Arriving & Settling In Tips
Congratulations on the new addition to your family!
Welcoming a new pup to your home can be an exciting and fun time, but it can also come with a lot of questions and worries, especially if this is your first experience having a puppy. The most common question we see as a Kennel Club breeder is ‘How do I help my new puppy settle in?’, and the answer is there are a number of ways you can prepare yourself.
If this is not your first time owning a puppy, it may still be a good idea to brush up on your ownership skills, with the experience of coming into a new environment being overwhelming for new arrivals. As a 5-star breeder, we have put together our tops tips through our years of experience, outlining how to settle a new puppy by following these recommendations:
Food and Water
The first course of action we recommend is to provide your new puppy with ‘easy clean’ food and water bowls in areas away from puppy pads or toilet training spaces. Clean, fresh water should always be available, except at night to prevent unwanted accidents, avoiding milk as this can cause diarrhoea and allergy problems. Goat milk is a nice alternative, avoiding these unwanted problems.
Giving your pup a set meal time rather than letting them ‘graze’ during the day, or even giving ‘on demand’ feeding, is extremely beneficial. Initially, offer your new puppy a meal three times a day, with the food we weaned them onto being provided. Common behaviour when settling in a new puppy, particularly in first-time owners, is to give treats out relentlessly. However, treats should only be given as rewards for good behaviour, not because the pup has given you the cutest look! Treats need to be scarce enough to hold some meaning in the context of training.
Some other top tips to follow include; dried food is much better for your puppy’s teeth compared to tinned food/sachets, and never allow strenuous exercise to be completed on a full stomach.
Comfort and Reassurance
Comfort and reassurance are major factors contributing to settling a new puppy in your home, with all bases needing to be considered, first and foremost, providing a cosy bed (chew resistant initially!). There are several tactics you can use to create a comfy environment for your dog, such as placing a hot water bottle under their bed cover at night time.
Pups can play hard but will also sleep lots at an early stage. Therefore, we have provided them with a scented blanket to help them settle. Other tips include leaving a radio on at low volume if they are going to be in a different room to you, and if crate training, cover their crate with a blanket at night time.
Something to Chew On!
A rubber toy or chew of an appropriate size or tug-of-war rope will be great fun for pups, particularly in the 4-8 month ‘teething phase’ age range. Don’t overdo it – it is better to have just a couple of toys so your pup can become attached to them and enjoy them more. If you don’t give them their things to chew, your pup will always find something! Kongs are a great option that you can fill with organic peanut butter or puppy food and freeze.
New Experiences
New experiences can be overwhelming for new puppies, so it is important to introduce them in a calm manner, such as cars, vacuum cleaners, etc. You can also take them up in your arms and walk around the neighbourhood to give them exposure to sights and sounds at an early stage.
As a 5-star Kennel Club breeder, Cezarblue puppies are raised with very specific socialisation plans, following our Rules of Seven, ensuring an emotionally healthy start. For more information, read what we do to prepare your puppy for their new life.
Introducing new experiences aligns closely with the before-mentioned area of comfort and reassurance for your puppy.
Children
Adoption of a new puppy is very exciting, especially for children, which is why their enthusiasm needs to be supervised and controlled. Teach the children that when the puppy is sleeping or even just lying on its bed, it is to be left alone.
Remember that as adopting a puppy is a new experience for children, it is also a new experience meeting children for your puppy, and just as dogs need to be taught to behave around children, children also need to be taught how to behave around dogs. It is essential that your new puppy is not overcrowded by children or forced to interact with them until the excitement of being somewhere new has worn off.
One of the first lessons is to teach children to respect dogs and not treat them as you, ensuring young children are never left unsupervised with a puppy.
Safety
The first thing you need to ensure before getting your Cezarblue puppy is to make sure your house and garden are safe for their arrival, bearing in mind objects that could be swallowed or chewed, electrical flexes, blind cords, etc. The area must be escape-proof, with some people deciding to use a playpen or crate where the pup can be placed safely at intervals during the day.
Also, ensure that pups don’t have access to stairs etc, as they are likely to have a poor perception of height as well as co-ordination being limited at this stage.
Try giving them positive associations by giving them a treat when placing them inside. However, dogs, unfortunately, find chocolate highly palatable but can become seriously ill if they ingest it enough, so make sure your stash is safe from their paws! As well as chocolate, many houseplants and garden plants can be toxic for dogs if ingested, including:
- Lilies
- Tulips bulbs
- Azaleas
We understand that you can’t empty your house or garden, but it’s important to be aware of these hazards.
