Setting your new puppy up for success!

Preparing for your puppy

If you have raised a puppy before, you know how curious and investigative they can be. There are certain items in your household that can be dangerous for the puppy that we prefer the new furbaby not to come in contact with. Prior to bringing the pup home, we recommend that you do the following:

1. Lift and hide any television, phone, or electrical cords within the puppy’s reach.
2. Keep the floor clear of items that you don’t want your toy Aussie to have, such as children’s toys, slippers, socks, magazines, or books.
3. Consider temporarily removing expensive & small area rugs, especially those with fringed edges.
4. Raise house plants from the puppy’s level. Many can be poisonous if ingested.
5. Take steps to ensure that your little buddy doesn’t get into lower kitchen or bathroom cabinets that usually contain cleaning products. You can purchase child safety latches, or tie something around the handles that hold the doors together.
6. Bitter apple spray is a product we recommend to prevent chewing; it is applied to wood furniture legs to discourage chewing and is available here.
7. Decide on the room your new baby will sleep in. I suggest in a crate next to your bed with a towel and safe toy.

Remember these pups are pack animals and you are now their new family unit. If they are alone in a dark strange place they will cry….all night!

Your Baby is home, now what?

There are three ways you can keep your puppy safe during the day.  One is to keep the puppy on a leash connected to your waist or belt loop, we call this Umbilicord training. You will develop a bond and be able to keep a close eye out for those “gotta go potty” cues!

Another is called the tie down method. This method is like a doggie playpen. You place a 4 ft cord around the leg of a sturdy piece of furniture, then clip it onto the puppy’s collar or harness. The material of the cord needs to be chew proof

I recommend these 4 ft tie downs or these 3 ft tie downs.

Can I ever leave my puppy alone in the house?

Remember a young puppy (under 6 months) must be crated or supervised at all times, then there is no way your puppy can get into trouble. When you are unable to supervise the puppy, it should be crated or in a safe fenced in yard.

Once the puppy establishes good house manners, it is very important that you slowly restore plants, rugs, and other things you moved for safety, to their original locations. At that time, you will teach the puppy to respect these items and “leave it” (the command for leave it alone) when asked.

You can find more training tips here.