Scenario 1 - Bringing a new pet into your home

Last Christmas I got a great present - a black cocker spaniel puppy! My 13 year old cocker had died some 7 months earlier so I had fallen away from dog-friendly environment and having puppies was COMPLETELY foreign to me! With the help of my vet, the RI SPCA, and family advice Reggie (the puppy) and I both made it through unscathed - the same can not be said of all my leather shoes. Here is the advice that was given to me and the lessons I have learned since.

Comfort and Security

Choose a place (a small room or large closet) where the pet can take refuge.Place food, water, and litter box close at hand. Put in a bed or blanket. It is not necessary to confine the pet to the place of refuge. Keep the door ajar so that your pet can go in and out easily.

Pet-Proofing your home - it is much like baby-proofing 

• Minimize loose electrical cords. Young pets will play with them and nervous mature pets will chew on them.
• Some plants are poisonous to pets. Until you can research which are and which are not, place all house plants out of reach.
• Be mindful of things on the floor and in the reach of your new pet.
• Rubber bands fascinate cats but they are easily swallowed and are very dangerous to the cats digestive system. The result can be fatal.
• The same is true with strings. - instead of a loose string, buy a cat dancer type toy. Even tied to a rod a string is dangerous.
• Puppies will use anything for teething. Plastic bottles with dangerous substances should not be anywhere within a puppy’s range.

For Your Sanity

Provide kitties a few safe places to scratch. They can easily be trained to use those and to avoid your furniture. Trying to train them not to scratch is not reasonable and will not be your finest moment.

Keep shoes, purses, slippers, chewy rubber, and ANYTHING leather up and out of a puppy’s (or nervous older dog’s) reach. Provide chew toy that dont resemble your things (dont buy a chewy shoe if you dont want your dog to get the message that shoes are okay to chew).

Be understanding of cats that forget and scratch your furniture or dogs that chew your favorite Coach purse (yup, it happened to me). Steady training and strategic thinking are the answer. Anger and yelling only make your pet more nervous and more confused and undermine your training attempts.

What tools, tips, or mishaps have you experienced with your pets? Share them here!

And stay tuned, our next installment will address caring for your pets through a move/change of location.