Hopes and dreams



Bringing a puppy into your life is not just a question of buying a new pet. It is a bigger decision than that, a much greater responsibility and opportunity. In many ways, dogs are far more than simply pets – they are an extension of our human family.

As you await the arrival of your new puppy, you will have expectations of your life together. We all want our puppies to be clean, happy, healthy and friendly. We want them to be gentle with our children and other pets. We may look forward to long walks together, games together, resting by the fire together. We hope that our puppy will come racing towards us when we whistle and that he will learn to follow basic house rules at home.

Whilst expectations are always high, life with a puppy is not always plain sailing. New puppies are messy, untrained and can be destructive and noisy. We all know that adult dogs should be clean, obedient, quiet and well mannered. But getting from the first state to the second in the space of a few months is not inevitable, as anyone who has met an untrained and bad-mannered adult dog will tell you. Raising a good canine citizen requires the input of a willing and committed owner.

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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 ...
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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.
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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...
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