New Puppy Help

[ike4life]

My wife and I are getting a new Shih Tzu/Maltese puppy. Can anyone give us some input on the best way to act with them the first day they come home to help them get used to things the best and fastest way possible. Any help would be greatly appreciated! :D

[Mickelle Weber]

welcome "ike"
paitence is the key
don't forget to send me pics!

[Maria Juliano]

Hi and welcome,

How old is your puppy and what gender?

I have 2, six months old shih tzus: Lina and Giotto, both are from the same litter. I got them when they were 10 weeks old. I did a bit of shopping for them ( prior to their arrival ), a crate, bedding, toys, FOOD, check the " LIST " under the food section to find a good quality food, go easy on the treats, pee pads ( until they have all their shots ) Please read Potty 101 under the House Training and Crate Training. For the most part, puppies sleep a great deal of time. Try to have patience...the best part is that it doesn't take as long as human babies to grow up.

Give your furbaby lots of love and praise when it does what you want, never yell or punish when it doesn't ... just ignore the mistake.

Post all the questions you want... the members and advisors are great in here.

Best wishes to you and your new puppy. :)


Maria Juliano ( Lina and Giotto's mom )

[Justine Archuleta]

Good luck to you. We just got two new puppies yesterday to see if we want to adopt them. Is the new puppy potty trained. If not I lay painting plastic down and then newspaper on top of it. I also give them lots of toys to play with and take them out every 1/2 hour to and hour to go potty except when they are taking naps. Don't give them lots and lots of treats though ,cause then it has to come out somewhere and is comes out quick .

[Amber]

Take them around to each room of the house that they are going to be allowed to go into and let them sniff around in them. Close all doors to all rooms that they aren't going to be able to go into. Let them know from the first day which rooms are okay and which rooms are off limits. Also, the crate was a GREAT idea, Maria! PLEASE crate-train your puppy if you are going to leave him/her alone during the day. Your house won't get chewed up that way and your puppy won't be harmed! It will take some time for your puppy to get used to the crate, but it will learn to love it! Both of my dogs LOVE their crates!

Amber

[Jill Ramsey]

On the first day, remember the puppy will be scared & bewildered. No mom, no siblings, where's all the smells I know, etc. Hopefully it will be tired from coming home, so have a bed ready. IF you can, take an old towel with you to pick up the puppy, and have someone wipe the towel over the mother, and any puppies that are still left. When you get home, put the towel in the puppy's bed. It will have the familiar smells on them. The first night it may cry itself to sleep. Have a stuffed animal and a ticking clock in the bed if you can. Both of these things helped us. Just be patient, it will get better.

[Jesse Cruz]

Hi, I have two shih tzu's, a female who just turned 1 yr old today and I just got a 4 month old male yesterday. So i'm back to housetraining. I suggest a crate as a must, those are the best for housetraining. Also make sure you have a leash and harness, the earlier you start that the easier your walks will be. Don't forget a nice water/food bowls and toys. Toys are very important, like a baby kong and puppy bones (nylabones). Please just remember they are puppies and you need to have lots of patience and give lots of praise. Watch your baby at ALL times and put them on a feeding and sleeping schedule, that helps a great deal. Don't worry you'll be fine, there are a lot of wonderful people here to give you all the support and advice you may need. Good Luck.

[Jody Hayes]

I have heard that it is a good idea to send a blanket that your puppy will be using in your home to the breeder to keep w/ the puppy weeks or days prior to his homecoming. It sounds like a great idea...one I wish I had heard before bringing mine home. You could probably send the dishes he will be using and maybe a couple of toys too. That way it is not such a dramatic change. Good Luck.