How to Prepare for a New Puppy Joining Your Family

When you’ve finally settled on the right puppy to bring home, there’s a lot of preparation you must do to ensure a smooth onboarding. Both the puppy and your family members have their expectations of what life together would look like, and preparing your family members early can help manage those expectations effectively. 

Whether it’s your first time parenting a dog or you’re adding a pup to an existing dog family in your home, you need effective preparation for every new member that joins the family. Below, we’ll explore a few preparation tips that will help you introduce your new furry friend into your home without any major struggles.

Hold a Family Meeting

A proper introduction to your new family addition requires a proper briefing and awareness. A family meeting can provide the ideal platform for discussing expectations, concerns, and responsibilities once the new pup arrives. You can share details about the dog, including its breed, the types of activities it will engage in on a daily basis, feeding schedules, and more. 

This is especially important if you’re introducing a breed your family hasn’t interacted with before. It could be King Charles Cavaliers, Poodles, Frenchies, or any other breed. Let your family know what to expect from each breed and how it differs from the breeds you already have, if you’re already keeping other dogs.

Pet-Proof Your Home

Puppies, just like toddlers, will jump over everything and try to play with anything they can get hold of in the house. This is good for their learning and familiarity, but it can harm them and other family members or cause damage to the items they play with. You can take care of this problem by pet-proofing your home in advance to ensure a more peaceful and safe co-existence.

Some effective pet-proofing tips include sealing possible escape routes in the garden or backyard, installing baby gates, and ensuring there’s nothing harmful left lying around. These pet-proofing ideas can vary depending on your lifestyle, house design, and the number of people living within. You should make the available space as friendly as possible for your new furry friend, even with the restrictions you impose to minimize early-days damage.

Be Ready for the Mess

There’s no denying that puppies can be messy and chaotic, especially in their first few weeks of adaptation. Before you fully potty-train them or train them to be disciplined around the home, you must suffer a few or a lot of messes. One way you can prepare for this is by buying an extra carpet or having your carpet cleaners on speed dial.

You can keep chewable items away from the pets and protect furniture and other vulnerable items from pet scratches and bites. The first few weeks or months are the most crucial for getting your dog fully integrated into the family. Being too hard or harsh on them when they make mistakes at this time can negatively impact their relationship with everyone. Just allow a few messes as you train them to be better pups with time.

Bringing a new puppy home should be a fun and happy activity, where everyone desires to meet the new family member. However, without effective planning, the whole process can fail to achieve the desired joy and fulfillment. Following the above preparation tips can help you navigate this process without significant challenges.