Bringing a puppy home can be a daunting but exciting and gratifying prospect. However, like anything else in life, it takes careful planning and preparation to give yourself the best chance of success. Week one with Keiko was terrific, as we were lucky to find a well-balanced dog.
However, not all of that success was down to Keiko’s temperament, and in week one, we had a well-structured plan to help us achieve success. So we’ll share the ups, downs and fantastic experience that week one brought in this post.
We hope you’ll find something useful you can relate to as a fellow dog owner or that can assist you if you’re preparing for week one with your new furry friend.
Week One Absolutely Jonked After a Mischief Filled Day
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Table of Contents
Week One Loads Of Freaking Fun
We were excited about picking up Keiko. But, of course, everything had to be carefully planned:- from collecting her to ensuring we had everything in place when she got home. If you’d like to know a little more about that, check out our post:- Preparing to Bring Your New Doggy Home 5 Essentials to Buy 👉 Here.
We wanted to make sure we created the safest, most well balanced, relaxed and loving environment we possibly could for our new puppy; that way, we’d give her the most positive start. The thought of taking a puppy away from their K9 family is daunting. So we were super conscious of that because we didn’t want to put Keiko under any unnecessary stress.
Our decision to collect her with the kids was undoubtedly the best initial idea. She settled with them straight away and spent the whole journey moving from one lap to another for alternate cuddles. The pack, the breeders Chris and Melissa, sent her with was a nice touch 👌. It came with a blanket (that we used straight away) with her mum’s scent, pictures 😍 and toys. She snuggled up for the whole journey, which wasn’t a short one. Wales “UK” to Newcastle is about 5hr 45mins.
We stopped midway for a drink, pee 💦 and a change of scenery before proceeding with the rest of the journey. Keiko did incredibly well and slept most of the way. Which is no surprise now we have gotten to know her and the breed, as they like to sleep when not causing mayhem!
1. Welcome Home – Think Like a Dawg 🐾
So the moment of truth, how will she react to her new home! She walked through the door with an air of confidence and intrigue. She made her way straight into the living room, which was intentionally a little more puppy proof than it had previously been. Electyric cables and Crystal (at least the ones small enough for her curious little chops) had been placed out of reach.
We were surprised at how well she responded to us! Now, is that be because we’d spent a significant amount of time with her two weeks prior? When we initially went to view and choose our forever puppy? That could have been a factor as she settled with us so well.
Our arsenal of toys were carefully thought out; we had teddys, Kong toys, chew toys, tug toys for aggressive chewers, and chewy treats.
So step one is to make the place puppy proof think like a dawg 🐾, they will get into anything and everything they can. More importantly, there will be things that can harm your puppy. Which you may not have thought about, so jump on google and familiarise yourself with things that can be an issue. Foods, plants indoor and indoor there are so many things to consider. I had no idea that things like grapes and onions could be harmful to dogs.
Please google the things that could be harmful to your dog, honestly, it is a minefield. Naturally, most would think dogs can eat almost anything; well, that couldn’t be further from the truth, so equip yourself with the information to keep them safe.
2. Training Starts on Day One
As my darling mother used to say, if you want to bend a stick, do it while it’s growing because if you try it too late, it’ll snap. The same can be said for your puppy. Start training them straight away. It is so rewarding when your reach training milestones, especially when they try to push the boundaries. Keiko is a little tinker. She will literally try to get away with anything she can. I have listed some tips that we found helpful with links to the products if you fancy picking any of them up.
- Treats:- These will give you the power of a Jedi 🤺 over your pooch. Make all aspect of training fun and rewarding – Remember even discapline should be rewarding. Trust me it’s a long road and your pooch will have a blast driving you up the wall so be patient and persistent
- Take the Lead – Now the lead isn’t just for walking, we use it to control behaviour, your pooch will be everywhere you don’t want them to be – Admittedly we found this cute in the beginning 😳, At first they’ll use a small radious for operation mayhem. As time and confidence grows so does their area of diruption. Keiko took it really slow getting to know her environment which lowered us into a false sense of security. Then the mayhem started, my word when it’s the crazy hour she drives us up the wall and thats why we find a lead so useful for controling that crazy, i’m a four legged rocketship 🚀with no sense of direction behaviour, but it’s sooooo cute! 🥰
- The Crate – Some may call this cruel but beleive me anybody that untilises them correctly will lean more towards a gift from God. This was a bone of contention in our house to start with. I always knew that we’d need to use a crate. Where as Lisa, well she seen it as solitary confindment for Kieko. A dark andf lonely place she would be condemmed to once we lost the will to put up with her relentless and crazy energy. My word it could’nt be further from the truth. The key is to make it their safe haven, a place where your dog can escape humanism and just be a dog. To get this right takes time and patience, we really had to apply ourselves in week one to get Keiko, not only to really enjoy this space but ove it. For our crate training tips and tricks check out our post here 👉
3. Dinner Is Served
Stick to a good routine when it comes to feeding – Determine where the dining hall will be and stick to it, your guidance is likely to come from the breeder. Luckily Keiko came having already been introduced to the great raw diet. Or BARF Biologically Appropriate Raw Food 🍱🥘 🍲.
