New Puppy - deciding on the boundaries in your house

Posted by Clare Bristow

puppy-asleep-on-sofa Your new puppy will look to you for leadership and guidance, and if he thinks you are not up to the task will try and take on the role himself. Don't be put off by his size - very small puppies can easily assume the role of leader! Acting decisively and consistently are traits found in a good leader, so your puppy should see you doing this as often as possible.

Doing what may seem like a small thing to you - such as where you put your puppy's food bowl every time you feed him - has huge significance for your puppy. Puppies like having clear guidelines to follow, and for the rules to be the same every time they do something. There's nothing more confusing and stressful for a puppy than to have a new set of rules every day.

Before you bring your [tag]new puppy[/tag] home, think about where you want him to sleep, eat and play. Your puppy will provide you with enough distraction without you having to think these things through once he arrives - and you'll be able to act decisively and consistently because you will know in advance what you want him to do.

So, take some pressure off yourself and plan the following before you bring your new puppy home, it won't take you long to do:

Where will your puppy sleep?

Many books you read on puppy care recommend that your puppy sleep on his own in his crate/bed from the first night you bring him home - and that you put up with your puppy's whining and crying for the first few nights because he will soon settle down and accept this as the new regime.

I have to say that I don't agree with this, and did let Zoe sleep in my bedroom to start with. I tried getting her to sleep on her own for the first two nights but the noise she made whining and scratching at the door were so distressing for me, that I popped her bed in my bedroom and she slept through the night from then on.

If you think how your puppy must feel on his first night away from his Mum and litter mates, and in a totally new environment, then I think a few nights spent close to you isn't a bad thing at all. After a week or so you can gradually move your puppy's crate/bed out of the bedroom onto the landing and then down to the room where you plan to have him sleep.

Where will your puppy's quiet place be?

Decide on where you want your puppy to go for his quiet time, and put his bed/crate there. If you consistently use the same place, he will learn that this is where he goes for a nap (and eventually spend the night), being quiet or playing on his own.

If you can, choose the room the family uses most so your puppy can be left undisturbed but still have people around him. If he's on his own in a room he may think he's done something wrong (dogs see social isolation as a punishment) and may start to associated being in his bed/crate with having done something wrong.

Do your best to keep the area around his crate/bed as his place, somewhere he won't be disturbed by other family members - the corner of a room is a good place to choose. Your puppy will feel secure having the walls behind his bed and he won't be disturbed by passing foot traffic.

Where can your puppy go in the house?

Do you want your puppy to have access to the whole house or only to certain rooms? To begin with you may want to limit the areas your puppy can go until he's toilet trained.

Your puppy will also feel secure if he's limited to a small area of the house - he can feel overwhelmed by lots of new rooms to explore, and keeping his environment small and familiar, for the first few weeks at least, will quickly help him become confident in his new surroundings.

To keep rooms puppy free, either be consistent in keeping the door closed or invest in a few dog gates that you can step over, but will contain your puppy.

Think about your garden too - are there certain areas you want to keep your dog out of, such as the vegetable garden or flower beds? If there are, fence these areas off before your puppy arrives home. You will be making your life easier if you can teach your puppy where he can and can't go from day one, rather than change your mind at a later date and have to teach the new rules to him.

Where do you want your puppy to eat?

A quiet part of the kitchen is a good place - kitchen floors are usually easy to clean!

Where do you want your puppy to go to the toilet?

If you are in an apartment, select the area where his litter box will be, and stick to that place if you can.

If you are in a house, decide where in the garden you want your puppy to use as his toilet and what route you want him to use to get there. If you are paper training your puppy, where do you want the paper to be?

Once you've made your decisions, make sure everyone else in the house knows what they are and that they agree to them. You may find, once your puppy has been in your house for a few days some of your decisions are not practical - if so, change them and then stick to the new regime if you can.

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