Bringing Your Bulldog Home: How to Acclimate A New Bulldog Puppy
Bringing Your Bulldog Home: How to Acclimate A New Bulldog Puppy
Adjusting to an unfamiliar situation can feel overwhelming or frightening for anyone. Your bulldog baby is no different. Whether the newest member of your bulldog brood is a two-month old puppy or an eight-year-old senior, if he’s moving into your home and meeting his new family for the first time, he’ll likely be going through an adjustment period and will need extra reassurance and comfort.
6 Tips for Acclimating Your Bulldog
When bringing home a new bulldog for the first time, the first 24 hours are some of the most important for helping to ensure your bulldog feels comfortable and secure in his new environment. The following six tips can go a long way in making your bulldog become acclimated to an unfamiliar living space and curious new housemates.
1. Bring him home in the morning
It is best to acquire your new puppy at a time when you can offer him your company and undivided attention for a few days. This is especially important as he is settling in. If you bring him home in the morning, he will have had time to feed, play and tire himself out before bedtime.
2. Let him get familiar with his new home
When your puppy first arrives, let him sniff around and familiarize himself with his surroundings; then introduce him to his bed.
Take care when introducing him into the household, as this can be a difficult and confusing time for your puppy. Your home is full of strange sights, sounds and smells that he may find exciting or overwhelming. He will be missing his mother, brothers and sisters and will look to you and your family to replace the company, comfort and security that he has left behind.
3. Name him right away
Choose a name for him as soon as possible. Be consistent and use it repeatedly as you talk to him; he will soon learn to respond.
4. Let him sleep
You will find that your puppy plays vigorously for short spells and then may retire to his bed for an hour or so. Sleep is as important for your puppy as it is for a baby, so don’t disturb him when he is resting. Young children in the family should also be taught that puppies are not toys.
5. Introduce him to the other pets
Introductions should be made gradually, on neutral territory and under constant supervision. Never leave a new puppy alone with an older cat or dog. Feed them separately until they have become friends.
6. Comfort him at night
For the first few nights your puppy will probably be restless and whimper when he is left alone. Wrapping a water bottle and a ticking clock in a blanket and placing it in his bed can be very reassuring for a new bulldog pup. But these items shouldn’t be made of rubber or plastic, or the puppy may chew them.
Above all, be kind, gentle and patient with your puppy during his introduction to your home. Don’t scold or speak harshly to him in the first few days, even if he is destructive or makes a mess—in his confused state, this can backfire and he may learn to fear you. This initiation period should be an enjoyable time in which you and your puppy can get to know each other and he can learn to trust you, thus forming the basis for a happy life together.
About Cascade Bulldogs: Cascade Bulldogs is a bulldog blog managed by Gail and Eddie Harris. It features famous bulldog show dogs Wildflower and Snow White as well as several of Snow White’s adorable bulldog puppies. Follow Cascade Bulldogs on Facebook and Instagram for weekly updates, cute photos and inspirational bulldog quotes.
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