So You Have a New Puppy! Trivia Quiz

Answer: All of them

Puppies are endlessly curious and playful. Some results of this might just be annoying, like a chewed up slipper. Others might be dangerous, like a broken part of something Rover could choke on or poisonous flowers he might eat.

Before bringing the new puppy into the house, the whole family should cooperate in going around anyplace it is likely to go, looking for hazards. Anything with tassels needs to be removed. Small items like eyeglasses, remotes and cell phones need to be kept in a drawer rather than on low tables. Wastebaskets in bathrooms and the kitchen need to be tightly covered. Anything at all that is small, breakable, pointy or otherwise dangerous must be put in a safe place.

Everybody in the family should also know what plants and flowers are poisonous to dogs. Keep those out of the house.

The puppy's toys should be kept in a particular place that it knows and where it can find them. Making sure it has toys it enjoys playing with will help it learn not to play with other things, like the TV remote.

Answer: A sturdy, escapeproof fence

A sturdy fence, with no loose boards or other hazards and no space underneath where a frisky pup might squirm through, is the first item to look for in a puppy-proof yard. You also need to make sure any garden plots and ornamental plants are not in the area set aside for the puppy. Some plants are poisonous to dogs. At the same time, dog piddle kills some plants, while dog poop is dangerous for people. You do not want Rover pooping anywhere near the vegetables!

Remind your parents or a grownup sibling to make sure any poisons, like weed killer or antifreeze, that are kept in the garage or tool shed are firmly closed and kept on a high shelf. A tiny amount of such a poison is enough to kill a dog! After all, puppies don't understand "Keep out". It's better to be safe.

Answer: before

You would have everything ready for a new baby to come home from the hospital. In much the same way, it's helpful to have everything ready when your new puppy comes home. There are a lot of things to get ready. Here is a list of some of them:

A crate and/or a bed
Food and water dishes
Puppy food
Toys
Brush and comb
A collar and ID tags (with Rover's name as well as your family's name and address)
A toothbrush
Puppy piddle pads and cleaning supplies

As you can see, there is a lot to buy. It's best to have it all organized and ready for Rover's arrival.

Some dog experts, like Kristin Mehus-Roe, feel that training the puppy to sleep in a crate is a good idea. But others think it isn't. Talk to your family, other dog owners and the people you get your puppy from to help you figure out whether or not to use a crate. But the best way to decide might be to wait and see what makes the puppy most comfortable.

Answer: False

A puppy doesn't even open its eyes until it is about one and a half weeks old. For the first week, it needs to nurse from its mother every one to two hours. Once its eyes and ears are open, the puppy can start doing more than just nurse and sleep - it can begin to explore! Still, though, it must stay close to its mother and littermates for several more weeks, learning to communicate and safely play with other dogs. During this early time in the puppy's life, it is important to get it used to people, so that later it won't be afraid of them.

By eight weeks old, the puppy is eating puppy food rather than nursing, and needs to be fed only three times a day. At this point, it can be safely taken away from its mother and adopted into its new home.

Answer: No

If the dog is going to be a family pet, everyone in the family should have some say in the choice; like if it should be a large or small dog, one with a shaggy coat or a short-haired one, even if it should be a boy dog or a girl. In the same way, it's a good idea for all members of the family - people and other pets - to meet the new puppy in its current home before the final decision is made to make it part of the family.

Answer: Secured in a crate or with a doggy seatbelt

Just as people should always buckle up for a ride in a car, pets need to be secured for their own safety as well as the safety of everyone else in the car. A dog should be transported in its crate or strapped in with a doggy seatbelt. A plush toy to cuddle with during the ride would be comforting, since Rover is probably at least a little scared.

Answer: Walk the puppy around the yard on the leash/lead so It can explore a bit

Only let the puppy out of the car when the leash is firmly attached to its collar. Hold the leash firmly while walking around the fenced part of the yard and letting the puppy explore and sniff a bit. It's probably excited and a little confused and even scared. The leash keeps it safe while it takes a first look around this new place.

Keep the leash on when you bring the puppy into the house and let it explore some more. Be laidback about introducing the rest of the family. It's best to have people sit down and let Rover come to them in his own time. Next, offer the puppy some water and take it back out to the fenced yard. Now, at last, you can let it off the leash to do some serious exploring and frisking. If it poops and/or piddles while outside, be sure to praise it. You can't start too early reinforcing the idea that outside is where Rover does his business.

Finally, go inside and put the puppy in its bed or crate (if you use one) for a well-earned nap with a snuggly dog toy.

Answer: For all these reasons

All puppies need well puppy checkups to make sure they are healthy, and that they stay that way. If your puppy came from a breeder, it should already have had its first shots and de-worming, but a shelter animal might not have. The vet can also tell you if Rover needs regular treatments like heart worm medicine or flea medicine, as well as checking for any of the known genetic (that is inherited) problems that often occur in dogs of Rover's breed. Shots and other regular veterinary care are a very important part of properly looking after a pet.

Answer: Crate training, housebreaking / housetraining, food

Except when he is in his bed or crate, Rover should be kept on the leash at all times - even in the house - for several weeks, until he is completely comfortable. All the same, walking nicely on the leash is too advanced to tackle right away. Instead, you need to start with the basics.

First, if you decide to use a crate, the puppy needs to begin learning that it is a good and safe place. Put down a snuggly blanket and add a couple of plush toys. Then let the puppy sniff around outside and inside. It helps to lay a trail of treats for it to follow right to the back of the crate and into the blanket. Once the puppy seems comfortable, quietly close the crate's door and let it stay inside for a short time with you nearby. After a few days of practice, you'll be able to leave it alone in the crate for a few hours, like overnight. You can train it in much the same way to feel comfortable in a doggy bed if that's what you decide to use.

Depending on how old your puppy is when it becomes part of your family, it may already be housebroken. If not, having the puppy sleep in a crate for the first few weeks can be helpful with housebreaking, since Rover will not want to sleep in a place that is stinky and messy. Of course, the same is true if he sleeps in a doggy bed. Take him outside every couple of hours. After all, a puppy's bladder doesn't hold much. If he looks like he's even beginning to think about piddling or pooping, take him out. Never let him get into the habit of doing his business where he shouldn't.

The last part of training that starts right away has to do with food. At suppertime, ask your grownup to feed the puppy by hand, one nugget at a time, half its food. It can then finish its supper out of the food dish. This teaches the puppy that food comes from people - a very important lesson.

Answer: As soon as you can

Even if you plan to do some training at home, it's very helpful to start a class with a professional trainer as soon as you can. This person can answer your questions and make sure you're doing everything the right way. 'As soon as you can' doesn't have to mean "right away" though. In the UK it is recommended that you start your puppy in classes at twelve weeks old. In Australia, the advice is to wait for the third vaccination (usually 14-16 weeks) before exposing them to other dogs. But you can do a lot of preliminary training work before that.

Training your puppy takes time and commitment. It's worth it though, because a well-trained dog is well behaved and calm. It also knows what you want it to do in any situation as well as what it is and is not allowed to do. That makes things easier and more comfortable for both of you.