Bringing home a new-to us-puppy the day after being neutered

[CHELSEA FLINT]

Hi,

I'm new around here, but have read several of the training resources for new puppies. We are getting a 4-month old poodle mix puppy from the humane society later this week. It will be neutered the day before we can take it home. What are the best ways to ensure a happy transition to our home when it may be scared, in a little pain, and not able to exercise a lot the first week?

I also want to start on training, but don't know if we need to wait until it's more comfortable. We are planning on crate training it, and working on house training as needed. The shelter has also told us it had some food resource guarding habits, so I want to work on those as well ASAP.

What would you recommend for the first few days? Should we have the crate in our bedroom the first few nights, even if we intend to move it to the kitchen or living room for night sleeping fairly soon? In the daytime I plan on having him in the kitchen in a small pen with a crate while I'm working at the table so I can keep an eye on him and take him potty pretty often. And how would you recommend our kids (10, 13, 15) start bonding with the puppy without making him too anxious or excited as he's healing?

Any tips for how to help it feel less anxious and knowing what to prioritize for training the first week would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hi there,

Welcome to the forums!

It is great that you are thinking ahead, it's always good to be prepared in advance when it comes to getting a new puppy. Please see my observations under what you have shared. 

 

We are getting a 4-month old poodle mix puppy from the humane society later this week. It will be neutered the day before we can take it home. What are the best ways to ensure a happy transition to our home when it may be scared, in a little pain, and not able to exercise a lot the first week? I also want to start on training, but don't know if we need to wait until it's more comfortable. We are planning on crate training it, and working on house training as needed. 

 

The veterinarian doing the surgery should hopefully provide some discharge papers with instructions. Follow these carefully. Hopefully, your puppy will also be sent home with some pain meds to get through the initial days. In general, most shelters will hold puppies 24 hours post surgery and the vet should do a surgical recheck. 

 

You will have to keep him quiet, which is not easy as puppies are high energy. You'll also need to watch that he doesn't lick/bother his incision.  Fortunately, there are several ways you can keep him busy. Here are some general tips. 

 

-Leash Walks to Potty 

 

When you need to take your puppy outside to potty, keep him on a leash. This will prevent him from romping around and jumping and possibly get his incision dirty. 

 

The leash will also keep him focused on going potty, preventing from getting distracted. Make it a habit to always head to the potty area first. 

This is a good time to also introduce a go potty cue as explained here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/potty-on-command/

 

When he goes potty, make sure to praise and reward him and let him sniff around and explore a bit. 

 

-Let Him Wear the "Cone of Shame"

 

If your vet has provided an Elizabethan collar, let him wear it, especially when you can't monitor him, this will prevent your puppy from thinking about licking and bothering his stitches. Dogs are naturally drawn to the area as their instincts tell them to lick their wounds. However, rather than helping the incision heal, licking of the area can lead to problems. 

 

For example, excessive licking can cause the stitches to open up which could mean having to sedate him again to re-suture, something you don't want to put him through or pay for. Not to mention, the incision area may get infected considering that dog saliva contains a host of bacteria. 

 

-Provide Food Puzzles 

 

Rather than letting your puppy eat his meal in one fast setting, skip the food bowl and let your puppy work on food puzzles. Food puzzles are toys that release food, but require some effort to do so. There are a vast array of choices lately.

 

The most popular are Kongs, but there are other fun options such as Kong Wobblers, Snuffle Mats, and Licki-mats. You can make a Kong considerably last longer by freezing it contents (for example, you can wet the kibble and place it in the Kong).

 

-Offer Long-Lasting Chews 

 

There are many long-lasting chews on the market nowadays.  With young puppies, you'll need to find some that are age-appropriate since adult chews may be too hard for them or hard to digest. Check with the vet on what type of long-lasting chews you can offer your puppy.

 

-Offer Brain Games

 

There are many fun brain games that can keep your puppy busy. without engaging him in too active play. 

 

For example, you can organize fun treasure hunts: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/elementary/the-treasure-hunt/

You can play the shell game: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/college/the-shell-game/

You can hide treats under balls placed in a muffin tin: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/elementary/the-muffin-game/

You can have your puppy unroll towels/rugs with treats hidden within the rolls https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/college/the-magic-carpet/

 

These games will keep your puppy mentally stimulated and busy so that he'll feel less propense to run and jump around. The best part is that you can use your dog's kibble for these games so to keep calorie counts low. 

 

-Start Some Training

 

Training your puppy can also be a great way to keep him busy. You can start with an easy cue such as a sit.

 

Other cues you can work on are leave it, drop it, heel and hand target.

 

These are covered in the obedience 10 section:  https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/

 

Make sure to keep the sessions short and fun. Puppies have short attention spans so they can get easily distracted or feel frustrated easily. 

 

-Clicker Train Some Tricks

 

You can also introduce a clicker and clicker train your puppy to learn some cool tricks. Here is the guide on clicker training: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/clicker-training/

 

For example, you can get a tap light and teach your puppy to turn it on:  https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-your-dog-to-turn-on-a-light/

 

or you can have fun with the "hot cone" game: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/hot-and-cold/

 

Of course, start with the more stationary games during the first days, and move on to less stationary ones as he nears the end of the his exercise restriction. It's always best to check with the vet about what types of games he/she recommends.

