From Your New Puppy's Eye View

Can you imagine yourself as a puppy? Suddenly you're taken from a warm and familiar setting where doggy mom and human mom lived, along with all your brothers and sisters and brought to an unfamiliar place. The sounds are different. The scents are different. The humans smell different. In some cases, there are no other puppies to romp and play tag with. It is just you in this strange, strange place. You don't speak the language and you don't understand the customs here. You might start to shake a little bit. You might want to hide, or you might cling to whoever was the first person to get hold of you and take you away from what was familiar to you. You might cry, run or even pee on the floor. Then imagine there is someone in this place able to translate and explain everything to you in a calm and friendly way. Things might start looking a little better. Puppies are just like this. They have feelings and emotions much like a human newborn or baby. They can't articulate or speculate on their new situation, but they definitely sense a change from life with their littermates. They experience fear, panic, happiness and excitement just like humans do. The main problem with puppies, however, is that they cannot reason and they don't understand our language, whether it be English, Italian or Chinese. They don't understand complex sentences or yelling and hitting either. These tactics frighten puppies. These adorable little foreigners need someone to speak to them in their own language and to understand how it feels to be a puppy. Show them some doggy empathy and do not feel your new puppy is rejecting you or does not like you just because they whine a little bit, try to run and hide from you or suddenly pee on your floor. One way of showing your new puppy extra loving care is to dress the new puppy in a warm fleece t-shirt (if it is cold in your area) and perhaps a lightweight t-shirt or shirt if it is warm where you live. Try to have several little outfits on hand before you bring your new puppy home, just as you would have several outfits on hand before you would bring home a newborn from the hospital. Dogs need lots of attention, especially the toy breed dogs. Dogs do not accept social isolation well. They generally respond positively to every loving gesture, including the types of leashes, collars and clothes you put on them.