Puppy Care and Puppy Sitting

Your new baby, so many similarities! They require time, planning and support. This is where 1st4 London Dog Walking can help.

Puppy hood is difficult and time consuming, particularly until all the vaccinations have been done. The puppy will need frequent toileting, feeding and attention – 1st4 London Dog Walking can provide all this.

With your busy life, we can feed your puppy, toilet him, take him out of the home and clean him up afterwards. We can do this until he is happy to be left during the day.

Socialising a puppy is crucial to his ongoing character development, so that he grows into a happy and well adjusted adult dog.

1st4 London Dog Walking can help your puppy by careful outside visits when they can go for walks. Particularly important in London, is introducing them to traffic and seeing lots of people, as well as other dogs and pets.

We will enjoy giving them lots of attention, love and play time and 1st4 London Dog Walking will help with getting them settled into their day to day routine.

We will keep a 'Communications Diary' to update you on your puppy’s progress.



Puppy Care Guidelines: One of the most important things is to puppy proof your house.

If you have received your puppy from a breeder, he should have provided a care sheet outlining the ongoing requirements for your puppy's development, based on his experience of the breed. Breeds will develop differently.

I assume here that you have received the puppy after they have been weaned. For feeding, my advice is to introduce as much variety as possible - dry and wet, different brands and different varieties. As in everything for the puppy, setting up a good routine is important. Training your puppy to eat twice a day is a practical consideration, whether for your busy life or for when they might have to use kennels (obviously not our recommended choice!). So offer the dog food twice a day at the times you want, but only offer the food for about 15mins and then take the dish away. For food hygiene reasons, it is not a good idea to leave moist food around for too long and even dry food can become moist with a slobbery dog. Use a pet food specially formulated for your type of puppy, so he has all the nutrients he needs for his development.

Dog obesity is becoming an increasing problem, so do not overfeed and follow the guidelines, which are dependent on the weight of the pet. Part of the dog obesity issue is the use of dog treats. The use of dog treats as part of their training is useful, but try not to on other occasions. If you have done more exercise than average, you can be a bit softer.

Puppy Potty Training: This apparently is the number one cause for puppies being taken to dog rescue charities. The general consensus as to the best method is to use a crate or cage. Often a breeder will have used one and will often sell on the cage as the puppy is used to it. This is based on the principle that dogs do not like to soil their beds and in a cage he would be forced to lie in the mess. Whilst in these confines, the puppy will try to control his bladder. During housebreaking, place the puppy inside the cage when he cannot be supervised, while you are say reading to the children. Just prior to putting him into the crate or taking him out of the crate, take him outside so he can go to the toilet. There should not be any food or water in the cage, just a blanket and maybe a chew toy to occupy his time. As your confidence with your puppy increases, you can leave him more and more out of the cage.

The cage needs to be right size, enough floor space for him to lie down. But not so large he could urinate in a corner. The cage is useful for the dogs whole life, so to avoid replacing cages as he grows, buy one big enough for his mature size, with a partition that you can move as he grows.

An alternative is constant supervision, which in today’s busy life is very difficult for most people. This involves being with the puppy all the time so you can see his pre-potty pattern, such as clawing the floor. Then taking him straight out to do his business and bring him straight back, having given him praise and verbal clues such as 'well done'. The puppy needs to understand that the reason he went outside was for the potty, nothing else, so do not confuse him.

Another alternative to potty training is put down papers or pretreated pads and encouraging him to use these areas. They are often placed in the bathroom or utility room. The pads have chemicals to attract them. When you see them with their pre-potty pattern, pick them up quietly and take them to the papers. Praise them if they do the business. The problem with this is that you have to transition them to doing this outside, by moving the papers closer to the door.

Generally, puppies need to go out soon after waking and 30 or 40 mins after having been fed.

Sometimes puppies will spontaneously urinate when excited or scared, sometimes known as submissive urination. Do not discipline them for this. If they are liable to this, take them for a walk prior to any excitement, like family coming. Or if visiting, take them for a walk just prior to or on arrival. The puppy will normally grow out it after 4-8 months.

To reinforce the potty training, as in dog training, you need to use verbal clues. Good ones are simple and distinctive. Everyone in the family or in contact with the dog needs to use the same words which should be one or a maximum of two words.

Outside: Use a different word such as “play” if it's for a fun activity, though he may eliminate when he is there.
Potty: Do the business.
Good Dog: For any praise.
No: When they are doing something wrong, such as going in the wrong area or inside.

There are probably two rules to follow:
1. Always praise success.
2. Do not punish the puppy if you do not catch him in the act because he will have no idea why you are scolding him.

If you catch him in the act of urinating inside, carrying him to the appropriate place will often stop him, as well as reinforcing what he should be doing.

It seems a lot of work - but what fun!