Congratulations on the new addition to your family! The first thing you want to do with your new pet is to take him or her to the veterinarian. Always have a new pet checked out by a vet in the first few days after getting them. You want to make sure they are healthy and also get them started on preventative medicine right away. Make sure that they are started on there puppy vaccinations, they will need 3-4 vaccinations as puppy?s depending on there age and the recommendations of your veterinarian. Also make sure you have them test for intestinal parasites and have them dewormed as a precaution. Intestinal parasites can be very dangerous for the growing puppy and can also be transmitted to humans. The second thing you want to do is get them started on a high quality diet, there are many types of foods on the market today, discuss the best type and brand with your veterinarian. Your puppy will need to be started on flea and heartworm prevention, these preventions can also be started with your veterinarian.
Getting your puppy started on a schedule along with crate training will be the easiest way to begin training your puppy. A crate is useful training tool both in house training and general puppy behavior. The crate is looked at as a den for the dog; it is essentially the dog?s bedroom. The pet should feel comfortable spending time in the crate and have access to it at all times. Most pets will go to there crates on there own when they are tired or need a rest if trained properly. Start out but putting your puppy in his or her crate any time they are unsupervised in the house, over night and when you are away from the house. This will get the puppy use to knowing that the crate the place that he needs to go to when you are not around. Be sure that if your dog begins to whine the first few times you put them in there crate that you do not let them out. If you were to let the dog out of his or her crate each time they began to whine, cry or bark they would quickly learn that all they have to do is whine and you will let them out. In this case they would be training you! Your dogs crate can also be used a time out place when you dog misbehaves such as play biting to much, chewing on the furniture or any other common bad puppy behaviors. When these behaviors occur sternly say no and put them in there crate and ignore them for at least 30 minutes. This will teach them that there behavior is bad and that they don?t get what they want when they do that behavior. It will take or few times for this to catch on but for the most part puppies are fast learners and will learn quickly that they get a time out when there behavior is bad.
Getting your puppy started in a training class is the last important step to owning a new puppy. Puppy training classes not only help the puppy but also help you the owner. Training classes will teach your dog the basic commands such as sit, down, stay and heal. With these basic commands your dog will be well behaved and easy to handle in any situation. The classes also help your puppy to be socialized to new people and new dogs. This helps out greatly in the long run, a dog that is socialized to people and dogs at an early age tend to be easier to take places such as the vets office, the park and a variety of other places your pet would meet new people and dogs. These dogs tend to not be dog or people aggressive and are very easy going in any situation. This is especially important for the breeds that tend to have aggression problems, if socialized properly at the young age these breeds often have no problems with aggression later in life. Following these basic steps to raising your puppy will ensure that you have a good experience. Good luck with the new addition to your family!
Cathy?s website Paw Prints Boutique is dedicated to pets and their owners. Providing pet lovers with the most fabulous Pet Accessories, including dog beds, pet carries, dog collars and more. This articles co-author is Cathy?s daughter Rachel she has a bachelors degree in Zoo Science. For the last two years she has been working as a small animal Veterinarian Assistant and is currently going to school through Purdue University for her Veterinary Technology degree.