Thursday, December 22, 2005

Make Preparations For Your New Puppy NOW!

Well, the time is near. Christmas and New Year's Eve is just a few days away.

For some people, they will be getting a new puppy for the family.

Here are some ideas for you, regardless of the breed: Puggle, Golden Retriever, Labrador Retriever, German Shepherd Dog, pit bull or a mutt:

1.) Buy a crate. Don't just shove the pup in there to freak out. That is the worst way to introduce a pup to a crate.

2.) Buy a variety of safe toys, such as Kongs and Nylabones. The rest of the toys you get must be supervised when being chewed on.

3.) Buy stainless steel water water and food bowls

4.) Buy your puppy food, but be sure to also have whatever type of food the breeder was using to start out with. You can't switch dog foods immediately, or your pup will get sick.

5.) A young puppy shouldn’t be put in a kennel, laundry room, garage or kitchen from the very first day. That isn’t a wise or safe place at the start. You will force the puppy to potty in your home, whine and cry when it can't see you, and generally traumatize the pup. The pup should be with you, in your home, supervised or crated, until they are a bit older.

6.) Do you know how to house train a dog? If not, then you need professional help NOW before the puppy arrives. If you look at the sidebar here, you’ll see I sell a 95 page book on how to house train any dog. It also teaches you how to introduce a crate, how to socialize your puppy, how to teach your dog to play fetch, potty training, and a whole lot more. You MUST NOT spank, yell at, scruff shake, Alpha Roll, or rub your pup’s face in their urine or poop. That stuff is abusive, AND IT DOESN’T WORK.

7.) Be sure you know how to socialize a puppy. Your well-meaning relatives could do more harm than good to your pup over the next few days.

8.) Be careful how you introduce your pup to your other pets. Pups can be attacked by the family dog or cat and seriously injured.

9.) Do you have pet-safe clean up materials and solutions for any messes?

10.) Where is the pup to sleep at night?

11.) Who is supposed to be the primary trainer of the pup? It SHOULD NOT BE a young child or young teen. Who is going to supervise the pup when you leave the house?

12.) Do you know where your veterinarian is, and your emergency veterinarian? If your pup shows ANY kind of illness, you CAN'T wait until the next business day to get to the vet... your pup will be dead before you get there. If you have to go to the vet at 2 am, then you just do it!

13.) Do you have a first aid book and kit for the pup yet?

14.) Do you know how to deal with puppy chewing and biting? If not, then you should also consider buying my Puppy Lesson. Your pup DOES NOT KNOW what “No” means. You’re just going to scare your dog if you just start ordering it around and scolding it for things it knows nothing about.

15.) Have you a plan for discussing what can and shouldn’t be done with your new pup? Have you a plan on what you are going to do to supervise and educate your kids about how to treat the new pup? You’d better!

You might want to email me if you need lessons over the holidays. I have downloadable e-Lessons available to help you. You aren’t going to be able to line up a trainer over the holidays, and you could be doing a lot of harm to your pup in the meantime. My email address is Sam@SamTheDogTrainer.com

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