Deciding About Responsibility of Care of Puppy

The absolute best thing to do if you are a family bringing home a new puppy is have a family meeting well in advance of puppy's arrival.  Ideally, everyone should become involved in the care and training program.  When you create your schedule, write in the names for who does what and when.  If everyone takes an active part, your puppy will quickly become acustomed to all of his or her new pack members.  When you provide care for a puppy, it makes you a leader in the eyes of puppy, your rank in the pack status rises.

It is probably a good idea to train the puppy to wear and collar and lead.  This is especially important for housebreaking.  You can put the collar and lead on the puppy and lead the puppy down the same pathway and out the same door for easy housebreaking.

Housebreaking should be your first priority.  Once the puppy is housebroken, isolation and confinement can become only those times you are away from home or however things fit your schedule with puppy.  You should never give a new puppy full run of the house from day one.

Keep in mind that puppies do not know what you expect of them until you teach them what you expect.  The special circumstances you provide for he or she now will add up to a calm, well-cared for and happy dog in the future.