Preparing To Take Your Puppy Home

Bringing your new Cocker Spanie/Shih Tzu home is so exciting! You want to show everyone
how cute he/she is. My advice is to show them in a few days. Take the puppy straight home.
When your puppy arrives he/she is experiencing several changes at once. It is the first day to
be separated from its litter mates. Avoiding any more confusion for your puppy is a good idea
for a few days. Offering your puppy peace and quiet is the best thing you can do. In a couple
of days with lots of love the transition will be complete.
BASIC NEEDS
Food bowl and water bowl
Confined sleeping area
Bed
Collar and leash (take puppy with you to get this;  2 fingers must fit between the collar and
puppy’s neck when the collar is on. Leash should be 6’ long. The small harness works great
for walks.
Grooming supplies (shampoo, brush, comb, etc) I use shampoo with oatmeal.
Tiny reward treats with no dye in them; they should not be colored
Toys, toys, toys
A chew toy for teething on
I feed Purina Puppy Chow,. I’ll send a small bag of it to mix in with your puppies new food for
the first week (in case you prefer  a different brand).  I recommend dry food not canned.
Before puppy comes home choose a veterinarian. Ask other dog owners, friends, or family
members to recommend a vet to you.
Introduce your other pets slowly to the new puppy. Be sure not to neglect your other pets
and let puppy get all of the attention. Make an effort to pay extra attention to your other
animals to prevent jealousy toward the new puppy.
After the adjustment period of a few days at home with you, your puppy should meet as many
people as possible. Introduce him/her to other pets and take him/her in the car. This period
of socialization is crucial to your puppy’s response to those stimuli in the future.
Begin training your puppy right away. Come is the first skill to teach. This works best if two
people sit on the floor a little apart from each other  and say, “come” and have the puppy
come and get lots of praise. .Then have the second person call the puppy to  come.
With lots of patience and love your puppy will be doing just what you want in no time.
You can purchase a book or there are many web sites on your breed that is very helpful  on
things you should know as each breed is different.
Puppies require lots of work, love and patience Cocker Spaniels /Shih Tzu need to be
groomed often, and brushed daily. I keep my dogs in a puppy cut, which is much easier to
care for. I groom my babies myself you can purchase clippers and learn how to clip their hair,
this saves a lot of money and is easier than you may think, or you may take them to the
groomers.
I am here if you have any questions.
Taking Puppy Home