Bringing A New Puppy Home…

When you bring your puppy home for the first time…remember to first introduce them to the front yard to see if they have to go potty after the trip home. This is also a great common ground to introduce your puppy to any other dogs you own.

Once you bring them inside you want to try to keep the vibe in the house as calm as possible.

This is not the best time to invite over all the neighbors to meet your new baby, there will be plenty of time for introductions and something I highly recommend taking advantage of!

Neighbors are great for puppy socialization – just not the first day home.

Give it a couple days. I know this is hard for a lot of people especially little kids because… they’re so proud of their new puppy and they want to show them off  to all their friends (totally understandable) but try to remind your children why it’s so important to let their new puppy get accustomed their new environment and also start to develop that special bond with their new family first. Discuss this with your whole family before bringing your new puppy home.

#1 – Puppy Supplies & Setup – Make sure you have a nice cozy place for your new puppy like crate or x-pen setup. Get all your puppy supplies ordered and ready to go, so you can focus all your time on just enjoying your new puppy and not running around trying to figure out what they need and where you’re gonna get it.

GETTING PREPARED FOR PUPPY IS ALWAYS STEP ONE.

Why do puppies cry the first night home?

It’s most likely the first night your puppy has spent away from his mother and littermates. Because dogs are pack animals, your puppy knows instinctively that being separated from the pack is dangerous. Whining and crying at night is just their way of calling out for their pack to come find them. Yes, I know its so sad but they get past it and it will get better. Promise.

Puppies first night home can also be one of the hardest nights for us because we tend to get more emotional and either feel really guilty they’re sad or we take it to heart and assume they must not like us, or we get overwhelmed and frustrated. Try not to do any of the above.

It’s so important to get prepared mentally and emotionally for the first night to be a challenge and just remember… this too shall pass. Some puppies do really well their first night home but I’ say a puppy who doesnt make a peep or cry in the their crate is more of a unique situation. Crying is pretty much the norm.

Helping Puppy feel at home in their crate the first week home:

• Your puppy’s bedroom – should be an appropriately sized plastic or metal dog crate.
• Puppies need crates, like babies need cribs!
• Do not feel guilty for teaching your puppy boundaries from day one.
• The crate should always be associated with something pleasant.
• Training should take place in a series of small steps. Don’t go too fast.
• The sooner you start crate training, the sooner you’ll be able to leave the crate door open and only close it at night or when needed.
• Getting them on a feeding/sleeping/eliminating schedule is key to create andpotty training. Read more about our Crate Training Schedules here!!
• Keep the crate next to your bed so they can still hear and smell you. They may still cry a little, but it will be less likely because they’re afraid and more likely they’ll get over it quicker and be far less dif they know you are close by, you don’t want your puppy to feel abandoned on the first night in a strange home.
• Under no circumstances take the puppy to bed with you. Sorry, I know it is so tempting.
• Give the puppy a fluffy stuffed animal to snuggle with.

Getting Puppy to sleep through the night:

• Make sure your puppy is getting plenty of exercise during their free times out of the crate.
• Try to wear them out by playing games, toss a toy and get them to bring it back, take a run around the yard after a potty break.
• Work on training simple hand commands like sit and down.
• An hour or so before bedtime should be time for winding down time and should become part of their new nightly bedtime routine.
• Take them outdoors several times after dinner and make sure they’ve gone both pee and poop before putting them to bed for the night.

PUPPY SUPPLIES

CHECK OUT OUR PUPPY SHOPPING LIST FOR NEW PUPPIES! 

Just like humans, dogs bond with and have a natural affinity towards their family and have a “pack mentality”.

 

They prefer the safety and comfort of their family’s company and really don’t like to be separated from them.

When you bring a new puppy home, it’s important to keep in mind that this baby animal has spent all of their life surrounded by the warm bodies of their mother and siblings.

Crate Training Rules

The crate isn’t a magical solution. If not used correctly, a dog can feel trapped and frustrated.

