Quick Tips for Preparing Your Family for a New Pup

Quick Tips for Preparing Your Family for a New Pup

So, you’ve decided to get a dog for your family! Congratulations! It is a quintessential part of the American dream, right? A four-legged furry family member to love and adore with wags and kisses. 

If you had asked me a year ago, I would’ve told you that I’m not much of a “dog person”. However, with one kid begging for a pet (and old enough for the responsibility) and the other allergic to cats, we embarked on the journey of finding the right dog for our family.

Quick Tips for Preparing for a New Pup

Find the right space in your home for a crate. 

Crate training is a must for a well-behaved dog. Choose a crate for your home that will fit your pup when she is full grown. I like to have a collapsible crates that is easy to clean – especially in those first days of your puppy adapting to her new home.
 

Fill the crate with cuddly (but washable) bedding. 

We all want our pups warm and secure at night or while we are away. Take an old t-shirt to put in with her while you are gone.

Establish a regular schedule for health habits. 

Get in the habit early of establishing those routine cues that help your pup know when it is time to eat, time to go outside, and time to go to bed. Feeding schedules help with a regular bathroom schedule. Be sure not to feed your pup too close to bedtime to avoid messy crates or a midnight wake up call. Remember to reward to behavior you want with treats! Find Healthy Dog Food Options

Find a vet who can help you monitor your new pup’s healthy growth milestones. 

Be a responsible pet parent. Get your new family member properly vaccinated and well acquainted with your local veterinarian. The local vet’s office is a great place to make sure your new-found friend is happy, healthy…and if he were to ever gets lost a great resource for Fido making it back home.

Plan for your pup’s grooming and hygiene. 

Depending on your pup’s breed, you may need to have grooming items on hand for daily care. Three must-have items for your new pup include:

* A dog brush or one of those cool gloves that have the brush teeth are handy (ha! Pun intended!)
* Nail clippers keep those claws from scratching up your hardwood floors.
* Organic shampoo is gentle on Fido’s skin and coat.

Choose a variety of chew toys….and save your shoes! 

A teething pup is your shoe collection’s worst nightmare. Keep you Jimmy Choo’s safe with a variety of chew toys to fit your dog’s mouth, challenge his attention, and meets his mood. We keep a few soft toy’s with squeekers (p.s. Hear Doggy Flatties with Chew Guard Technology Dog Toy has a silent squeaker and is awesome!) plus a few of the Kong ® Brand chews on hand. If you fill the Kong chew toys with treats or peanut butter, it will keep your pup busy for hours!

Assign roles and responsibilities. 

This is a great way to share responsibilities and for young kids to take part in chores of taking care of your new pup. Part of adding a furry four-legged family member to our household was clear cut responsibilities. We have clear rules and rotations for who is responsible for which pet chore each day.  It has made my transition to being a doggy mommy so much more enjoyable.

Need more ideas...check out these Must Have Dog Supplies  

Adding to your family is a fun and exciting time! Embrace this change like each new phase of your own children’s lives. A pet can create wonderful memories and bonds for the kids, the dog, and the parents. 

Remember, a dog is a commitment. Don’t take it on lightly. Take your time finding the right family member. We took over a year to finally decide on our Giovanni Winston. 

Until next time,

Katie


Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links which means, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. I only share links of products that I trust. All opinions on My Mom Spark are 100% mine.

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How to Deal with Baby Sleeping Issues #GuestPost

Remember the struggles of getting into a good sleep routine with your newborn? It is always great to find sound advice from experts - like those at babypillars.com. Today's guest post shares some great tips on how to deal with your baby sleeping issues.

How to Deal with Baby Sleeping Issues

For new born babies it is well known and expected that they will get up many times at night. Newborn babies that are just now entered the world need their time to adjust, adopt and realize and gain good sleeping habits. For more mature babies this is not the case and they should sleep through the night.

A lot of new parents have a lot of questions regarding baby care, questions like: How to take a baby to sleep? When do babies crawl? What are infant growth spurts? and much more. In this short article we will try to explain and go over things that might be affecting your baby sleeping patterns and what can you do as a parent differently.

Pre-fixed patterns and routines

Your new born baby needs fixed patterns. Your newborn biological clock is not yet set up and if you don’t set a well-known and well establish routine for your newborn they will find it difficult to settle down or to fall asleep. We as parents must follow a fixed pattern in our day by day care of our baby. When you maintain fixed day by day patterns, when they eat, when you play together, when they sleep, they will almost automatically begin to understand when they are supposed to play, when to sleep and so on.

"Start a routine as soon as possible. Help your baby by setting a routine and follow the routine as much as possible"

Sleep during the day

It is very important that you will track your baby sleeping patterns and the times they sleep during the day.  A lot of times sleeping issues in babies' accrue at night and that is because your baby is not tired enough due to long period of sleeping time during the day. You must play with your baby sufficiently to make him or her tired by the end of the day so they will fall asleep due to tiredness and natural fatigue.

"Help your baby in discovering new stimulates and habits during the day that will help them sleep soundly at night"

It varies with the age of your baby, but in any case try not to take your baby to long naps during the day. A baby who is just a few months old should at the most sleep for an hour at a time. For a new born baby that is about 0-3 months old they should sleep for a longer periods of time and up to three hours. Don’t allow your baby to sleep as much as they want during the day. If you do so you are just maintaining their sleeping issues and they are sure to have problems at night time.

