Adding a puppy to our family has been both an incredible blessing. We wanted to add a dog to our family to provide a friend to our 7 year old terrier mix, Daisy. Being just my wife, Daisy, and I, we always felt bad leaving Daisy alone for the day. We were also noticing that Daisy was starting to put on weight. Even with walking consistently and playing, we didn’t feel like we could provide enough exercise to Daisy on a daily basis.
And so, we went on a search! We knew we wanted to rescue a dog for sure, and so we reached out to Big Bones Canine Rescue in Windsor, CO. Our search started by looking for 3-5 year old dogs, as we thought we would want a dog that was already potty trained for the most part. However, after looking for months and taking Daisy on many dog playdates, we realized that Daisy needed to have a companion that she could establish alpha over. You see, Daisy tends to be submissive around dogs she doesn’t know, and we didn’t want Daisy to feel like she would lose dominance in her household.
After some deliberation, we made the decision we would shift our search to puppies instead. Luckily, the rescue we were going through is also involved in rescuing litters of puppies. We were in search of a small dog, preferably male, and an easy enough breed to ad into our household.
Within a couple weeks, we found Bear. Upon meeting Bear for the first time, we knew he was going to be a great fit for Daisy and our family. He was full of energy, and when meeting Daisy, just wanted to be close to her and followed her everywhere. Now, about 12 weeks into having Bear, he has assimilated into our family perfectly. Daisy and Bear play constantly, and Bear has become a great companion for Daisy.
In adding a puppy to the family (and the first puppy raised for Amber and I), we learned a lot. I want to share 5 things that I have learned, that I really didn’t expect going in:
- It will take your older and established dog some time to get used to having a new puppy in the house. Daisy really struggled for the first couple of days once we brought Bear home. She was stand off-ish and acted in a depressed mood all day. I spent the next few days trying to encourage as much as possible when she would play or interact with Bear. I also allowed her to have her space when she needed and kept Bear away when Daisy signaled she needed solace. Within a week or two, Daisy finally snapped out of it, and now they play and interact all the time!
- Allowing correction by Daisy is important. At first, when Daisy would get frustrated and lunge at Bear, I was worried we made the wrong decision. But, then I researched and learned it was a good thing. While Bear was acting like a puppy and biting everything in sight, including Daisy, there were times that Daisy had to “snap” at him to let him know that wasn’t okay. Eventually, Bear learned his limits and their interactions have become much more smooth and less aggressive.
- Potty training was a breeze because we were CONSISTENT. We made sure to take Bear out every hour on the hour when he was first introduced to the household. At night, I started with setting myself an alarm every 2 hours to let him out for a week or two. Then, every 3 hours, every 4 hours, and so on until he was sleeping through the night. A good rule of thumb is the age (in months) +1 for the amount of hours they can go without needing to go outside.
- Have your puppy harnessed and leashed with you around the house. This helped us with keeping an eye on Bear at all times. It also made it much easier to teach him how to walk on leash. I recommend the harness as it helps them to learn not to pull, and if they do, it doesn’t choke them. We have found this harness to be helpful.
- Give them separate toys and eating areas. This is one thing I learned quickly after getting Bear. Daisy wasn’t ready to share her toys, let alone her food. This led to lashing out from Daisy and conflict between the two. We decided to feed Bear in his playpen so that we could close the door on the pen, and then feed Daisy in her usual spot. For the toys, we found some that Bear could play with on his own, and I purchased some toys like ropes, balls, etc. that they could share and play with together. You can find some of those toys we came to like HERE.
Overall, adding a new puppy to our family has been a great decision. Although it has come with struggle at times and has required us to have a loving relationship with coffee (sleepless nights), we wouldn’t change that decision for anything!