Top tips - puppy and kids

[Confusedbadger123]

Bringing a puppy into the family in May. Any top tips on how to successfully integrate a puppy into a family with a 6 and 7 year old. Thanks x

Give the puppy its own space, pen/crate etc so when it’s had enough playing you can pop her in and she’s left alone to sleep, puppies should sleep a lot. Supervise all interactions as they are nibbly little things and it can be sore, so you can reduce puppy getting over excited and practising bad behaviours. I did a lot of work with my kids about being calm around the puppy, giving him space and letting him sleep, mine were a bit older through. Have plenty chews to replace arms/feet etc for mouthing. Use lots of positive language when she’s being good and calm, nice, lovely etc.

The biggest thing would to be to sign up for puppy classes early as they can be busy. But great for early socialisation and training. It’s full on, to begin with but I hope you have lots of fun with your new family member

Thank you very much for your detailed answer x

Agree with the above. We had a crate (that we didn’t close) inside a pen where we fed the pup and where the pup slept. Make sure puppy sleeps a lot - this is where the pen came in handy. As soon as the pup gets snappy and excitable, it was time for sleep. We watched quite a few YouTube videos about training a puppy with kids around, have a look. I think Woodgreen do one for kids (can’t remember now).

Keep enough chews, toys and treats around for training and for when the puppy is teething, as this can help keep the puppies nips away from little arms and hands. Mostly, ensure the kids follow the grown ups advice, they are at a great age to listen and follow instructions. The kids will be at school too which is good so they get a break from the pup.
lastly, have fun! It’s good fun but very difficult at the beginning, but the hard work when the pup is small will ensure you have a wonderful adult dog.

Edited to add, argh, sorry, didn't realise I was repeating the exact same advice as TWO other posters.

How exciting! I hope it goes well.

I would say that it's worth researching how you can use a crate to give a dog a refuge in a busy family home - like where to put it, how to set it up, teaching the puppy it's a good thing, and explaining to everyone that when the dog takes itself away we leave it in peace.

I had a dvd on crate games that was fab am sure there are similar things out there makes the crate a fun and safe place we also used a boundary so he’d go and settle it’s hard hard work but pays off if you’re consistent 🙃

Read up on puppy blues. It's a very real thing.

Just to agree with PPs on supervising all interactions - not just for your child's safety, but also for the puppies. More importantly, children often install bad habits in puppies - they encourage things like jumping up into peoples faces, climbing onto furniture, barking for attention/excitement - without meaning to.

I would also expect tears and pain for your kids when the puppy bites. It's important you know this and are prepared for it, because it is a puppy and it will bite. Some breeds are far worse for this than others. But all puppies bite.

Remember, before it comes home it learns to play with its teeth/paws with its littermates and puppies are not gentle with each other. It won't just nibble and teeth - although it will, of course, do that at great length. It will bite. It might even lunge and snap and curl its lip. That is perfectly normal. It is 100% normal puppy communication. It will change with time but for the first few weeks, whilst the puppy settles in, it will play like it did with its littermates and it'll be up to you and your partner (if you have one) and other responsible adults to reassure your children that it is okay, not to panic, how to react, and to teach the puppy not to do it.