If you are considering bringing a puppy home and have never done it before, there are some important things you need to know. A puppy is a new member in your household, just like a new baby and therefore needs your care and attention just like any other member of your family.
The puppy has just left its family and is going to be very lonely and just a little lost. As a result, whenever it is awake, it will seek company and a caring touch. If you are not able to provide these crucial elements, plus food and water, maybe you need to reschedule the 'bringing home' event.
In the meantime, do some research on the kind of attitude you need to have when dealing with a new puppy and the kind of care you need to give it. One thing you can expect when a new pup comes to your home is restlessness and whimpering. You can minimize this discomfort. Let's look at the best way to do it.
The first way to make a puppy comfortable.
Do not get a puppy that is less than eight weeks old. All puppies need to be with their mother until they are at least eight weeks old. They need the nourishment, which provides the antibodies necessary to ward off disease, the security and the sense of identity that comes from being nursed by their mother.
The second way to make a puppy feel comfortable.
Since you must transport the puppy from the location where you obtained it, remember that it's a pup, so treat it tenderly. Bring it home as comfortably as possible. Prepare a basket with a cushion, a coverlet and some chewable dog toys. Put the pup in the basket and place the coverlet over it, if the puppy appears frightened. If it appears relatively calm, then leave the coverlet off. Make sure you caress the pup's head occasionally during the journey home. Talk to it. It will probably whimper, but your soothing voice should calm it down and make it feel less abandoned.
The third way to make your puppy comfortable.
Introduce the pup to your home. Carry the pup around your home. Introduce it to the rest of your family. Let them and the pup become acquainted with each other. Put the pup down and watch it when it goes exploring. Gently, but firmly, stop it from doing things that are unacceptable in your household. In this way, you will introduce it to your authority and your rules, which it will have to abide by for the rest of its life.
The fourth way to make a puppy comfortable.
Prepare its corner/basket/bed in a cozy place in the house. Take the same care that you did when you prepared the basket for the trip home. The place where you intend to keep the puppy depends on the rules of your house. Some people prefer to take the pup to their bedroom; others would have it in their kitchen, etc. No matter where you put it, your task is to check on it occasionally, caress it, talk to it (maybe you could name it right away) and to take it out whenever you think it might need to relieve itself.
The fifth way to make a puppy comfortable.
If the puppy has not been completely weaned, give it a bowl of milk and some water in a separate bowl. Keep these next to its basket. Coax the puppy to drink as much as possible. If the pup does not drink at all, you might want to use a dropper to feed it some milk and water. You might also try giving it something semi-solid, like bread soaked in milk. Keep the quantity small. Feeding it too much might cause an upset stomach and the puppy might throw-up. After all, this might be the first time that it has had anything other than its mother's milk. If the puppy has been weaned, fill the bowl with the type of puppy food it had been eating at the location where you obtained it. Do not try changing its food at this time, because the pup will be under stress and its stomach may be upset. Keep some soft paper towels with you to clean up any messes that you, or the puppy might make.
The sixth way to make a puppy comfortable.
The pup will need to relieve itself on its first night away from its family. It may not be possible for you to step out of your house in the dead of night for the sake of the puppy. If this is the case, spread an old newspaper near the pup's basket or provide “puppy piddle pads“ for it to relieve itself on. Whenever you see that the pup is getting restless, lift the puppy, put it on the newspaper or piddle pad and keep it there until it has finished its task. In this way, you will eventually train the puppy to go on an acceptable surface.
The first night with the pup is going to be mostly sleepless for you, what with the whimpering and the waking up. However, you won't mind because you love your pup, don't you? When mom and dad got their first puppy, a black miniature poodle named Mitzi, they had a box with the puppy in it in a corner of the living room. It whined loudly, so after a while the box was moved to a corner of the master bedroom. When the pup continued to whine, dad picked up the puppy and placed her on the bed. She settled down between mom and dad and that was the last time she spent a night anywhere else. Mom and dad are the first to admit that they are pushovers when it comes to animals. They feel that if you don’t make them part of your family, why have them? I’m afraid that I have taken unfair advantage of that feeling and so has my “sister.” We are probably two of the most spoiled dogs around. But hey, I’m not stupid, why not take full advantage of a good thing?
Until next time,
Teia
PS. When you start to get frustrated with your new puppy, just remember that we grow up and provide you with unconditional love and plenty of entertainment for our whole lives. Show us kindness and provide us with good nutrition and we’ll provide you with a loving companion and all the protection that our size will allow.
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