preparing your home for a new precious puppy

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It can be wonderful to bring a new puppy into our homes, especially if we’ve desired one for some time. That said, sometimes it’s a worthwhile set of questions to not only ask which puppy, breed, and gender is right for you, but also if you’re right for the puppy in question.

The foremost question can be answered via reading insightful resources here, the latter requires looking over your property and pet ownership skills with a fine-toothed comb. 

There’s no need to worry, however, if this is your first pet then learning how to properly care for a dog can be achieved with some worthwhile guidance, the willingness to spend a little, and in preparing suitably.

In this post, then, we’ll discuss how to prepare your home for your new, precious puppy, and what approach you may wish to take when welcoming a new pet into your home in general. Without further ado, please consider:

Your Current Home Arrangement & Family Members

It’s good to plan in advance for how your puppy will fit into your living situation. Remember, dogs aren’t puppies forever, and so it’s important to make sure that they’re the right size and temperament for your house. If you have toddlers, for instance, then it could be that bringing a greyhound into the space, with their often quite enthusiastic disposition, may not be suitable.

However, a fun family dog like a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel or even a Labrador can make a great family pet, one that can be trained properly and be comfortable around your kids. It’s also important to think of the pets you have in the household and if they’ll match well with your puppy. It might take your cat a little time to warm to them, but regardless of what the cartoons say, cats and dogs tend to live in households together in peace; provided they are of the right temprament.

The ability to train the breed, the physical size of it, and also its expense for general upkeep is important are all important to consider. We’ll cover more below:

Lifestyle Preparations

As we mentioned, puppies won’t stay puppies forever, and so it’s very important to make sure we have the kind of lifestyles our dogs may need. If you’re going to be out of the house for six hours a day, then it could be providing your puppy with a friend and bringing two in the home can help them remain occupied during that time.

Planning for lifestyle preparations also means considering how you may need to keep up with the day-to-day living necessities of your dog. Bringing a husky into the household may seem like a great idea now, but as they’re work dogs known for tracking great distances, they need to exercise each day and can become quite irate if they’re not able to run or explore. If you have land in your rural home or a large back garden, that might go some of the way towards providing them ample space to live and exercise.

Lifestyle preparations can also include just making sure you have enough of a budget to look after the animal. Unfortunately, pets can be expensive despite how much we love them, and when they need medical treatment, when you head on vacation and they need access to well-kept kennels, or in order to make sure they eat properly and have all of their booster shots, it’s important to make certain you can justify this within your budget.

Preparing The Household

They say that curiosity killed the cat, but the truth is that puppies are just as curious except without the fine degree of motor control that felines have. Puppies will throw themselves at, up and over anything they can, and so it’s important to make sure they have limited access to your home at first.

This may even mean setting up security gates in the house, often waste-high shutter gates you can use to block off access to certain rooms without closing the door on them is a good investment. These will be best placed at the bottom and top of your staircase, which can prevent your little pooch from trying to climb up or down those steps themselves. Doing so can put stress on their little joints which can cause growth issues, so it’s important to make sure they are protected from their enthusiasm here.

Outdoor Training & Protections

Of course, as you ‘outdoor train’ your puppy in order to help them understand where to ‘perform their business,’ you will no doubt give them some room to run around and have fun in your outside area. To the degree you can control this, making sure gates and even privacy fences are installed to prevent escape, while keeping close observation here, is a great idea. For those who may not have access to a garden, it’s a good idea to keep them on a leash when going outside.

Additionally, utilizing the services of a professional trainer as your dog grows will help them become acclimated to other dogs, and this can help them avoid freaking out, for want of a better term, whenever they see another owner and pet. Your dog needs to learn to operate in their environment, and this means spending time reinforcing the habits you wish to see, or completely protecting against those pitfalls you cannot force out.

Allowing “Familiar Zones”

Like humans, dogs are often creatures of habit. This means helping them become comforted and relaxed in your home will require a few investments ahead of time. To start with, a very comfortable and sizeable doggy bed can help them feel like they have a safe space in your house, perhaps a place they might retire to if you tell them off for misbehavior, and a place they can sleep each night with comfort. A few comforting toys can also help them relax and feel a sense of ownership within that space.

Providing the water and food in the same place each day, the former always available, the latter twice or three times a day depending on your particular puppy, will help them know exactly where dinner is and how to cool off and hydrate even during the midst of summertime. 

As you provide familiar zones for them to feel like part of the family in, it’s also worth preventing them from accessing areas you’d rather not allow them to. This might include never allowing them into the home office, or around the table while your family is eating dinner. It may mean never allowing them to jump up on your bed at night; and never allowing them to sleep on the footrest because their claws can scratch at the finish of the material. Identifying these zones will help you plan in advance. For instance, it may feel tempting to place the doggy bed right next to your washing machine in a utility room, but if you plan to place early-morning or late-night washes in the unit, that could be quite cruel to a little pooch just trying to relax.

Acclimation To The Property

It might sound a little overbearing to some homeowners, but puppies can sometimes feel a little apprehensive in a completely new environment. This is why it’s good to give them little reason to cry or feel abandoned in a strange place. 

Some people even install plug socket nightlights near their beds at night, but you may consider this to be too much. A doggy cage at night can help them stay put and learn independence while still in eyeshot of you throughout your sleeping habits at night, and that can be valuable in and of itself.

Introducing The Puppy To Your Current Pets

In some instances, guidance stipulates that slowly introducing your pets together can help them become more familiar with one another’s place in the property. If bringing in a small puppy into the home of a large dog, for instance, it’s important to make sure they have no reason to show aggressive signs, and if they do, you can reprimand them appropriately.

Some owners achieve this by separating them in different rooms and letting them get a hold on one another’s scent. This way, they can get used to the idea of another animal in the household, before they meet them under your scrutiny. Before long, they’ll be getting on like a house on fire.

Sockets & Plugs & Messes

While puppy-proofing a home is not as difficult as baby and especially toddler-proofing a home, there are certain things to keep in mind. Sooner or later they’re going to find the ‘twang’ of the door stopper, and so using a protective case for that can be important for some. Plug socket covers can protect against wet noses and tongues entering that opening, and of course, laying out newspaper appropriately so cleaning up accidents, which are sure to come, is easier will be a big boon. You may wish to bring up your rugs and freestanding carpets for the time being.

With this advice, you’re certain to prepare your home for that new and loving pup. Please, give them a pet behind the ears for us.

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This post was written with the Life According to Steph audience in mind