KEEPING A   PUPPY

When you bring your puppy home you must make sure your house is puppy proof.  Keep the pup away from electrical wires, house plants, cleaning products and any small objects (like, erasers, crayons, paper clips) that the pup could swallow.  Some house plants are poisonous, the same as household cleaning products.

You should have a cage for your pup to call his home.  He is not to be bothered when in his cage/den.  Do not use the cage as punishment.

Your pup will remain a pup for his/her first year of life.  He/she will be teething for about 6 months.  This can be quite painful at times, therefore your pup will likely chew on anything he/she can get his/her mouth around.  Be patient he will learn the rules of the house, the do’s and the don’ts. 

When your pup is not supervised he/she must be kept in a safe place.  The kitchen is a good area to put your pup when you are too busy to watch him/her.  If possible fence / or gate off a 5’ X 5’ area, putting the cage in one corner, and food and water dishes in another corner.  Put a variety of toys in the fenced in area for the pup to play with.  Rubber chew toys, nylabone, and chew rope.  This will keep the pup busy when you are too busy to play with him/her. 

Line the floor with newspapers, approximately 10 layers deep in case of accidents.  When removing soiled papers always leave papers that are slightly soiled on top.  Add fresh papers under the old ones.  The slightly scented papers attract the pup to that spot to eliminate.         

If you work outside the home and the pup will be spending the day alone, you should leave the radio or television on to keep him/her company.  Toys to play with, food and water, and voices in the distance make the pup fell less alone, and should help to reduce the need for the pup to bark when unattended.

The pup should be taken outside to eliminate about 15 minutes after he/she eats.  Take the pup to the area where you want him/her to do its’ business.  Stand in one spot until the pup does something.  If  within 15 minutes the pup has done nothing take it back into the house and put it in the cage.  Wait about 20 minutes and try again. When he/she has done their business praise him/her enthusiastically and bring back into the house.  You want the pup to learn to do its business quickly so that you can go back inside or into the car for a trip.  This will take several weeks to perfect but it will be greatly appreciated on those cold rainy mornings. 

If you want to take the pup outside to play, do so 10 - 15 minutes after you have taken him out to do his/her business.

TRAINING

  Training your dog to obey you can be accomplished by frequent; ten too fifteen minute sessions.  These sessions should be repeated two to three times each day.  It is best to schedule these before you feed you dog.  He will be more attentive to what you are asking of him, and he will associate these sessions with a meal reward. 

Before giving a word command to your dog, speak its name to get its attention, then speak a one word command, sit, stay, heal.  Remember to praise your dog when he/she gets it right; this will encourage the dog to perform correctly the next time.  Be patient, it will take many training sessions before your dog responds the way you want, but soon will associate the word with its meaning. 

For professional trainers, your local newspaper will have listings of classes available, or your veterinarian can recommend a trainer.