HARTZ HOME PROTECTION QUILTED PLUS DOG PADS

One of the things we found out about when picking up our new puppy to come live with us is that she had never been outside to poop or pee.  So the first time she'd ever relieved herself in the outdoors was at a highway rest stop along our route across the state from the Lake Michigan beach resort town of Holland, where the puppy was born, to her new home in the suburbs of Detroit with us.  So we are starting from scratch in regard to get her trained to do her business outside the house right from the get go.

Thank goodness Hartz Pet Products & Supplies had read about us getting this new addition to our family in one of my blog posts.  They kindly sent us some Hartz Home Protection Quilted Plus Dog Pads to help save our floors from being soiled by a puppy treating them as her toilet.  I have to admit that the first week we had the dog did not go smoothly when it came to her house training.  The Hartz dog pads really passed muster when it came to avoiding our carpets and hardwood floors from becoming smelly and stained by the puppy having accidents in the house.

We keep this bag of dog pads close by whenever the puppy is out of her pen.  If it looks like she is about to poop or pee and we can't get her outside in time, we hurriedly rush her onto one of the pads.  Liquid is absorbed by the pad into FlashDry Gel that keeps it from making a mess and these pads have a nice clean powder scent. They won't leak and are great at blocking odor to avoid your house from beginning to have a urine stink smell to it.

Since getting the dog we've been taking the puppy outside regularly to the exact same spot in our backyard and walk around there until she goes.  We then praise her and let the puppy have a dog treat.  This has been working out really well with us entering our third week of owning the puppy and she hasn't peed or pooped inside the house for four days in a row now.  Knock on wood!  Being that she is a puppy, we're still keeping those Hartz Home Protection Quilted Plus Dog Pads close by just in case.

From our experience, I recommend you check out this Made in the USA product from Hartz as part of your house training routine for puppies.  They just aren't useful for puppies though. Dogs that stay home inside alone all day on a regular basis can be trained to use these pads as their potty if they can't get outside because their family can't be around to let them out.  That can also be the case for ailing and incontinent dogs that can't hold their bladder long enough to get outside or have physical difficulties getting around.  Hartz Home Protection Quilted Plus Dog Pad also are useful for lining pet carriers or car seats while traveling with your pet.  Plus if you don't need them for preventing accidents, these pads also make great towels for drying wet, muddy canine paws and fur.

Hartz has been providing products that keep pets happy, healthy and thriving for more than 90 years. Visit hartz.com to see everything they have to offer that may be useful for your own pet. Plus keep coming back to ageekdaddy.com for updates to how my family is adapting to our new lifestyle as dog owners of a very energetic Boxer puppy.

Boxer Puppy Update

We picked out a Boxer puppy from a litter a few weeks ago for a family pet.  It was recommended that the dog stay with her mother until it is eight weeks old so we haven't brought it home yet.  The people who own the puppy's mom and dad live near the Lake Michigan shoreline on the other side of the state from us, but despite the distance we've gone out a few times to visit this future addition to our family.

A Boxer was the breed we decided to get because they are known to be protective of children as well as very playful.  They also are short-haired dogs that don't require much grooming which also was a nice selling point for me in picking out a Boxer. It is supposed to be the "kids' dog" ... though we'll see how much I end up cleaning up after her once we actually bring it home.

There are two boys and two girls in the litter. We choose one of the girls because the males can grow to be 80 to 100+ pounds while the females tend to be around 40 to 50 pounds.  This way the dog is intimidating enough to serve as a watch dog but yet small enough for my wife and kids to handle and be comfortable around.  Of the two girls to choose from, we decided to go with the one that had the most white coloring mixed in with her fawn fur.

Though she's currently living a 3 three hour drive away from us, we've gone out a few times to visit her.  We wanted to make sure the puppy was familiarized with us before just pulling her away from the surrounding she has been accustomed to since being born.  In fact, the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) recommends making an effort to socialize puppies with people as much as possible within the first three months of their lives. 

This is a time when sociability outweighs fear, and dogs' brains are most inclined to be comfortable with adjusting to new people and places.  Getting a puppy comfortable with the family they are living with during this early stage of life can have long-term benefits when it comes to shaping the dogs temperament.

Some tips on socializing puppies from the AVSAB include:

• Engage your puppy's senses through exposure to different sights, sounds, and smells as part of its day-to-day life;
• Gently handle and pet the animal so that it learns to accept the touching of all its body parts;
• Expose the dog to as many people, animals, places and situations as possible;
• Encourage your pet to explore and investigate the environment around it;
• and allow it to experience a variety of toys, surfaces and other stimuli.

The kids have been having a lot of fun playing with the puppy ... and the puppy seems to be enjoying getting to know them.  I'm glad we've made the extra effort to introduce her to our family's scents, sounds, and personalities instead of just suddenly bringing her home one day.  It looks like she is going to fit in just fine with our family.

We'll be bringing the Boxer puppy home in two more weeks when she turns 2 months old.  Stay tuned for more updates as we add this new addition to A Geek Daddy's family.