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5 Top Tips To Help Your New Puppy Settle In
There’s something magical about welcoming a small, fluffy bundle of joy into the family and starting a lifetime of amazing adventures...
If you’ve recently got a puppy, or you’re getting one soon, we at Tug-E-Nuff Dog Gear know how excited you’ll be feeling (there’s more than 30 dogs in our family!). There’s lots of training ahead of you, but lots of fun to look forward to, too.
Here are our top 5 tips for helping your new puppy feel right at home in no time…
1. Take it slow
Give your new puppy time to adapt to their new surroundings. Preferably, pick your puppy up in the morning so they have the whole day to acclimatise before their first night away from their mum. Show them their new bed and offer them the chance to go to the toilet as soon as you get home, and at very regular intervals afterwards (of course, be prepared for some accidents!).
2. Be consistent
From toilet training to whining at 3am, there will be challenging moments as your puppy settles in. It’s important to be calm and consistent in whatever approach you choose to take. One of the most important things you can give your new puppy in their first few hours and days is your company, until they learn that their new bed and new home is a safe place.
3. Be positive
At Tug-E-Nuff Dog Gear, we always advocate positive reinforcement training - and this applies from day one. Not sure what we mean by positive reinforcement? Check out this blog we wrote about why it’s the only way to train (and the way that gets best results). Essentially, though, it means rewarding the behaviours you want from your dog (and never punishing them for the ones you don’t).
4. Play!
Puppies love to play and playing games is a great way to enhance the relationship you share with your dog, which is crucial if you want to achieve training success. Play is also helpful for effectively reinforcing good behaviour, both during training sessions and in everyday life. Puppies have plenty of energy and channeling this into short, interactive play sessions with a fun, motivational dog training toy is a great way to boost your bond early on. An added bonus is that play is tiring, and tired pups settle better.
We make a range of puppy toys which are a great way to introduce puppies to interactive play.
5. Look After You, Too
They say getting a puppy can be on a par with having a newborn baby! It can definitely be exhausting, so don’t try to cram too many activities and outings in. Lots of early nights and lazy days are perfectly fine in the early days! And remember, the exhaustion passes but the joy a puppy brings never goes away!
