GEtting puppy tonight..where to start!?!?
 

We are getting our little guy tonight. Where do we begin. I have had a yorkie before, but I was young. Should we get him used to the house? STart training right away? How often should we take him out?
:confused:

OMg you are going to have so much fun with your new little one. How old old is he ? As you cant take them outside until all his shots are upto date. Make sure you have peepads and try at first to get hime used to one area at first. Make sure he has a crate or an expen area so he cant get into everything or hurt himself exploring.:) Good luck and have fun.:)

I would train after he gets use to your house... just because its A LOT for the little guy at first to adjust to... with Gracie she didnt really want to sniff around until she became comfortable... Im soooooooooooooo excited for you!!! good luck with your baby!
eda: EVERY baby is diff. do what you think he can handle.... go slow...but he will let you know...

so will he just want to snoop around tonight? Do they usually cry the first night? We are not using pee pads, only outside training.

Congrats!!!
 

I'm sooo excited for you! I'd give the little guy time to settle in, but there may be some things you want him to know from the start, like where he is and isn't allowed! I'd definitely recommend a crate, I've never used pee pads I find newspaper works fine!:)

well are you planning on crateing him at night? or have him sleep with you or have him in his own bed and is his bed going to be in your room or a diff. room? if you crate him at night theres a pretty good chance he will cry for the first little while... I had Gracie sleep with me... then we moved her to her own bed on the floor next to our bed... she did GREAT!!! she would wake me up if she needed to go potty... the sec. night we had her I put her in her bed and I decided to NOT wake her up to take her potty just to see if she would wake me up if she needed to go... she slept the WHOLE night!!! :) the first night I got her I woke her up to go potty and I hardly got ANY sleep because I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!! so just let him tell you when he needs to go potty ;)
eda: they usually just sleep at such a young age... so I would just let him sniff if he wants to ... and if he just sleeps thats NORMAL!!! ;)

I have a 8 month old pup and a 13 month old! I have done the new puppy thing twice this past year...this is my advice, learned from mistakes, trial and error and plenty of vet advice!

Outside training is good, but know there will be plenty of accidents! Its just a part of puppyhood, but my Yorkie mix learned twice as fast as my other dog.They are such little smarties. Be patient, reward like crazy every time he goes in the right place. Before even bringing him in your house the first time, have him walk around your yard until he goes and give him lots of praise. Take him out every two hours. Never leave him crated for longer then 2-3 hours. Its a pain for the first few weeks and you'll be as exhausted as if you had a newborn baby, but its worth it. It pays off!

Make sure you have whatever food your guy is used to eating on hand and wait a week or so before transitioning him onto the diet of your choice (I like raw diets or Life's Abundance for Yorkies). Make sure he has a crate to sleep in, unless he is sleeping in your bed (which he will wee in - I learned that the hard way!)

A lot of puppies get some diarrhea from the stress of transition to a new home. Don't put him on antibiotics from the vet! Its not an infection, its just stress. His tummy will settle. In advance, get some probiotic/acidophilus capsules from your natural food store and sprinkle the capsule on his dinner tonight. It will keep his tummy happy and his stools firmer. Do that every meal for the first week and during the transition to a new food, if you switch.

Keep tonight and tomorrow low key with lots of praise. Don't have friends or family come over to meet the new arrival, its too overwhelming. Wait 3-4 days - as hard as that is - to show off your new furbaby.

Make sure you post pictures!! Good luck! What a blessing a new puppy is!:aimeeyork

Oooh, I forgot - another great thing to have on hand with a new puppy is Dr. Bach's Rescue Remedy. Its a homeopathic flower essence remedy and it is wonderful for transitions and doesn't interfere with tummy issues or anything. Get it at a Whole Foods or natural food/supplement store. A few drops under the toungue and he'll be much calmer.

If you start getting nervous, do the same! It truly works. I have 10 drops in my tea each night and I sleep much better. I used it for my Ella's first night and it made a world of difference.

I only remember the day I brought Pao home when he was 12 weeks old, the first night he did well because my hand was hanging down from the bed and on him. He sleeps in his own bed at my side of the bed. The crate helps him to feel safe too. He used to wake up 1-2 times a night and cry to go potty and I will open his crate door and go with him to his pee pad until a few months later I knew I can trust him, I would open the crate door, he will go potty and come back and we continue our sleep. Now he doesn't even need the crate anymore. The first week he becomes our family member, I don't train him other than bringing him to the pee pad. I basically spend the first week bonding with him, calling his name, playing with him and kissing him too help him adjust to us and lessen his stress. I think building a good relationship helps to train them later on.

Thank you! We will let him explore today and get him started right away on potty training. He is 13 weeks so should be able to learn fast!

How exciting!!! Say hello to Susan for me. When I got Pixie she was 13 months old and not trained, and it was winter. She didn't do to good with pee pads, she preferred to go outside after a few months of trying pee pads. SInce she was older I just put newspapers down all over my bedroom and she slept with us (my other 2 babies). With Roxie she was 4 months old and not potty trained I made the mistake of letting her run with the crowd and she ahd many accidents. I went to crating her whenever I couldn't watch her even for a minute and after a few weeks of that she really got the hang of the pee pads. Once she did I let her sleep with us and she has been doing so for about 4 months. I have 2 that only go outside and 2 that will only go inside so if you are going to do the outside training I would stick with that. Good luck!