and nurture from you. It is advised to bring a puppy who is more than 60 days old as by that time they are a little more grown and are able to understand  some things .When I brought Theo home he was just 38 days old and often cried at night ,so me and brother used to take turns rocking him to sleep . Slowly after a week he became familiarised to us and now found his favourite sleeping spot at my  little brother’s head (He has really thick hair and they might have reminded Theo of his mother’s fur). But if you decide to bring home a newborn puppy ,it can either be a stray pup or you had just decided to adopt your friend’s dog’s puppy who had just been born a few days ago. In any case the first step should be take the baby to a veterinary doctor . A vet will examine the puppy and guide you with the necessary steps to be taken.

SUPPLIES NEEDED BEFOREHAND AND AFTER YOU BRING YOUR PUPPY HOME

The needs of a puppy will be different according to the breed you are bringing home , whether it’s a big ,small or medium dog but some things are common and should be prepared before hand for our and our baby’s comfort and convenience

A CRATE OR A PET PLAY PEN :- Puppies are small and tend to roam in the house a lot .This can lead to accidents .To prevent this crate training is important and can help in avoiding such accidents . A crate also helps in potty training of the puppy and also they feel develop a sense of security among themselves .Think of it as a way providing your baby with its own room  .

WATER AND FOOD BOWL :Theo my puppy right now is  2 years old ,he is a Labrador retriever and for him right now I am using a bowl with 1800 ml capacity .For a new puppy choose a bowl which is neither too broad nor too deep and the capacity can range from 500 ml to 800 ml depending upon the size of your dog .I gave you Theo’s example as the size of a  adult labrador can range from medium to large and now that he is a Big Puppy he uses this bowl . The water bowl can be between 600 ml to 1200 ml and can be slightly deep .Remember to keep the bowls in one corner of the house to form habit .Dogs do not prefer changing  the place of their bowls .The bows should always be kept clean and the remember to change the water from time to  time  as  germs and microbes grow faster in water ,this can lead to various water borne disease in the puppy .You can always buy those water fountains  which help in filtering the water. I bought several different bowls for my pup as one is never enough .Try to buy those  bowls which have a spill proof base.

DOG BED (OPTIONAL) :Your dog’s sleeping habits will depend entirely on the region you live in ,how is the weather there and size of your dog . This not only goes for a puppy but an adult dog as well .then comes preference ,some like to sleep on hard floor while some like soft and cozy bedding ,some dogs need their space while some wants to be tuck in in their bed with a blanket and a bed time story . A good dog bed should not be bought according to fancy attractions available in the market ,instead you should focus on the needs for your puppy considering that they will grow both in size and age .As much it is important to pamper your baby it also important to efficiently make an investment for the future. I remember buying small and fancy beds for Theo only to see him rip them off in matter of days .The reason was his puppy biting stage. Now that he has grown up he always sleeps with me on my bed and occasionally on a custom mattress we got made for him .  

TRAINING PEE PADS: These are helpful if you live in an apartment or  you do not have much open space .These can also be placed in the crate and under the dog bed to avoid accidents.

A COMFORTABLE COLLAR

A LIGHTWEIGHT LEASH

A NEEDLELESS SYRINGE: puppies are often prescribed  with liquid medicines  these syringes help in measuring and its easy to give these type medicines with the help of syringe .

PUPPY FRIENDLY CHEW TOY

BABY OR PET WIPES

PET FLOOR CLEANER

PET FRIENDLY DIS INFECTENT

OUDOR SPRAY (PET VERSION)

GROOMING ACCESSORIES

FIRST 24 HOURS

Now that you have brought your puppy home ,the first 24 hours are much more crucial for you than your puppy .That immense excitement ,and happiness ,trust me its not easy to contain it. Always keep in mind this new life which you have brought home is your family member now and you are responsible for its well being and happiness.

Some of the things you can keep in mind are below:-

Puppies sleep a lot. But with significant brakes mainly for exploring their new environment or peeing.

They can really get excited and end up playing to the point of exhausting themselves .This is not good for a baby.It is important to make sure they are having adequate rest which is important for their growth.

CRATE AND POTTY TRAINING

There is a thumb rule for their peeing schedule ,how much they can hold their pee or in other words how frequently they will pee .Now this is where you can  start the process of Potty Training right away , Yes! It is always advised to start basic potty training from day one.

There is a plus one rule with the number of times your pup will want to go to pee i.e. age in months plus one hour

For example ,if your puppy is say two months old then it is likely for it to go for peeing every 2-3 hours .The maximum in this case where it can hold is 3 hours (Of course you will have to be very vigilante to see how your puppy is as it may differ from breed to breed and age of the dog)  .Remember this rule can only apply till their age is 7 months old after that it will depend  entirely on how much your dog is trained and its schedule .

We used to set alarms ,especially at night so that we can take Theo outside in our garden area where we wanted him to pee

It just took around five days for him to start telling us if he wanted to go out.

You should always take your puppy out or a designated place to pee every time after

1. They have woken up after a sleep
2. They have eaten.
3. They have played with you or outside
4. After walking.

After the above comes Crate Training or developing a habit of staying in a confined place .Now this might sound a little cruel for the pup ,we all would want our fur baby to roam around and play but that could be dangerous for them as they are really young and can easily hurt themselves. Crate or a Playpen or even a corner of the room blocked with cardboard or something can help .We bought a Playpen with gate for our labrador as it was easy to set up and even we were able to sit inside it with  Theo. It served as a personal space for Theo and he was even able sleep securely and soundly at night

SET AND MAINTAIN A PROPER SCHEDULE

Try to maintain a proper schedule and time table with your puppy . Mealtime , Playtime and Rest hours should be set in a proper way .This could be really exhausting initially but slowly you  will start design and follow your day according to you and your puppies needs .Trust me the amount of good changes your dog can bring in you is unbelievable .Both emotionally and physically you will find that you have become a new person.

A GOOD VET

A good veterinary doctor is a must for any kind of pet you have. You should always  consider  ease of availability ,specialisation and experience of the doctor .Start with asking around with your friends and families who have experience with pets before .A good vet is important as they will guide throughout your baby’s life .Puppies most importantly need special care ,vaccinations and number of supplements for their healthy growth which can only be guided by a good veterinary doctor.

Ask your doctor to guide you through a proper balanced diet for your puppy according to their breed ,weight and how old they are. Here is an example of Theodore

As you already know when we brought Theo home when he was only 38 days old and that is why his doctor suggested us with Puppy weening food supplement for 4 to five times a day at an interval of 2 to 3 hours each, before switching to dog food ,until Theo was 60 days old . Later when Theo was around 5 months old we were suggested to start with light home cooked food at least once a day and while his meal portions were increased ,he started eating only three times day . Now that Theo is 2 years old he eats two meals a day ,in which one is home cooked and one is his dog