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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
Chapter 1: The First 72 Hours: Setting Up for Success Before You Even Unpack the Crate
You’re standing in your kitchen, probably at an hour you used to consider “too early to be awake,” and you’re looking at a creature the size of a loaf of bread who has somehow managed to piddle on your floor, chew the corner of your favorite rug, and cry like a tiny siren for forty-five minutes straight. And you’re thinking: What have I done?
Let’s pause right there. Take a breath. Because I need to tell you something that might sound a little too simple, but it’s the truest thing I know about bringing home a puppy: This is not a test of your character, and it’s not a test of the puppy’s character. It’s a test of your systems.
Every single “problem” you’re facing or will face in the next few weeks - the accidents, the crying, the chewing, the biting, the feeling that you’ve made a terrible mistake - every single one of them can be traced back to one of two things: a lack of predictability, or a lack of a clear plan. And both of those are fixable. They’re not fixed by “being patient” or “waiting for the puppy to grow out of it.” They’re fixed by structure.
I’ve worked with hundreds of new puppy owners over the years, and the ones who sail through the first month aren’t the ones with “easy” puppies. They’re the ones who