Start your puppy off right on the FIRST DAY HOME!

What to Do With Your Pup Today - First Day Home

1. Potty Your Puppy Before Going in the House - Potty your puppy as soon as you get out of the car.

  • Have your pup on leash and have treats in your pocket.

  • Take your pup to its potty area.

  • Say your “go potty” cue.

  • Wait patiently for your pup to urinate. When it does, say Yes and give him/her a treat.

  • Stay out a little longer outside to see if he/she needs to poop, which usually takes a bit longer. He/she may or may not poop but you shouldn’t go inside until your pup pees.

2. Introduce Your Puppy to Human Family Members - It’s time to set the stage for your puppy. If your pup will be living with other people, have quiet, calm introductions once you get home.

  • Have everyone sit on the floor in a small circle and put the pup in the middle so it can move from one to the other to greet and be greeted.

  • Put off dog or cat greetings initially.

3. Give a House Tour

  • Calmly introduce your pup to your home on leash.

  • Walk your pup through the house, showing it the various rooms.

  • Show it where the crate, water bowl, toy basket, and ex-pen are.

  • Show your pup where you will feed it.

  • Let it sniff and get accustomed to each room.

  • If it’s concerned, just wait or go sit down quietly in the room. It’s okay if it takes the pup a while to be comfortable in a room, especially places like bathrooms or garages.

  • Keep it from getting on furniture that it isn’t allowed on by shortening the leash.

  • Notice what attracts your puppy and once done with the tour, finish your puppy proofing.

NOTE: Notice what worries your puppy, such as TV noises or hanging drapes, and use those to compile your next week’s plan to enable your pup to get more comfortable with those things.

4. Do a Little Training

  • Train your pup for 5-10 minutes in a couple of sessions today. Yes, we want you to get started training your puppy immediately so you can communicate with it from the beginning.

  • Taking Treats (1 minute). Teach your pup to take treats. This may seem silly but some pups aren’t very coordinated so practice getting the treat into your pup’s mouth :-).

  • Teach “Yes!” (2 minutes). Two sessions of Step 1, Teaching Your Puppy the Marker.

  • Say “Yes!” or click the clicker and put a small treat in your pup’s mouth.

  • Repeat this 15 times in 2 1-minute sessions today.

  • Teach Your Pup Its Name (3 minutes). Three 1-minute sessions of Step 1 of Teaching Your Puppy Its Name.

  • Continue Crate Training so You Can Sleep Tonight (4 minutes). Do 3 to 4 1 to 2-minute sessions Crate Training.

  • Supervise Inside. Directly supervise your puppy 100% of the time today so you can begin to identify your pup’s signals that it needs to go outside and you can avoid any accidents.

What Not to Do Today

  • Have loud, exciting introductions to the family. Yes, everyone is excited. Yes, it’s a great day. But we need to be cognizant of the pup’s needs today so have a quiet greeting session.

  • Do not let children carry the pup around. The rule should be that children must be sitting on the ground or a couch to hold the puppy. It’s too easy to drop a pup early on. Not only will it frighten the pup and break down its trust in the family, but it can seriously injure a puppy.

  • This is not the day to show your puppy off to family and friends. There will be time for that later but for now, let your pup get to know you and your immediate family.

  • Do not take the pup for a walk through the neighborhood or into a public place where other dogs venture.

  • Do not introduce the puppy to any dogs outside of your household, and even those, we’d recommend you wait on. Your dogs and cats can safely meet with the pup in an ex-pen or crate so the older pets can get accustomed to the new addition without being bothered by it.

  • Do not feed your pup anywhere near another dog or cat. Puppies have little understanding of appropriate meal manners. You don’t want your pup blundering into the other animal’s space while they are eating.

  • Do not give your pup fatty chew toys today, such as pigs’ ears or bully sticks. Since stress diarrhea is a risk now, use low-fat chews like stuffed Kongs or Nylabones for the first few days.

  • Avoid dairy products today, except string cheese.

  • Try not to confine your pup for long periods until tonight. Your pup will likely be noisy and concerned when put in the crate or ex-pen without you today. You can start using confinement tomorrow but if you can keep your pup with you today, it will be ideal.