X
This article was co-authored by Brian Bourquin, DVM. Brian Bourquin, better known as “Dr. B” to his clients, is a Veterinarian and the Owner of Boston Veterinary Clinic, a pet health care and veterinary clinic with three locations, South End/Bay Village, the Seaport, and Brookline, Massachusetts. Boston Veterinary Clinic specializes in primary veterinary care, including wellness and preventative care, sick and emergency care, soft-tissue surgery, dentistry. The clinic also provides specialty services in behavior, nutrition, and alternative pain management therapies using acupuncture, and therapeutic laser treatments. Boston Veterinary Clinic is an AAHA (American Animal Hospital Association) accredited hospital and Boston’s first Fear Free Certified Clinic. Brian has over 19 years of veterinary experience and earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University.
There are 10 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.
This article has been viewed 6,106 times.
Introducing a new member of the family to your home? If you've just gotten a new pet, it's important to make sure you learn what your new puppy will need to live a happy and healthy life. Pet stores can be kind of overwhelming with all the brands and options. But you can learn to provide for your dog the right way.
Steps
Part 1
Part 1 of 2:
Getting the Essentials
Get a leash and collar. Not all puppies wear collars when they're with their breeders, so it's important to get your puppy used to wearing a collar. Leash training should be done in a fun environment, as early as possible to get your pet comfortable going on walks.[1]- Don't pull your puppy about! Instead, put it on the leash and follow it. Encourage it to go your direction if needed, but don't drag it along. Working at the puppy's pace will help it adjust to the leash much faster. Once it has, then you can move on to lead-manners.
Get an appropriate food and water dish. Whether you want to be fancy about it is down to you, but make sure your puppy can reach the bowl effortlessly. Additionally, don't leave food in the bowl so the puppy can help itself when it wants to. Set feeding times, and ensure your puppy gets regular meals throughout the day.[2] As it gets older, you can decrease the amount of meals it gets to as low as once a day.[3]Advertisement
Get bedding and an appropriate sleep are for the dog. To help your puppy settle into its new home, ask the breeder for some bedding from its original bed where it slept with its litter mates. These scents will help your pet to relax more in its new home.[4]- A clock with a clear ticking sound mimics the mother's heartbeat, which can also be very comforting to a young puppy. Don't be lured by the puppy's cries, all puppies do this but they all quickly settle after a couple of days, provided their owners ignore the cries.
Get an appropriate puppy food.[5] With so many brands out, which one is the best? It is recommended that your puppy continues to eat what the breeder fed them when they weaned off their mothers milk, so ensure you ask the breeder what they have been feeding their puppies, and then buy in that food. Alternatively, you can gradually wean them onto a different brand that you'd prefer.- Ultimately, if you want to actually provide benefits to your animals health, raw meat diets are becoming increasingly popular. Dogs are descendent of wolves. Being carnivores, they require meat in their diets to lead a nutritionally balanced life. Prey Model Raw diets are the most popular as it provides an equal amount of Bone, Muscle and Organ meat that your dog will need.
Consider getting a kennel for the dog. X-Pens, kennels, or crates are sometimes appropriate for dogs, especially if you must leave the dog alone in your space for any length of time, before housebreaking. It is a great idea to have one of these set up all the time in your house and encourage a pet to seek quiet time in this area.[6] It builds confidence as the pet always knows there is a safe place to go to escape noise, unwanted social interaction with strangers and other animals.[7]- Kennels can range anywhere between $30-$300 depending on the size, model, and the material. Talk to an employee at a pet store in your area to find an appropriate size for your dog.
Buy toys. Your puppy will go through many stages in life and some of that will involve chewing. Make sure that you have an appropriate toy substitute or else you might start losing your shoes. Enrichment is really important to our animals mental health as they do not have the ability to go out and seek entertainment on their own. Having toys and pleasant experiences in the home while owners are away or occupied will reduce anxiety, destructive behaviors and promote general wellness.[8]Advertisement
Part 2
Part 2 of 2:
Caring for the Dog
Get the dog immunized as soon as possible. Never take your puppy outside beyond your garden until it has had all its shots. This is vital as the boosters give the puppy immunization against lethal diseases such as Canine Distemper, Parvo and (in some countries) Rabies.[9]- Take your puppy to a vet for its shots, and follow the vet instructions. You will likely be asked to return in 2+ weeks for follow up shots before your puppy can venture with you beyond your own yard.
Get the dog registered and get an ID tag. Make sure your ID tag has not only your dog's name but your contact information and secondary contact information. It's recommended that you use your veterinary clinic as a secondary contact, since they are easier to contact than a friend or relative that may be at work.[10]- If you live somewhere that requires your animal to have a license makes sure to purchase one from your local City Hall. To find out if your pet needs a license call your local SPCA/Humane Society or Animal Control Unit. The fines for not having one far out weight the price of getting one in the first place.
