Welcoming A New Puppy Into Your Home

Bringing a puppy home is so exciting. It’s may something that you’ve been waiting for, for a long time…

It’s important to plan ahead before bringing your new addition home so that everything goes smoothly for you and your family.

Part of that planning is increasing your awareness about all-natural and organic foods and ingredients. Ganjly proclaims that consumers from all over the world are becoming more aware of the products and foods they purchase, and just a word to the wise: many more people are considering CBD oil for long term puppy and dog health.

But for now let’s take a look at how you can make your puppy feel as welcome as possible.

What’s Exciting For You Can Be Scary For Your Puppy

While you have been waiting to bring your puppy home for a while, greatly anticipating his or her arrival, from your puppy’s point of view, they have been taken from their former home and put into an unfamiliar environment.

The good news is that puppies adapt very quickly, but you can make things a little bit less scary.

Make his or her introduction into your home with the least amount of fuss possible. So let him or her say hello to people on his or her own terms, rather than everyone crowding your puppy, which may be quite scary.

Provide Them With A Safe Place

It’s very beneficial for a puppy to have somewhere they can retreat to so that they can feel safe.

This is usually done by providing them with a crate, which should be left in a comfortable area of the house. A crate is meant to be associated with feeling positive and safety, so it should never be used as a form of punishment.

A crate must be big enough for your puppy to stand up fully and be able to turn around without difficulty. You may want to start with a smaller crate and get a bigger one as they grow.

A crate may be for your puppy to sleep in overnight so they can feel secure in their safe space. The crate can also be taken with you on road trips and holidays, or if you are staying at a different house, that way your dog will always have somewhere safe to retreat to.

You may also want to research the best dog beds for puppies so they can have the best, comfiest bed to sleep in.

A bed for a puppy should not be too big, as they prefer to feel protected in their bed, and it’s best if it is chew resistant, as puppies have a tendency to chew everything!

Give Your Puppy A Routine

Puppies thrive on routine, so try to set up a puppy training routine as soon as possible.

This means doing the same things around the same time each day, in the same places, until your puppy starts to grow in confidence.

As mentioned above, keep the crate in the same place, so they know exactly where to go for safety if they are feeling overwhelmed. But also keep bedtimes and wake up times the same, although puppies don’t always stick to these!

Keep their food and water in the same area of the house so that they know where to go for their food, and feed them around the same time everyday.

The same goes for going potty. Although as a young puppy it is difficult to get them into a potty-training routine, when you do take them out, take them to the same place each time so that they know where to go and what is expected of them.

When your puppy makes a mistake inside the house, and they will, don’t punish them. They are learning just as human children do, and punishment will only make them associate you with negative feelings.

What To Feed Your Puppy

You may have an idea of what you want to feed your puppy, but it is best to feed them the same food they have been eating prior to them coming home to your house.

This is because your puppy will be going through a lot of changes, so it’s good to keep some things the same.

Also, if you change your puppy’s food too quickly, they can get an upset tummy, which is not nice for them or you.

If you want to change their food, leave them on the food they were eating for at least a week or two, and then gradually introduce the new food over 10-14 days by adding a little bit more of the new diet each day.

Food for puppies should ideally be a puppy specific food, as this has the right balance of vitamins and minerals to help their growth. Talk to your vet about the best food for your puppy.

The First Few Nights

The first few nights can be quite stressful for you and your puppy. It’s a huge change for them. Where they would previously have been cuddled up with their mom and their siblings, they are now on their own.

Make their crate nice and comfortable with beds and blankets so that they can snuggle down. Putting a chew proof hot water bottle in the crate helps, as it warms the area as sleeping in a pile of puppies would do. There are also other sleeping aids available, some of which have a “heartbeat” function that can help.

Your puppy will probably wake up throughout the night. Remember their bladder is very tiny, so you may need to wake up every couple of hours to let them outside into the yard.

As much as you might wish to, you may not want to take them into bed with you. Although this may comfort your puppy, it will be hard to get them used to sleeping in their crate again.

After letting them out to potty, put them back into their crate and just walk away. Even though that can feel very difficult, this is the best thing in the long term.

Getting a new puppy is so exciting, but it can also be stressful for both you and your puppy.

With the proper planning and preparation, you should be able to make your puppy’s transition from where they spent their first few weeks into their new forever home.

If you start the transition in the best way, you should be able to set a positive, solid foundation for your puppy, which will lead to a long and joyful life together.

Have fun, and good luck.