Puppy Month - Part One - Getting started with your puppy

This month is all things puppies  

Let's start at the beginning, with things you can do before bringing home your puppy (or right now if your puppy is already here).

Knowing your puppy:
Once you know the breed/breeds and size of your puppy, you can plan on the type of equipment you need on hand. Just to name a few for your list:

1.) Housing, crate and puppy pen.
2.) Y-Harness and leash
3.) Bowls
4.) Toys
5.) Age, (and veterinarian approved) toys.
6.) Don’t forget puppy food. 
 

Helping things go as smoothly as possible is all about thinking ahead. 
Plan when your puppy will come home taking in to consideration; weather, time of day, and family schedules. Knowing when your puppy will arrive goes a long way to help with setting up a quiet environment, scheduling a few days off, and days you will be able to stay at home.  

That car ride home can be scary for you and your pup. Traveling is something you really need to prepare for. Think about how long the trip will be, where you can stop for potty breaks, and will you need to stop overnight? 


Hold off on socializing:  One thing you hear about in the service dog community is socialize, socialize, socialize. While that is true, and we will be doing more content about this next month, The first days or even week home is not the time. We want our pups to acclimate slowly to their brand new home and family.

We prefer to focus on management before training. 
Management means to prevent mistakes before they happen.In other words, it prevents those “bad” behaviors from being reinforced. As you know, this is particularly important in potty training. 

No one is perfect. At some point, you'll miss something or turn around for one minute and your puppy will make a mistake. And that's okay. Don't panic when it happens. But do make every effort to prevent mistakes with good management.

Remember to enjoy your new puppy. Sometimes we get so caught up in getting it right we don’t take a breath and just enjoy our puppy. Take time out to play, and don’t forget the snuggles. 

 
My Service Dog and Me Team 

🗓️ Next week: The Puppy Formula 

Resources:

Traveling with a service dog puppy. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WiCu3zXP2s


E-Book: Puppy Handbook 
(available for only $12 at link below). 
https://www.myservicedogandme.com/puppy-handbook