1.

Congratulations!!! While bringing home a new puppy is a big responsibility the joy that a dog adds to your life is sure to add sweetness and smiles to the everyday lives of your family and your pup! 1st very
important thing: Please be sure to schedule an appointment with your local vet within 3-5 business days!

2.

Make sure you have a crate for house training, collar, harness and we recommend washable puppy pads for inside the crate while the puppy is learning boundaries and potty training! A dog bed is great for the living room but a potential hazard in the crate. Especially while your puppy has baby teeth and will soon be losing those and getting their adult teeth in! They will want to chew during this process. Keep your puppy safe by not leaving toys in the crate unsupervised.

3.

If you have children there can be potential hazards such as socks and small toys! Talk about this before hand and have your family get involved in puppy proofing your home! This won’t be a permanent change to your household as you teach your puppy what is okay and what is not! The beauty of puppies is they pick up on things quick! The first 4 weeks at home are the most important for learning so the more time you spend teaching your puppy and training them in their new environment the more successful you and your puppy will be reducing stress to you both as you learn!

4.

The first week or two: be prepared for crying at night time. They have just left everything they know and need time to adjust. You and your puppy deserve a little slack, patience and love. I have included a blanket with your puppy’s go home bag with scent of mom and litter mates to help soothe them. They love the radio on and have been used to this since they were born. It will be comforting. This also helps at night to drown out noises or if someone gets up to go to the bathroom making noise. They adore Country and Christian music just like me – lol

5.

During the last 2-3 weeks we work 15-20 minutes once or twice a day on not biting. This will of course need to be a continued process but they have made lots of improvement. Stating “no bite” and “ouch” when they do lets them know you are not happy with that behavior. Sounds silly but they know what it means as I have been using those words. Giving grace: They are puppies and that’s what they do and how they are used to interacting with their litter mates while they play and they want to play with you too!

6.

If you should choose to switch puppy food we recommend transition over a 10 day period mixing the food a little more of the new food vs current each day! If you plan to do this let me know and I will be sure to give you enough food to do so! This is important as you do not want to upset your puppy’s
tummy and hinder their potty training process. It is really important you purchase this brand specific, Purina Pro Plan Lamb and Rice.

7.

You will find a clicker in their go home bags! You can look up some trainings to continue and advance as they get older or you are welcome to check out Baxter and Bella training! https://www.baxterandbella.com/ If you use the code: THEGREATPUPPYPATCH you will receive a 25% discount on a lifetime membership and they have live video help from a professional trainer! While I am still learning about their program, I have heard amazing things and will be using this on my puppy as we advance our learning and behavior skills!

8.

Your puppies have been listening to desensitization sounds over the past few weeks including fireworks, gun shots, thunderstorms, kids playing, babies crying and emergency vehicles. But there is so much more for them
to learn. They have had lots of socialization and I would recommend you continue to do that with your puppy allowing strangers (to them, not to you-lol) to hold them and have them ring the door bell when they come to the home. Another thing you can do is have them outside in a play pin just listening to all the sounds in your neighborhood. If you were to keep them inside and only out for quick spurts to potty and then all of a sudden put them in the back yard they may tend to bark at all the strange noises. Kids on bicycles, cars going by, the ice cream man, the UPS guy and so on! Again this is all so important during the first twelve weeks of life. While I got your new family members started I cannot possibly create environments just like yours so it will all be different to them!

9.

Last but certainly not least! We are here for the lifetime of your puppy! If you have questions or need help with something we are here to help and we love getting updates! Please flood us with pictures as often as you like and keep us posted on how they are doing!