Give the dog a proper training regimen. Animals respond best to positive reinforcement, so avoid using any harsh training methods such as lead-yanking if your puppy pulls, or "burying his nose in it" if your puppy does business inside. Puppy Classes are a great way to get the best of both worlds (socialising and training), but if the budget is beyond what you can manage, home training is great too.[11]- Check out positive reinforcement training methods such as Clicker or the older toy/food reward training. Do not be encouraged to train your dog for "protection," this is not necessary, and in most cases your dog will use its "protection training" in the wrong situation and could end up being put down for aggression.
- Consider investing in a training course for your dog. Be prepared to spend some money to either attend a group training or hire a personal k9 trainer. This is important to the development of your puppy as it helps eliminate poor social skills, anxiety and aggression early on. Group prices are always a good value because generally they are slightly cheaper but you also have the social aspect of other dogs being present!
Make sure the dog has a good home and owner. A puppy might already know how to put food in its own mouth, and may not need to wear a diaper, but it's still a baby. Puppies are highly dependent on its caretaker (you) for essentials like socialising, food and training. Puppies are also mischievous and get up to no good if they're not closely monitored. If you don't have the time to look after a puppy round-the-clock, then you aren't ready for a puppy.[12]- Many young dogs end up in shelters as their owners either didn't have the time to care for a puppy and see to its needs daily, or decided their badly behaved, under-stimulated working dog was too much for their comfy sofa-life.
- When you're sure you're ready for a puppy, and you're firm on your decision of the breed that's appropriate for you, then start getting the necessary stuff to make the dog happy and healthy.
Advertisement
Expert Q&A
Ask a Question
200 characters left
Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
SubmitAdvertisement
Tips
- It's to know the size of the puppy to ensure that the toys are not too big or small, and that the collar fits. It's good to make a list before you go to the store and to get things together before your puppy comes home.Thanks
- Potty bags are good, they can be found in the pet section or infant section, small bags to pick up puppy poop. These are good when potty training to keep the odor at bay, with any accidents that can happen inside, these bags are good when your dog is grown, if you live in a neighborhood or apartment area and take your dog for walks to pick it up and toss it.Thanks
- Some people use baby play pens to keep them in an area of the house.Thanks
Advertisement
References
- ↑ https://pets.webmd.com/dogs/features/leash-training-dog#1
- ↑ Brian Bourquin, DVM. Veterinarian. Expert Interview. 20 December 2019.
- ↑ https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/puppy-feeding-fundamentals/
- ↑ https://abercornvets.co.uk/welcome-new-puppy/
- ↑ Brian Bourquin, DVM. Veterinarian. Expert Interview. 20 December 2019.
- ↑ Brian Bourquin, DVM. Veterinarian. Expert Interview. 20 December 2019.
- ↑ https://www.overstock.com/guides/how-to-choose-the-right-dog-kennel-size
- ↑ https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/safe-dog-toys
- ↑ https://www.avma.org/public/PetCare/Pages/vaccinations.aspx
About this article
Brian Bourquin, DVM
Veterinarian
This article was co-authored by Brian Bourquin, DVM. Brian Bourquin, better known as “Dr. B” to his clients, is a Veterinarian and the Owner of Boston Veterinary Clinic, a pet health care and veterinary clinic with three locations, South End/Bay Village, the Seaport, and Brookline, Massachusetts. Boston Veterinary Clinic specializes in primary veterinary care, including wellness and preventative care, sick and emergency care, soft-tissue surgery, dentistry. The clinic also provides specialty services in behavior, nutrition, and alternative pain management therapies using acupuncture, and therapeutic laser treatments. Boston Veterinary Clinic is an AAHA (American Animal Hospital Association) accredited hospital and Boston’s first Fear Free Certified Clinic. Brian has over 19 years of veterinary experience and earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University. This article has been viewed 6,106 times.
Co-authors: 12
Updated: October 28, 2020
Views: 6,106
Article SummaryX
To get the right stuff for your new puppy, make sure you have a leash and collar so you can walk your dog. You’ll also need to get it food and water dishes, and quality dog food specially formulated for puppies. Additionally, give your puppy chew toys to keep it from teething on your furniture or shoes. If you plan to be gone for work or school, consider getting a crate or kennel to keep your dog safe and secure when you’re not around. To learn how to get the right bed for your new puppy, keep reading!
Did this summary help you?
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 6,106 times.
Did this article help you?
⚠️ Disclaimer:
Content from Wiki How English language website. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License; additional terms may apply.
Wiki How does not encourage the violation of any laws, and cannot be responsible for any violations of such laws, should you link to this domain, or use, reproduce, or republish the information contained herein.
- - A few of these subjects are frequently censored by educational, governmental, corporate, parental and other filtering schemes.
- - Some articles may contain names, images, artworks or descriptions of events that some cultures restrict access to
- - Please note: Wiki How does not give you opinion about the law, or advice about medical. If you need specific advice (for example, medical, legal, financial or risk management), please seek a professional who is licensed or knowledgeable in that area.
- - Readers should not judge the importance of topics based on their coverage on Wiki How, nor think a topic is important just because it is the subject of a Wiki article.
Advertisement
