"When You Take Your New Puppy Home "

"What Not to Do"


1. Do not have a house full of people come over to meet your new puppy when you get home with him/her. Try to make your homecoming routine as each day would be. Of course you're excited about having your new pup, and that's OK. But your pup has not been filled with anticipation for weeks, or months as most of you have been. So, have the usual number of people in the house and try sitting down with your pup for a bit while s/he settles down. Of course if you've picked your pup up at the airport, you've had time for your pup to sit with you. In that case you will want to first give your pup the opportunity to eliminate, then let him/her get used to his/her new living quarters. Offer food on a schedule. It is easiest to housetrain a pup who has scheduled food and water.  

2. Do not leave your puppy alone in a yard whether or not it is fenced. S/he could be stolen or as in the Klee Kai who are very apt excape artists, s/he could get out. The Klee Kai can squeeze out of spots you wouldn't think that a rat could squeeze through. If they can get their heads through a space, they will get the rest of their body through too. Sometimes I even think that their heads must be flexible because of the spaces I've seen then get through.

3. Do not assume that your puppy will come to you right away, especially if you happen to get an older pup. For future use, I've included this link to teach the "come command". For an older pup, it is a good idea to leave them with a leash and collar on until you can be sure that your puppy is going to come to you when you call him/her. When you are teaching your new puppy you should never set him/her up to fail. In other words, do not tell your puppy to come unless you know that you can make the puppy come should it decide to go the other way. If you leave the lead trailing, it is much easier to catch the lead than a cavorting pup, reel the pup in with it (don't drag, but encourage the pup) the whole time telling him/her to come. Now when the pup is in your hands or in front of you (always make eye contact because the pup has to come close enough to you to make good eye contact) should you choose this position for the puppy to end up in when s/he comes, you can give him/her a treat while telling him/her "good dog". Say this in a pleasant, quick voice. You can also say a quick "good", but for me, it seems that I get the best results

4. Most good breeders will have crate trained their puppies, especially if they are going to be flying to their new homes. If you want your pup to remain crate trained (the crate is the safest place for your pup when s/he is alone) never let him/her out of the crate when s/he is whining, crying, or barking. If you do this, you will undo all of his/her training. If you want to find out if your pup needs to go outside to "take care of business" then tell the pup to be "quiet" and wait. Usually the pup is going to be quiet for a moment once you come near enough. So the trick is to time your quiet command before your pup quits making noise and approaching the crate but not opening the door until the pup is quiet, even if for only a moment. If that doesn't work, my pups are trained with a spray bottle of vinegar and water. I haven't had many folks tell me that they had to continue the use of this bottle to make a pup be quiet. There have been a few who were really adverse to the kennel, but not too many.

5. Do not just put your puppy out in the yard and expect it to "take care of business". S/he is going to run around playing, chasing moving grass, whatever, but everything but go to the bathroom. Dogs cannot physically go until they have been walking around for 15 to 20 minutes. That gets their muscles charged up enough so they can go. If you train your pup to go right away when you take them out for a walk, they go sooner because they've learned how to tell you they need to go out. Usually they will run around in circles in front of the door or whatever and help to get ready to do their business. You need to time your command for them to go to match when they actually "doo". A little humor never hurts when you are raising a puppy. You'll need it. A good trainer learns to anticipate good behavior and be prepared to praise it. It is especially important to also be able to tell when your dog is going to break the command and release if before it does. So, for example, you tell your new dog to sit/stay, watch him/her. When you can see the anticipation of being released on your dog's face and you know they are going to break the command, be prepared to release them from the command right before they do. So, when you see your new pup circling to do his/her business, tell him/her to go "potty" or whatever term you are going to use for urinating and/or defecating. This way if you are in a big hurry and don't have time for a long walk (like when its raining outside or you have to leave but want to let the dog eliminate prior to leaving getting into the car) your dog will have learned that s/he needs to go right away instead of being prepared to stay out for quite some time.

