yet another thing to chew. Buy one for food and one for water. Some breeders recommend bowl stands (these are three- or four-legged raised containers) to prevent the puppy dipping his head to eat. Personally, I feel that normal feeding with the bowl on the floor is perfectly acceptable.
Ask the breeder what food the puppy has been weaned on. Most breeders will give you a diet sheet to take with you when you collect the puppy. Make sure you have the correct food ready for when the puppy arrives.
Wormers
Your breeder should have kept the puppy up-to-date with his worming, and your obligation will start the moment he arrives in your care. All dogs need to be wormed regularly in the first two years of their life. Your breeder or vet will be happy to advise you.
Flea prevention
As with worming, flea and tick control is an essential part of caring for your puppy. There are various excellent preventatives on the market and your vet can advise you and administer flea control for a nominal fee.
Bringing your puppy home
The day you collect your puppy will be very exciting. Make sure that at least two people (preferably adults) drive to pick him up. Puppies can get quite car sick at first and one of you will need to hold him and make sure that he does not become distressed. Some people advise taking a cardboard box full of towels for the journey. However, although this may be a sensible precaution, I have brought a puppy home inside my coat, where the tiny creature was quite happy to sleep during the 200-mile journey.
Puppy training pads
These are like giant nappies that you place wherever you wish the puppy to toilet. Start by positioning one just outside his crate and then gradually move it closer to the door. He will soon associate the pad with doing his business and will ‘follow’ it to his ultimate destination… outside. Pads can also prevent too much mess on the floor.
Your puppy will soon associate his crate with security and will enjoy going in there.
Wearing a collar
Get your puppy used to wearing a collar for the first time. Give him a couple of days to settle in first, and then introduce him to it gently. Most puppies don’t mind at all, but it will help with lead training if they grow accustomed to wearing a collar at the earliest possible age.
You may want to ask the breeder for a scrap of bedding which has the scent of the puppy’s mother on it, as it can be quite soothing for him if he can still smell something familiar amongst his new surroundings.
If your journey will be lengthy, remember to take a bottle of water and a small bowl with you in the car. If a toilet break becomes necessary, you can pull up somewhere well away from the traffic and stay close to your puppy until he has relieved himself.
Settling in at home
When you arrive home, introduce your puppy to your garden straight away. This will tell him that this is where he can relieve himself. Next stop should be his bed, which may be a crate, or a dog bed lined with old towels or blankets. Avoid fluffy bedding as your puppy will probably end up chewing most of it. Some people use sturdy cardboard boxes as first beds. These are OK, but you may find a huge pile of shredded cardboard and no bed the next morning.
Leave him to settle quietly and allow him to have a potter round and explore the house. Remember that this can be quite an overwhelming experience, and even though Staffords are generally very adaptable, your puppy has just left his mother and litter mates and has entered a whole new world, all in one day. If you have children, don’t let them overwhelm him. Explain to them that he needs peace and quiet while he settles in and when he feels more confident he will probably want to play. Young dogs need plenty of sleep and, much like their human counterparts, will probably eat, sleep and toilet for the first few weeks of their life.
Most puppies soon get used to wearing a collar and lead. Put them on your dog and let him trail them round the garden.
House-training
If done properly, house-training can be easy and stress-free for both you and your puppy. No puppy can avoid having the odd accident. He will have lived in a confined space for the first eight weeks of his life and will probably have relieved himself on newspaper. So don’t expect him to know automatically what to do straight away. You need to be patient.
In the very early stages, make sure that he is able to reach some newspaper (or a training pad) the minute he leaves his bed. He will be used to doing this, and any immediate change from his usual routine may cause him undue stress. It is ideal if his crate can be positioned as near to the outside door (the one he will go out of to relieve himself) as possible. This newspaper training will teach him not only to go in the same place all the time but will also help him to associate the back door with his toilet.
Always reward your puppy with praise words when he toilets outside in the garden.
During the first week, try and observe the times that he needs to toilet and start pre-empting him. Most puppies relieve themselves after a meal and on waking, so start off by taking him outside first thing in the morning. Don’t worry if he has already done something on his newspaper. Stand with him and let him toilet; maybe say a special word to get him used to the routine, such as ‘Be quick’. If he performs, make a fuss of him and praise him enthusiastically before taking him back inside. He will learn that toileting outside in a particular spot is rewarding and will want to please you.
Playtime
A Stafford puppy is happiest when he is playing. Until he has been fully vaccinated and is happy to walk on a lead, it is best to restrict his exercise to playtime with you in the garden and around the home.
Staffords love to tug things, so gentle tugs-of-war with a dog rope (available wherever dog toys can be obtained) are a good idea. Be careful with your puppy’s teeth though, and don’t be too boisterous at this stage. Let him chase toys that you throw for him and encourage him to run around the garden with you as well. If he is good, and particularly if he is gentle, reward his behaviour with a small dog treat and plenty of praise. Remember that at this age a puppy will tire very easily, so don’t expect too much from him: 10–15 minutes at a time are sufficient.
After a couple of weeks, he may go to the door himself and ask to be put out. Let him out and never stop using praise as this will reinforce that what he is doing is right. At this point, start telling him it is wrong to toilet inside. However, you must remain patient and not shout at your puppy. Make sure the door is open for him whenever possible. If you see him squatting down in readiness inside the house, use a single word command, such as ‘No’ or ‘Outside’, then pick him up and carry him outside. Praise him lavishly when he does his job.
This simple method will eventually produce the right result, but remember that accidents