 

-Do Handling Exercises 

 

All puppies benefit from learning to tolerate human touch. You can turn this into a fun game by feeding treats every time your puppy is touched. Puppies also need to get used to being brushed, and having their paws and ears handled.  As always, keep it short, rewarding and extra fun. Here are some handling exercises: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-teach-puppies-to-tolerate-touch

 

-Encourage Naps

 

One good news is that, despite being hyper, puppies need a lot of sleep. This sleep is needed for proper growth and for good memory consolidation for all the things he's learning.  Many puppies struggle finding their "off buttons," so you'll need to intervene to ensure he gets enough naps throughout the day.  You also want to do this because puppies may get particularly hyper and cranky when tired. 

 

So schedule naptime by placing your puppy in his pen or crate in a quiet area where you can monitor him and with something to chew. You may want to also work on creating positive associations with the crate/pen area: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/love-the-crate/

 

-Ask Your Vet For a Chill Pill

 

If your puppy is very, very active and you are really struggling to keep him quiet, you can always as a last resort, ask your vet to give you something to sedate him. This is often not necessary, but it's good to know that you have this option. 

 

The good thing is that all of the exercises and brain games involve kibble/treats, so by doing these you are also creating positive associations with being around you and the home which is a win-win. 

 

The shelter has also told us it had some food resource guarding habits, so I want to work on those as well ASAP.

 

 Please use extra caution and keep whatever he guards away when your children are around or don't keep the children around when he has whatever he guards. Children are often a big trigger for dog who guard stuff because dogs often feel overwhelmed by them and may misinterpret their behaviors. These dogs need to learn to trust and shouldn't be put into situations that trigger them to guard. Consider that dogs who guard certain things may guard anything that is similar. For example, if he guards food, he may guard anything a child may drop from a table, crumbs, food wrapper etc, if he guards toys, he may guard sticks or shoes or anything he perceives as a toy.

 

Strict management is imperative to prevent him from getting stressed and in need to protect.

 

I hope the shelter has evaluated him carefully by a behavior specialist before sending him to a home with several children. I would inquire more about this, what he guards, the severity of the issue, who does he guard against ( other dogs, littermates, people?) to ensure he's a good  match. 

 

Here are some exercises for resource guarding, but these are really meant to prevent: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/the-importance-of-preventing-resource-guarding-in-puppies/, since he's already guarding, you may need to take smaller steps to teach him to trust and ensure safety. This may require the intervention of a dog behavior professional.  Please don't hesitate to consult with one as needed.

 

Never remove toys or other things he guards without swapping them for something better: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/overprotective-of-toys/

 

What would you recommend for the first few days? Should we have the crate in our bedroom the first few nights, even if we intend to move it to the kitchen or living room for night sleeping fairly soon?  In the daytime I plan on having him in the kitchen in a small pen with a crate while I'm working at the table so I can keep an eye on him and take him potty pretty often. 

 

Yes, the crate is best to be in the bedroom as he needs to feel safe and you also need to be within earshot in case he needs to be taken out. You can then gradually move the crate farther and farther, although most dogs don't like to be away from their families so the process is not without struggles in one way or another. 

 

And how would you recommend our kids (10, 13, 15) start bonding with the puppy without making him too anxious or excited as he's healing? Any tips for how to help it feel less anxious and knowing what to prioritize for training the first week would be appreciated. Thanks

 

He should be prevented from playing/engaging with children the first few days so to allow him to recover and not get too active (children tend to rev puppies up.) Too much excitement and commotion may also scare him. Your children are of a good age to take directions, so they should be instructed on not overwhelming the puppy by talking too loud, moving too fast etc. And  care should be taken to not expose him to intense situations where he may feel like guarding. 

 

I hope this helps,

Congrats on getting a new puppy, keep us posted on how thing go.

Best,

Adrienne 

 

Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your puppy or dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping, biting) for safety, please consult with a dog behavior professional who uses force-free behavior modification techniques (no shock, prongs, or physical corrections) for direct in-person guidance. Articles, videos and general info found in the forums or course (or any online source) are not meant to replace in-person training/instruction. By using this course and forum, you are waiving any liability claims or other type of claims related to any dogs' behavior against you or others.

[CHELSEA FLINT]

@Adrienne FarricelliThank you so much!! We had a surprise when we found out our pup had his surgery yesterday, and we could take him home last night. It was a bit rough because all of our supplies hadn't quiet made it, but it worked and he is a delight. He's struggling with the cone and finding items, so I've been practicing a sit game with a larger toy instead of small treats. He also did well in his crate and only got up once in the night, and he only whined for less than a minute and then settled down.

Regarding the resource guarding, what the shelter told us is that he growled when they put in a fake hand with a high-value food (wet kibble) but was fine with the hand and dry kibble and the hand and toys. They told us some things we could do, and they believe the problem may stem from really young kids not respecting his food. I have an appointment scheduled for a 1:1 behavior training evaluation at the end of next week. And I'm keeping my kids away when he is feeding or eating a treat, and I'm having my youngest stay away for now so the puppy doesn't get riled up until he heals a little more. 

[Adrienne Farricelli]

What a great surprise! Glad to hear things went smoothly and that he was able to sleep in his crate and got up only once and then was quick to go back to sleep. 

That's nice that the shelter has organized for you a 1:1 behavior training evaluation. With kids in the home, it's important to have some hands-on demos on how to work on the issue. Usually this entails some desensitization and counterconditioning (like starting with tossing treats as you walk by the food bowl at a distance, trading with higher value foods, training leave it and drop it, preventing the dog from going over threshold, management. etc. Hopefully they use force-free behavior modification methods as most resource guarding stems from stress and fear of losing access to perceived resources.