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Raising a puppy can be hard and is very similar to raising a baby. For this reason when my husband brought the word ‘puppy’ into his vocabulary I immediately told him ‘No Way!’ I have 3 kids under the age of 10 and I run a home daycare that consists of kids under the age of 4, so I was not interested in welcoming a new puppy into our home. I knew that being a work at home mom that I would be the one that would have to care for the puppy along with my other daily responsibilities. I was not interested in this new plan that my husband kept trying to present to me but in the end, I lost and a few months later after extensive research our family was at the airport, yes, the airport, picking up our new puppy. Since I have raised a few puppies in my lifetime I knew some tips and tricks on raising a puppy and with our new puppy, Baylee, I have learned a lot more. In an effort to help new dog owners I have compiled a list of tips and tricks on raising a puppy. Please keep in mind that these are tips and tricks that have helped me in raising my puppies and by no means do I claim to be an expert.
While raising our new member of our family, Baylee, I used some past tips and tricks that I learned while raising other puppies, but I also learned quite a bit while raising her. I hope you find this helpful and feel free to add more to my Comments section.
Do your research! Before you purchase or adopt a puppy do your research and decide which breed fits your lifestyle. This is important because there are some breeds that are happy with lazy owners and a lot of breeds that need active owners.- Prepare your home. Before you bring your new puppy home you have to prepare your home. If you have kids then you have to make sure that their toys are organized and separate from where the new puppy will be living. I would also keep plants off of the ground because puppies like to dig and will dig the potting soil out of your plant and make a huge mess.
- Prepare for interrupted sleep. Puppies are babies. If you have ever raised a baby then you know that you rarely ever get a full night’s sleep. My biggest tip to try and get your puppy to sleep through the night is to place a radio in their room and keep it on throughout the night. I started doing this after I had a friend of mine that was a dog owner suggest it to me. It worked great!
- Invest in training. This is something that I did not do with my dog and regret. If you are going to purchase or adopt a new puppy you should invest in training. This can help alleviate so much stress and can make for a happier dog and owner.
- Know where your puppy is. If you are going to allow your puppy to roam your house then you need to know where it is at all times. Puppies are like kids and if they are quiet, then you know that they are getting into trouble.
- Create a schedule. Puppies are like kids, they love a schedule! If you create a schedule then you will begin to know when your puppy has to go potty and this will help with potty training.
- Avoid changing your puppy’s dog food. This is important no matter how old your dog is. When our puppy arrived, the previous owner had her on very expensive puppy food so we immediately went to PetSmart since we knew that their staff was well trained and knew that they had a wide variety of food to choose from. Once we arrived, we asked a PetSmart employee which dog food we could switch her to that did not cost an arm and a leg. She immediately suggested Purina® Pro Plan® and also mentioned that her dog eats that as well. She then proceeded to remind us that since we were switching her food that we needed to slowly introduce her to the food and then eventually completely remove the food she was currently on so that her tummy did not get messed up from the immediate change.
We did this and our puppy is now completely off of her previous dog food and is now completely eating and loving her Purina® Pro Plan® dry dog food. A big reason that we love Purina® Pro Plan® dry dog food is because their goal is to give dogs the nutrition to be their absolute best, helping them to be energetic and resilient, and maintaining an ideal body condition, healthy skin, and a stunning coat. In addition, while we were at PetSmart we discovered that Purina® Pro Plan® had an amazing selection of treats. Their wide range of snacks, and supplement bars can be found in five specialized platforms. Each one contains products formulated for a dog’s taste preferences, age/dietary considerations, or activity/lifestyle. Treats are huge when it comes to training your puppy or making the attempt to train you puppy. We purchased the Purina® Pro Plan® Baked Trios, but when we are treating our puppy we call them ‘Cookies’ and she gets super excited!
- Provide your puppy with a variety of toys. Puppies have a tendency to get bored if they are not entertained, so I have always provided my puppy with a variety of durable and hard to tear up toys. Bouncy toys and chew toys are the best. As a mom of little kids, I avoid giving my puppy stuffed animal like toys because I don’t want her to get confused with which toys are hers. While we were at PetSmart we also picked her up a squeaky bouncy rope toy that keeps her very busy.
- Protect your puppy. Even if your puppy or dog is trained you should always have them on a leash or in a fenced in yard. You never know when a pup or dog might get distracted and then run off and possibly get hurt.
- Clean your yard. If your puppy will be in your fenced in yard, you need to make sure that it is clean. Remove anything that your puppy might be able to tear up, in addition to any fecal matter. Yes, puppies have been known to eat their own poop, so make sure to keep your yard clean.
Raising a puppy is a lot of work and takes a lot of time. Before you buy or adopt a puppy, make sure you are 100% ready to commit because it is a forever job.
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What tips and tricks on raising a puppy do you have?
Written by: Aimee Fauci
id also add prepare your furniture under prepare your home – any exposed wood is free game for a puppy, and they will treat it like a chew toy. Make sure you spray wood furniture with anti-chew spray, and have lots of bones on hand so the pup learns what to chew and what not to chew.
Great tip!!! I’ve heard of that anti chew spray and sadly we never got it and now we have chew marks on our expensive wood table!!!
