Puppy Life

You & your puppy are home, now what? 

Heath has a list of the essential items you may purchase that will help when the puppy comes home.  We don't suggest dog beds till they are older and even at that they can still be eaten or tarnished. We strongly recommend place boards, hard to eat and easy to clean.  

Boundaries and structure are essential to a happy pup and happy family.  Those look different for everyone.  Create yours early and make them clear for your puppy.  This will help as your pup gets older and will understand the rules.

Bonding with your puppy and socialization are most important for your pup during the ages of 8 weeks to 6 months.

Night 1-3:  Put a crate close to you for the first new nights, so that it will feel safe but comfortable knowing a human is close & so you can hear it if it needs to potty.   A blanket over the crate can be helpful if the puppy is having a hard time settling.

Night 4-12 weeks of age:  After a few days you can move the crate a bit further away. Until the dog is lasting through the night, we don't suggest moving it further away then ear shot.  

If you can't have eyes on your puppy, crate the puppy.  Vacuum with dog in the crate, put the crate in high traffic areas (after night 3 or when night trained) so it learns that just because humans are out doesn't mean the puppy is out.  If you are happy about crate time, so will the puppy.  If it whines and you know it had water or food recently, it has gone potty & exercised you have to let the puppy cry it out.  Human always wins, we have faith in you!  

Make sure it has had 15-20 of play & potty & put the puppy in their crate.  

Say "kennel" when the puppy goes in the crate that way it will start associating that word with where its going.  A crate will keep your puppy safe and your household belongings.  Carry the dog outside if the crate isn't close to the door, this will keep the dog from peeing before you make it outside.  

Pup needs to be fed 2-3 times per day.  6am-8am, 12-1pm and 4-5pm are ideal feeding times.

Puppies will get side tracked and not go potty if left unattended.  We have to make a good effort to get them in the grass to go.

Wake up, carry  the dog outside to potty, play time for a good 20 mins(unless middle of the night),  once play time is over pup goes back in the crate.  Within about 30-45 mins of eating take it back outside to potty, this potty break shouldn't be as active as the last, but casual walking is ok. Bring back in side to crate.

2 hours later, bring pup out to potty, play for a longer period of time,  and put in crate.  After 30-45 mins take the pup out for a potty break and short walk. 

2 hours later you guessed it, repeat.  

Before you go to bed take the puppy outside to potty limit food and drink after 6pm. 

Make trades for things they shouldn't have like shoes & socks for a chew toy or ice cube.  Get them excited to come to you with the thing they shouldn't have. Say their name in a nice excited tone, this will help them improve their recall when they are older & praise them and pet them for bringing the item to you. Then trade with a toy or ice cube.  Pick up toys that are not being played with and only allow them access to toys when you want them to have them.  Toys laying around the house don't get played with and can cause the pup to not be excited about them in the future.

A stern "No" when the puppy is doing something it shouldn't , a serious "NO" when they are in danger or a human is, we use "leave it" on stuff like our plants outside or june bugs.    

Around 4-5 months or sooner the puppy will be night trained.  At 6 months you can go to 2 meals a day, and by 8-9 months one meal a day.

At this age a puppy learns through play & you should be bonding with your puppy.  Putting too high of expectations on a dog this young can lead to disappointment and not allowing the puppy to play can create a 2 year old child/dog.  We have seen it.  Let your dog play.  Around 6 month we'll transition into more formal obedience work.