Initial Introductions

Kanyon has been introduced to tons of new things in the last few days: a car, a hotel room with vinyl flooring, a second-floor apartment with real wood floors and rugs, new people, a crate, tons of new sounds and sights, etc. Almost everything he experienced in the last few days was new to him, so we wanted to make sure these things were as positive for him as possible. He wouldn’t take treats at first – not because he doesn’t like them but because he doesn’t quite get the concept of taking food from my hand yet, and he’s not quite sure how to chew and swallow treats without playing with them first. But it’s getting better and today he was able to take really small treats! Despite this likely short-lived challenge, he’s extremely praise-motivated, so for now petting and cuddling are being used as rewards to help new experiences to be as happy and positive as possible.

One thing to keep in mind is that writing all of this out might seem to you like I spend every waking minute training/socializing my puppy. This isn’t totally accurate – Kanyon gets lots of rest time, and I get some free time too. However, the first few days with a new puppy are definitely more intensive as everyone is getting used to each other and the routines.

When we arrived home with Kanyon, I hadn’t seen my other dogs in several days, and I knew they would be excited to see me. I couldn’t just walk in the house with a new puppy – that wouldn’t be fair to anyone. So, I had Tim meet me outside and he took over puppy duty outside so I could say hi to the other dogs and love on them a little before bringing Kanyon inside. Once everyone was content, we started intros outside with Legend. We put him on a leash so he wouldn’t scare or overwhelm Kanyon. Legend did great and mostly just ignored Kanyon, so this was perfect. Next we did the same thing with Lacey. She was more interested in Kanyon and a little scarier for him because she wanted to play with him right away but he wasn’t quite ready for that. She settled down and things went better for him once she was calmer.

Lyra can have a tough time with new dogs and she needs VERY slow intros. So we kenneled her and brought Kanyon inside. We let her see and smell Kanyon while she was still kenneled and this went well. Then we took Kanyon outside of the room, closed the gate to her kennel room, and let Lyra out of her kennel. Now she could see and smell Kanyon through the gate. This also went well. Finally, Tim picked Kanyon up and we let Lyra out of the gated room so she could smell him while he was being held. This also went well, so we were able to put Kanyon down. She took a moment to sniff him, and I could tell she was getting a little more unsure at this point, so I moved her away for a moment. She got just a little growly with him, so we gave her a break for a few seconds, and tried again. We repeated this for about 30 seconds, and then she was just fine and we were able to let them co-mingle together. After their intros, the dogs were all just fine together – the older dogs spent the day mostly ignoring Kanyon, which is fine for day one in our household.

Kanyon was clearly getting very over-stimulated, having met all the other dogs and doing more than he had done yet in his short little life, so a friend came over to help me walk Lacey and Lyra while Tim stayed to hang out with Legend and Kanyon. I was hoping Kanyon would nap, but when we got back Tim said he still hadn’t napped. I tried sitting down with him, and this worked for a few minutes but I had other things I needed to do since I’d just gotten home, so I got up to go unpack and do some things in the kitchen. Legend got a little snarky with Kanyon and gave him a correction which scared Kanyon, so I brought him into the kitchen with me while I went through mail. Kanyon immediately fell asleep and didn’t wake when I left the kitchen, so I just kept him in there, gated away from the other dogs so he could rest. He slept for a couple hours, so I was able to get some things done which was helpful!

After his nap, I knew I needed to do something else with him or he wouldn’t sleep overnight, so we decided to make a trip to Playful Pets in town and pick up some treats and some food. There he met a dog named Tango who was hanging out with his human working at the store. After we went to the store, we headed to a friend’s house so she could meet him, and she let him meet her dogs as well. So in a matter of an hour or so, Kanyon got to explore two new environments, meet three new people, and three new dogs. By the time he got home, he was pooped!

One thing to keep in mind during this critical period is that I am not overly concerned about training cues. I’ll create an entire post about what “training” should look like at this age, but we cannot expect an 8-week old puppy to be “obedient,” nor should this be where our focus lies. I can’t tell you how many puppy parents and clients will be so excited about how well their puppy “knows” how to sit, come when called, lay down, etc at this age. I have not cued Kanyon once to do any of these things, and he does them automatically on his own. That’s because he’s a baby who hasn’t developed a sense of independence yet, and he chooses these behaviors because it gets him something he wants or because they are comfortable or easy for him. This “perfect puppy” will not be perfect as he starts to reach adolescence. Our primary goal at this age should be socialization, experiences, and setting boundaries. We have to do things that are age-appropriate, and our expectations for our puppy should not be too complex or too high. There is a long way to go for them still at this age – a lifetime of learning and growth!