# Puppy's first night @ home



## Noey (Feb 26, 2009)

Happy New Puppy.

All puppies are different on adjustment time. You will be able to help her adjust. 

Do you have a crate for her? getting one is good, it gives them security and gives you a place to keep them if you have to go out on short trips. You might place a towel that you dried yourself off with in the crate so she feel more secure.

Lots of items on training info on the forum, so if you ask about a certain thing you will get lots of answers.

Food-you should keep her on what the breeder was feeding-ask your vet what he thinks, if you change her food it needs to be gradual and not all at the same time. Little stomachs need adjusting time. She needs 100% access to water at all times, don't want the puppy dehydrated. So her bowl should always be full. 

Milk, don't think so...we did not give our milk...others might have opinions. Get a list of questions and I'm sure we can help.

Limit her time outside, except in her own yard, until she get her puppy shots complete. No dog parks or meting dogs you don't know.

I hope her first night home went well, give her lots of hugs and kisses and don't be alarmed if she is playing and just decided to go to sleep - that is what they do.


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## walidch (Aug 18, 2010)

Noey, thank you so much for your reply 

I'm kinda going nuts with the shopping and buying her all sorts of toys and items..

I want to get a crate asap but they're for a fortune here. I think eventually I'll just go nuts and buy it.

I have a picnic in nature on Sunday, I was thinking I'd take her with me. Do you think that's wise to do? She didn't have her shots yet...

Also, she's eating human food with her current family, do you think I should keep on feeding her that or it's much better to give her special dog food? I kinda prefer home food if it's safe for her

Thank you again


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## Alfie's Girl (May 6, 2010)

Hi there and welcome - your pup looks adorable!  

Crate: It's a good idea to have the crate in the bedroom with you so if she starts crying you can just put your fingers through the mesh and comfort her. Also, if she is crying a lot it may mean she needs to go potty so then you can take her outside to go then back to the crate. She will probs need to go a couple of times in the night to begin with. There are many threads on how to start crate training properly or you could post a separate thread on this forum and people will give you plenty of advice on it!

Brush: Your brush looks a lot like mine - if you're gentle it shouldn't be a problem! To start with just brush for 30 seconds to get her used to the feeling. 

Things to buy: Do you have a nail clipper? Puppy shampoo in case she gets mucky?  Food bowl and water bowls? - we leave water in various rooms in the house all the time and it's also a good idea to have one outside! Do you have poop bags? Car harness? Dog tag with your name/address etc? Lots of old towels are very useful to begin with too!!!! Oh...and a camera for taking lots of pics!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Food: I would keep her on what she is used to for now! Most people feed on a proper puppy food as it has the correct balance of vitamins and minerals etc for them. Also, some foods we eat are quite bad for them. I would reccomend you slowly add in some puppy food - again, it's best to post a separate thread on this subject and people can advise you better! AS for milk, I did give my pup some milk as he was used to it from the breeder but I stopped it fairly soon as dogs can develop allergies to dairy products sometimes.

As for training, the best advice would be to join a puppy class once she has completed her puppy vaccinations. There you'll get training in the basics! She wont learn overnight and will need plenty of patience! To begin with, I would only focus on potty training. If you search the forums you'll find many threads on how to potty train! Just keep it simple to begin with!

Other advice: Dont let her play with tennis balls as they can choke them! Dont be too worried when she starts biting you - with some basic trainig and patience she'll grow out of it! Be very gently with her legs - no jumping off furniture, running up and down the stairs as it can damage there young joints! Also, only short walks to begin with ( I was told 1 min for every week of life till they're 6 months old - so an 18 wk pup would get a 18 min walk once a day!) and dont walk her out on the street till she's had her puppy shots! 

I think that's all I can think of for now lol!  If you have any questions whatsoever - just post them up and we'll all be here to help! Good luck and please post lots of pics for us!


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## Enzos_Mom (Apr 8, 2010)

Just be careful what people food you're feeding her. There are a lot of foods that we eat that aren't good or even safe for dogs. She can't have onions, grapes, chocolate, etc. What exactly do you mean by a picnic in nature? Are you going to a park or is it out in the woods down a hiking trail or something like that? The basic rule that I followed when I brought my puppy home was that if there are frequently other dogs there, we wouldn't go. If it's in a field behind your friend's house and your friend either doesn't have dogs or you know her dogs are up to date on their shots, then it should be okay.


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## Jamm (Mar 28, 2010)

People food is very iffy so ill let more experieced people help you there! Water should ALWAYS be left out and always full. A crate is a GREAT start and to help with crate training feed the first hundred or so meals in the crate with the door open, throw treats in and his/her fav toys to make sure the crate is a great fun place. And no milk.. haha I hope that helps somewhat!


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## walidch (Aug 18, 2010)

Wow that's WONDERFUL information 

Thank you all!!!

We're gonna go chill in the woods, there shouldn't be any dogs around, just have a BBQ and a few beers so I thought she'd enjoy her time there and play around with me but I think I'm going to skip that since she didn't have her shots yet.

Also, we're staying for a few hours so I don't think I can make sure that she won't walk for more than 18 minutes on that day. She's free among roses and stuff, she'll keep on jumping till she's worn out


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

My suggestions in *BOLD.*



walidch said:


> Hello all,
> 
> Saturday will be my new puppy's first night at her new home. She's a 2 months old Golden/Labrador mix.
> 
> ...


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## walidch (Aug 18, 2010)

Thanks a million!!


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## Alfie's Girl (May 6, 2010)

walidch said:


> Wow that's WONDERFUL information
> 
> Thank you all!!!
> 
> ...


I think you've made the right decision there!  You probably wont be able to walk her till she is at least 10/11 wks and had her final vaccinations so then she will only need a 10/11 minute walk once per day.


