Top Tips For New Puppy Owners

Bringing a new puppy into your life is an exciting milestone for both you and the puppy. Puppies are fun companions however, taking care of a new puppy can be a challenge that requires time, patience, and commitment. In this post, we want to arm you, new puppy owners, with the most helpful tips to make puppy ownership easier and fun. Let’s get started!

1. Start crate training your puppy early. Using positive incentives and reinforcements like training treats and praise, get your puppy to love their crate. A crate is a safe place for your puppy to nap, play, and rest when you are not home and can help relieve worries about them getting into trouble. Crates not only serve as safe cozy places for puppies to rest and grow but can also assist with potty training. Your puppy’s crate should be just big enough for them to do a full circle in it. If it’s too big, you may find that your puppy will create a potty corner (you don’t want that!) Obviously, this doesn’t mean that you should get new crates every time your puppy outgrows their current crate. Most pet stores carry crates that come with dividers which you can adjust to give your puppy more room as they grow!
2. Socialize your puppy with your friends, family, and other friendly pets early on. This will help them get used to being around people and other pets. In the beginning, your puppy may be too young and small to go to dog parks and play with other dogs. We recommend finding and enrolling your puppy in puppy socialization classes near you. Most puppy socialization classes will require the puppy to have some level of vaccination before attending the class. In these classes, you can expect to learn techniques for socializing your puppy as well as learning from other dog owners how they are successfully integrating their puppies into their homes and lifestyle.
3. Start teaching commands early. Whether you are getting help from a professional dog trainer or doing it yourself, train early and often. With early training, treats and positive reinforcement are your best tools. Start with ’sit’,’down’,’stay’, and ‘come’ as these will be the commands you use the most then move on to other commands. With early training, you are less likely to have problems with your puppy following commands once they learn them.
4. Start behavior training early too. Puppies can be very playful and rewarding, but if they’re not taught good manners from a young age, they can be very destructive. Start off by teaching them basic obedience and house training. Reward good behavior by giving them treats and/or verbally saying “Yes!” or “Good Job!” when they are being good to you or following commands correctly.
5. Redirect them out of undesired behavior. At a young age, puppies explore the world with their mouth, this can lead to chewing on things they shouldn’t. This is especially true if your puppy is teething. As their baby teeth fall out, and adult teeth grow in, the desire to chew on anything and everything is amplified which can lead them down the path of biting on couch cushions, carpet, table legs, and other items around the house. When you see your puppy doing any of these behaviors, you can use the opportunity to redirect them out of this behavior. If your puppy is chewing on something he/she shouldn’t, say “No!” or “uh-uh!” then give them an antler to chew on instead. Introducing your puppy to antlers early can give them a great, healthy outlet to satisfy their desire to chew while keeping them too busy to target household furniture.
6. Respect your puppy’s sleeping habits. Just like humans need sleep to function well during the day, so do puppies. Although puppies are fun, energetic, and entertaining, remember they do need between 14-18 hours of sleep. Their bodies are growing which drains their energy fast so try to respect their sleep time at night and find time for naps in their crate during the afternoons. If possible, avoid keeping them up too late as it can be harmful to their development. 
7. Feed your puppy the right food for them. Puppies need a high-quality diet to grow and develop properly. Consult your veterinarian early on what they advise you to feed your puppy. Many first-time pet owners make the mistake of opting their puppy into a “grain-free” diet because they perceive it to be better, and although for some pups a grain-free diet may be suitable, each p nutritional needs differ. Talking to your puppy’s doctor early and getting their recommendation can help you choose the best food options for your puppy.
8. Be patient with potty training. Just like everything else, potty training can take time. Young puppies don’t have much control over their bladders until they’re about 4-5 months of age (some puppies take longer, and that’s ok!), so expect to encounter accidents. To avoid accidents, set a routine and take your puppy out often (every 2 hours to start, then less over time) and reward them when they do potty outside. Take your puppy outside first thing after they wake up, after they eat a meal, right after they play, and of course before and after they go to bed. When they’re relieving themselves outside, you can say “hurry up” or another phrase that they can start to associate with potty time. Associating a phrase to potty time will you take your puppy out, and they’ll know what you’re expecting them to do instead of playing around.

We hope that this article has helped understand your puppy’s needs and make caring for your new pup an easier journey.

About Us:

Acadia Antlers is a small family business that has its roots deep in the Acadia National forest of Maine selling only the highest quality, naturally shed moose antler dog chews for over ten years and counting!! Our humble beginning started at a roadside stand right on the outskirts of the Acadia National Forest selling to tourists visiting the area as well as locals. The response to our all-natural, long-lasting chews has been incredible, and we strive to continue to be the premier source of moose antler dog chews across the country. Our antlers touch the lives, hearts, health, and happiness of not only the pet but the pet owner as well. We are proud to be environmentally responsible – the recovery and use of our sheds and drops minimize our carbon footprint while enabling us to provide our pets with an all-natural, green product. Visit our website, acadiaantlers.com and follow us on Instagram and Facebook – to continue to receive more great pet information, please sign up for our newsletter.

Welcome to our family – Happy Chewing!!