New Fur-Baby Orientation and Supplies List

 2.  Potty:     Your puppy is pee pad trained and trained to go outside.  My potty hack is to wake the pups, and immediately shuttle them outside to the potty zone.  I say the "potty goes outside" command as they are going potty. I want them to go outside, but if the weather is cold or wet plan on having something near the door to clean up. That is where I put the pee pad on those days. 

  3.  Control:      Your new fur-baby and the established fur-babies will no doubt get very excited about the new addition.  1) The Lead: Your Dainty Acres puppy/dog is trained to respect the lead.  I suggest you keep your new fur-baby and any established pets on a lead until the new wears off.  Keep a close eye on them in this introduction, the lead will allow you to pull them out of each others personal space.  2) The Xpen: An Xpen works great for the fur family introduction as well. One in the Xpen, and the established pack out of the pen and on leashes. Speaking of Xpens, IG’s will rush the front door to go get the squirrel or other fast moving curious things. If they get out they can cover some ground within a few strides and get lost within seconds. To prevent a lost dog, broken tail, stepped on foot, stepping in potty, etc… consider an Xpen around the front, back and all access doors of your house. This gives you some space to step in and out of an open door. An Xpen can also be used when you don’t want your dog in the kitchen.  Or the laundry room, or to block off an area in the house. I have a video that will help if you are trying to figure out a good indoor potty solution for those days your IG just won’t go outside! 3. Collars and leashes: Don’t leave a dog un-attended with a collar and lead on, stay on the other end of that lead indoors and outdoors. Your IG is very insecure, co-dependent, needy, a perfect pet for royalty. But with that said, your furbaby will likely want to go with you when you leave. 4. The Crate: So a large crate is an excellent place for your furbaby to wait for you and take a nice safe and private nap! Your puppy/dog is crate trained, so he knows how to do it. Crating should be for short spells. Your IG has been crated for up to 4 hours and can hold that long as long as he has been given a chance to go potty before and immediately after crating. 5. Sitting on the Furniture: IG's are fast, brave and powerful, so one quick launch off the furniture can be catastrophic. Couches, recliners and beds make great launching grounds for your new “Italian Potato Launcher”.  Italian Greyhounds have powerful haunches and can gain altitude that baby bones and tendons are not developed enough to handle.  I use my ladder back dining chairs to block and offer as a step. I have trained them to “load up” and “down”, but you need to continue the training in your home.   Enforcing your pet to safely load and step off of your furniture will keep him safe and healthy for his long happy life. I have an orientation video that can demonstrate the training technique for loading and unloading off of furniture. Your fur baby knows these commands, you just need to follow through for him!