PUPPY LOVE
TOP TIP
A BASKET IS BEST SUITED TO AN OLDER DOG WHO HAS BECOME ACCUSTOMED TO HUMAN WAY SAND WILL BE LESS LIKELY TO CHEW IT TO SHREDS!
PRE-ARRIVAL/
What puppy will need most in her first year is time spent with people teaching her how to live a happy, well-behaved life with humans. If you work, book some holidays. You are going to be very busy and need time to bond with her. Arrange for a puppy-sitter if you must go back to work after a few weeks. The time you put into helping her understand how to be a ‘good’ dog during her first year will carry her through the rest of her life.
Tour your house and garden looking from a puppy’s viewpoint. Is it fully fenced? Are there small gaps a puppy could squeeze through? Are there sharp objects, things that could topple, containers of undrinkable fluid, poisonous plants, exposed electrical cords? Everything goes into a puppy’s mouth for testing.
Now decide on an area where you would like puppy to eliminate – their toilet place – best chosen away from entertaining areas. It may be possible to fence this off temporarily until puppy gets the idea this is the place go.
Look inside for areas you would prefer puppy not to enter for now – the rooms with good furniture, carpet, the baby’s room – and then buy baby gates to block access but still allow her to see you if you're in there. Decide where puppy will be based. Kitchens and family rooms with washable floors are best, near people coming and going.
Purchase not just a warm cosy bed with raised sides but a playpen to put the bed in. There will be many times