The outdoors

It is a best practice as they say to take your baby somewhere during the day. You can take your baby to a family or friend’s house, or even to a park. Your baby would love the change to be stimulated by the environment in which he or she is in. For newborn babies try to find an environment that is not full with a wide range of stimulates rather just a few, a large and hectic shopping mall is not the best place for your little one.

"Nature and the outdoors is a great place to stimulate your baby"

Conclusion

Your baby sleeping habits can be affected by a lot of things that are surrounding them. By keeping a close eye on your baby sleeping patterns, by instilling patterns and routines and by playing and stimulating them during the day you can change your newborn sleeping patterns and issues and teach your newborn baby to sleep through the night.

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Your Kids Depend on Your Confidence -Special #GuestPost

Parenting takes confidence. Business takes confidence. Life takes confidence. This is why I bring you today’s guest post from Jordan Mercedes and The RePurpose Work Confidence Course. Read more about how finding her confidence has helped Jordan change her life…and how she can help you find your confidence too.

Your Kids Depend on Your Confidence

Fifteen minutes before I was to take the stage, the woman who invited me on a speaking tour in Uganda slipped me a piece of paper. It said, “I want you to speak to the students about how to protect themselves from sexual abuse.” 

Sexual abuse? 

My subject matter was how to recognize your God given gifts, talents and special abilities. Didn’t she know that? All of my material would have told her that. 

I had a moment of pause as I searched myself for the message for the students. I asked her how many students I would be speaking to; in a calm voice, she said there would be about eight hundred elementary school children in the first assembly and about five to six hundred high school students in the second assembly. 

I held the paper in my hand and read the words a few times, “sexual abuse.”  It wasn’t my story, but it was their story. At that moment I made a decision. “Yes, I’m going to give this talk and it’s going to go straight to the heart of these kids. I will hold nothing back and I WILL NOT BE AFRAID!"

I could never have pulled it off if I had not overcome the deep roots of fear and insecurity that plagued my life for years. I’d fought the battle against fear and won. It was a hard battle, but that day made every struggle worth it. Those kids, who needed to learn how to protect themselves from predatory people, were totally and completely worth it. 

Learning to be a confident woman has changed my life, but what’s more important is, it’s changing the lives of those around me. Fear holds you back, confidence moves you forward.

Confidence is simply believing that you can accomplish what you set out to do. 

When you understand how to live from a place of confidence, you can teach your children how to do the same. 

So let me ask you, are you fighting the battle of fear in any area of your life? If so, you need to know that this is a temporary fight and one that can be won, if you want to win it. Each day millions of people wake up to face the giants of fear and insecurity. 

With the right tools, support and practice you can take out your sword, slay the giants, step over them and keep going. This January and for the rest of the year I’m teaching the confidence course to those who are ready to win their battle like I won mine. 

My victory was a victory for those students; your victory is a victory for your kids and the people you influence.

About  our guest author: Jordan Mercedes is an author, speaker and owner of RePurpose Work. She helps people love the work they do and helps companies love their people. Enrollment for the next confidence course is open; you can go here to sign-up. 

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Productivity Tips for Busy Moms in Business

Being a busy mom requires organization and scheduling skills that keeps everyone on task and on time for school, activities, meals, chores and everything else in life. I personally rely heavily on a variety a calendaring options to schedule myself, my kids, and my husband. 

From a shared Google calendar for work, blogging and business schedules to physical calendars on the walls in the kitchen and office to my pocket calendar in my bag, I have a calendar everywhere for everything. It may seem silly and repetitive, but its what works for me. 

Productivity Tips:

1. Find the right calendar planning option for you (wall calendar, pocket calendar, digital calendar, etc).
2. Color code your tasks (green for business, purple for personal, blue for spouse, red for kid activities, etc).
3. Ink the time on your calendar dedicated to key business activities (marketing, accounting, organizing, networking, etc).
4. Ink the time on your calendar for required family, kid and spouse activities (nightly dinner prep, dance class, football practice, etc).
5. Don't be flexible with 'inked' calendar items.
6. Use a pencil for non-essential activities (social activities, play dates, etc).
7. Don't be afraid to ink in some personal time on your calendar (for reflection, relaxation, a massage, mani/pedi, etc).

One of my favorite stops at the end of the year is the calendar store. This year I've found Calendars.com. It is e-tail equivalent of the calendar kiosk pops up every year at your local mall. At Calendars.com you can order wall calendars, desk calendar, themed 'of-the-day' calendars, pocket calendars, and even calendars designed to keep mom organized.

Calendars.com has themes for any passion, pet, sports hero, or classic design you can think of. Check out their top 50 calendar designs and check out their December savings.Shop our 50 most popular calendars. Free Shipping available!

Calendars make great holiday gifts for kids, parents, friends, and co-workers. So, shop now for holiday savings.

Do you have a calendar strategy? How do you stay organized? Share your productivity tips with us in the comments.

Until Next Time,

Katie

This post contains affiliate links. All opinions and experiences are 100% mine.

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