“A Guide for
taking home your new dog”
By Julie Bjelland
Lokhandwala
Congratulations on adopting a new dog! This can be a very exciting
time! Here is a guide that offers you tips that will help make the transition
of bringing home your new dog easier so that you can start your life together successfully.
Here are some rules to
follow for a successful adoption:
- Have your supplies ready. You’ll need a leash, collar, food, bowls for food and water, toys,
bones for chewing. You’ll also
need an identification tag and rabies and license tags.
- BEFORE you bring your dog home the very first
thing you should do is take your dog for a really long walk (about an hour or more for medium and larger
size dogs that are younger than age 5 or so; small/toy size dogs and
senior dogs will need less). The idea here is to drain some of that pent
up energy and nervousness they may have.
Your goal from now on should be to make sure to exercise your dog
at least twice a day until they are tired out (meaning they lay down to
rest after the exercise).
- Try to be home with your dog for the first few
days to a week if possible. A
little extra effort early on makes a big difference! Taking time off work now will pay
off in the future because you were able to be there for your dog to
establish all the rules early on before they made the mistakes. If you are guiding your dog
successfully from day one, they will know the rules and follow them from
the beginning before bad habits develop.
- Make a trip to the Vet. You’ll
want to be sure your dog is healthy and up-to-date on their
vaccinations. Also, get your dog
spayed or neutered as soon as you can if they are not already. You don’t want to contribute to more
unwanted pets!
- Keep them on-leash for the first two weeks so that you can teach them what is good
behavior and what is not acceptable with proper timing. Attach the leash to yourself and have
the dog be with you and go where you go within the house.
- Create rules and goals you expect from the dog
as a family, ideally before bringing the dog home, but especially before
allowing the dog off-leash in the home.
It is a good idea to
have a family meeting with everyone that lives in the home and discuss and
agree on what your expectations are of the dog. Will they be allowed on the couch, the bed, and all rooms of
the house? Where will they sleep
and eat? Who will walk the dog and
clean up after them? Etc. As a
family you must all be consistent with your decisions or you will confuse
the dog and cause inconsistency.
Inconsistency on your part means your dog probably will not follow
your rules.
- Get some Training Guidance. Having
a well-trained dog is really a wonderful experience. Dogs that are trained well are happier
and get to go out with you more and are a joy to have around!
- Enjoy your Dog! With
the proper care and training your life will be filled with joy with this
new addition to your family!
Julie Bjelland Lokhandwala's interactive Dog Training Web site: www.webdogtrainer.com, teaches you how to train your own dog as well as receive professional coaching, advice and tips through email consultations about your own dog! Julie formerly trained Guide Dogs for the Blind and has been running her own successful obedience training/behavior modification business for several years. She is known for her talent in helping you communicate more effectively with your dog. Julie's positive methods of training are friendly, encouraging and motivating. She has a personal mission to help more dogs get adopted and stay adopted and donates a portion of her proceeds to the cause. Julie shares her home with her own rescued German Shepherd, Fax.