Bringing your puppy home for the first time creates a strange mix of excitement and anxiety as your puppy leaves its canine family behind to start a new life with humans. These first few weeks are the most important for you, your puppy and its new human family to get to know each other, form life-long bonds and establish boundaries.
As the pet industry has boomed in recent years, there are plenty of support groups to help new puppy owners find their feet – plus new laws are being introduced to protect the welfare of puppies. So whether you’re a seasoned dog owner or a total newbie, there’s lots of advice to help you lay down good foundations in these early weeks. From food to exercise, socialising and training, getting it right takes understanding and patience. Here’s what you need to know …
Buy the right kit:
- A travel crate (sized appropriately for your adult dog).
- A bed (a removable washable cover is best).
- A correctly sized harness (your breeder or vet can help with this).
- Dog poo bags (biodegradable ones are best).
- Breed- and age-appropriate chew toys.
- The right food (ask your breeder or vet for help to ensure your food is puppy- and breed-appropriate).
This last point is key: “There’s been a lot of research devoted to identifying optimal nutrition during various growth stages, so now there are lots of foods with a number of benefits to growing puppies,” says Daniel Chan, professor of clinical nutrition at the Royal Veterinary College in London. “Having foods that are complete and balanced is simply a way to ensure that a dog will get all of the nutrients it needs over time.”
Week one
Welcome home pupster! Your new pup is probably around eight-12 weeks old and may well be anxious or nervous for the first few days in its new home, so be prepared for sleepless nights (no, not kidding, sorry).
They will be mega curious at this stage, so be sure to have puppy-proofed your pad to avoid unnecessary accidents. Introduce them to going to the loo outside as early as possible.
It will also be tempting to invite loads of people over to say hello to your new arrival, but this could be overwhelming for the puppy, so keep visits short and sweet.
Animal behavioural consultant Danielle Beck says: “Start as you mean to go on with your pup. If you know you don’t want them lounging on your sofas as full-grown lumps, don’t let them on as puppies. Give them plenty of chew toys; that way they won’t need to feast on your favourite shoes. Finally, start taking them out for short car journeys and get them used to wearing a collar.”
Early days nutrition
“The early months are the most important stages in a dog’s life, and where good nutrition is most critical,” says Chan. “The development of systems such as your puppy’s skeleton and brain are completed during the growth phase, and this development relies on good nutrition.”
At this stage, your pup should be eating a nutritious meal three to four times a day.
Photograph: Angela Auclair/Getty Images
Week two
If your puppy came at the recommended eight weeks old, they should be old enough to be vaccinated. The vet will follow up your puppy’s first set of jabs with a second round two to three weeks later.
Although your puppy can’t roam freely outside at this stage, the most crucial time for puppies to become socialised is between six and 13 weeks, so the sooner they get used to other people and puppies, the better. Time to get along to puppy classes. Find a local class at Puppy School or contact the Dogs Trust Dog School for local class details.
Pre-vaccination, it’s safe for your pup to explore your garden and go for meet-and-greets with vaccinated dogs in your social circle and other adults and children (and you’ll have no shortage of volunteers). Just make sure you carry your pup in public places until the vet says it’s safe to put them down.
It’s also a good time to get them used to the lead, ahead of proper walks: “Put your puppy’s lead on in the house and let it follow her around so she gets accustomed to having it with her and understands it’s nothing to be scared of,” says Beck.
Week three
Training, training and more training. This is the key development time for learning and socialising your pup. It can be tempting to give your puppy lots of treats as you train them, but you’ll need to practise some restraint.
“You can use kibble treats that are a part of your dog’s total daily allowance as training treats,” says clinical animal behaviourist, Rosie Barclay. “But try not to add to that, otherwise your pup will be overfed.”
Chan says it’s key for new owners to learn about portion size for their pups, to make surethey are hungry when being fed – crucial for their health. “Being aware of portion sizes from an early stage will prevent overfeeding later in life, as life-long habits start early,” Chan explains. “Owners also need to understand that some dogs need more food (for example, athletic and working dogs) while others require less. We used to see obesity in middle-aged dogs – now, vets are reporting puppies at six to eight months as already being overweight,” he adds.
Some owners also think their puppy is hungry when, really, it wants attention: “Often, your puppy just wants to play, don’t always offer food,” says Chan.
Week four
Toilet training is one of the key concerns for new puppy owners (especially those who value their rugs). A good way to control and assist toilet training is by understanding the feeding regime: regular feeding times mean regular toilet times, so find a routine that works for you and your puppy and stick to it.
It’s a good idea to give your puppy their bowl and remove it after 15 minutes, to get them into good eating habits. And no, they won’t go hungry. “If a dog appears fussy, but is in good condition, people should relax and not try all sorts of things to entice them to eat,” Chan advises.
Tip: the RSPCA has a great guide to make toilet training relatively stress-free.
Week five
By now, your puppy should be fully vaccinated and ready to explore the outside world. But although he’ll be burning up more energy, you need to make sure he’s not over-compensating by eating too much.
“This is particularly important in large- and giant-breed dogs,” Chan says. “If these dogs are fed too many calories and grow too rapidly, they’re prone to developing orthopaedic problems.
“If growth is slowed down with a diet designed for the breed, it won’t affect the dog’s eventual adult size, but the risk of orthopaedic disease decreases.”
So if your puppy is going to grow up to be a very big dog, make extra sure you’re always feeding them specialist food for their breed – this really will help the dog as it grows.
Week six
Your puppy’s growing in confidence and feels like part of the family. But don’t be tempted to start treating it like the humans in the house: rules need to stay firmly in place, don’t bend them as it confuses your pooch. Keep to your established feeding and exercise routines, with regular walks and consistent training.
And now’s not the time to slip on diet. “Just like people, puppies have food preferences,” Chan says. “As a rough estimate, a third appear to prefer wet dog food, a third appear to prefer dry, and a third have no preference. Human food isn’t always more appealing – it depends on what it is – but virtually every pet that’s fed human food gets overweight. Our food may be too high in salt, plus there are certain ingredients such as chocolate, grapes, onion and garlic that can be toxic to dogs.” So no matter how adorably it looks at you when begging for table scraps, just say no.
Week seven
Your puppy will have bundles of energy. But, although exercise is important, over-exercising can also be bad for young dogs. Five minutes a day for each month of your pup’s life, up to twice a day, is plenty – so if your puppy was eight weeks old when you brought her home, you should be taking her out for 10 minutes, twice a day.
“Over-exercising can cause damage to growing joints, which is why exercise, along with diet, are key to your pup’s healthy growth,” Chan says. “Osteoarthritis, hip dysplasia [when the ball and socket don’t meet properly], elbow problems and rubber jaw can all be exacerbated by unbalanced diets during the growth stage.” And going easy on the exercise is also important.
Week eight
Even now at four months old, your puppy is still a long way off becoming an adult dog. It’s best to either continue with puppy training classes, or if you are struggling with any behaviour issues contact the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors.
At whatever stage you’re training your pup, it’s important to use positive reinforcement when training – and that doesn’t always mean edibles. “It’s key to use all kinds of rewards for good behaviour, like squeaky toys, and not just food,” says Chan. “Dogs want attention and they often get rewarded by people feeding them. Human nature is such that we love feeding animals – it’s part of bonding. What people need to appreciate is when to stop feeding and do something else.”
