Are you about to bring a new puppy into your home? Do you have kids? If you answered yes to both of these questions, you have got a lot of hard work ahead of you. Introducing a new pet to a home is hard enough, but the added stress of over eager children can make it much more difficult.
Don’t worry, you can do it as long as you have a plan. Here is some advice from PuppyLending.com that should help you get through that tough first month with your new puppy.
Teach Your Kids The Rules
Before you take your pet home, you will need to go over the do’s and don’ts with your children. They need to know their boundaries and how they are expected to treat the new arrival.
Above all else, kids need to know that the dog is not a toy and is in fact a new member of the family. Teach them that they young puppies are fragile and can easily be hurt, so they need to be careful. Among other things, this means not picking up the puppy, not pulling tails and not playing with their sensitive ears.
Also, encourage children to keep the noise level down. This will be a difficult rule to enforce but do your best. Screaming children can really stress out a puppy, especially when they are trying to get acclimated to their new space. Every attempt should be made to keep noise down in your home, at least for the first few days.
Once the pet is home, make sure that your kids stick to the new rules and don’t let their excitement get the better of them.
Supervise Their Playtime
Children should not immediately be left alone with a new puppy. You need supervise the activity to make sure that they are following the rules and that the puppy itself does not get out of hand. When you have a hyper puppy and hyper kids, things can quickly get out of control and a kid or pet could easily get hurt.
Your puppy will also be looking to you as their new parent figure. Your presence in the room will comfort them and keep them from being scared or nervous.
Give Your Puppy A Quiet Space
Learning a new home is stressful for puppies. Suddenly, they are taken to a new place to live and removed from the company of their mother and litter mates. They will need a place of their own where they can feel safe and secure.
Make one room of your home a kid free zone where the puppy can rest comfortably. Ideally, this would be the master bedroom so you can be with them at night. If you plan on crate training, place the crate in this room, otherwise a comfy dog bed will do the trick.
Limit Their Interaction
If your children had a choice, they would probably be playing with that new puppy all day long. It will be up to you to limit their interactions so that your pup has time of their own. This time is especially important for two reasons.
First, they will need time of their own to explore their new surroundings. It is the only way that they will get comfortable with their new home. They will also need sleep and lots of it. Young puppies sleep roughly 20 hours a day.
Your Ultimate Goal
Bringing home a puppy is a great experience but you need to keep the ultimate goal in sight, raising a well-adjusted family pet. What your puppy experiences in the first month of being in your home can very well shape how your new pet develops. If you want a confident, playful and loyal family member, take the time to do things right.