RESTRICT EXPOSURE!
SEE LAST PARAGRAPH.
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The first 72 hours that your new puppy is with you is extremely
important to his/her wellbeing and emotional adjustment. When dealing with a puppy or dog, the best thing you can do
is to try very hard to place yourself in it's position and the best way to do so is to attempt to "Think Like A
Puppy/Dog".
Your little one has either
been placed on an airplane and has flown many miles to your area or, you have driven to our ranch to pick him/her up and have
made that long trip home. In either case, this "child" has been removed from everything he/she has ever
known; fines himself in a totally unfamiliar, possibly scary surroundings, and being handled by newly met people that
share no familiar smells of siblings or "home". Sound like a situation you'd rather not find yourself in?
The scenario above is why it is imperative
that the first 72 hours be handled with a keen eye on NOT OVER TAXING your little one's emotions. Puppies, and
even older dogs, can be "stressed-out" easily under certain conditions.
Westies are Strong, resilient, adaptable,
and durable critters but, you'll want your new family member to make the needed transition, to live with you, as
smoothly as possible. We believe, a puppy's primary learning stage is between 5 and 10 weeks of age. This can
be correlated to the period of birth through 4 years of a human child's life. This time period is where the
puppy's/child's basic personality is molded and enhanced. Doing a proper job here can/will set the largest part of
their life-long personality. This is part of the reason why we, at La Terra Dios Ranch, retain all of our puppies
until they are at least 9 weeks, preferably 10 weeks, of age. These early weeks are needed for the pups to learn
to play properly, learn that their very sharp puppy teeth can hurt others (by being bitten by siblings), practicing
eye/body coordination (using hanging toys in their pen), and learning, to some extent, that excessive noise and barking is
not acceptable.
Doing the above
for all those weeks creates considerably more work on our part but, we feel, all in all, it is well worth every once
of effort. We strive to offer our families the most well adjusted, happiest, healthiest puppies we can possibly
bring forth. Another plus to this 10 week learning time, enhanced by our efforts, is that by the time
you take your puppy to his new home, we have worked on the basics of lead and potty training as well as verbal commands.
Now, that I have helped you understand why we do what we do and hopefully
led you to begin to "Think Like A Dog", we'll move on. Bark! Bark!
During these first
72 hours your puppy is going to need to experience only your family. We understand you are extremely anxious
to show all your friends and relatives the sweet little white puppy you have been waiting for but, these hours MUST
be utilized to set the stage for a smooth transition into his/her new life with you. Your puppy will need
as much of your time as you can offer, but remember, for EVERY HOUR OF AWAKE TIME, HE/SHE WILL NEED AN HOUR OR MORE OF NAP
TIME! Food and water should be offer on an "free-feed"(always available) schedule or if not, WATER SHOULD
ALWAYS AVAILABLE AND FOOD OFFERED AT LEAST EVERY 2 AWAKE HOURS.
Remember, once home, he/she will
be wanting to explore every inch of his/her new surroundings yet, he may be fearful of many things unfamiliar.
You'll need to keep a close eye on his whereabouts and body language. With so much to explore, potty time may/will be
forgotten until it is too late to "hold it" any longer.
We realize, it may be difficult
for young children of the family to contain their excitement at times but, your puppy has not been exposed to young children
nor the loudness or shrill screaming sounds some little ones can make. He/she will become used to all these sounds as
time moves forward over the coming months but, in the beginning, considering all the newness and changes he/she will
be expected to accept, most of these "excited child sounds" should be kept to a minimum, at least for
a few weeks or so. THINK LIKE THE PUPPY! EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT FROM EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE
HE/SHE HAS EVER KNOWN. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY SCARRY NEW WORLD. "FRIENDLINESS AND LOVING" IS
THE KEY TO A SMOOTH TRANSITION.
POTTY TIME:
This
is something that will be difficult for many to remember. Puppies will always need to potty within 30 seconds of:
Awaking, finishing eating, drinking, and about every hour of awake time. Westies do not like to be close to where they
potty. They will generally try to place it out of the way, like near a wall or in a corner so ---- keep this in
mind. A portable outside pen with an entry door in it is an excellent potty facility and if used from
the beginning and continuously as the puppy/dog grows older (allowing him/her to run to it to potty), many times
they will use only that small area for years to come. You can always keep moving it so as not to saturate a given area. As
long as the dog knows, he/she is to go to this pen to do his business and he/she knows where
it is, they generally will use it. This surely will save clean-up time for you throughout the years! We have
10 or 12 of these pens. Some, we connect together to form larger pens. Most Westies will stay within a 24"
high fence. Rio, one of our stud dogs, has a pen that consists of five of these 24" X 24" X 8
panel sections connected together. Both ends of this long formed fence are hooked to the main dog
yard fence. It has kept him and others in for years. When you take your puppy/dog out to potty, always say a
potty command. We use "OUTSIDE -- POTTY".
REMEMBER, UNTIL A WEEK AFTER YOUR PUPPY HAS RECEIVED THEIR
SECOND (2nd) PUPPY VACCINATION, THEY STILL HAVE THE POSSIBILITY OF COTRACTING SEVERAL VERY SERIOUS DESEASES. IT'S STONGELY
ADVISED TO RESTRICT EXPOSURE. ALL YOUR FRIENDS WILL HAVE TO WAIT AWHILE. YOUR PUPPY'S HEALTH IS MOST IMPORTANT
AT THIS POINT!