• Never use the crate as a punishment. Your dog will come to fear it and refuse to enter it.
• Don’t leave your puppy in their crate for too long.
• A dog that’s crated day and night doesn’t get enough exercise, mental stimulation or human interaction and can become depressed, neurotic or anxious.
• Never allow your puppy to become frantic in the crate, if your puppy is screaming, howling and franticly digging to get out… then you need to start over, move slower and reintroduce the crate.
• Doesnt mean you need to give up or that your puppy is just “one of those dogs that can’t be crate trained”, it just means you went to fast and you need to backtrack and start out with shorter period in the crate, only as much as they can handle without becoming frantic and LOTS more positive associations with the crate like their FAVORITE chew stick or bone maybe with some peanut butter on it.

I CAN NOT EXPRESS ENOUGH HOW HELPFUL A GOOD CHEW CAN HELP WITH CRATE TRAINING AND POSITIVE ASSOCIATIONS

• If your puppy won’t take a treat or chew while in the crate, then they’re just too scared or nervous. Period. It’s common for dogs to refuse even the most high value treats if they’re too nervous or stressed out.
• If they’ll take a chew but then start crying once the treat is gone, then be happy with the amount of time you got.
• Remember some puppies need to go in very small baby steps, but I’m not talking year, we’retalking hours and possibly a days of really working with them to accept the crate as a positive place to hang out.

• Wait for a few minutes of some calm or at least wait until their not crying even for a few seconds, you have to take what you can get sometimes with more sensitive or “overly dramatic” puppies.
• The goal is, you just don’t want them to believe their screaming and crying actually worked to get out.
• Remove them the from the crate, in your happy but calm “let’s go” tone of voice, bring them directly outside, praise them extensively for going potty.
• Avoid using a “poor baby” tone of voice. This can actually backfire and reinforce the fear because if you’re upset then they really must have a good reason to feel upset and sad too.
• When I say “happy tone” I don’t mean “excited” you wanna sound happy but calm if that makes sense.
• Puppies pay very close attention to our tone of voice and actually learn to read our emotions and even our intentions through our tone of voice and body language much faster then our words and language. Same goes for training with hand signals. Puppies can also learn hand signals faster then verbal commands.

• You may have to change your schedule, hire a pet sitter, or take your dog to a doggie daycare facility to reduce the time spent in their crate every day.
• Puppies under six months of age shouldn’t stay in a crate for more than three or four hours at a time.
• They can’t control their bladders and bowels for that long. Physically, they may be able to hold it, but they don’t completely understand you expect them too yet.
• Crate your dog only until you can trust them not to destroy the house and consistently notify you to go potty outside. After that, it should be a place he goes voluntarily.

Separation Stress and Seperation anxiety – When we move this puppy into our home, we’re actually separating them from the only family they’ve ever known, so it should be no surprise that there will be some initial signs of anxiety and even grief. 

There will be a transition period for every puppy in a new home. Some do take it harder then others, doesn’t mean they have seperation anxiety even if they cry and hollar when left alone… it just means they’re normal young puppies going through some seperation stress, which is only temporary.

Signs of Puppy Stress and How to Help your Puppy get Past it…

Some signs of Puppy stress may include acting shy or timid at first, not being interested? Max. All puppies deal with stress differently, some may pant alot the first night,  some may sleep alot or just seem down and out and kinda sad.

Especially considering what a big change it is for them.  Separation discomfort is a normal part of acclimating to a new home and family, and gentle patience and awareness is called for. Keep them busy and give them lots of reassuring praise and cuddles and they’ll be bouncing around in no time. 

It is this natural instinct that still prompts puppies to whine, howl, squeal and demonstrate restlessness when they’re separated from their families.

For the first few days, or weeks, it is natural for a puppy to have trouble falling asleep in their new environment or crate, because it’s natural for the puppy to feel vulnerable and afraid as she adjusts to the absence their littermates and fluffy puppy piles and it can be a big transition for them to learn to feel safe in a new environment and to being alone.

