You're about to receive your new puppy, how exciting!

Explain to the children how they need to treat them: teach them to play with the puppy, but also to respect their moments of peace and quiet. Especially over the first few days, supervise all the time that the children and the puppy are together.

If the other pet has been in the house for a longer time, it’s possible that they will need time to get used to the new member of the family. Give them time and do not tell them off if they are not behaving as you would have hoped straight away, and above all, do not neglect the pet that arrived first. Reward them when they behave well in each other’s company.

Ignore them, because they will be doing it to seek attention. If they cry during the night or when alone, you could put a bottle of lukewarm water wrapped in a towel in their bed to remind them of their mother’s warmth, or also a wind-up clock so that the tick tock reminds them of a heartbeat. Go and comfort them if they are ill at ease, but do not always go to them when they call.

The best time to tell your puppy off is when you catch them “in flagrante” doing something that they shouldn’t do, so that they associate the action with the telling off. Always apply the same treatment and insist on it so that they learn.
If they cause damage whilst they are home alone, don’t pay them any attention for a few minutes before going out and do the same thing on your return. Do not greet them until they are quiet and have stopped following you. If you tell them off when you arrive home, they will not associate it with the act of causing damage and you will only end up making them fearful of you. Also, when you leave them at home alone, make sure that they are in a safe place in the house where they cannot do harm to themselves or damage anything else.

Carry them in your arms for the first few walks so that they get used to the sounds on the street, and by doing so you will make sure that in future they are not afraid and do not react aggressively towards the sounds.

Firstly you need to teach them to walk on the lead. To do this, get them used to wearing a collar in the house. Teach them to walk by your side. How? Every time they tug on the lead, change direction to disorientate them. Do this all the time during the first walks, and they will learn to adapt themselves to your pace.

Your puppy cannot control their sphincter, which means that it is pointless to tell them off when they urinate or defecate in an inappropriate place. How do you teach them?
• Cover a large surface with newspaper
• Throw a few drops of bleach onto the newspaper so that they feel motivated to do it in that place
• Little by little remove pieces of newspaper, until there is only one sheet left.
When they start to go out into the street, for the first few days go out with the piece of paper. When they do it on the paper, reward them with a snack.

The first time they get into the car, let them sniff it and explore it. Try to make it so that they find a special toy or a snack of some sort. To begin with journeys should be shorter, and little by little you will be able to do longer trips. Remember that they cannot be left loose in the car, so they should go either in a carrier on the back seat or in the boot or the rear part of the car with a specific net or grille.