We followed the routine that was set by Chris the breeder and it’s been great 👍 😊. Generally, she feeds twice per day with snacks in between, naturally raw treats or things like bell peppers and carrots, which she enjoys. It’s so important to follow a good routine and vary the food your puppy eats to ensure they have a healthy and well-balanced diet, i.e. feeding your dog red meat every day is not a balanced diet; they need different varieties of food such as poultry, oily fish and red meat to give them a balanced, well-rounded diet to help with development and growth.
4. Toilet time
I found this to be the area where people are so divided in their approach. Everyone does things differently, like using poo pads in some cases people create a space in the crate for toilet time or others are just going without all of the above and going backwards and forwards hail sleet or snow like a freaking lunatic, so pooch can releave itself. Well, we opted for the latter.
We were like; “Keiko, we really do not want you dropping poop parcels 💩 all over the house like your names Amazon” So we decided not to create an area her crate for the business and similarly, we opted not to place poo pads throughout the house. So what did we do….. Watch for the signs! Generally, there are specific triggers and signs which alert 🚨 you to an imminent delivery of bodily waste.
At each point, it is advisable to take el-poocho outside to get used to the correct delivery method, 🚚 💩 and be mindful this takes time, patience and a whole load of persistence so strap in and enjoy every dump.
We have listed some of the critical triggers below 👇
- After a nap 💤 your pooch will certainly want to releive themselves after a nap so head for the garden.
- After food generally speaking your furry little buddy will drop bombs so gab a poo bag and asssume the position.
- After a good old session of driving you up the wall, El-poocho will round things of with a poo or a pee just for good measure so be ready.
- Watch for the signs – Your puupy will display certain traits when they need to pee of poo – Keiko runs around sniffing the ground like there’s a moving serving of buffalo freaking wings under the surface and at that point you know the delivery is on its ways so head for the garden.
Rember, “it is never your dogs fault” for having an accident in the house. It’s “Always” yours, so watch from the signs and catch El-Poocho on time.
5. The Sleep Routine
Now having a puppy is kind of like having a baby meaning💡 a solid routine is the key to winning. On her first few nights, we really wanted to ensure she was as relaxed and comfy as we could make her. Now! Earlier I did say that we didn’t use poo pads which isn’t entirely true. On the first few nights before getting her crate Keko slept next to our bed in a puppy safe zone with a poo pad at hand!
Week one is really about working out what works best. On her first night, she did amazing.
Pretty much sleeping through, night 2 was much of the same; by night three, we had received delivery of her crate and started the training process. Night four was the same routine as the previous night, and it went on very much like that for most of week one.
After she’d warmed to us and built the trust, her crate was relocated downstairs to the living room, where it now resides full time, I spent a few nights with her in the new environment downstairs with the crate door closed.
After a few nights, I began to remove myself from the living room and left her to it with no crying, no whimpering, no issues. #Result 👌. We established that she could go all night without any accidents, as long as she’d relieved herself before bed.
Key takeaway points; Spend week one building trust and creating solid routines that you stick to, week one will be the foundation of your puppies future and week one is where you set your expectations and stick to them.
Week one is the start of a fantastic relationship between dog and human; cherish every moment,, don’t beat yourself up if things do not go to plan and remain consistent and persistent as that clever little so and so is more switched on than you could imagine and they’ll use that puppy charm to their cheeky little advantage.
It’s a joyful rollercoaster ride, capture all the memories you can as it won’t be long before they’re all grown up, and this will be a distant memory!
Thanks for reading Chow!