Random Tips for New Puppy Owner?

Never too many puppy toys. But the cost of them can really scare you. I recommend making your puppy toys at home. They are cheaper, sturdier, and much better than most things you will find in stores.

1) make sure you dont exercise the dog to much when young and if it is a large breed look at giving a calcium supplement.

2) make the dog sit and wait to eat till it gets told also take the bowl away from the dog and then give it back so that you can get food off your dog with getting bitten.

3) when the dog is young get it in to the habit of opening its mouth and putting your fingers in there like you would to give it a pill, get it used to you touching the paws and moving them like you would to clip the nails. When ever you wash the dog get it to stand and stay so you dont when it is bigger have to change it around with the hose.

4) start basic obedience at early age, especially stay, come, stop, sit and walk.

5) make sure you get breed appropriate toys they may cost a bit more but that way if you have big dog you know it can chew on something without it breaking of little bits of rubber and swallowing it, kong rings are good, you can get big leather balls that dont pop if chewed on, exctra, just dont buy cheap thin toys look for something that will last.

6) you can get some heart beat teddys that make a sound similar to living dog and have a heatable insert if you want to go all out the dog would fell it was not alone, otherwise it will take a while for the puppy to settle in.

7) whenever you take it in the car teach it to stay in the allocated place ie on the floor, and not to move around, dont think that ohh its a cute puppy I will nurse it to the vet that will start a very bad habit. (it is a small dog look at a carrier)

As you can tell I had a big dog. I wish you and your puppy all the best.

You should be taking your new puppy to the vet within 24-48 hours of getting it. The fact of the matter is with mixed dogs, a lot of people breed them because they are out to make a little bit of money, not because they have an interest in the dog. You need to take the puppy to the vet to check for any health problems or you may end up with a very sick dog, and I am sure that you do not want that. For my Shih Tzu, we have used Royal Canin puppy food. It gives him everything that he needs, and he loves it. You need to ask the breeder what kind of food the puppy has been raised on though, because you are going to have to wean them off the food. You cannot just change foods automatically or you are going to make your puppy sick. No, do not use human baby shampoo on your dog. I would only suggest this if there is absolutely nothing else you can use and your dog really needs a bath. You can ask your vet when you go in what kind of shampoo they have for younger puppies. You should not be bathing a 8-10 week old puppy anyway. But, if you get the shampoo that is meant for puppies then you will be safe. Any product in the store for shampooing dogs is meant for dogs 6 months and older. You need to ask your vet about the dangers of giving your dog any kind of medication for humans. It is not okay to use the teething gel. The puppy will be fine without it. The brush that you should have. You should have a brissel brush, with a tooth brush on the other side. and also, a comb for getting out knots.

The best way to get a good nites rest w\a new puppy in the house is this: first, make sure you puppy is at least 8wks old. Better yet 10-12wks. Second, make sure your new pup is well exercised so it will be very tired & want to sleep.

Random tip; do not take your new puppy into your home until it has peed outside at the place you have shown it. Give the puppy lots of praise after it pees in this area. Once inside use babygates to restrict the pup to areas of tiled flooring only. Be very sure this area is puppy proofed. No waste baskets or electric cords.

I strongly recommend bully sticks. Great for chewing and keeping busy. Get odor free though because they do stink. Also squeaky toys, stuffed animals seem to be very popular. Don't change foods too fast. Take time off from work to get into a routine if possible. Be firm and consistent from day to day. Read Family Dog by Wolters for training. We have used that for 30+ years and it works! Watch a few episodes of the dog whisperer to learn about being the pack leader.

We have lots of toys for our puppy but I rotate them so he only has access uo a few at a time. Puppies get bored with toys pretty quick, so if you rotate them every few days it's like him getting all new toys but you don't have to spend a fortune on actually buying all new toys. Our puppy gets 1 soft toy, 1 squeeky and 2 hard rubber chews in his pen at any time, plus his 2 favorite toys (a rubber ball like thing and a rope for tug of war) are out for when is out of his pen playing. Then when he seems to be bored of what's there for him, I switch them for his other toys that are put away, then I can switch them back in a week .... To him it's like they are brand new!

Puppies sleep a lot, but they wake up early. So go to bed early. In the morning as soon as he starts to cry in his crate take him outside to pee. Don't talk to him (expect to reward an outside potty) or get him all excited for then new day. He woke up because he had to pee, so just take him out and then bring him back to his crate. He will probably just go back to sleep if it'd really early (ours gets up at 6 am but then will sleep again until 7 after a pee trip) then you can go back to sleep too! This will teach him that crying in his crate will only get him a trip outside to potty, not attention or play time, which will be helpful to you because he will learn how to tell you to take him outside to pee.

In reality anyone that is potty training a puppy will tell you it's a sleep deprived few months!

For the question as to how to get a good night's sleep with a new puppy. What worked for us was that we put the puppy to bed in a different room than we sleep in. We put him in his crate a few hours before we actually went to bed ourselves. He cried for at least what seemed like an hour and finally calmed down.

We were able to sleep without puppy whining.

when we got our puppy we let him sleep in the same room, he'd wake up but once you put your hand just in the cage they fall back asleep.

You don't want to ignore them or they'll ignore you back...

And waking up once or twice a night is not too bad.

It only takes a few weeks for the puppy to settle.

Also with the toys i agree, too much is never an option.

I'd stick to more chewy toys like bones, rubber anything etc. for the beginning as their teeth are sharp and you dont want them biting you.

You can never have too many toys for a puppy! it will help since he or she will tear them a part when teething. Also make sure to work on potty training from the beginning! its hard to teach them after they get out of the puppy stage! good luck!

Nellie

show it the rules in your house at a young age... other wise he/she probally wont ever listen to you...