How to care for your puppy

Welcoming a new addition to your family can be very exciting for the family, but with so many things to do and buy it can be quite daunting. So we have created this guide to help you plan for the arrival of your new puppy.

Before buying a puppy:

Some things that need to be considered before buying a puppy should be:

• You get to meet with both the mum and the pup together 
• Be sure to have more than one meeting 
• The breeder provides genuine paperwork
• The breeder doesn’t rush you to part with cash

Before you bring your puppy home:

Wherever your new puppy came from the previous owner should have done a few things such as:

• Organising their first vaccination and kept their records
• Getting the puppy microchipped as this is a legal requirement
• Started training them to go outside when they need the toilet
• Introducing them to new people and new situations for them to start socialising 

Before you bring them home you’ll need to prepare by doing things such as:

• Buying toys for them especially different textured ones as you can freeze them to help with sore teething gums and it will help to divert their chewing from tv remotes and charging cables towards the toys, you could also move the tv remotes to higher up and don’t use the plug sockets nearer the floor but use the ones higher up or in the kitchen so that they are out of reach from your puppy.
• Creating space for them to play
• Buying a cage and placing it in a quiet, draught free area e.g. the kitchen as the floor would be easier to clean if there were any accidents. On a night the best way for them to get a good night's sleep is by covering the cage in a blanket to block out the light.
• Bringing something from the previous owner’s home. For example, a blanket for them to cuddle with so they have something familiar
• Make sure you get pet insurance
• Decide on their name 
• Buy a dog ID tag and collar last which you should put on them to get them used to the feeling and also just in case they escape from the garden they can be identified and brought home. Our ID tags are long lasting and secure so that you can have a bespoke tag perfect for your dog.
• Feed them the same puppy food as the previous owners and in the same type of bowls, this is important as this can reduce the upset tummies and provides them with a sense of familiarity but you can change this later if you want but it is extremely important that it is done gradually and very slowly. Feeding them from the same bowls actually can make a significant difference if they were fed from plastic bowls and if you start feeding them from ceramic or metal bowls it can cause confusion and put them off.
• Deciding on which veterinary practice you’re going to use and registering your details with them.

After you bring them home:

After the initial first weeks of bringing them home, you should start doing some activities to help them learn, these include:

• Introducing them to other fully vaccinated dogs and cats
• Gradually introduce them to new experiences such as being groomed and travelling in the car.
• Start leaving them alone to prevent separation anxiety later on
• Have a consistent and regular routine
• Establishing rules is important as positive reinforcement is the best way for puppies to learn the right behaviour.
• Continue toilet training and make sure you are rewarding them when they go outside because if they are rewarded they are more likely to keep going outside as they will associate going to the toilet outside with rewards.

Once they’re fully vaccinated you can socialise your puppy outside with other dogs that may not be fully vaccinated yet and learn what they like and don’t like, this includes toys and treats as this can help motivate them during their training.

Your dog’s tag is one of the most important accessories you can buy for your dog and with a wide range of high quality tags available at Engraving Studios, we deliver on both practicality and design.