Meeting Other Household Members

Your puppy will be disoriented when it first arrives. Keep it in one room, but let it investigate to its heart's content. Keep human physical activity to a minimum.

If you have children, explain to them the need to be quiet and calm. Avoid the temptation to play "hot potato" with your new family member. Once it is more secure and confident - a matter of minutes for some but days for others - you can increase your activities with it.

An older dog may resent the arrival of a rambunctious newcomer. Let the resident make the first move; this is most successful when the new puppy is asleep.

Open the door and allow your resident to enter and sniff the newcomer. Almost invariably, adult dogs recognize the smell of "youth" and when provoked by the newcomer will threaten rather than bite viciously.

Introduce the family cat in the same way. If your cat is dog-confident, it will stand its ground and bat the face of an approaching puppy, the ideal way to establish ground rules. Make sure you move the cat's feeding bowl to a location inaccessible to your puppy.