So now you have your puppy...
The next 24-48 hours are going to be quite traumatic for him, don't forget he has spent the last 7 weeks in the company of his other brothers and sisters, with Mum and several 'aunties' if he is going to a home without another dog he is going to feel isolated for a short while until he adjusts to this.
Make things easier on your pup, when you come to collect him to take him home, bring a towel or a blanket which can be rubbed all over Mum, so he has a familiar scent to take to his new home.

Do not overwhelm your pup with lots of new experiences in the first crucial days, limit his world to one room and the garden, make sure you have created a safe environment for him to be in, where he cannot come to any harm or get into any trouble. Make sure all electical appliances are not plugged in or are well out of his reach.

Be aware that your pup is a baby and as such requires lots and lots of sleep to grow and develope properly, if he is napping try not to disturb him. Curb any children in the house and discourage them from waking the puppy up....He needs his sleep !!

Begin to crate train him for short 10 minute periods. Place the blanket you have Mum's scent on into the crate and lock puppy in, try to do this when he is tired and with luck he will settle down for a sleep. Do not remove a crying pup from a crate just because he is crying, compare this to picking up a baby, every time it cries. Let him out when he is quiet, that way he will not associate crying with being let out of the crate.

You might want to give you puppy a bone for the times he goes into the crate to help settle him, he will soon see the crate as his 'den' and be quite happy to spend short periods of time in there, which means if you have to go out and leave him at all, he is safely confined, you may also find a crate trained pup is easier to housetrain.

Don't forget to provide your pup with fresh bones, do not buy any artificial replacements, go for the real macoy, fresh raw bones are one of the finest foods you can give your pup, they will also help to sooth aching gums when the pup is teething, they can be served straight from the freezer for teething pups. Another good tip for teethers, is to tie a teatowel in a knot and freeze it, the pup will get comfort and releif from the pain of teething by chewing it.

If you have another dog in the house make sure they are separated at bone time, an older dog will not take kindly to a pup trying to muscle in on his bone. Pups have to work out their boundaries and respect older dogs, most dogs will not share their bone willingly !
Make sure that when you give the pup his bone, you make a practise of taking it off him at regular intervals, to prevent any kind of food agression manifesting, do the same wth the pups meals from time to time, praise te pup then return to him the bone or dinner.

Your pup is used to being soothed by a human voice, leave a radio on close to him as a comfort factor, you may also like to leave a ticking clock close by him, theories are that the ticking mimics Mum's heartbeat.

Give your pup lots of praise and reassurance, but do not allow children to constantly pick him up, the place for a dog is on the floor!! Do not allow him to jump up at you, or place him on the furniture. Never encourage biting of hands, redirect it to a favourite toy.

You should, by now have made him an appointment with you local vetinary practice, if you have not already done so, book him in soon for a general check up and to make arangements for his first innoculation. By the time he is 7 weeks old he will hve been wormed twice, by me, using a natural wormer. It is called four seasons and can be found and ordered if you click on the link below.
http://doghealth.co.uk/fleaworm.htm

Make an A1 student out of your pup by enlisting him into puppy training and socialising classes as soon as he is old enough. Spend some time reading about training and if you practice at home, use 10 minute lessons so the pups attention does not wander, always try to finish on a pleasant note for the pup.

Toilet training your puppy

This can be a very simple and quick procedure, here are some links to help you with this.
http://www.barkbytes.com/training/house.htm
http://perfectpaws.com/htrp.html 
If at any time you are worried or concerned about anything regarding your puppy, please do not hesitate to phone me, it is part of the after-sales service I offer and I take it very seriously and will try to help or advise in any way I can.
Please now read the puppy management page and if possible, buy the book I have suggested on there, you will find it fascinating and extremely helpful.
Here is a link for you to click on for lots of information about the different stages of puppyhood and how you can expect your pup's personality to change during these periods.
http://www.westchesterk-9.com/personalities.htm 

Puppy Management

All the efforts of a conscientious breeder can go out of the window within months of a puppy arriving at it’s new home if it is not managed correctly.
Please click this link to be taken to '10 simple rules'
http://www.bluegrace.com/10simplerules.pdf
I cannot recommend this book highly enough, a real must for all new puppy owners and enthusiasts alike. Don't be without it.
click on the link below for information on this book, including cheaper used copies as well as new.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0060199539/ref=sib_dp_pt/104-5377686-8048740#reader-link 

