Part of the family

 

 OUR UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP with dogs is built upon ten thousand years or more of friendship and co-operation. It has weathered all the changes we have experienced together on our journey through time.
It is difficult to grasp the sheer scale of the history we share with dogs, and fascinating to consider that somewhere back in the Stone Age your own puppy’s paleolithic predecessors were being embraced into human families. The depth of this association between our two species is reflected in the privileges we now allocate to our dogs and in the emotional ties we form with them.
Our relationship with the domestic dog is truly remarkable, and every new puppy represents the chance to reaffirm the bond between us.


The addition of a puppy to your family is a significant event and should be a wonderful experience for all concerned. Your puppy will be special and unique, a product of both his own genetic inheritance and of the loving environment you provide for him. And like every new puppy, his arrival represents the promise of a new life and shared future together.

The build-up to the day you collect your puppy will be exciting and even a little daunting. You will want to do the very best you can for him, to make sure you give him the right things to eat, and the right amount of exercise. You will also want to make good choices about your puppy’s health and training. The purpose of this book is to make sure you have all the information you need to look after your puppy on a day-to-day basis, and to make those important decisions about his care. Above all, I want to help you make sure that your puppy becomes a happy and valued member of your family and of the wider community.

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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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