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## pwrstrk02 (Aug 11, 2010)

i slept in front of my pups cage on the floor in our bedroom for about a week, i got further and further away from her until i was sleeping in my bed with her in her crate. this let her know that i was right there and not to worry. silly? i dont know but i worked. 
make crate traing a fun thing, never for punishment. in and out alot will make the pup comfortable with the crate. get a crate that is just big enough to turn around in and big enough to stretch out. i already had two different size crates so it worked out well.
some pups are scared to death of the fealing of first being brushed and having their nails clipped. so make these fun also, if you get agrevated, that will just encourage their fear.
toys: give it all the toys you want. just be careful and keep a close eye on what he/she does with them. if it is a fabric toy, the moment it starts to frey/tear, toss it. you dont want the little guy learning to destroy, same with rubber toys. i leave the KONGS out all the time because they cant hurt those toys (for the most part. im on my third one in 2 years), but their tug ropes and dolls i have to put up after play sessions ore over (most of the time before play sessions are over because they start to get sneaky and trying to destroy them behind my back)


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Adorable puppy<: 

The notes below - I consistently used "he" instead of "she". <- I've only owned boy dogs and I'm afraid I'm one of those annoying people who immediately assumes all dogs are boys. :uhoh:


Will there be a lot of crying once she's apart from her littermates? It would break my heart if she'll spend days crying. How can I calm her and deal with that?

I think this depends on how the "breeder" socialized and weaned the puppy. Ideally, the pup will take the new home in stride and bond with you and your family, provided you can spend a goodly part of your time with the pup most of the hours of the day (I took 1/2 a weeks vacation to get my little guy settled into the family routine, and there was always somebody home with him even when I went back to work). 

Be aware that some puppies who are not socialized might need a little time to settle in. He might be overwhelmed and scared in the new place with new strangers. I would provide a safe place and not try to overwhelm him too much in the first couple days. <- Our first dog was like this, and it took nearly a whole day before he came out of hiding and started playing with us. 

I've gotten her the following items, please let me know if anything else is missing: A few toys, a leash and collar, a brush (but it has pins so I'm actually terrified of brushing her with it ), and chewing bones that are edible. Anything else should be added to that list?


I would hold back on the chewing bones until the puppers has bigger teeth to really chomp the bones into edible pieces. That might be two or three months down the road. 

If you can get her a nylabone instead - or basically a bone she can chew on that won't break off into pieces for her to choke on. 

Stuffed squeaky animals are great, because they like dragging them around and shaking them out like the little predators that they are. Watch him with the toys, because some dogs do shred and try eating the stuffing. 

If the brush is a wire slicker brush (I see by the picture it is), then that is fine. You will need it in a few months when he starts shedding the puppy coat. Brush gently and go with the fur, not against. I would not brush on the belly with it until the puppers starts growing fur down there. Or if you do, be very careful. 

- Something else I thought of, you might want to pick up a rubber curry too. You might be using that curry more right now while the coat is still relatively short. You can do circular motions to dig the loose hair and dirt and combing motions to brush it off. 

You might want to get teething supplies (something that is soft and can be put in the freezer) for when she starts teething. <- You could soak a washcloth and freeze it, but some puppies might EAT the washcloth and get intestinal blockages. 

Should I put her in a crate by her first day? I've read that if I put her for 10 minutes, then take her out and play with her, then an hour later put her back in for another 10 minutes, that would be a good way to get her used to the crate.

On her first day, watch her. When she tires herself out, take her to a room where the softest spot is the bed inside the crate. Then put her inside the crate every time she looks like she wants to have a nap. 

Don't take her out right away when she starts fussing. If you can ignore her until she calms down and when you are ready to take her out. You don't want her to learn that barking or squeaking will get you to let her out.

I did not crate train any of my guys, but they did have a room where they slept and were kept when there wasn't anyone around or awake to keep an eye on them. 

FOOD?? I'm totally lost here. Some people say that she can be healthy by sharing our food (her mother did share cooked human food), while lots of vets insist on dog food.

I'm not sure what to say here... except I'm thinking that most of the middle eastern food I've had tends to be too much for my intestines. And my one grandfather was from that part of the world. :

Try to make sure you are offering your dog a balanced diet if you are giving regular food. Check out the raw diets as posted by various people here on GRF. 

Something my mom's family did with their dogs is they mainly gave them leftovers off the table. On those days that there was no leftovers, the dogs got kibble. My mom swears by this - and to be fair, her family's dogs did live a long time and were not overweight, despite being apartment dogs. 

Does she need a bowl of water like cats do?

Yes. Make sure there is water available at all times. I know some people put the water up during the potty training phase, but other than that - yep, I would have a set place for a water bowl. 

Since she's a puppy, should I give her milk? (I said I'm a total newbie )

No... it could upset their stomach. <- I do let my guy finish up the milk from cereal bowls. They do like the taste of milk. But I wouldn't make a habit of giving them milk too frequently. 

Anything else I should be aware of during her new move?


Love her to pieces. She's absolutely adorable and she will grow up fast. :wavey:


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## walidch (Aug 18, 2010)

Amazing info; you guys have no idea how excited I am 

Can't wait till it's Saturday


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## UNLVRN (Dec 9, 2014)

My vet recommends keeping the puppy away from any risk of exposure to Parvo virus untill 4 month shots. Parvo is in the feces of infected animals and can live for weeks, even months on the ground. So if he steps in anything, he could get Parvo. We have a 7 week old and we don't even walk our other dog outside for fear of contracting the dreaded disease. I say better safe than sorry. Hope this helps.


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## Susan: w/ Summit we climb (Jun 12, 2014)

I like an undercoat rake for removing dead fur quickly. We use that first, and after that we may use a slicker brush.


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