Getting Ready for Christmas and the Arrival of a New Fur Baby

As Christmas approaches, are you considering the prospect of welcoming a new and furry member of the family into your home? When a new puppy comes to live with you, it is a very exciting time!

However, it can also be a very stressful time and as much as you will need to put time and effort into training your new puppy when the time comes, it’s not just the animal that needs training. You and the other humans in your new puppy’s life will need to prepare yourselves and the family home for this new chapter in your lives.

There is a lot you need to do before the puppy even arrives, so preparation and planning are crucial. Having a plan of action and everything in place for the new arrival will make those first days and weeks with your new family member easier on all involved.

Before The New Puppy Even Arrives

Just as you wouldn’t wait until the days following the birth of a new child to start buying the important items you need, don’t leave purchasing everything you need for your new puppy until the last minute. Or worse still, until you’ve welcome them home. There are quite a number of things you need before they even get through the front door and besides, your time will be taken up in those first few hours and days taking care of the puppy and spending time enjoying their company.

To give yourself more time to bond with your new pet, therefore, make sure you invest in the following items before the big day:

• A suitable-sized crate
• Collar, leash and harness
• Bedding for the crate
• Food and water bowls that are easy to clean and preferably ceramic or stainless steel, avoiding plastic
• The food they have been fed on by the breeders or rescue center that you adopted from
• Dog brush
• Nail clippers
• Natural dog shampoo
• Chew toys (made from non-toxic materials)
• Items to make up a basic first aid kit

Although there are other things you may decide to purchase in addition to the above, the items listed are essential.

With regards to food, there will obviously come a time when you transition your new pup onto the diet you wish to feed him or her going forwards. However, for their mental health and well-being and while they adjust to their new surroundings, it’s important to continue feeding them the food they are familiar with.

Puppy-Proofing Your Home

Taking the example again of bringing a new human baby home, there are lots of things you need to do to the house to make it safe. Especially if it’s your first child. The same is true when you bring home a new puppy. You need to make sure that anything they could get their paws on or teeth into, are out of the way. That includes plants, cables and wires and any valuable or sentimental items that you would really rather not have chewed! One great way to do this is by getting any children in the family involved in the planning stages and have them crawl around the floor so they can identify all the things the puppy will be able to see and might be interested in. This is also a good time for the human members of the family to learn to pick up after themselves and put things away to ensure they don’t end up in the paws or mouth of the curious pup.

By making a concerted effort to ready your home for the new furry baby, you can avoid many accidents and crises and help prevent health issues such diarrhoea or vomiting or possibly you’re your new pup choking on a wayward object.

Other Things to Consider

Other considerations you need to make before the day your puppy comes home include where the new family member is going to sleep and eat. Will you use the crate as their bed or let them sleep in your own? If you are serious about crate training your new pup, you need to establish that as a safe and positive environment from the get-go.

Allowing your new dog to sleep in the bed for the first few nights may make it harder for you to convince him or her that their crate is the best bed for them in the house.

As dogs thrive on routine and order, once you decide where you are going to feed your new dog and where they are going to sleep, stick to it.

Importantly, make sure that everyone is on the same page and that there are no deviations in the ground rules you set. If you say the dog isn’t allowed on the sofa, that’s fine. But everyone (including your children!) has to stick to that, and the many other rules you may put in place.

Welcoming a new member of the family to your home is a wonderful experience. One you should enjoy and by keeping in mind the advice and recommendations in this post; you will be able to enjoy it to the fullest.

This series on new dog ownership aims to bring you all the info you need to know to make it the best experience possible for you and your new four-legged friend. Sign up to our free, natural pet care e-newsletter today and follow us on Facebook and Instagram to ensure you don’t miss a step.

We hope to bring you the next part of our series very soon. In the meantime, you can go back and:

Read Training Humans! Part I

Read Training Humans! Part II

And Training Humans! Part III