This really is just what I needed! My kids & hubs would love to get a puppy, but I would be the one caring for it the most since I’m home during the day & I’m so not a dog person, which means I know nothing about how to train a puppy.
All these are great ideas. Baylee looks so cute. I don’t have time to spend with pets as I am a busy working mom. These tips are very helpful to all pet lovers. Will definitely share this post with my friends who have pets. Thanks for sharing.
It’s never easy to have a puppy – management is always important. I wish I knew this when we first had one.
That is sooo cool – when I saw your pup’s photo – I said that looks like my Calvin – he is going to be 15 yrs old this year and is a Kerry Blue Rescue that we adopted when he was about 3 yrs old – so smart and beautiful! Such cute photos and great tips –
Those are awesome tips on raising a puppy. Keeping the same feeding schedule and food is important
These are some really great tips! Puppies can be so much work
Some of the things on your list are oh so applicable to children too. 😉 And what an adorable pup. Thanks for the great list of things to know. I’d love to have a puppy here!
What an adorable puppy! Reminds me of my doggie as a pup!
I’ve been pretty lucky with my baby girl Bitly. She’s been a dream to train and she is so smart! Fortunately we haven’t had any health issues either *knock on wood* Know I have the best friend I never knew I needed 🙂
Raising a pup is no easy task! Mine was quite hard, but as the years have gone by she’s become such a loyal and amazing dog!
Taking care of a puppy can be hard work! Tips are always needed!
Great advice. So many people don’t do the research and then the animal suffers.
Our dogs love Purina Pro Plan. It’s their favorite food!
These are some really great tips. I don’t have any pets due to my allergies. I have always wanted a puppy, but even the hypoallergenic dogs bother me.
Puppies are a big responsibility. They are a lot of work!
Great advice! It’s really important to research breeds before selecting one that is cute. When we got our yorkie, they wouldn’t let anyone with young children adopt him. That was a good policy since he doesn’t like little people.
Puppies are wonderful. I’ll never forget when our two dogs had puppies. It’s such hard work but so rewarding! Great tips!
I think we’re about to get a new puppy so this will be helpful. My last pup I got when I was 15 and I did not train her well, and she was very spoiled lol.
I always say that until dogs are two, you need to remember that they are still very young and puppy behavior can run that long (especially in bigger breeds). Puppy love is worth the growing pains.
It’s a really good idea to start their diets off in a healthy way. I know some people with very overweight dogs.
Raising a puppy sounds like a fun challenge. As of right now, we only have fish.
That radio idea is absolutely genius! And I agree that if I could go back and change one thing about having a new dog, it would be to invest in training. I thought it was worth it to save the money but we paid for it in the long run.
I love your puppy Aimee, so adorable! Reminds me of the President’s dog Bo. At the moment I do not have any dogs, but I did when I was younger and it was a lot of work.
Awww! Baylee is so cute!!!!
Rosemond
http://www.bighairandbooks.blogspot.com
Good tips. I do not have a dog but good to know if we ever get one!
We just got a puppy in September–Bailey (a Boston terrier) These are great tips. Had I read them before, I would have reconsidered. HA! Now, I wouldn’t trade her for anything!
She’s SOOO cute. I’ve been dying for a puppy for a while, however, with a toddler who’s still in diapers there’s no way I could deal with the street of puppy-hood again!
These look like great tips. We cannot have any pets other than fish. Years ago I could somewhat tolerate them, but my allergies have gone from bad to worse.
Oh GIRL!!!!! I keep saying that with 4 kids, there is NO way a puppy, or any pet can enter this house! I have enough peeps to care for and you’re 100% correct, regardless of who wants the puppy, I’ll be the caregiver! Props to you, it’s definitely like adding another kiddo!!!!!
When we first adopted our rescue dog, we took a puppy training course. It really is important to know what you are in for when you are adopting any pet.
Those are awesome tips, but we only adopt rescues, so will never need to use any of these because we will never have a pup.
Adoreable little pup!! Makes me wish I could have a dog. When I get to missing having one, I go visit my Daughter. Her little dog won’t leave me alone when I am there. She is cute though so I pay lots of attention to her.
Oh my goodness – your puppy is too cute!! I’m heading over to the Purina site that you linked to learn more…
What an adorable pup!! We have 2 puppies so this is perfect for me to read. Raising two liter mates is such a lot of work…still trying to house train them. They came from a rescue group so they’ve never really been loved. We LOVE them!!
Oh my goodness Baylee is adorable! Congrats on the new family member! My husband and boys want a puppy but sadly my daughter is severely allergic to them.
They have dogs hypoallergenic breeds 😉 Baylee is one of those. They are non shedders also.
Baylee is so cute. We don’t have a pet right now but when the kids get older we want a to rescue a dog from our local shelter. Thank you for these tips!
One of my family members is getting a puppy in a few weeks, and these are great tips! How does the radio help at night with the puppy?
The thought process is that when the pups are with their litters it tends to be noisy… just like when a baby is in the hospital it is noisy in the nursery. A radio provides a ‘white noise’ that will help the puppies sleep to. When my daughter came home from the NICU the nurses suggested a radio for her also. It’s crazy how human babies are very similar to puppies.
You are a brave mom indeed to take on a puppy with 6 kids, and 3 under 10! You are so right, though, raising puppy is much like raising a kid, these are great tips! #client