How to Prepare for your new puppy: Essential tips for first-time puppy owners

Arriving puppies bring immense joy, liveliness, and a chance to learn new things to the household. They also represent a significant commitment. Preparing thoroughly ensures a smooth start for your furry friend and your household in your life together. Essential steps include:

Seeking and reviewing high-quality information sources.
Ensuring effective cooperation, coordination, and communication with the breeder and your veterinarian to facilitate a smooth transition of responsibility from the breeder to you.
Proactively engaging in planning and organizing your life with the new puppy well in advance, ensuring that when the puppy finally arrives, you’re well-acquainted with the bigger picture and can focus on the day-to-day joys and challenges of life with your new companion.

The first weeks of a dog’s life are crucial for its long-term health. The companionship and care from the puppy’s mother and siblings lay a solid foundation for health and socialization. However, also active steps are necessary to establish a strong basis for a healthy life.

Gaining a basic understanding of the aspects of a dog’s health is an excellent starting point. It’s beneficial to have a few reliable sources of information to study and consult when needed. These can include official recommendations, books, blog posts, professional advice, and other resources like YouTube videos. As information about dog care may vary between sources, cross-checking information is recommended. Understanding the basics enables effective coordination with the kennel and veterinarian and helps you in formulating a sustainable care plan for your dog.

Building a working relationship with dog care professionals, especially your veterinarian and the breeder, is invaluable. In the ideal scenario, these relationships become lasting sources of information and support. A reputable breeder knows how to care for their puppies and communicate essential health and safety information to new owners. Ideally, you can trust the breeder to manage many of the essential health tasks with their chosen veterinarian. Discuss with the breeder about the specifics of care during the first weeks of the puppy’s life.

Puppies typically stay in the kennel until they are between 7-10 weeks old. After that, the responsibility is entirely yours. All the research and discussions with the breeder and your veterinarian will help you to understand the health status of the dog, enabling you to create a comprehensive health plan that you can adhere to. The checklists below highlight some critical preparation points, ensuring you’re well-prepared to care for your new puppy.

Key topics for planning and coordination in puppy care

Deworming, flea and tick prevention, and vaccination: Familiarize yourself with the official guidelines for deworming, flea prevention, and vaccinations. Usually, the breeder manages the first three deworming sessions and the initial vaccination. Ensure you receive the documentation for these procedures to maintain clarity. Documents are also often required for puppy classes. Post-adoption, the first deworming you’ll manage is when the puppy is 11 weeks old, followed by vaccinations at 12 weeks.
The first puppy veterinarian check should be done when the puppy is around 7-week-old, before the puppy leaves the kennel. This is usually arranged by the breeder. Discuss the check-up results with the breeder. Plan and coordinate future checks and visits with veterinarian you have chosen.
Confirm whether the breeder will handle the microchipping, a crucial step for identification, ownership verification, and health information management. Microchipping is done before the puppies are registered by the breeder.
Align with the breeder on the puppy’s meal plan. It’s advisable to continue the same diet initially to avoid digestive issues. If changing the food brand or type, transition gradually. Ensure the food is puppy-specific and suitable for your dog’s breed size. Our breeder uses Royal Canin Medium puppy for Samoyeds. It has all the nutrients a puppy needs to develop to a healthy adult dog. We continue to use this brand. Note that the dog grows up very rapidly. Regularly adjust feeding amounts and schedule according to the plan you received as your puppy grows. Normally after a year the food is switched to adult dog´s food.
Plan your shopping list for the life with a puppy, but before purchasing items, check what the breeder provides to avoid duplication. Essentials include food, bowls, bedding, a collar and leash with an ID tag, toys, and maintenance and cleaning products for your dog and for your house. Invest time in finding a good clearing solution. We recommend Simple Solution Stain and Odour Remover, an effective product for eliminating scents and discouraging repeat marking in the same spot.

Other essential planning and preparation for your new puppy

Plan life arrangements, daily routines, and prepare mentally for a dog – it is a handful! There will be daily cleaning of the house, restless nights, constant potty breaks, maintaining the fur and cleaning the dog to name a few. Establish sustainable routines where dog life fits other areas of life. Puppies sleeps a lot, so there is time to work on other things when the little rascal is sleeping.
Prepare your household for the puppy by establishing clear rules with all family members, ensuring consistency in the puppy’s training and behavior management. Conduct a thorough check of your home for potential hazards. Secure electrical cords, remove small objects that could be swallowed, and safeguard areas like stairs or other high places from which the puppy could fall. Assess the need for measures to control the puppy’s movement within your home. Depending on your living space and the puppy’s behavior, consider whether gates or playpens are necessary to create a safe and confined area for your puppy to explore and rest.
Plan the socialization and training of the dog. Socializing is simply your puppy having positive experiences of all the things the dog´s life will consist of. Take it step by step and advance at the puppy’s pace. Training should start immediately after receiving the dog. Plan several short training sessions during the day, preferably after some play (so that the dog is not at its most energetic state of mind). Start with the basics like having eye contact, dog coming to you and sit. You can also have spontaneous short training sessions, for example when the dog is running to you, give the command like “here” and reward when puppy is at you. Remember, patience is the key with a puppy. It will take time to have success in new things, but it will be rewarding when those occur.
Prepare for emergency situations. Buy or assemble a first aid kit for the dog and familiarize yourself with its contents and use. Ensure you have a list of emergency contact numbers handy, including your veterinarian and local animal emergency services.
Consider obtaining health insurance for your puppy. Unexpected health issues can arise, and insurance can alleviate stress, allowing you to focus on your puppy’s wellbeing. Additionally, consider liability insurance for any damage or injury your puppy might accidentally cause.
Register your ownership of the puppy as required by local laws and regulations. Investigate if additional registrations or compliance measures are necessary in your area.
Puppy needs a lot of attention, love and play, plenty of these are part of daily routines as well. Our daily routine with an 8-week-old Samoyed puppy consists of several intervals where we go outside for potty as soon as the puppy awakes, then we play for good 20 minutes (tug of war is favourite), and then 5 minutes of training the simplest of command. Luckily this Samoyed likes treats so it is easy to keep the puppy motivated for the training. After that puppy has a treat or continues to play by itself, until it is nap time again and the cycle repeats. Progress comes in little steps, but even the smallest development gives a lot of joy.

We wish you joyful experiences with your puppy! If you wish to comment the blog, please provide your comments to comment section of the below video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9QS_zch_H0