First Impressions Count

The First 24 Hours

• Realize every puppy is different, some will fit right into the swing of things, others take more time
• Do not compare your new puppy to previous puppies or someone else's puppy.
• Don't worry if he or she is too rambunctious, cautious or too anything.
• Keep in mind this is all new for the puppy and he or she is trying to figure things out.
• If puppy wants to sleep, allow this.  Try putting he or she in the housebreaking crate with door open.
• At mealtime, put food in or near the crate and leave he or she alone for at least 15 minutes.
• If you return and the food is untouched, don't worry.  Puppy might be nervous. 
• After you have offered food and water, take puppy for a walk to the spot for housebreaking
• Plan an easy day for yourself, family and new puppy
• You can purchase as many toys as you want, but do not bring them all out on the first day.  Leave some for surprises or special occasions.  Too many toys on first day could overwhelm puppy.
• If puppy wants to explore everything, go with puppy to keep he or she out of trouble while exploring the new environment.
• If your puppy has an accident on the carpet or somewhere else than the spot, do not panic, but sternly correct puppy if you catch the inappropriate act, and quickly take him to the spot you prefer.
• The puppy should sleep near you or a designated family member in a large box, special bed or better yet his or her housebreaking crate.  You don't want puppy up during the night doing accidents.  It is better to securely contain puppy during sleeping hours and anytime you cannot directly supervise, correct, and train properly.
• Some puppies will cry.  Ignore the cries if at all possible.  If you have important schedules to keep and puppy's crying keeps you awake, use common sense and priortize, puppy will not suffer adversely if you have to place he or she somewhere else for the night so you can get some sleep. 
• Establish a strict routine and stick to it.  Don't allow puppy's cries to get out of confinement for the night persuade you to abide by his wishes.  Puppy needs to learn that when humans sleep, he must sleep as well.
• If you want and are able to do so, you might get up about 4 hours into sleeping time and let the puppy go to housebreaking spot, then back in the crate for sleeping until morning.  Whatever you do, do not start playing games with puppy at this time.  Make it a strict bathroom trip!

Here are some tips to help you and your puppy make a good first impression:

• Be sure to clean up the house and leave nothing on the floor but your furniture
• New puppies are like toddlers, they will grab and most likely mouth everything they can find lying on the floor
• Have a  family meeting with everyone in the family sitting on the floor or in the yard in a circle.  Put your new puppy in the middle and allow the puppy to leisurely roam to any and all members of the family.
• If you have children be sure to keep them on their best behavior.  A new puppy will be startled if he or she arrives in a home where there are loud, screaming children running in all directions.  Have a family meeting before the puppy arrives and discuss how the first day should be.
• Explain to children that this new puppy is leaving all familiar surroundings, mom, dad, brothers and sisters.  Ask the children to visualize themselves in this same situation. 
• Choose one command for housebreaking that all family members will use
• Decide upon what housebreaking techqniues you will use and be certain all family members follow the same rules.
• Encourage all family members to speak softly to the new arrival
• Allow children to follow puppy around, but discourage all rough housing, yelling and excessive handling
• If you have other dogs, do not expect them to be over joyous of a newcomer.  This concept may take some time getting used to.
• When introducing a new puppy to an existing dog resident, do not interfere with their interactions unless there is an unusually aggressive response.
• Try to pay more attention to the current pet residents.  Greet them first, feed them first.  Try not to change their routines, but keep things going normally for them.  As the days go on, the new member and old members will form their own packing order, and decide who will lead, who will follow.  Dogs usually work this out on their own. 
• If you have cats:  Keep your responses low to incidents between the cats and new puppy.  If they do not cope with one another, keep them separate and bring them together gradually when your puppy is older.
• If you own caged animals:  Don't bring them out immediately.  Let the new puppy get used to you and everything else first.  Introduce puppy to the caged animals slowly and positively.
• Friends and Guests:  To promote good adult manners in the new puppy, and if possible, cradle the puppy into a sitting position when friends and guests approach.  If it is feasible, ask your friends and guests to get down on the floor when greeting the puppy.
• If you have people with Special Needs:  Use common sense with introduction.  If you have a big breed, don't allow him to get on anyone's lap who has special needs.  If there is a wheelchair involved, teach the puppy to walk behind it and to lie down when the chair is stationary.