6. Until your puppy is over 4 months old and has had all of his/her shots, DO NOT take him/her to a public park. Only put your pup down on ground where you know the dogs who have been using that spot. In other words, the yard of a friend, relative, your neighborhood if you know all the dogs are cared for and don't see strays wandering around, your dog trainer's yard who requires proof of shots, etc. Just because your puppy has had shots, it does not mean that it cannot catch parvo/Corona. I had two pups who were exposed in our very own backyard by a neighboring dog who had parvo. The dog had never had his shots and pretty much just roamed the neighborhood. He left his calling card behind and apparently that litter of puppies was exposed to it. The vet said that it must have been a particularly virulent strain because the pups were dead within a day of the onset of symptoms. I did have one pup who did not succumb to that disease and he is now a big part of our breeding program. I believe that we are breeding in the trait which he possessed to be able to be resistant to the disease. You do not want to needlessly expose your new pup to diseases which could kill him/her.

7. Many people want to bathe their puppy as soon as they bring it home. The experts don't recommend bathing a puppy until it's six months old. It is not good for the oil glands and can dry them out. Once that happens, you have created skin problems. If your puppy doesn't smell as good as you would like, then bathe with a shampoo specifically designed for puppies and make sure it also contains a conditioner.

Once your dog is six months old, many people like to bathe on a regular basis. It's not really necessary, but for example, my sister would bathe her dogs once a week to keep down on the hair shed around the house. That is OK, if you use a conditioning shampoo and a conditioner afterward. Otherwise, folks like me, only bathe the dogs twice a year. Usually at shedding time and occasionally if the fleas get out of control in the summertime I will give them a flea bath. Combing should be done at least once a week. This is good for developing a raport for grooming and it is also a good bonding time.

On the subject of fleas, I use Bio-Spot. This cannot be used on puppies (adult dogs only), but there is something like Frontline and I think something also called Advantage? I'm not real sure about all of the products available, but this one is applied between the shoulder blades of the dog varying from once a month to once every three months. For me, it depends on the flea and tick population. If I have to worry that there are ticks, (the bio-spot is good for 30 days against ticks) and there are a lot of fleas, I apply every 30 days. That is usually in the summertime. There is a product called Program. My sister put her dogs on it and within a two weeks, her dogs were squaring off and trying to kill each other. The authorities tell me that the pill only has a hormone which affects the flea embryo, but this was the only thing which could account for her dogs' behavior. When she stopped the "Program" pills, her dogs went back to normal. Therefore, I don't know if this was an isolated incident or not, but if you decide to try Program, and you seen increased aggression in your dog, stop giving it to him/her. One Klee Kai who had been on Program for 3 years was a biter. He became so aggressive that he started being aggressive and possessive of his owner. That dog had to be put down. He never overcame his aggressiveness. He was returned to me, and I never was able to touch him. That is the first time that one of my dogs has ever behaved that way toward me. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that it was all because of the Program, I think that possibly the Program caused aggression and it was not handled correctly so it got worse and worse until the inevitable happened.

There is also something you can sprinkle on the carpet and grass, etc. called flea busters. In fact there are some companies who charge to treat your house for fleas and guarantee to keep it that way for a year. There is also something called diatamatious earth which in addition can be sprayed on bushes, grass, etc. This product contains pyrethins which kills insects.

If you have a breeding dog, many products cannot be used with a lactating bitch, an expectant mother or puppies, so please be sure to read the labels on any such product.

8. Never let your puppy get by with biting. If you allow biting even at 2 months old or 3 months old, etc. it will only get worse. If your pup develops any bad habits which you have been unable to train him/her out of seek the assistance of a professional. If you do not as in the case of biting, you will surely end up having to get rid of or killing your dog. I know that doesn't sound nice to say. That's because it isn't a nice thing to happen. Allowing your dog to develop bad habits to this point is totally irresponsible and more than likely was unavoidable.

9. When approaching strange people or dogs, do not pull tight on the leash. If your dog senses that you are afraid (which is what you tell them when you pull the leash tight) they will take the offensive because they think they need to protect you. So, even if your puppy has demonstrated a little bit of dog aggressiveness, if it is young it will warm up as long as it isn't exposed to other aggressive dogs. So, watch your pup as strangers approach and only respond if you actually see signs of aggression on the part of your pup or the other dog. Even then, the first response should be "leave it". That's a whole other command I am also working on but am including the link because I will detail it later.

