Puppies are adorable, sweet, loving and fun to play with. Make no mistake, however, puppies are a lot of work. As a new member of the household, there are some steps you should take to ensure that your adoption is successful for both your family and your new dog.

“Use a pee pad,” the breeder said. “Puppies take to pee pads quickly,” your vet said. And while everyone you know swears by the pads, what most forget to tell you is that sometimes puppies will chew on, shred and proudly drag the used pad around the room. That leaves you with a trail of urine and shredded pad to clean up. That’s no fun. The good news is, you can stop the chewing and shredding and get your puppy back on track with just a few training tips.

Older dogs are like older people - it’s sometimes difficult to get to the bathroom in time. However, incontinence in older dogs can be a sign of an underlying medical issue or disease.

Having a new puppy is a lot like having a new baby - you know you’re not going to get much sleep until they learn to sleep through the night. Teaching a puppy how to self-soothe, along with what bedtime really means, can go a long way in ensuring you both get the sleep you need. So how do you teach your puppy good sleeping habits? Make sure they:

Although puppies don’t speak our language, they do have common behaviors and body language that they use to get our attention. They can and will let us know what they want from us if we pay attention and learn to interpret their behavior, cries, and actions.