Dog A-Z > S > Settling your new puppy into your home

Settling your new puppy into your home

• Keep the first day 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 sleeping area 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. Going to him will only encourage this behaviour, so ignore it if you can and it should eventually stop. Alternatively, consider putting the indoor kennel in the bedroom so that he can be near you and not be so lonely away from his littermates. With time you can gradually move it 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.

• Your puppy may not want to eat or may be sick through sheer excitement. He may also have diarrhoea. If this does not clear up after a day or so, take him straight to the vet.

• Start socialisation straight away.