Planning ahead needs to be at the top of your priority list when preparing for house training a puppy, because it can only improve the process of moving your puppy to his new strange new world from his comfy and secure home with his mother. It can be disconcerting for a young pup when his mother and littermates suddenly disappear, and he finds himself in new and unfamiliar surroundings with a whole range of new and unknown faces and scents.

These emotions don’t just apply to young puppies. Adult dogs can also experience separation anxiety by everything new that happens to them when they get relocated. Regardless of their age, your new dog has no idea what awaits in his future; he just sees a new and quite worrying place with none of his friends.

If you can fit it in, an ideal plan would be to visit your puppy or dog at his current home. This way you are not a complete stranger to him when you pick him up. The benefit of taking this approach is that when you begin to look at, how to train a puppy he will already be used to you and better able to learn his new skills. Don’t worry if you can’t get to see your new puppy before he comes home - you could ask the old owner for something from the dog’s bed, like maybe a piece of clothing that he’s slept on, or any other item he recognizes that will help him settle down and adjust to his new home.

The best time to bring a new puppy or dog into your home is any time when you’ll be able to spend a few full days at home with him. A holiday period is perfect. But you do need to be at home with your dog during the holidays. Don’t bring a new dog home and then pack him off to a boarding kennel while you take a three-week cruise. You need to have at least a couple of days at home and help the newcomer get over his homesickness blues.

In the same way that we humans make preparations for a new baby, where we buy all the things we’ll need for the babies needs, training your puppy is just the same. You should do the same for your new family member.

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