Establishing The Rules
One of the kindest things you can do when settling in your dog is to have consistent rules and start working towards them as soon as you get them home. It is vital that not only does your dog know these rules but to be sure that your whole family knows the rules and what to do, allowing your family and puppy to live in harmony together and avoid confusion.
Positive motivation training techniques (reward-based training) will help quickly establish a strong bond based on mutual respect and elevate you to a leadership position. However, as mentioned before, it’s important to resist getting too frugal when giving out treats, as this can cause further confusion and take meaning away from being rewarded for good behaviour.
As a premier breeder of pedigree Dachshunds, Dobermanns, Labradors, and Beaucerons, we have established a strong network of connections, including some of the best training providers in the country. If you are leaning towards undertaking training, we would be happy to recommend the best trainers near you.
Toilet Time
When getting your pup out from leaving them for a period of time, make sure the first thing you do is take your little puppy out into the garden, and if they do their “business”, make sure you give them lots of praise and rewards. Utilising reward-based training like this allows you to effectively set a precedent for positive reinforcement, and rewarding them for good behaviour with a treat when they are a puppy should be emphasised as this is when they are most impressionable.
Start giving your pup regular opportunities to go to the toilet if they need to by putting them outside, including every time they eat, drink or wake up from sleeping. Should they have an accident, simply pick them up and put them straight outside.
Plenty of Attention and Interaction
Don’t rush them!
Timid pets may try to hide initially, but when they start to feel more comfortable, you can begin to show them more affection or play with them gently. They need interaction but also need to learn that they are safe even when there is no physical contact or when they are alone in a room.
Grooming can be useful as a means of calming and getting your pet used to being handled, but it is important to try not to spoil your pet by allowing them to lie on your bed or constantly carrying them around.
Means of Restraint and Identification
Means of restraint and identification can be introduced within a few days of arrival, ensuring it is loose enough to allow you to pass two fingers underneath but not so loose that it can be pulled over the head. Your pup may initially scratch at it but will soon learn to ignore it. You should regularly check that it isn’t getting too tight or becoming uncomfortable for your pup.
An identification tag is extremely important and should be engraved with contact information and phone numbers.
Sleeping
Another frequently asked question and a common concern for a large number of new users is, ‘Where should a puppy sleep on the first night?’ And the answer is – it depends on your preferences, which is why we have constructed advice for whichever option you decide to take.
If you do opt to let your puppy sleep in a puppy crate in your bedroom, you should do the following:
Set up the puppy crate close to your bed, but if your puppy wakes up in the night or whimpers, you should talk to them reassuringly but refrain from touching, stroking, or cuddling them. Your puppy will soon start to sleep throughout the whole night without waking up when the penny drops, that they won’t be picked up or petted when they whimper or cry.
Once your puppy is more settled, you can move the crate out of your bedroom to where you would ideally like your pet to sleep. However, you need to do this in stages by moving the crate closer to the door, then out onto the landing, and eventually moving it downstairs.
The first few weeks will set the tone for how you would like your puppy to behave, so it’s important to get it right, making sure your puppy always feels in a stress-free environment.
If you choose not to have them in your room to start with, use the following advice:
From your dog’s point of view, it would like to sleep in the same room as you, as it is a social animal and therefore has a strong need to belong and be part of the pack. Keep in mind that wherever you decide the dog is going to sleep, if it’s not in the same room as you, it may cry and whimper once you put it to bed.
Do not go to the dog if it starts to make a noise. It is crying from emotional isolation, it wants company, and if you even go to tell it off, you have just given it company and therefore reinforced the crying, which ultimately strengthens the crying behaviour. If the crying is not rewarded by you attending to the dog, it should stop within a couple of days.
Before putting your puppy to bed, ensure it has been fed and gone to the toilet. Additionally, play an energetic game 30 minutes before bedtime, so it is tired and more likely to settle down for sleep.
Last But Not Least!
Last but certainly not least, enjoy your new puppy!
Don’t be afraid to get things wrong… it’s all a big learning curve having a new puppy, so remember to enjoy them and that we are here for any and all questions you may have.
Here at Cezarblue, we are a 5-star licenced Kennel Club breeder of pedigree Dachshunds, Dobermanns, Labradors, and Beaucerons, with all of our dogs being extensively health tested and ensured the best start to life.
This guide should give you more information and tips on how to settle a new puppy, and we thank you hugely for your trust in us and can’t wait for you to have your baby at home. Please let me know if they arrive safely, and regular updates are always well received!
Pick up the dog n’ bone
For further details about our dogs and breeding programme or to show an interest in giving one of our dogs a ‘forever home’, please get in touch with Charlie Swanston by phone or email…
