GUIDE FOR NEW PUPPY OWNERS

Bringing a new puppy home is an exciting and often daunting time. There is much to discover and learn (sometimes the hard way!). Here is a handy guide to help you prepare for your newest furry family member. 

Make your Puppy A Den

Puppies will need somewhere safe and secure to call their own. This can be a crate or a soft comfortable space for them to snooze and relax.

Whether you have picked up your puppy from a rescue or a reputable breeder, bring back something that smells comforting to them and keep this in their den. This can be a blanket or soft toy that smells like mum or just an object that smells familiar.

Coming into a new house can be a very scary experience for our pups. To help them adjust give them a few tasty and soothing Liver & Lavender Rewards. Lavender will help your puppy unwind and feel calmer.

Top Tip: Remember to also invest in calming plug ins and sprays, these can be a life saver when first bringing home a new family member.

Choose A Great Puppy Diet

Did you know puppies grow approximately 20x faster their adult counterparts?

The first 1 to 2 years of their life is dedicated to growing, so choosing a nourishing, ultra-digestible food is important to allow this healthy growth. Puppies need higher levels of protein, fat, and calcium in their food to allow for bone and muscle development. 

Our Fresh Pressed™ Puppy diets are grain free, packed with Fresh Free Run Chicken or Turkey meat and bursting with everything your furry best friend needs to become a healthy happy adult dog.

If you are feeling confused about diet or are unsure how much and when to feed, check out our Guide to Puppy Nutrition.

Be Patient with Toilet Training

The most dreaded part of puppy ownership is the toilet training. Ultimately the key with this is consistency, patience, and positivity!

Some dogs certainly do learn quicker than others, however accidents will happen with every pup.

Puppies need to go to the toilet very frequently, typically after they eat or drink, after they play, after they wake up from a nap, if they get excited and approximately every 2 hours.  To toilet train to perfection, keep in mind the following steps:

1)    Have a Regular Feeding Schedule– this helps you predict when they will need to go. Pssst: remember the better the diet the easier the mess is to clean up.

2)    Take Them Out Frequently – go outside first thing in the morning and then every 30 minutes to an hour. The more you take them out the less chance of indoor accidents.

3)    Take to the Same Spot - Our dogs will toilet in the same spot, so their own scent will prompt them to go and encourage this behaviour.

4)    Always Praise your Puppy – your puppy needs to learn they are performing a wanted behaviour, so praise them every time they toilet outside.

Socialise your Puppy

Puppies are like human babies; they are constantly soaking in lots of information about their surroundings. The more socialised a puppy is the more well-adjusted they will be as an adult.

Introduce your puppy to a variety of scents, sounds, textures, experiences, people, and pets when they are young. The more your puppy sees and does, the more relaxed they become with the world.

Train your Puppy

Training is all about positive reinforcement and teaching your dog what behaviour you expect. Recall, walking etiquette and basic manners can start very early with your puppy.

Recall truly does begin at home. Start by calling your puppy from one side of the room to another, the trick here is to praise and reward them every time they come to you. You can gradually start doing this from different rooms, from upstairs to downstairs and eventually when safe to do so, from inside to outside.

By starting the recall training process at home, you will feel more confident when you eventually start going on those all-important walkies.

If you want more advice on training your puppy, head over to MK9 Plus Dog Training. The expert Max has an incredible wealth of experience with dogs of all ages and sizes. MK9Plus is a fully online training resource with hundreds of videos and tips to help you understand your puppy better.

So, there you have it some handy tips for any new and slightly worried puppy owners out there.

For more advice on all things doggy, check out our other blogs. 

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