Caring for your puppy



Most people accept that they will need to invest some time and effort in realising their aspirations for their puppy. They appreciate that puppies need help to grow into well-behaved dogs. But many new dog owners are unclear about the kind of help their puppy will need, or the point at which he will need it. To complicate matters, there is a lot of confusing and conflicting advice available to new puppy owners.

It can be difficult to know which way to turn. Should you dominate your puppy?
Or train him with treats?
Can you feed him chicken?
Is it spoiling him to let him sleep on your sofa or let him eat before you?
How can you be a pack leader and his friend at the same time?
Are dog crates cruel, and should you teach your dog to wee on puppy pads or newspaper?


There are so many questions, and so many different opinions on how to care for a puppy and how to achieve the dog of your dreams.


Throughout the next few chapters we will be building up your understanding and knowledge about how puppies learn and develop. We will look not only at the physical changes in your puppy’s body over the next few months, and how to keep him healthy, but also at what goes on inside his head. By the end of this section of the book, you will know the answers to the important questions above, and to many others, too. You won’t be dependent on outdated opinions to make good decisions for your puppy, or misled by the latest fads in dog care.

تعليقات

إرسال تعليق

المشاركات الشائعة من هذه المدونة

Arriving home

At last. You have made it home with your precious new bundle. You pull into the drive and switch off the engine.  What now? The very first thing you need to do is take the puppy straight to his outdoor toilet area so that he can have a wee. Offer him a drink of water and make yourself comfortable. It may take him a while to decide that it’s okay to wee in this new place. Puppies vary in how they react to being placed on the ground in a strange place. Some are like little clockwork toys – you put them on the ground and off they go. Others will be more hesitant, and a few will freeze with fear. If your puppy seems worried, get right down on the ground with him, let him know that you are there for him and let him climb on your lap if he wants to, while he surveys this new world. He will want to stay near you but he will soon begin to sniff about and hopefully will decide to do a wee. Once he has emptied his bladder, you can take him indoors, but it is a good idea to set an alarm ...
قراءة المزيد

SUMMARY

• Prepare your puppy’s den, and put up baby gates and a playpen in the garden. • Take someone with you to collect your puppy. • Take a travel kit in case of carsickness. • Check numbers match on registration and pedigree certificates. • Take your puppy home travelling in the footwell of the car, pressed up against your passenger’s legs. • Put him in his toilet area as soon as you arrive home and every half-hour afterwards.
قراءة المزيد

What to expect on the journey home

The chances are that your puppy has never been in a car before. He has also never been away from the home where he was born and where he feels safe. If you put your puppy in a crate in the back of your car and drive home with him shut in there, one or all of the following three things may happen. He will scream very loudly most of the way. He will be sick. He will empty his bowels.  This reinforces your position as pack leader and is just good manners! This is simply because the puppy is stressed and feels abandoned. He may be perfectly safe in the crate in the event of an accident, but your driving is likely to be adversely affected by the noise and the smell. All in all, it is not a very good start to his new life. For this reason, when I collect a puppy, I always take an adult passenger with me, or get someone else to drive. Then the puppy can sit in the footwell on the passenger side of the car. Pressed up against someone’s legs, he will feel safe and won’t scream with fear. I...
قراءة المزيد