The Mindful Puppy Blog
By PAPIA ROWE
Prepping for your puppy
Getting ready for the arrival of my puppy also involves another big step. Having a relatively easy life with a young puppy is all about the right preparation. If you were having a human baby, you’d probably be looking at having a baby safe zone where you could put them to naptime while you are cooking or cleaning and know that the baby is safe from harm. When your human baby starts walking you would find yourself lifting anything they could suck/chew/ throw or cause harm in anyway just out of reach or into another room? Well – the same principles apply but you have FAR LESS time!
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Your puppy will be welcomed into your home at about 8/ 10 weeks old. They sleep lots, eat, pee and poo regularly just like a human baby, but all their legs work AND their little sharp needle like teeth are fully functional! So, if you want your sofa, table legs, books, TV remote to be safe from these little explorers, you really need to think ahead and create a safe space for your fur baby to be in where they can play, sleep, eat, drink, but be unsupervised. Then you can go to the bathroom, make a coffee or cook a meal without having your puppy in danger or underfoot. When it’s safe, then you can take them out on a lead and play with them when you are able to supervise them properly.
Choosing where to put the puppy zone is all about looking at your lifestyle as well as the puppy’s needs and what room you have. The one BIG CONSTANT is that the puppy zone MUST be in your home. If you put it in the garage because it’s easier to clean – then you should be committing to spending all your home time in the garage, otherwise it’s a very lonely prison environment for a young animal that needs a family environment to thrive. If you are only prepared to put your puppy/dog in the garage all the time because you are so focused on cleanliness – you really shouldn’t be getting a dog at all!
Choosing where to put the puppy zone is about realising where you and your family spend most of your time. That way, the puppy gets to be surrounded by your normal life but without getting in the way – the EASIEST way for your puppy to learn and understand your routines and what you are all like. If one of you has a really deep voice, then hearing that deep voice used but not in relation to the puppy will help them to avoid being intimidated by it and understanding that the deepness is nothing to worry about in a safe way.
Choosing where to put the puppy zone is also about working out the quickest route outside. That way, when your puppy wakes up in their puppy zone, you can put them on their little lead and guide them outside to their toilet area really efficiently. If you aren’t quick enough and they do their business in their puppy zone, you can still snap on a lead and guide them to their toilet area while you get someone else to mop clean the puppy zone.
Our puppy zone is in our living room, right under the TV. It’s also next to our bedroom and a few steps to the kitchen. So, we have changed our furniture arrangement to cater to our life with our puppies. The puppies CAN NOT adapt to us – we are the ones who need to adapt to care for them. You will see it has a crate for them to sleep in. The door will only be closed at night. Since our bedroom is right next door, we can hear them when they wake up at night so we can let them out to the toilet easily. It’s got the puppy mats that I made earlier for comfort and also a Kong as the safe independent toy to pay with. We also have laminate floor, so it is easy to clean.
PERFECT!! What does your puppy zone look like? Hopefully you have the same set up as us and you are already on the way to a much calmer and really positive life with your furbaby!
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