Collecting and Acclimatising Your Puppy

Collecting Your Puppy

Try to collect your new puppy in the morning so that he arrives at his new home in daylight. This will give him the opportunity to explore his new environment before dark.

• Ask the breeder to avoid feeding him prior to collection otherwise there will be an increased risk of travel sickness.
• Take a towel, kitchen roll, a blanket and a puppy crate and some newspaper. If he is sick or has a toilet accident on the journey these will be very useful for the clean-up job. Of course your puppy might well be a good traveller but the blanket will be a useful way to ensure he was kept warm on the journey.

Arriving Home

On arrival at his new home, let your new puppy out in the puppy-proofed garden as he will almost certainly need to toilet after the journey.

• Introduce him straight away to the puppy-proofed room where he will be living until he has settled in and is toilet trained. 
• Offer him a small drink and a small bowl of food but if he isn’t interested in eating, remove the food and try again later.
• Let your puppy rest and sleep in a quiet place as he will likely be tired after all the travelling.

Early Days

For the first few days allow your puppy to find his own way around his new environment so he gets used to it. You can introduce to the other areas of your home he will be allowed into later, when he is properly house-trained.

• Don’t overwhelm him with too much fuss and attention including that of friends and neighbours, until he is settled in and try to keep a balance between his sleeping, playing and relaxing. Too little or too much of these will be damaging to his well-being.

Puppy-Safe Living Space

• Choose a puppy safe area in, for example, the kitchen; ensure that any chewable objects, particularly dangerous ones, are safely out of reach.
• Wherever you choose as your puppy-safe area ensure it is an easily cleaned area of the house where he will feel secure and there is easy access to the garden when needed; particularly useful during toilet training.

A Den Of His Own

                

• Ideally choose a soft, puppy-safe crate initially, switching to a metal mesh crate that won’t easily be chewed, if the need arises. In this case cover it with a blanket, other than the entrance, to encourage him to settle in it and to minimise any distractions.
• The door can be closed at night once he is used to it. It will also be a great toilet training aid and useful for safe car travel.

Night-Time With Your New Puppy

• At night give him a cloth or soft toy from his breeder with the scent of his littermates for comfort. Try leaving on a soft light so he can still see his surroundings, and keep the radio on at a low level to provide company for him through the night so he feels safer.
• It is very likely he will be missing his mother and littermates and will not be used to his new environment, so expect some whimpering and howling; this is common and normal. However do not go down to him, difficult though this will undoubtedly be, as you do not want to establish a pattern of dependency; this can happen all too quickly and will then become problematic in the long term.