Teaching them to feel safe alone as a puppy can help to avoid true “seperation anxiety” issues and unwanted behaviors as adults. 

Crate training puppies is invaluable for helping to avoid seperation anxiety in adults! 

Read our blog post on How to Stop Puppy Whining and Crying in the Crate Blog Post!  

PUPPY ENCLOSURE SOLUTIONS AND SETUPS

Day one in the new home will be the most frightful for the puppy, and the most challenging for you to lay the groundwork for your relationship with your puppy.

READ OUR POST ON CRATE AND PUPPY PEN SETUPS!

I recommend a crate and x-pen setup if you work or can’t let them in and out of the crate every 2 hours during the crate training schedulecrate training schedule. You can put these almost anywhere in your house but it’s best to put it on hardwood or tile flooring and on a tarp  I use the large poly tarps under our playpens (below). 

You can buy the Waterproof Poly tarps on Amazon (8′ X 10′)  they’re easy to clean and hard to destroy. You wanna get one that is not too big and not too small.  You should have at least an inch all the way around that is outside of the pen to avoid the tarp slipping, leaking or allows the puppy to pull up the sides while playing. You can use strong tape like duct tape to tape them down to your floor, so they don’t slide around, because believe me they’ll slide around if you don’t tape them down.

You can find all the best puppies supplies that I personally use and recommend for new puppy families!

Honestly, just having the right tools and right puppy setup makes raising a puppy 100% easier!!

Most everything is link to Amazon Prime for free 2 day shipping!

CHECK OUT OUR Recommended Puppy Supplies Page or our Puppy Crate and X-Pen Setups Blog post.

CRATE SIZES: You need a crate big enough so that the puppy can at stand up and turn around without hitting their head on top of the crate and long enough for them to sprawl out because puppies do love to sprawl!!… but NO bigger.

INSIDE THE CRATE

Buying a crate with “room to grow” is NOT a good idea UNLESS you’re going to use the divider that comes with all metal crates.

If the crate that’s too big your puppy will create a bathroom area on one side and a bedroom on the other. During potty training going potty IN the -z is exactly what you want to avoid and really defeats the whole purpose of crate training… The crate works so well for potty training because dogs and puppies don’t like to eliminate where they sleep… so you give them just enough room to sleep – not pee and 💩 poop.

TO BED OR NOT TO BE… DOGS BEDS IN THE CRATE OR NOT?

Potty training puppies do not NEED big fluffy pillows, blankets or dog beds yet! Save those for AFTER potty training. IF they can handle having a bed without using it as a pee pad then great go ahead and make it as comfy as they want!

BUT if your puppy continues to go potty in the crate on their bedding then remove all the bedding until they consistantly stop having accidents in the crate. The more accidents they have in the crate the longer potty training will take.  Puppies can do just fine without bedding as long as the room is kept warm enough.  Remember these are still dogs. They will gladly sleep and snuggle in dirt.  *smile

DOG BED REPLACEMENTS? 

Replace the doggy beds, blankets and towels with a soft decent sized Teddy Bear or a few small beanie baby size bears to keep them company and something comfy to snuggle.

MORE X-PEN PUPPY ENCLOSURE EXAMPLES

   

Every puppy is different and every puppy will have their own unique qwerks and issues.. just be consistent with your puppies training schedule,  don’t sweat the small stuff and enjoy the puppy raising process.

You are essentially raising a family member, best friend and life companion and I think that deserves some real commitment and if there’s a few challenges along the way… it’s all gonna be worth it in the end!

The more challenging parts are usually quickly forgotten and before you know it the family is starting to talk about getting another new puppy! *smile*

Recommended Reading List:

• How to Potty Train a Puppy Using Effective Housebreaking
• Crate Training your New Puppy –  A Step By Step Process by Dr. Ian Dunbar
• What to do When Your Puppy Whines at Night
• Puppy schedule
• Crate Training Schedule
• Training a Puppy without a Crate