A quick summary of what we learned.

About Dogs

• Training = bonding, akin to creating a common language together. Some training can start on Day 1 of being together. But be patient and set realistic expectations. Find resources to do good training, a lot are free. At the end, training means training the humans to help the dog becomes a better dog.
• Can’t hurry process, trust it. 3 days to settle at a new place / decompressing, 3 weeks to think the new place might be furrever home, 3 months to get used to the furrever home.
• Can’t change diet abruptly. To change the dog’s food, transition at 25% meal portion at a time for a few days on each mixture composition. Failing to do this: diarrhea. Learned the hard way.
• Unless the dog sheds very little due to breed, you’ll see fur everywhere, accept this. Be ready to clean daily. If the dog has long hair, brush every day to prevent matting, which would be irritating to the dog’s skin.
• Separation anxiety. The dog might bark or howl all the time while you’re gone. This takes training to improve. Definitely can be a problem if you live in a multi-unit dwelling.
• Needs microchipping so that if the dog is lost, it’s easier to get him/her back. Microchip will be a small annual expense. At the same time, we got a tag with our phone numbers on it at the back.
• Resource guarding. Dogs can resource guard their food, toys, or even favorite person / people, and become aggressive in doing so. This will need trainer intervention as soon as possible to prevent it from becoming a serious issue.
• Dogs can be reactive or selective to things, such as other dogs, humans, bikes, cars, leash, etc. This will need trainer intervention as soon as possible to prevent it from becoming a serious issue. At the same time, knowing this makes us more cautious in approaching any other dogs. We’d ask whether the dog is friendly AND whether we could pet it. Never assume. Don’t take a “NO” personally because it isn’t, and walk away as soon as you can.
• Join relevant online groups (facebook is a good place) to learn from others, e.g: ones for your dog breed, dog’s age, etc. Learn with a grain of salt, keep what works for you.
• Have a local vet to consult with. Consider whether dog insurance works better for you in making sure your dog gets treatments. See preventative measures that will help you.
• Grooming: generally they don’t need to get a bath / shower more often than once a month to prevent skin irritation, but we’ll get water on our dog if she’s too smelly, without the soap. Enzymatic toothpaste every day. Ear cleaning every month.
• For small dogs or small puppies, a harness is better than a collar, as the latter might choke the dog. Have both on.
• Dogs know a spot that has been peed on and will return to the same spot to pee.

About Puppies

This section is what we learned specifically about puppies.

• Puppy blues is real. It’s the period of realization of how much work caring for a puppy entails. It’s normal to sometimes be angry and frustrated, while also loving the puppy. It’s ok, you’re ok, you’re not alone. Puppy blues is a thing.
• Potty training and crate training take time. Be patient. Accidents will happen. Get an enzymatic deodorizer to make sure the smell won’t be there anymore and prevent repeats. Repeats make permanent.
• DHPP vaccine (Distemper, Hepatitis, Parvo, Parainfluenza) is required for sheer survival within the first 16 weeks. Don’t put your puppy in a place where other dog’s feces might be on in the past, even for a walk / potty. This is not a joke, puppies don’t survive parvo well.
• 8 weeks minimum of age to be weaned from mom and littermates, then socialization up to 12-16 weeks. Might howl / bark the first few nights being separated from the littermates, but it’d get better.
• Bites/chews a lot when teething. Usually takes months for permanent adult teeth to replace the puppy teeth. Use distraction with chew toys or chew sticks.

Things we prepared before getting our dog

This page has a reflection on what we think were helpful to us when we prepared for the dog’s arrival.