Bringing home a puppy: how to make the first weeks a good start

Bringing a puppy home is one of the best days you will ever have with a dog, and one of the busiest. In the first few weeks your dog learns more than in any year that follows: where he is allowed to wee, that night-time is for sleeping, that the hoover is not a monster. A little preparation makes things a lot easier for him (and for you).

In this article:

• Before he comes home: what to get ready
• The first day
• The first nights
• House training
• Feeding
• Socialisation
• Being left alone
• Vet, microchip and registration
• The first four weeks at a glance

Before he comes home: what to get ready

Make sure everything is ready before the big day. That way you can spend the first few days with your puppy instead of out shopping.

• A fixed place to sleep. A crate or a basket somewhere quiet, not in the middle of a busy walkway. A crate is not a punishment but a den: with a blanket over it and the door open, many dogs find it a safe place to be.
• The same food the breeder uses. Ask what your puppy is eating now and buy that for the first few weeks. Moving house is quite enough excitement for a tummy.
• A food bowl and a water bowl. Ideally sturdy and not too deep, so he can reach easily.
• A collar or harness and a lead. Puppies grow fast; choose something adjustable and check every week that you can still fit two fingers underneath.
• Chew toys. Teething itches. Whatever he is allowed to chew should be easier to find than your shoes.
• A soft brush, so he gets used to grooming from an early age.
• Poo bags and, if you have no garden or live high up, perhaps some puppy pads for the first nights.

Then look around your home through a puppy's eyes, at knee height. Cables, shoes, houseplants, cleaning products in an open cupboard, stairs without a gate: anything within reach will get a taste test. What you tidy away now, you won't have to forbid later.

The first day: calm is best

It is tempting to introduce your new housemate to everyone straight away. Don't. Today your puppy has left behind his mother, his littermates and everything he knew. Keep the first day small:

• When you get home, go first to the spot outside where he is allowed to wee, and wait there calmly.
• Let him explore one room rather than the whole house.
• Let him sleep whenever he wants. An eight-week-old puppy can easily sleep eighteen hours a day, and he needs it.
• Save visits from friends and family for next week.

The first nights

Expect your puppy to cry for the first few nights. He has never been alone before. What helps:

• Put his bed next to yours for the first few nights. He can hear and smell you, and you will hear when he gets restless because he needs a wee. After a week or two you can move the crate step by step to its permanent spot.
• Something that smells of home. A cloth that lay in the litter at the breeder's works wonders.
• Going out once during the night is normal. A young puppy can't hold it all night yet. Pop outside briefly, without play and without much talking, then back to bed. Night-time should be boring.
• A last wee just before bedtime, and take his water away an hour earlier.

House training: outside more often than you think

House training isn't about punishment, it's about timing. Your puppy learns where to go by being in the right place at the right moment often enough. Take him outside:

• as soon as he wakes up, including after a nap;
• after every meal;
• after playing or any excitement (visitors, a new toy);
• and otherwise every hour or two during the day.

A rough rule of thumb: a puppy can hold it for about as many hours as he is months old, plus one. So a two-month-old puppy can manage about three hours, and certainly no longer.

Does he wee outside? Praise him straight away, right at that moment, with a happy voice or a treat. If there is an accident indoors, say nothing and clean it up with an enzyme cleaner. Ordinary cleaning products containing ammonia smell like urine to a dog and invite him to go there again. Punishing a puppy for an accident only teaches him that he had better not wee when you are around, and that makes practising outside harder.

“Go outside before it goes wrong, not after. Every time it works outside counts double.”

A tip from our team

Feeding: the same food, fixed times

Stick to the breeder's food for the first week or two. If you want to switch after that, do it gradually over about a week: start with a quarter of new food mixed into the old, move to half after two or three days, then three quarters, and then switch completely. That gives his gut flora time to adjust.

A puppy needs food made specially for growth: more energy and protein, and a balanced ratio of calcium to phosphorus. That last point matters most for large breeds, which are better off not growing too fast. Small breeds are usually fully grown at around ten to twelve months; large breeds only after eighteen months to two years. So choose a puppy food that suits his expected adult size.

The portion on the packaging is a starting point, not a law. Feel his ribs regularly: you should be able to feel them without seeing them. Treats you use in training count too; take them off his daily portion.

Socialisation: the window that doesn't come back

Until about fourteen weeks your puppy is wide open to new experiences. Whatever he gets to know calmly and positively in that period, he will find perfectly normal later on. Whatever he never sees can frighten him later. A large part of that period is already behind him by the time he comes to you, so start straight away, at his pace.

Think of a list to work through in the first few weeks:

• People: children, people wearing a hat, an umbrella, a walking frame, a bicycle.
• Sounds: the hoover, the doorbell, traffic, a thunderstorm played quietly on your phone.
• Surfaces: grass, gravel, tiles, a metal grate, a slippery floor.
• Situations: a car journey, a quiet café terrace, a visit to the vet for a treat and no injection.
• Other dogs: calm, healthy adult dogs that are good with young dogs, and a puppy class at a dog school.

Quality beats quantity. One relaxed introduction is better than five overwhelming ones. If your puppy looks away, hides or freezes, give him more distance and try again another day.

Being alone is practised in minutes

Even if you are at home for the first few weeks, start practising time alone straight away. Begin with a few minutes in another room while he is chewing or sleeping, and build it up slowly. Don't make leaving and coming back an event: no long goodbyes, no party when you return. That way being alone becomes something ordinary, not something that suddenly starts on your first day back at work.

Vet, microchip and registration

Book a visit to the vet in the first week. They will check your puppy over, look through his vaccination record and work out a schedule with you for his further vaccinations and worming.

In Belgium a dog must be microchipped and registered with DogID before he leaves the litter. Check that this has been done when you collect him, and make sure the registration is in your name and at your address. If you move later or change your phone number, update it straight away: a microchip only helps if the details are right.

The first four weeks at a glance

Finally

Your puppy doesn't need to be able to do everything after four weeks. What matters is that he learns the world is a safe place and that you are there for him. Keep it short, keep it cheerful, and go easy on yourself when things don't go to plan: every puppy has good days and not-so-good days.

This guide offers general advice. If you have any doubts about your puppy's health or development, ask your vet.