It can be a daunting experience bringing your new family member home for the first time, don’t worry everyone faces this same initial uncertainty of what to do. We have put together a few of our best tips to help you get prepared for a memorable and enjoyable first 48 hours with your new puppy!
You will both be full of excitement, so we have prepared a checklist of essential supplies to make sure you have ready a few days in advance so you can just enjoy the buzz of your new family member on the day without having to worry.
Puppy Pickup Checklist:
- Collar (Pick one that’s comfy and adjustable as your pup will grow a lot in the first six months) - Remember a Name Tag Also
- Lead (A short one is best initially to keep them close by when you are walking. As they grow you can slowly increase the lead length or look into a retractable lead)
- Dog Food (We will have another blog post on this soon but our top pick is Royal Canin - Puppy. Remember puppies will need feeding at least three times a day)
- Poo Bags for walks (We love the brand Little Green Dog which is NZ based and has compostable environmentally friendly bags)
- Food & Water Bowls (One with rubber on the bottom will stop it sliding around while they eat stopping mess)
- Dog Bed (There’s a huge amount of variety here but any small soft Mat will work perfectly. A lot of people have success with pillows too)
- Dog Toys
- Dog Treats
- Transporter (If you are picking up your dog you may need a cage or seatbelt to transport them in your car)
Visitors
Your first day will be fairly full on for both you and pup so to avoid overwhelming them try to keep the number of people present to a minimum. Try to wait two days before bringing around friends and extended family just to let them settle in first without the extra excitement of having so many people to meet. There will be lots of new things to discover and scents to smell so they won’t be short of things to explore.
Familiarity and Anxiety
Dogs have a great sense of smell, far better than any humans. To make their transition to a new home easier it can help hugely if you can bring a few items that have the scent of their previous home, which could even just be a towel or blanket that their parents slept on the previous night. We have heard of huge success from this, if it isn’t possible making sure they have a nice warm space and a snuggly blanket will be great also. To help them feel at home on vet visits and to stay relaxed during bath time our New Dog Starter Pack has a great scent that will help them feel like home wherever they go.
Puppy Toilet Training
 It’s always tempting to leave toilet training to later on as it can become a bit of a chore and you are so excited on the first few days but once a bad habit starts it can be incredibly hard to break. Try to start toilet training as soon as you possibly can, theres two methods we recommend for this:
- Take them outside every two hours for a walk around to smell their environment and usually they will end up going to the toilet on their way at some point. Slowly reduce this to 3-4 hours and so on until they get used to going to the toilet outside.
- The second method is purchasing an in home toilet training mat they can use to keep near their bed and slowly day by day move this closer to the door, then eventually outside.
Both methods have their merits and we recommend using whichever one you have the most success with - try without the mat first and see how you get on.
Setting Boundaries
 It’s important to set boundaries early. Set their mat up in a corner of the room and make sure they know where they can and can’t go. It may help to use a dog gate or a dog pen initially if they are very adventurous. Make sure they don’t end up on the furniture, as fun as it can be initially its a very hard habit to break also.
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Puppy Energy Levels
Lastly, remember the excitement of the first few days will have a huge toll on their energy levels so make sure you schedule in some downtime for both them and you to have a few naps! Overall remember if you follow the checklist and the tips in this blog, you are already well on your way for an incredible first day - remember to just relax and enjoy your new family member!
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