Puppy Parenting Tips
Welcome to the crazy dog mom club! Your life is about to be forever changed (in the best way). My husband surprised me with our first puppy, Brady, and as much as I love surprises, here are a few things I wish I would have known ahead of time!
- Crate the puppy. Do NOT let that cutie crawl into bed with you the first night, unless you want to wake up in the middle of night to an accident. Once your puppy is potty trained, it’s up to you where they sleep. Be prepared that your puppy may whine at first in the crate.
- Potty Training. initially you will have to let your puppy out every 2-3 hours or so until they can hold their tiny bladder. Set an alarm on your phone every few hours to remind you, even in the middle of the night. As time goes on, you can extend the amount of hours in between taking them out. We used the Bell training method to potty train our puppy. Be sure to reward them for ‘outside business’ with treats and appraisal. If you aren’t home, consider crating your puppy and using puppy pads.
- Teething. Purchase rubber teething toys and make sure you clear the floor of expensive items you do not want chewed on. Example, a nice rug, shoes, wires, cords, etc. Our puppy chewed up pieces of the carpet and we were left with some ‘bald spots’. Some puppies will try to teeth on you, if they do, yelp like a puppy and stop playing. Once the puppy realizes the fun stops after their teeth hits your skin, that will help train them. Brady would bite my hair and ankles while we walked.
- Supplies. Make you sure you have the essentials. It sounds so basic, but you would be surprised what you forgot about.
- collar, leash, bowls, food, training treats, baby gates, puppy pads, grooming supplies, poop bags, toys (rubber for teething and stuffed for playing).
- Feeding. Puppies eat roughly three times per day and they have so much energy to burn off. Make sure to find them a food packed with nutrition. We purchase our food from amazon, Crave.
- Training. It is so fun to train your dog to do basic commands like sit, stay, shake etc. It would be the best time to train your puppy off leash too. We considered a puppy pre-school, but decided against it due to finances. It would be a great time for them to socialize with other dogs and humans while learning new commands!
- Vet Bills. Between the puppy vaccines and spaying/neutering, be ready to spend some money the first year. Some vet offices have ‘new puppy’ packages that offer a bundled discount.
- After the new puppy vaccines, you’ll only have to pay for their monthly flea and heart worm medications, and annual check ups/updating vaccines.
- Be aware, you shouldn’t expose your puppy to other dogs, dog parks etc. while they are a puppy due to contagious diseases like parvo.
Becoming a puppy parent is a huge responsibility! The first few months are the hardest, but it is worth every accident you clean up! Enjoy bonding with your new best friend!
Stay Fearless,
Michelle Foster
