Your first day at home with your new puppy will be exciting and nervous for all. Your puppy may seem very quiet and reserved when it arrives to its new home. This is very normal and the puppy will show more and more confidence as the days go by. Try to keep visitors and too much commotion to a minimum. It’s best the puppy have some time with you and your family and its new surroundings before it has to deal with other people and surroundings. Always remember that your puppy has not been vaccinated and is still susceptible to viruses from other dogs and germs from other places. Expose your puppy slowly to new places as he/she gets older. Keep away from parks, or places where dogs go.

Introduce your puppy to the area it will be sleeping/playing

Whether that is a crate, x-pen or small gated room.

Introduce your puppy to the outside: where it can go to the bathroom. When you take your puppy out to go potty show him/her where you would like it to go. Always praise your puppy when they have gone to the bathroom.

Training your puppy: I recommend a schedule for your puppy. First thing in the morning as soon as you get up (don’t plan on doing anything for yourself because by the time you get to the crate the puppy would have gone to the bathroom. As soon as it hears you it will want to go outside.

(Your puppy may have to do this in the middle of the night the first few weeks as well. Though most of my puppy owners had them sleeping thru the night within a week)

Take your puppy out of the crate and carry it to the outside. Don’t talk to it until after he/she has gone to the bathroom. I always stay calm and wait until puppy has done both businesses. Then praise puppy and show excitement that your puppy knows he/she did great. I always carry a little treat in my pocket to reward his/her good behavior.

If it’s in the middle of the night then don’t go over board with praise. Put the puppy back into crate without saying to much and go back to bed.

After his/her morning ritual then bring puppy back in and give breakfast. Within 15-20 mins take puppy back outside to go again.

Always wait an hour after eating before exercising your puppy/dog.

Mid – morning I like to go for a walk with my puppy.

Puppy should be getting tired by now and may want a good nap.

This is a good time to put puppy in its crate or in its x-pen so you can do other things.

As puppy gets older playtime will need to get longer. Sleep time will be less.

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Some easy training tips:

COME: Have a treat in your hand and get your puppy’s attention by calling its name once and asking it to come. I like to run backwards as the puppy is coming towards me. This gets his/her attention and they want to follow you when you move anyways. Give a small treat and praise. Once you got him/her attention then move on to sit command.

SIT: Show him/her the treat by putting it very close to its nose. Then bring treat over its head so that he follows it by sitting down and then say “Sit”. Praise your puppy and give

a little treat. (Remember that this is a puppy and words you say don’t mean anything to it now) Food and your tone of voice is the best training method. After you have mastered the come and sit command you can move on to down command.

Positive reinforcement is what gets results.

DOWN: This is harder and needs patients. Always get your puppy to sit first before asking it to go to a down. It is easier for them to lie down from that position. With treat in right hand bring to its nose and slowly bring the treat down to the ground saying “Down”. The puppy will try to go to your level by laying down. Sometime they sit up so get really close to their bodies with the treat. If they get up ask for a sit first and praise. Then try again. Do not give a treat if they didn’t do the command. After your puppy has mastered the above you can move on to the stay.

STAY: Have your puppy sit and staying right in front of the puppy say “Stay”. No more than 2 seconds should puppy not move and then give treat and praise. As the days go by you can ask your puppy to stay longer and then try moving back one step. Baby steps works best.

NOTE: I always do my training when the puppy has had its energy relieved before asking it to concentrate on me. Run outside or walk around and then ask your puppy for its attention. Food usually will get them there.

Remember all this training should be no more than a minute or two at each session. The more you do it during the day with shorter sessions makes better results.

REMEMBER TO SIGN UP FOR PUPPY KINDERGARDEN AND SHOW THOSE PUPPIES OFF ON WHAT YOU AND YOUR PUP CAN DO!!!

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Introduce their feeding/water station: Show them what toys they can play with. Always have a chew toy in your hand when playing with your puppy. Your puppy doesn’t know the difference between your hand and a chew toy. They will be mouthy and want something in their mouths to play with. I find the chew toy is better than my hand. Show your puppy where it will be eating and where it can find water. I like to feed my puppies/dogs in their x-pen or crate.

Feeding instructions:

I like to feed my puppies 3x a day until they are 5-6 months old. Usually you will see as they get bigger and older that they are not as interested in all of their meals. This is the right time to cut back to 2 meals a day. Always have plenty of water available for your puppy. I like to feed the last meal around 5pm. This way the puppy has time to relieve itself before bedtime. I always like to give a treat at bedtime in their crate or x-pen before saying goodnight.

Mix: Please see last e-mail on feeding instructions. ALWAYS HAVE PLENTY OF WATER AVAILABLE FOR YOUR PUPPY.

I like to keep a bowl of water inside and outside for my puppy.

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Safety tips:

1. Never ride in car without being in a crate or restrained in a doggie sit belt.
2. Always have control of your pet when out on walks with lead or no lead.
3. Remember not everyone likes dogs/puppies so make sure to ask if it is ok for your puppy to come up to it. Keep your puppy in control.
4. Bring small plastic bags on your walks to pick up after your dog/puppy.
5. Don’t give raw hides to your puppy or bones when you are not watching them. They can chock on them.
6. Always take collars and leads off before putting in crates or x-pens.
7. Have dog tags put into tag pockets on collars. You can get these at Especially for Pets. This will protect them from getting their tags caught onto something and chocking.
8. House plants are dangerous so put out of reach.
9. Electrical cords are dangerous….keep out of reach.
10. If you can’t watch your puppy please put your puppy in a safe place whether it is the crate or the x-pen.
11. Always be with your puppy when it is playing with children. Though your puppy is sweet and your children are good they both can get to excited and can hurt each other by accident.
12. Always have a toy or chew toy in hand when playing with your puppy. This teaches them what to bite and play with instead of your hand or leg.
13. Make sure all small objects that puppy can swallow are out of reach.
14. Never leave your puppy outside unattended. Coyotes will grab puppies at night and during the day. Your puppy can be stolen from others too.