You have finally made it to your house. You hear the gravel crunch as you put the car in park. You look up to the door you’re about to enter and you see smiling bouncing faces excited for what is to come and it warms your heart. Here is the hard part. You have to go in that door without the puppy and settle the kids down. This is where you will need to put step 3 and 4 into play.
Step 3. The kennel selected for your dog as an adult should be in place facing the door you will be using most for potty training, most of them come with a divider panel that you can adjust as the puppy grows. It should already be set into place.
Step 4. The blanket should be used to cover the kennel, this makes the kennel dark and comfortable and turns it into what I call a “den”. The den is your most important tool in training.
Like I said before, you have to settle your family down before the puppy even enters the house.
I make all the kids sit on a bed in order from oldest to youngest, then I bring the puppy in and place them in the den with the door open so he can come and go as he pleases. I sit on the floor and play with them and call the kids in the room one at a time, with 15-20 min between each kid, making sure nothing blocks the den so if at any time the pup gets uncomfortable they can go hide as they choose.
The reason for a slow introduction is scaring a puppy by excitement overload can make for a timid adult which is not good at all for a working dog.
One other question I get asked a lot is how long should I wait before I introduce my pup to everyone else and start taking them around large groups? Seven days, no less, and when you do, make sure you have some where you can put them if they get agitated.
Next we will start training. I hope you have enjoyed and as always God bless.