There is a window which is open between the pup being born until it is around 16 weeks of age, the window then starts to close, during the time that window is open it is very important to subject the puppy to as many different people, other dogs, situations, sounds and experiences as possible, once the window closes, it is a lot harder for a pup to accept new situations/people/noises etc.
Work in the house with a collar and lead, practising until he accepts them so that when he is safe to go out properly on a lead his first experience is a journey of discovery and not a struggle to get him to even walk on the lead!
http://www.dog-training-information.info/ 

Positive Paws Dog Training ©2002 – Margaret Hughes - 707-935-6142 – mags@positivetrainer.com
Adapted with permission from Pat Schaap’s “RULE OF 7’s” for 7 week old puppies
Make sure all experiences are safe and positive for the puppy. Each encounter should include treats and lots of praise. Slow down and add distance if your puppy is scared!
By the time a puppy is 12 weeks old, it should have :
(If your puppy is over 12 weeks start right away with this socialization guide.)

It is very, very important that your pup is not over exercised or allowed to do anything which will damage the soft growing bones, hip dysplasia can be brought on and manifest itself in a remarkably short time when a pup is given too much or the wrong type of exercise, once you have damaged the hips although it can be managed it will never go away, far better then to ensure it doesn’t happen in the first place.
There is a growing misconception that hip dysplasia is a purely genetic disease, I can absolutely assure you that it is not, in my opinion man has by modern methods of management contributed enormously to this on going problem and it can pop up in any pup no matter how well bred or low scored its parents were. So how do we avoid it happening to our puppy? This is quite simple, we have a puppy management system which is two fold, we feed an appropriate diet and we allow our pup only appropriate exercise.
2. Leap on and of furniture, sofas, chairs etc.
3. Jump in and out of the boot of a car, always lift him in or out.
4. Jump or lunge at moving objects such as frisbys, balls etc, these types of exercise are definately not appropriate !!

5. Encourage any exercise which results in him being on his 2 hind legs and this includes jumping up at you.
6.Chasing or running with older dogs.

To tug or not to tug!! - click on the link below for advice on use of the much loved tug toy ~
http://canismax.angelcities.com/training_tug.htm 
1. Sufficient free exercise than a pup can initiate and end on his own.
2. Wrestling with a favourite toy.
3. Playing tag or tug with other family members human or gentle canine.
4. Ambushing favourite toys.
5. Swimming (from about 5 months- supervised and gradual)
6. Chewing on a Raw Meaty Bone.
7. Very short trips out on the lead.
8. Free running, supervised and uninhibited by other canines.
9. Puppy class or training class (use exercises as homework)
click on link below.
http://www.urbancarnivore.com/uc_online/pages.cfm?ID=38 
Who is in charge ~ me or the dog?? click on this link to learn how to become the ALPHA in your household ~
http://www.sonic.net/~cdlcruz/GPCC/library/alpha.htm 

Here is Shanti at about 8 months in a hydro pool, she really enjoyed this and by the time she was ready and old enough to run free on the beach with her pals, she was not scared of the water and often went in for a dip!


PUPPY BITING and MORE...
Every pup goes through the 'biting' stage, it is normal instictive behaviour and does not mean that you have an aggressive puppy, they are testing their boundaries, they are working out what is acceptable and what isn't, biting is a normal part of that behaviour.
It is how you deal with this behaviour that is important here, click on this link:- http://www.canismajor.com/dog/bite2.html
To read about the method I have been using for years to irracicate this sort of behaviour, it really works......for me!!
There are several other methods which can also be used and depending on what sort of a personality your puppy has, you may find other methods work better.
1. separation - If your pup starts to bite, separate yourself from him immediately, walk away into another room and ignore the bad behaviour. I find that this method takes longer to get results with.
2. Have a small plastic bottle half filled with small stones so that it makes a distict rattle when shaken. When puppy bites, shake it into his face. Do not allow puppy any contact with the bottle - it is not another toy for him.
3. Squeal loudly when the puppy bites you, it must be instant and responsive.
Try a combination of these methods working out which you get the best results with.
http://www.crickethollowfarm.com/biteinhib.htm
But you HAVE to be consistant about it !
Here are a few more things you will find interesting now you have your new puppy, click on any of the following underlined subject questions and they will take you to another page.
Here is an A-Z help list of subjects you might be interested in, click on any of them to take you to another page:-