Having a puppy in your family home is one of the great joys of family life. A young puppy can add so much to your household including companionship, laughter and an ever willing exercise partner. But they are not a suitable Christmas gift. Year after year we hear that you should never give a puppy as a Christmas gift. But each year, in December, puppy breeders are inundated with prospective buyers and then come late January the animal shelters are overwhelmed by these same dogs who have been dumped. It's a terrible cycle that goes on year in year out.
Let's just have a quick look at why a Christmas time puppy is a bad idea:
- The festive season is a time of high excitement, holidays and a different routine from the rest of the year. This is a terrible environment to bring a young puppy into, plus it will be a huge shock to your new dog when everybody goes back to work/school.
- A large majority of puppies bought as Christmas presents are sourced from puppy mills. Do you really want to support an industry such as this?
- Does the recipient of the puppy have sufficient knowledge, skills and commitment to look after a dog for the next 15 odd years?
Having said this I realize that on Christmas day this year thousands of young puppies will be presented to their new owners for the first time. We owe it to these puppies to provide them with proper care, socialization and training. These obligations begin immediately and are vital in shaping your puppy's temperament and behavior habits going forward.
I've put together the following checklist of important tasks and deadlines which must be met in the first few weeks and months after your new puppy arrives home:
Responsible Dog Ownership - General Things
A few basic requirements must be met as soon as a new puppy enters your home (or ideally before the puppy arrives). Your house and yard should be "puppy proofed" in order to keep your puppy out of harms way. You should also provide plenty of fresh drinking water and warm, dry and comfortable bedding for your dog.
Puppy House Training
All puppies need to be house trained - this will become very clear early on Christmas morning! The key to successful house training is to pick out a proven puppy house training schedule and stick to it. Make it crystal clear and simple to your puppy what you require of him/her and remain consistent throughout the house training process.
Feeding Your Puppy
The importance of nutrition is often understated. The puppy food you serve up plays a crucial role in determining your puppy's health, behavior (yes behavior) and longevity. Talk to the puppy's breeder, your Veterinarian and other dog owners to pinpoint the most suitable dog food for your puppy. I prefer a mixture of homemade dog foods, raw meaty bones and the occasional bowl of a good commercial dog food such as Canidae or Wellness.
Puppy Socialization
Don't overlook puppy socialization. From your dog's perspective we live in a strange ol' world. Through the socialization process we need to ensure that your puppy grows to feel safe and relaxed around all types of people, animals and environments.
Mouth Training / Bite Inhibition
Mouth training is kicked off by your puppy's mother and litter-mates and then you need to continue on with it as soon as your puppy arrives home. A fully grown dog needs to know how to use their mouth appropriately, so we must provide them with valuable feedback when they are young to help them understand what is, and is not acceptable.
Chew Toy Training
Basically chew toy training is the process of educating your puppy about what items are ok to chew on and which one's are not. Let's face it, all puppies love to chew so we must provide them with guidance in order to keep them (and our possessions) safe. The best policy is to ensure that they always have some hardy dog toys on hand and access to temptation is removed. A crate is a handy tool to utilize to help the chew training process along.
Basic Puppy Obedience Training
Set yourself up as your puppy's strong, fair and always consistent leader through some basic obedience training drills. I love to use clicker training techniques to teach my puppies skills such as how to walk on a leash, sit, stay, come and down. If you don't step up and provide some rules and boundaries for your puppy they will make up their own!
The tasks outlined above are the bare minimum of what is required to get your puppy off to a good start in life. If you take care of these obligations you will be giving your dog the very best chance to grow into a dog who is well loved and respected by the whole community.
