Bringing home a new puppy is an exciting and joyful experience, but it also requires careful planning and preparation to ensure a smooth transition for both you and your furry friend. As a new or prospective puppy owner, there are several key tips and tricks that can help you get ready for this new chapter in your life. By following these steps, you can set yourself and your puppy up for success from day one.
1. Read The Puppy Manual 2. Enroll In Baxter & Bella Online Puppy School 3. Order Puppy Supplies 4. Order Puppy's Food & Supplements 5. Educate Yourself On Holistic Puppy Healthcare 6. Make A Plan To Socialize Your Puppy 7. Set Up Your Puppy Pen
One of the first things you should do when preparing for your new puppy is to read the puppy manual provided by the breeder. Every ethical breeder should provide a comprehensive puppy manual that includes valuable information about your puppy's breed, care instructions, feeding schedules, socialization, puppy pen set-up, and more. By familiarizing yourself with this information, you can better understand your puppy's needs and provide the best possible care. You can learn about our puppy manual at Why Breeders Should Provide A Puppy Manual. If you purchase a puppy from us, we will send you our puppy manual 4 - 6 weeks or so before you bring your puppy home so you have time to read it thoroughly and make preparations.
Investing in your puppy's training and education well before you bring your puppy home is the key to setting them up for success. Designed for all dog owners, from beginner to experienced, Baxter & Bella Online Puppy School is a very comprehensive program that trains YOU in how to train your puppy. The Lifetime Subscription includes access to a wide range of courses and resources to help you train your puppy effectively. From basic obedience to potty-training to unlimited live one-one-one training sessions with professional trainers, this online school has everything you need to raise a well-behaved and happy puppy. Baxter & Bella's first two modules - PREPARING FOR MY PUPPY and THE FIRST WEEK TOGETHER - are game-changers in making sure you are ready for your new puppy. Of course, we recommend completing the whole course before you bring your puppy home, but those first two modules are the most important. You can download Baxter & Bella's Curriculum Roadmap and Curriculum Checklist to learn more about their curriculum. They are adding new courses all the time. In fact, they recently added a course specifically addressing Puppy Biting and another one addressing Barking. We have partnered with Baxter & Bella Online Puppy School to provide you with a 25% discount. Use coupon code SEEKINGSHALOMACRES during checkout to receive your discount. For more information, please visit Baxter & Bella Online Puppy School. Downloads: Baxter & Bella Curriculum Roadmap Baxter & Bella Curriculum Checklist 25% Off Coupon Code: SEEKINGSHALOMACRES
Before bringing your puppy home, make sure you have all the necessary supplies on hand. This includes food and water bowls, a comfortable bed, toys, grooming supplies, a crate, puppy pen, and holistic supplies. Refer to our New Puppy Checklist to make sure you have everything you need to welcome your new furry friend into your home.
Several weeks before you bring your puppy home, make sure you have ordered all your puppy's food and supplements. In this way, you can be certain your puppy's food and supplements will be delivered before you bring your puppy home. We will set up your accounts and help you get your orders placed. Watch for an email with instructions from us for ordering your puppy's food and supplements. We are available for a phone call to help you place your orders if you wish. We require that our puppies be kept on the same diet for a minimum of 2 months after going home to ensure the puppy has as easy a transition as possible to your home. When a puppy goes to its new home, there are a LOT of changes that are happening all at once. Food is one thing you can control by keeping their food exactly as it was before they left our home. In this way, your puppy should be well-adjusted and settled in before you consider making any changes to his or her diet. We highly recommend that you keep your puppy on pawTree for life to make sure your puppy always has a safe, high quality diet. To learn more about why we use pawTree with our dogs and puppies, please read 7 Reasons Why We Use & Recommend PawTree. To learn about how we feed our puppies and what you will be ordering for your puppy, please read Feeding Your New Puppy A Superior Holistic Puppy Food Diet.
Just like humans, puppies require regular healthcare to stay healthy and happy. Educate yourself on your puppy's healthcare needs, including learning about what vaccinations really do to these small puppies, safe vaccine alternatives, natural flea and tick control, natural parasite prevention, and finding a good holistic veterinarian. This information is covered in our puppy manual, so please make sure you read the manual to get you started. We also provide a few links below to help you begin researching vaccinations and what over-vaccination and overdosing can do to these little babies. By taking the time to educate yourself ahead of time, you are prepared and ready to make informed healthcare decisions for your new puppy. Additionally, by planning ahead and establishing a relationship with a trusted holistic veterinarian, you can ensure that your puppy receives the best possible care throughout their life. This also gives your puppy the best chance possible at being healthy and happy for life. We provide links to several holistic vet directories below to help you begin your search. Education Resources: What Vets Don't Tell You About Vaccines Giant Survey Reveals Shocking Amount of Illness in Dogs 3 Months Post-Vaccination What Every Pet Owner Should Know About Vaccines Why Every Dog Owner Should Use A Holistic Vet Why Are Holistically-Reared Puppies So Healthy? Holistic Vet Directories: AHVMA Directory | American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association Find An AVH Vet | The Academy of Veterinary Homeopathy CIVT Directory For Veterinarians | College of Integrative Veterinarian Therapies Alternative & Holistic Veterinarian Search | Vet Locator Find A Holistic Veterinarian | It's Paws Natural
Socialization is a crucial part of your puppy's development, helping them become well-adjusted and confident adults. We cannot stress enough how very important socialization is. We start out your puppy with a lot of early socialization to give him a fantastic foundation, but you will be responsible to complete your puppy's socialization when you take your puppy home. Make a plan to expose your puppy to different people, animals, environments, and experiences in a positive and controlled manner on a regular basis until your puppy is 20 weeks old. Your puppy's socialization window will begin to close around 20 weeks old, so this is a very critical time-period. This will help your puppy build confidence and learn how to interact with the world around them. Be sure to download our Socialization Checklist and bookmark these Sounds Sociable Audios as these will be invaluable tools to help you plan and implement how you will socialize your new puppy. For more information about the benefits of socialization, please visit Benefits Of Early Puppy Socialization. Downloads: Socialization Checklist Sounds Sociable Audios
Creating a safe, comfortable, and familiar space for your puppy is essential for their well-being during their transition to your home, as well as critical to ensure you continue their potty-training in a manner that is familiar to them. We recommend that you set up your puppy's pen in a similar layout as the puppy pens we use with the puppies before they leave our home. This is basically a pen with their potty on one end and their crate, bed, food, and water on the other end. Please visit our Facebook page and YouTube channel to see videos of our puppy pen layout. Please visit our New Puppy Checklist to see the puppy pens, bedding, crates, etc. that we use. For your new puppy, we recommend that you begin with the clear plastic playpen. We have several listed on our New Puppy Checklist page. We use the 27" and 28" tall panels because occasionally a puppy is an escape artist and can figure out how to get out of the pens with the shorter panels. This is not only an issue because you cannot contain the puppy, but it can become a safety issue if the puppy hurts themselves jumping over. Setting up your puppy pen ahead of time will help your puppy feel secure and settled in their new environment when they first come home.
By following these tips and tricks for preparing for your new puppy, you can ensure a smooth transition and set the foundation for a happy and healthy life together. Remember, bringing home a new puppy is a big responsibility, but with the right preparation and mindset, you can create a loving and lasting bond with your four-legged companion.
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