Puppy Care
The first weeks of your new puppy's life will be busy and demanding, but puppies really are pretty easy to deal with and are great fun. All they really need are a couple of good meals (see our nutrition section), several toilet trips outside and lots of playtime balanced with plenty of sleeping.
Puppy training and socialisation should be enjoyable for both owner and dog. Puppies can be taught to sit, lie down and come for rewards. At feeding time you should take their food away, while they are eating, for just a few moments to stop any possessiveness and aggressiveness over their food. As puppies are constantly learning about their environment and different people it is worth starting their schooling straight away. It is also worth considering going to dog training to get the proper guidance and to allow your puppy to be socialised with other dogs at a young age.
House Training
Regardless of your new puppy's history, start with the assumption that they are not house-trained and that you will need to take measures by putting down paper, keeping a watchful eye and always having a bucket and sponge ready! Your puppy does not understand that it is wrong to mess in the house and should not be severely punished. Instead, if you catch them making a mess in the house tell them "NO," pick them up and take them outside.
Because puppies are growing and developing rapidly they eat more food, burn up more energy and therefore need the loo more than adult dogs. Most puppies are house-trained by four months of age, although little accidents may still occur sometimes afterwards.
Chewing
It's perfectly natural for puppies to chew as they do it to ease teething discomfort, to play, to explore the environment or to relieve boredom. Like babies, puppies like to put everything in their mouths, and from the age of four to six months they will be teething and chewing to ease their swollen gums. Puppies should be given their own toys to play and chew on and warned when they chew anything that they are not allowed to. It is a good idea not to give puppies old slippers to chew on as they won't be able to distinguish between this slipper and your new pair!