We wanted to give some tips for the first night (and the days that follow), in case this is your first time bringing a puppy home and you're unsure of what to do/expect.
It's not like you can do much wrong, but doing certain things will definitely help things go more seamlessly.
1. Show them their bathroom!
The first thing you should do when bringing your puppy home is immediately take it to the area you want it to start using the bathroom. If that's outside, you may need to take them on a leash so they stay in said area. It may take some time before they go, but have patience! This will greatly help establish where they should go to the bathroom from then on, so this step is important. You don't want to take them to meet the whole family and play around indoors before this step, as you will find they let their bladder go in your living room as soon as they get moving. Take them to the desired bathroom location and when they do eventually go, rub their ears and tell them "good girl/boy!" so they know to repeat what they just did (this is what we did with them when we litter-box trained them).
Continue to take them to the same location each time you take them to the bathroom. Consistency is key! Repetition is a quick teacher. Taking them every 30 minutes is tiring, but it's the safest bet at the beginning while you're establishing this new routine.
(NOTE: Not going to give this a whole separate point, but of course you want to show the puppy where its food and water is located, following the bathroom :) Keep it simple: all the really need to know at the beginning is where they go to the bathroom and where the food and water is!)
2. Play till they drop.
When you finally have your puppy in your arms, all you'll want to do is cuddle! However, restraining the pup and keeping it still isn't going to be very favourable come bedtime. They need their energy expended, so play around with them. Throw some balls, get a bone for them to chew, allow them to chase you around. Though puppies aren't super attached to toys at the beginning, try to get them to play. You want your pup to be tired when bedtime rolls around.
3. Cut off food and water!
If you don't want to be up all night taking your puppy to the bathroom or cleaning up accidents, you will need to cut off their food and water by 7:00pm. This gives them a few hours for the food/water to go through them before bedtime. They'll look around for water, but they'll be okay to wait till morning. We recommend doing this for the first 1-2 months after bringing your pup home.
4. Bedtime Bathroom Trips
We use to think getting the puppy up each time it cried and taking it out to the bathroom was a good idea until we discovered there may be a better way...
We've noticed an interesting fact over time:
When puppies sleep in bed with their family, it's quite common to hear that they sleep the whole night long. No bathroom breaks, accidents, or whining at 3:00am. This shows that it's quite possible to have a puppy sleep the whole night through. Most of what keeps a puppy up at night is wanting to be boundary-less. They wake up and realize they're still in a kennel (which they aren't used to yet) and throw a tantrum. Unless you've noticed your puppy had diarrhea before bed, it's probably doing fine in the bathroom department. To be sure, you can take it out once halfway through the night to use the bathroom, then return it to its kennel. That is quite sufficient!
When we first brought Roo home, we woke up with her once the first night, took her to the bathroom and returned her to her kennel. We didn't get up with her again till 7:00am. Now, that isn't to say she didn't cry several times throughout the night. She really did! But it's just one of the hard parts of kennel training a puppy -- you have to don your inner strength and know you've done all they need you to do, and they will be fine.
5. Bedtime Location
Ideally, it's a nice concept to sleep with the kennel in your room because it makes you feel like you're there for the puppy if it needs anything. In reality, sleeping with the kennel in your room is quite rocky. Like we mentioned above, puppies at this age are not accustomed to being in a kennel and so they fight it. Crying, digging, yipping, etc. This can go on for upwards of an hour. They're totally fine, they just make a lot of noise. Putting their kennel in a spare bedroom/laundry room or office is a great idea. You'll most likely still hear them, but it won't be right next to your bed, driving you insane as you try to fall asleep ;)
We are big believers in a good noisemaker for the first month. We alternate between this one and the calm app on a phone or tablet with a waterfall or rain sound. This helps the puppy be less fixated on every little noise or voice it hears. Once the puppy's been to the bathroom, put the noisemaker on, and then put the puppy in its kennel face first (ultimately, if you can leave the kennel open and get the pup to wander in and out through the day, that is suggested, so bedtime isn't the first time it's gone inside). Close the door and put a lightweight sheet over the front, making sure there's still ventilation on the sides or back. Don't worry about any fuss -- it will be okay and will adjust as time goes on. Roo took 2 weeks before she stopped crying at bedtime, but it is always different for each puppy & their personality and experiences.
Breaking into kennelling will always take longer if you continually take the puppy out every time it whines. This develops a habit where they know to get what they want, all they have to do is make some noise. You have to be smart to what's an actual need (bathroom), and what's them trying to outsmart you ;)
6. Morning
When you wake puppy up, try to get them to exit their kennel calmly. If they're yipping when you take the sheet off, wait for them to be quiet and then open the door. Remember, though they are small and young, they are immediately assessing patterns, expectations and what you establish. Letting them exit their kennel like a bat out of hell and jump all over you is not a pattern you want to reinforce, trust me.
Once out of their kennel, immediately take them to their bathroom, as they are not good at holding their bladder yet and will have no qualms going right then and there.
The puppy may act a little stir crazy for the first several mornings it comes out of its kennel, but just ignore that behaviour and continue on doing whatever's next in the morning routine. Taking them to the bathroom every 30 minutes (especially early in the day) is always a safe bet to avoiding accidents. If they begin to circle a lot, that's always a sign of poop on the way.
And that concludes our tips for the first few nights with your new puppy! We've gone through this stage many times and found so many different ways NOT to do it, we hope this can help you navigate this new time with your little friend :)
- The RLD Team
Comments