9 Essential Steps to Bringing a New Dog Home?

Bringing a new dog home can be exciting and even a little overwhelming. For your new pup too! However, a few simple steps can put you and your new fur-kid at ease.

From Goldendoodles to the notorious Golden Retriever, whatever dog breed you bring home, the steps required for making a dog comfortable in its new abode are the same.

Whether this is your first pet or you have adopted a dog before, following these steps are necessary for developing a healthy relationship between your new companion and the house’s inhabitants.

1. Start in the Backyard

Before entering the home, consider giving your new pup an exploratory walk. Depending if they are a puppy or full-grown adult dog, this could be some short sniffing around the backyard or a complete walk around the block. 

Walking can alleviate anxiety and allow them to reach a calm state. It can also prevent some initial indoor marking.

Try to avoid any high traffic areas of cars, people, or other dogs to keep them relaxed. 

2. Provide a Relaxing Entrance

You and your family members may be waiting eagerly to meet the doggy on its arrival. However, when it enters your home, you need to give it personal space.

When first bringing a new dog home, try to avoid everyone gathering around to show it affection. The dog can quickly feel overwhelmed as it has just shifted to a new environment and sees unfamiliar faces.

Allow everyone in the home to carry on with their routine tasks. If young children are in your home, don’t allow them to approach the dog until it becomes comfortable.

3. Give Your Doggy a House Tour

Once your doggy enters the new habitat, put a leash on your new pup, give it a tour of your house first. 

Go from room to room and allow your new fur-kid to get familiar with the scent in each room of your home. This will make it easier for your dog to adjust to its new home. 

4. Provide Soothing Sounds

During the house tour, your dog will concentrate on studying the new home. This may cause it to feel exhausted as it’s taking in new things. Hence, during the house tour, avoid communicating through speech, touch, or eye contact.

Instead, use your body language, make simple sounds for approval, or snap your fingers to interact with your dog if it’s doing something wrong or right.

5. Take Your Dog to its Feeding Spot

While on the house tour, bring your new pup to the feeding area where your dog can eat and drink water. Provide some food, treats, and water as a reward.

6. Keep Your Calm

If you want to develop a healthy and everlasting bond between you and your dog, you must remain calm. Dogs are very sensitive to the energy that people in their surroundings give off.

If your tone sounds excited or has a harsh tone, it can aggravate your dog’s anxiety. This can cause your new pet to show unwanted behaviors on its first day, which no owner wants.

Remember, when bringing a new dog home, you don’t have all the details about its likes and dislikes. Thus, it would help if you gave time to create a proper bond between you and your dog and train it to become well-behaved.

7. Resting Area

When bringing a new dog home, reserve a room or a corner of your home where only your dog can stay. You can place your dog’s crate, a bed for resting, and a couple of chew toys in that area.

This is where your dog is allowed to rest, sleep, or play when you’re not around. But, of course, you can also keep your dog in this room when conducting essential household chores.

After the house tour is complete, take your dog to its resting area. Remove the leash, and if your doggy lies down in its room and doesn’t respond to you, don’t worry.

This doesn’t mean that your dog hates the place. It means they have found their comfort zone in the new home, so allow it to rest for a while.

8. Check Your Doggy’s Medical Report and Take it to the Vet

Ensure that your doggy is fully vaccinated if you adopt a mature dog. The shelter or breeder should provide a medical report when adopting your pup.

If you’ve adopted a puppy, ensure that it’s vaccinated according to the designated timeline on its medical record.

After bringing a new dog home, it’s a good measure to get your doggy checked by a licensed vet. This ensures that your dog doesn’t have any underlying medical conditions.

9. Begin Basic Training

Once your dog settles into its new home, begin training from the basics. Start by training your dog to identify its name. This lays the foundation for grooming your dog’s behavior.

Choose a beautiful short name that matches your pooch’s personality and begin calling out your dog. When it looks up to you immediately after you call out its name, reward your dog by giving a treat and praising it.

After teaching your dog name response, you can teach your dog basic commands such as sit, stay, and come.

The Wrap Up on Bringing a New Dog Home

Picking up a new dog from the animal shelter or shop is the most exciting day for owners and families. However, this day can be the most stressful for new pets as they’re being transferred to a new environment surrounded by unfamiliar faces.

Thus, it’s essential to take specific measures before and after bringing your new companion into its new home. Check out these eight critical steps to better help your dog adapt to its new home and develop a long-lasting bond between it and your family.

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