You’ve just brought home a new fur baby, and you couldn’t be happier. The two of you are going to have an amazing time together. And if you’re looking for some ways to enhance your experience, check out these tips and tricks for bonding with your new fur baby.

Give It a Special Area

It’s important to establish an area or a special room in your house for your puppy. Consider it this way. Bringing it home for the first time can be overwhelming because it’s in a new environment and around people it has likely never met before. You want it to feel wanted and welcome.

Designating a special area for your pup could help with any anxiety it might feel and give it a chance to recuperate. Place its toys, bed, and some of its other belongings in that spot so that it knows that spot belongs to it. And when it misses you, it’ll find you again. After all, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Schedule Some Time Together

Don’t think that going on walks qualifies as spending enough time with your new fur baby. Getting a new puppy requires a lot of patience and quality time. Set aside some time in your schedule for special one-on-one time with your dog.

During one of those walks, consider going to the beach or the park, and enjoy playing with it. Watch it get overly excited and share that excitement. Also, try and teach it a few tricks and bring along some treats. Having your puppy eat from your hand every once in a while helps establish trust.

Take a Trip

Pack up the car with your and your dog’s belongings and hit the road. Plan a fun and safe road trip with your puppy so that you two can have some special bonding time with a few adventures along the way. If it’s a new puppy, don’t plan a trip too far away. Long drives might not be the best for it.

A quick day trip might be more acceptable. Try and plan a trip that includes plenty of open space for your dog to run freely and get some exercise. Additionally, make sure you bring along all the proper paperwork and a GPS tracker for safety purposes. You probably won’t let it out of your sight, but bring a tracker so that you cover all your bases.

Be Firm With Your Rules

Supply your dog with unconditional love, but you must be firm, too. You’re its friend, but it also needs to remember who’s in charge. Be consistent with the rules. New puppies like to run wild and free, but they also like structure.

Your dog will know who the leader is, and it will always look to you for guidance. In doing so, you create a bond with your puppy that no one can break. It will become instinctual for it to seek you out for affection and order.

Optimize your bonding time with your new fur baby with any one of these tips. Together, you’ll become inseparable.