Settling a new puppy into your home

  • Keep the first week very low key – you don’t want to frighten or overwhelm him.
  • Decide on a name and stick to it.
  • Start as you mean to go on with gentle, consistent training and set ground rules that should be followed by all of the family.
  • Introduce him to his bed or indoor kennel – which you can make into a quiet, cosy den for him. If you have something with his mum’s smell on it such as a blanket or old sweater, put it in here to comfort him.
  • For the first few nights he may object to being left alone and make a real racket. This is entirely natural as he will not be used to sleeping without his mum or littermates. Put his indoor kennel in the bedroom so that he can be near, see and hear you. If you would prefer him not to sleep in the bedroom, with time you can gradually move it to the landing and then if necessary, to where you want him to sleep as an adult.
  • Give him the quiet time that he needs. Puppies need to sleep a lot, although they may not know that! It is also important for them to learn to spend short periods alone, so that separation problems do not develop as he gets older.
  • Puppies are very susceptible to upset tummies caused by the stress of a change of home and environment. Take his feeding gently for the first few days and be sure to keep to the same food that he was fed before you got him. If the diarrhoea is very bad, or he is sick a lot or obviously feels unwell take him to your vet.
  • Start socialisation as soon as he has settled in.