Your Puppy's Arrival

Your puppy’s arrival is an exciting moment, but it is important to think it through beforehand so that you build a unique relationship that will bind you together for good. Every individual, like every dog, has different needs of their own. Find out how to prepare properly for your puppy’s arrival by reading our complete guide right now.

Before the puppy arrives

Put away everything they should not have access to: shoes, documents, electrical cables. Anything within reach will end up in their mouth sooner or later. Remember to buy everything you need to welcome them, in particular a bed and a comforter that will stay with them throughout their life. (See the blog post on the essentials for welcoming a puppy.)

Collecting my puppy

It all starts the moment you go to collect your puppy from a breeder or a private seller, at a full 12 weeks old. It is important to stay with them in their familiar environment for more than an hour. That environment is reassuring for them, and they do not know you at all, so use that time to start building a bond. We suggest you:

– Play with them

– Talk to them

– Bring a piece of cloth to soak up their mother’s scent

– Learn as much as you can about their habits.

Arriving home

When they arrive in their new home, avoid overwhelming them. Let them discover the place and the various family members gradually.

Gathering the whole family for a big welcome is perhaps not the best idea. Give them plenty of love, and do not try from day one to have a perfect puppy who is house-trained, walks on a lead and sleeps in their bed. Those first moments should be moments of happiness and affection. There will be time later on to learn the house rules.

The first night

The first nights can be very stressful, for the puppy and for you. Our advice is to put their bed in your bedroom for the first few nights. That way they will not feel abandoned, and you will not have to get up several times in the night to comfort them. A puppy who cries is a puppy in distress; they are not putting on an act. Little by little you will move their bed further away, until they end up sleeping wherever you want them to. Spread that stage over several days.

The basic commands

Bear in mind that it is important to set the puppy up to succeed and to praise them every day. To teach the basic commands, start by observing them. Your puppy will perform a great many commands entirely on their own:

– Sitting

– Lying down

– Going to their bed

– Relieving themselves outside, at least sometimes

– Chewing their toy

Every time they do one of the above, go over to them, say the name of the action out loud, and give them a treat. For example:

Your dog is sitting in the living room; you go over, you say “sit”, you stroke them and you give them a treat.

The first command to teach is the recall: every time they come to you, say their name and reward them.

As for house-training, a puppy physiologically cannot be fully clean before the age of six or seven months, because they cannot hold on. Take them out very often, and in particular whenever they have eaten, drunk, played or slept. Every time they go outside, reward them verbally and with a treat as soon as they have finished. Conversely, every time they go indoors, do not react at all: clean it up and carry on as normal. Being an opportunist, the dog will gradually learn to hold on, because they will have worked out that “if I go outside, I get a treat”.

Time to explore

Preparing for your little puppy’s arrival

In the days following their arrival, it will be important to stimulate them as much as possible by introducing them to other dogs, animals, environments, people and noises. All of it gradually and briefly, so avoid places that are too loud or too full of stimuli (a funfair, for instance). Every new day will then be a new discovery. Remember, every encounter should be associated with something enjoyable. So for those first encounters, choose the children, dogs and places that will leave them with a good memory.

Finally, force and fear are never the right approach. They will gradually damage the relationship and the trust you have in your dog, and will lead to behavioural problems.

Article written by Charlotte Hamel