Re: Introducing a new puppy into the home - Advice please

Pups find having their own crate very comforting.
It feels like a *den* to them. I knew I was raising
a dog to be a therapy dog so when she was not crated,
I held her or played with her and amped up socialization.

She never had an accident either since if you crate them
for night and naps, they do not want to mess in their
den. She had plenty of toys and a blanket that smelled
of us. The transition of a new pup was hardest on our
cat but he was able to acclimate to the new member
by peering into the crate.

We also used the method of training the dog by using
baby glycerin suppositories and when we took the
pup out first thing in the morning, we would pop
a suppository up her bum, put her down in the
corner of the yard we wanted her to defecate in
and would calmly say, "make poo". It was not long
before it became a learned response and we could
take her for a walk or send her into the yard,
make poo and she would do it. The same thing with
making pee...you can train them to connect peeing
with a command and after a short time you tell
them, make pee and its a done deal.

Crate training is also good since when occasions
rise when the dog could be exposed to too much
noise, too many people or situations where you
cannot keep an eye on them, they are fine in
their crate. They may cry at first a little while
but certainly if you do not abuse a crate, they
know they will get out. This also will give an
older dog a time to rest without puppy play
constantly.

I also used baby gates when appropriate to
keep a puppy's access limited until she was trained
to my satisfaction and could handle having access
to the whole house. This also helps keep dogs at
nose length and can help acclimate them to each
other.

best wishes,
Zoe

-_-