Your puppy has just lost its mother, its littermates and every familiar smell in one car ride. Almost everything that goes well or badly in the first month traces back to that fact. The goal of these thirty days is not obedience — it is teaching a small animal that the world is safe and you are reliable.

Before the puppy arrives

  • Set up the crate somewhere central, not isolated — a corner of the living room is ideal.
  • Puppy-proof at floor level: cables, shoes, houseplants, anything small enough to swallow.
  • Buy the same food the breeder is using. Change it later, gradually, or you will spend week one dealing with diarrhoea.
  • Decide the house rules as a household before arrival. Sofa or no sofa. Who does the 2am toilet trip. Consistency between people matters more than which rule you pick.
  • Book a vet appointment for the first few days.
  • Choose the toilet spot outside and commit to it — the smell will do half the training for you.

Day one

Keep it boring. Resist the urge to invite everyone over to meet the puppy; a quiet first day pays for itself. Carry the puppy straight to the toilet spot on arrival, then let it explore one or two rooms rather than the whole house.

Offer a small meal, keep water available, and let the puppy sleep when it wants. Puppies need eighteen to twenty hours of sleep a day, and an overtired puppy behaves exactly like an overtired toddler.

The first night (the one everyone dreads)

Your puppy will cry. It has never slept alone before. The mistake most families make is either giving in entirely — which teaches that crying opens the crate — or toughing it out in another room, which genuinely terrifies a young puppy.

The middle path works best: put the crate beside your bed for the first several nights. Your puppy can hear and smell you, which is most of what it needs. Let your fingers rest against the crate door. Take it out for a toilet break once or twice in the night, calmly and without play, then straight back in. Move the crate gradually to its permanent spot over a week or two once the puppy has settled.

The blanket that came home smelling of the litter belongs in the crate on night one. It is the single most useful object you own that week.

Week one: routine and house training

House training is a scheduling exercise, not a discipline problem. Take the puppy out on waking, after every meal, after every play session, and every hour or two in between. Go to the same spot, wait, and reward the instant they finish — not once you are back inside, which rewards coming indoors.

Accidents are your fault, not the puppy's: it means they were not taken out in time. Clean with an enzymatic cleaner so the scent does not mark the spot as a toilet. Never punish an accident after the fact; the puppy cannot connect it and you only teach them to hide from you.

Weeks two and three: socialisation, carefully

The critical socialisation window closes at around sixteen weeks. What a puppy meets calmly before then, it accepts for life. This is the highest-leverage period you will ever have with your dog.

Your puppy is not fully vaccinated yet, so socialise smartly rather than not at all. Carry them through a hardware store. Sit on a bench and let the world go past. Invite vaccinated adult dogs you know to visit. Introduce the vacuum, the hairdryer, umbrellas, hats, bicycles, men with beards, children, car rides — one at a time, at a distance the puppy is comfortable with, with treats.

  • Quality over quantity: one calm encounter beats five overwhelming ones.
  • Let the puppy approach rather than pushing it forward.
  • If it retreats, increase distance rather than forcing contact.
  • Pair every new thing with something good.
  • Avoid dog parks and unknown dogs until fully vaccinated.

Week four: the fear period nobody mentions

Somewhere around eight to eleven weeks, most puppies pass through a fear period — a developmental stage where things they accepted last week suddenly seem alarming. Your bold puppy may spook at the bin, the stairs, a stranger.

This is normal and it passes. Do not flood them, do not force it, and do not make a fuss. Stay matter-of-fact, keep distance, use treats, and let them approach on their own terms. A frightening experience during this window can leave a lasting impression, which is exactly why gentle handling matters most right when it feels least convenient.

What to focus on, and what to let go

In month one, prioritise: house training, crate comfort, name recognition, gentle handling of paws and ears, and calm exposure to the world. Everything else can wait.

Let go of: perfect leash walking, reliable recall, and any expectation of an uninterrupted night in week one. Those come with time, and chasing them early costs you the things that actually matter.

And remember you can call us. Lifetime breeder support is not a marketing line — a five-minute conversation at 9pm on day three has saved a lot of our families a lot of worry.

Frequently asked questions

Usually two to four nights, and nearly always settled by two to three weeks. Putting the crate beside your bed for the first week, and including the blanket that smells of the litter, dramatically shortens it.

Your own garden is fine straight away. Avoid public places where unvaccinated dogs go until your vet clears you, usually a week or two after the final vaccination — but keep socialising in safe ways in the meantime, such as carrying the puppy in public and inviting vaccinated adult dogs over.

On waking, after every meal, after every play session, and roughly every hour or two in between. A rough guide is one hour of bladder control per month of age, plus one.

Not immediately. Keep the breeder's food for at least the first two weeks, then transition over seven to ten days by gradually mixing in the new food. Sudden changes cause diarrhoea on top of an already stressful week.

A normal developmental stage, usually around eight to eleven weeks, when a puppy becomes temporarily more fearful of new things. Keep experiences gentle and low-pressure, never force contact, and it passes without lasting effect.