Dog Community

Bringing Puppy into Family Home. Strategies for Success?

Posted : 12/30/2012 11:54:35 PM

After research, planning, and advise from breeder - we will be bringing home a 17 week old Shetland Sheepdog puppy this Saturday (01/06). While I have ideas on how to make this easier I always like getting more opinions. I am not worried about my two young girls. My 3 year old has absolutely no fear with dogs. When I say none I mean none. Large dogs (our friend's dogs) have knocked her over and licked her like crazy and she's just cracking up laughing having the time of her life. The youngest is not even mobile yet. So those two are going to love this new addition - I just want our puppy to not feel overwhelmed. Which is also one of the reasons why we are bringing home a little bit of an older puppy. I was thinking maybe for the car ride home I could bring something of my girls (like clothing) and put it in the crate for her to begin to get used to that scent and have her sleep with these items for a couple days. I also want to get my 3 year old involved in all the care taking so our puppy (Lilly) can see she is a source of food and something positive/rewarding. (Not just this strange little girl who wants to just love me and play with me constantly) The children will have rules. No chasing her, no swatting her, no squeezing her, lots of basic concepts. When my 3 year old met our youngest daughter for the first time (and when we brought her home) I was very nervous - but she is amazing to her baby sister, so gentle, so calm, so compassionate, and follows the rules with her very well. So now with the puppy I am nervous again but I have more faith that she will want to follow the rules. Today we used a stuffed dog and pretended it was Lilly and how we hold her and pet her and controlling the volume of our voice so it does not scare her. So from a Mommy stand point I've been working on that end of things. Another idea that came to mind is - when I first arrive home with her, placing the crate in the room with us but keeping her in there for a few minutes to adjust to the sound and excitement. Wait until my 3 year old has settled down and we know she is listening. And then let the puppy out. I hope we can make this transition as smooth as possible for Lilly. I am a stay at home mother so I will be with her 24-7. If you have any recommendations for us I would love to hear them. Thanks for reading and your help.

Freedom

Posted : 12/31/2012 9:47:50 AM

Good for you putting so much thought into the process!

With small children around, the dog always needs a place to just "be." This may be the crate, if you keep the door open when puppy is out. Any time the puppy goes in there, do not bother the dog. As the puppy grows, some families will also have a pet bed, perhaps in the living room, so the dog can chill out and still be with the family. So this is something to consider.

I'm sure others will be along with more suggestions to consider. I think you are going to be one very busy mommy for awhile! Puppy, and baby will be potty training together, lol!

JesDaMom

Posted : 12/31/2012 10:22:36 AM

Thank you. That is a great tip. I will make sure to have a set location for her crate so she knows where to go and I'll get a dog bed and explain to my oldest that it's the dog's area and we do not touch. We really did try to make sure we plan this out and put a lot of thought into it. We waited until my oldest (the 3 year old) was fully potty trained (which she is now) and we actually were going to wait until my youngest was at least crawling or walking (she is only 5 months old about to go onto 6 months old) but the breeder actually recommended it might be better for a small puppy to enter the home before that toddler/terrible two stage so she's not a "shiny new toy" it's just the family dog / whatever / nothing too exciting - won't get picked up and throw around or pulled on. I thought that was actually spot on and really smart! So we decided to go ahead and do this once a puppy that matched our personality became available. I am so excited for our family. My husband actually said last night he was having day dreams about her being home with us (I thought that was so cute of him to say).

JesDaMom

Posted : 1/1/2013 8:31:45 PM

Change of Plans! Lilly came home today, 01/01/2013. It was a great first day. She is adapting very well here. The children are very good with her and vice versa. She is a bit timid so we are going slow with her. So far no potty accidents she has peed outside 3 times and even pooped outside! So proud of her! She wears out very fast and loves to go lay down on her dog bed or under my coffee table. Thank you for the advise. She is lovely.

griffinej5

Posted : 1/1/2013 10:29:51 PM

Get that puppy into some puppy classes or basic obedience, using positive reinforcement, ASAP. At 17 weeks, your puppy could be well on it's way to housebroken, if not already completely housebroken.

I'd suggest dogstardaily.com Check out the new puppy stuff there. Also, kikopup on YouTube is pretty good for training.

JesDaMom

Posted : 1/1/2013 10:40:53 PM

Thanks. She seems to be livening up as the evening progresses. Tonight I've been letting her gain some trust in me, checking out her new environment, praising for her excellent potty training skills, and teaching her the clicker. I enjoy clicker training & shaping for shy dogs, it has worked well in the past and I'm happy to see it's more popular now. We will most likely do a class (for socialization/fun) once she has had all her vaccines. Once I get some commands down with her, I'll introduce the hand signal and command to my oldest. I'm very happy the transition seems to be going well so far. A lot to take in for her but she seems to feel more and more at home.

Freedom

Posted : 1/2/2013 9:14:27 AM

JesDaMom
Change of Plans! Lilly came home today, 01/01/2013..

Photos please!!!!

JesDaMom

Posted : 1/2/2013 9:28:20 AM

Freedom
Photos please!!!!

Okay I just uploaded a photo to My Pet of her right now this morning. I hope it worked!