Bringing Home a New Puppy: The Complete Checklist
A week-by-week guide to surviving the first month with your new puppy—potty training, crate training, biting, and the bond that makes it all click.
by Alumigogo Books
non-fiction
Stop guessing. Start training. This week-by-week guide gets you and your new puppy through the first month with clear, positive-reinforcement steps for potty training, biting, and beyond.
About this book
Bringing home a puppy is supposed to be joyful, but the first week can feel like a hurricane of pee, biting, and sleepless nights. If you're already questioning your decision, take a breath. This is the guide you wish came with the puppy. Written by a vet tech who has helped hundreds of families through this exact chaos, it turns the overwhelming first month into a simple, week-by-week checklist. You'll learn the actual timing for potty breaks, the right way to use the crate so your pup loves it, and how to redirect biting before it becomes a habit—without harsh corrections or losing your cool.
Reader Reviews
Daniel Miller
★★★★★I was in tears the first week with my lab puppy—he wouldn't stop biting and seemed to pee every five minutes. This book gave me a literal schedule to follow, and it honestly saved my sanity. The crate chapter alone was worth it. My pup now naps in his crate like it's a spa, and the biting is fading. I didn't feel judged, just guided.
Ashley Flores
★★★★★Useful and practical, but I'll admit I skimmed a few chapters that I already knew (like basic supplies). The red flags checklist was a lifesaver when my puppy had diarrhea at 2 AM—it told me exactly when to stop Dr. Google and go to the vet. I wish it had a little more on feeding, but overall, a solid hand-holding manual for the first month.
Betty Baker
★★★★★It's a good book, though some of the schedules felt a bit rigid—what works for a stay-at-home person doesn't work if you're a shift worker. I ended up adapting the potty times to my own routine. But the explanation of the 'puppy blues' was spot on; I thought I was the worst owner ever, so that comfort was worth it. Just didn't fix everything for me.
John Wilson
★★★★★Got this on the recommendation of a friend and it's been my puppy manual since day one. The step-by-step bite inhibition method actually worked, and my socks are no longer at risk. It's a quick read, not a textbook, which I loved because I don't have time to read 300 pages on adolescent dog psychology. Very real about the hard parts, too.
William Nelson
★★★★★As a new dog owner, I had zero clue what I was doing. This book felt like having an experienced trainer in my corner. The week-by-week plan made everything feel less overwhelming, and the FAQ answered the weird questions I was too embarrassed to ask. My puppy is now 9 months old and everyone comments on how well-behaved she is—I owe a lot of that to this guide.
Eric Martin
★★★★★Good overall, but I felt the tone was a bit too 'everything will be fine' for someone whose puppy was genuinely reactive. There was one paragraph on red flags, but I might have needed more on separation anxiety. Still, the crate and potty advice worked wonders, so I'm glad I got it. Maybe I'll pick up a more advanced book later, but this got me through the worst.
Anthony Jones
★★★★★It's fine. I found that the advice, while solid, wasn't much different from what you can find free online. But the organization into a clear plan was helpful because I'm not good at sticking to a schedule. I gave it three stars because it didn't address my specific problem—my puppy was a relentless biter, and the method here didn't work as fast as the author claimed. I had to do a lot of adapting. It's not a miracle cure, but it's a decent starting point.