It is time to bring your puppy home! Unless you have introduced a puppy into your home recently, you may have forgotten a few important things that will ensure a smooth transition. To begin, you need to know a bit about how your puppy has lived for the past few weeks and what might trigger crying. And because many of us work outside of the home, balancing puppy and human needs will be paramount. Additionally, you may need to acquire a few things to fully set-up your puppy space. At the end of this article, I will provide tips and recommendations for setting up your new puppy area.
Who moved my pack?
Up until this time, your puppy has been part of a dynamic and ever-evolving dog pack. It has been about 4 weeks since your puppy really needed Mama; her strongest bonds right now are with her siblings. Developmentally, your puppy is starting to understand human communication, but she is usually distracted by all of the fun she is having with her brothers and sisters.
Puppies miss their siblings terribly when they are rehomed and will not automatically imprint with a dog you already have. Because of the fear of being alone, your puppy maybe a bit aloof or despondent the first few days. Make sure you can devote a lot of time and attention to your puppy the first few days.
Timing vs. Training
Housebreaking a puppy (a.k.a., "potty training") has already begun, and it revolves around human timing of the sleep-pee-eat-play-poop cycle. Your puppy does not need a lot of space right now, but she does need time to play and run around. Unlike human babies, animal babies, puppies included, do not pee or poop while they are asleep. When a puppy wakes from a nap, and they nap quite a bit, especially if they play when awake, they will stand up, walk away from their sleep space, and eliminate. At this time, your puppy has been peeing on a washable pee-pad secured in a pee-pad tray. Do not bother using paper pee-pads; they are chew toys. A loose washable pee-pad will become a urine-soaked plaything. It is best to follow the protocol.
Once your puppy has tinkled on the pee-pad, she is looking for food which should be ready and waiting in the wings. I watch the puppy eat, and as soon she starts drifting away from the bowl, I let the puppy play outside in a confined area. Sometimes, the puppy will poop immediately; but usually, there is crazy dog energy to be released first. Once the puppy settles down, she will usually start sniffing and wandering away from you or the toy she was playing with and find a place to poop. Your puppy is so used to pooping indoors on a pee-pad that if there is a pee-pad outside, she will aim for it. After playing a bit more, your puppy can be returned to her space to settle down and nap again.
Puppy Space
As noted above, puppies do best with a controlled and curated space. Your puppy will not sleep where she pees or poops, but she will sleep close to it, and that is okay.
Using a crate takes a lot of supervision and surveillance, so I suggest using part of a room with a barricade as a puppy space for the first week or two. Do not invest in an expensive dog bed right now: at this point, anything square and made of cloth is a pee target. Dogs often prefer sleeping on cool tile, so wait to buy the dream bed.
The puppy space should accommodate the pee-pad tray, walking room, and sleep space. The pee-pad will be used when you are unable to time the sleep-pee-eat-play-poop cycle by going outside, and it will make your life easier because you can actually sleep through the night. As your puppy adjusts to your home, introduce the crate to the space. At the bottom of this page, I have included a comprehensive video by McCann Dog Training on how to get puppies used to sleeping in a crate:
Remember: A puppy can hold her bladder for as many hours as she is months old: 2 months=two hours.
Crying
Your puppy will cry when she is hurt, sick, bored, hungry, lonely, or scared. If a puppy is crying because she's bored, lonely, or simply wants out, do not remove her from its space. You can speak to her reassuringly and then leave her to settle down. If you give into the whining, it will persist. However, if you wish to let your puppy out anyway, wait for the whining to stop and only then let her out, so she does not make the whining-freedom connection.