Even when your home is pet ready and couldn’t seem more comfortable, a puppy might find it hard to settle in. That’s no one’s fault exactly, but it is something you need to work on for the good of their health! Plus, the easier a puppy gets comfortable with you, the more enjoyable the puppy months are going to be! So let’s make it easier on you; here are a few common mistakes you should be mindful about making as you settle in a new puppy.
Invite Loads of People Around to Meet Them
If you do this, you’re going to overwhelm and stress out your new puppy! They need a few days to get used to their surroundings in terms of sights and smells, and they’ll have more than enough to cope with in experiencing the scents of your own family. If you get a load of friends or your neighbors round, they’re going to act out in anxious and even fearful ways, and that could make it much harder for you to establish trust.
Push Them into Trying Things
You might not know it, seeing as dogs love to be obliging, but a lot of owners can accidentally push their puppy into doing and trying things they don’t like. Such activities include playtime, or cuddle time, or being around people or other dogs they don’t know or like.
If pushed too far, your dog might snap, or bite, and that’s never a good thing. So in a scenario like this, you’ll want to stay in touch with your puppy’s body language. Do they seem nervous? If they are, there are quite a few signs that’ll let you know.
Change the Rules a Lot
Changing the rules as your puppy gets older is a bad idea. After all, you’ve spent a lot of time getting them used to one way of doing things. When your dog is that young, it’s going to be hard to chop and change and continue to follow the rules right!
The same goes for the way you feed your pet. Put their meals down at the same time every day, pop a pet supplement in, and then clear the bowl away so they know breakfast and dinner is over.
Give Them Full Run of the House
Full run of the house is a bad idea in the first few weeks. Why? Because your dog needs to know the rules straight away. This means keeping them off beds, and only allowing them onto the sofa if you’ve said they can go up there.
If you don’t establish these boundaries early on, it’s going to be very hard to get your dog to listen when you say no! Puppies like to push their luck to see what they can get away with, so make sure you’re firm from day one. Don’t let the puppy misbehave and win!
A new puppy can settle in just fine when you’re clear about rules like these!