"What You Should Do"

  • 1. Keep your pup on a schedule until s/he has regulated elimination times.

  • 2. Feed your pup 3 times a day until s/he is 6 months old, twice a day until s/he is one year old, then once a day thereafter. Personally because the Klee Kai can be such small eaters, when they have mastered going to the bathroom outside, I free feed (have the food down all the time). The Klee Kai in particular tend to eat when their people eat. They are very social dogs and tend to be social eaters too. Sometimes the Klee Kai will be on the skinny side if they aren't eating socially.

  • 3. Keep your pup on puppy food for the first year. Sometimes your pup will decide that s/he doesn't want puppy food any more and will slow down considerably on the amount of food s/he eats. If this happens it is possible that you just got ahold of a bad bag of food or maybe the manufacturer changed the formula. These could all be reasons for not eating the food well. It could also be a sign that s/he doesn't need the extra calcium and vitamins which the puppy food furnishes. You may want to try a good dog food instead of the puppy food.

  • 4. Do socialize your pup. You may say "if I can't take my pup to public parks, how can I socialize him/her"? Take your pup with you everywhere you go, just carry him/her and don't put him/her on ground you don't know. It is good for a very small pup to be introduced to strangers from your arms anyway. Just look at it from your pups' point of view. Here is your pup at 6" or 10" or whatever it is, then this great big tall stranger leans over your pup with it's arm out like it's going to hit him on the head. Naturally, the dog is going to try to get out from under the approaching hand. If you want to understand why your pup reacts badly to something, lay down on the floor and look at things from your puppy's point of view. Of all the DO'S this is the very most important one.

  • 5. Hopefully, while you were waiting for your pup you checked out your local obedience classes. I have never had a dog returned to me who had been through obedience classes. This tells me that the bad dogs out there had a chance at being a good one. Please invest the time and the little bit of money involved in the future of your puppy. I strongly (in case you can't tell) recommend obedience classes for all adoptive families. You may think that you've been through classes and don't really need them. But, even as many times as I've been through classes, I make mistakes. It always helps to have an extra set of eyes watch who can spot a mistake in handling. I'll give you an example. I had one dog who I had to take back. The people who adopted this dog thought they were going to have enough time to spend with her. Right after they got her, the mom got a promotion and started doing a lot of traveling and the girl started college. The mother thought that the girl was old enough to be responsible; however, she was not. The dog spent the better part of the next year and a half in a crate. The girl left her alone so long one time that she chewed her way out of the crate because she would not dirty her crate. The new family had a big job trying to socialize this dog. She just does not like strangers and will growl at them. They have never pushed her to biting, but growling is bad enough. I told the lady to use a spray bottle of vinegar and water to make her be quiet, but when I watched what I had instructed the lady to do, it was totally wrong. Because the stranger would approach, the dog would growl, the the owner would spray the dog in the face. Of course the dog isn't going to like strangers. This is an example of needing to be able to watch your training in action, this was a total mistake. So, please no matter how much you think you know, use the experience of others to help you with your new puppy. Avoid bad habits by developing good ones first. I should have taught this lady aversion training rather than punitive training in this particular case. You will find another page on adversion training. Right now this is under construction, but I'm including the link for the future. If it doesn't work now, come back later because it will be working as soon as I can get it done.

  • 6. You've taught your pup where you want him/her to go to the bathroom but the whole time s/he is young you need to re-inforce (not every time, but periodically) the good things your pup does. Until your pup is about a year old, continue the training process. Your dog never quits learning, so always considering that the things you demonstrate to your dog as lessons. If you keep teaching, your dog will keep learning. These dogs are great at agility so especially if you have a really anxious and active dog, burn off some of the energy at agility competitions. Check out these agility sights. This too is under construction so keep checking back.

  • 7. Do ask your breeder for help before a problem becomes unsurmountable. Small problems are easier to fix than ones which have been allowed fo exist for months or even years in some cases.

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    Now, just relax and enjoy your puppy!! Take lots of pictures and send them to your breeder. I promise all breeders want to see how their puppies have grown up.

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