The Complete New Puppy Care Guide

Your Puppy’s First Week Home

We always tell families this: the first week is the most important week. Your puppy just left everything they knew, their mom, their siblings, the sounds and smells of the home where they were raised. Everything is brand new. That can be exciting, but it can also feel overwhelming for a small puppy.

The best thing you can do is keep things calm and simple. Don’t invite all your friends and family over on day one. Give your puppy a few days to get comfortable with just your household first. Families who follow this rule report a smoother first week.

The First 24 Hours

When your puppy arrives home, take them straight to the spot where you want them to go to the bathroom before going inside the house. This starts potty training from minute one. Then let them explore one room at a time. Don’t give them the run of the whole house right away.

What to Expect the First Few Nights

Your puppy will likely cry at night for the first two to four days. This is normal. They miss their siblings. Don’t move them to your bed to stop the crying, since that creates a habit that’s hard to break later. Instead, place the crate near your bed so they can hear and smell you. That alone helps them settle faster.

According to the American Kennel Club, giving your puppy a consistent routine from day one is one of the most important things you can do for their development and confidence.

Setting a Daily Routine Right Away

Dogs do best when they know what to expect. Wake up at the same time every day. Feed at the same times. Go outside at the same times. Even young puppies pick up on routines fast. Within a week, your puppy starts to anticipate meal times and potty trips, and that predictability makes potty training go faster too.

Want the hour-by-hour version? Read our full Puppy’s First Week Home guide for a day-by-day breakdown of what to expect.

Supplies You Need on Day One

This list is based on what we tell every family before their puppy comes home. You don’t need to spend a fortune, but you do need these basics ready before your puppy arrives, not after.

Feeding Your Puppy

Good nutrition is the foundation for energy, coat quality, brain development, and immune strength. Every puppy we place goes home with a food sample and a feeding guide. Keep your puppy on what they’re already eating for at least two weeks before switching. Changing food too fast causes stomach upset that new owners often mistake for illness.

How Often to Feed

For small breeds (under 20 lbs adult weight), we recommend three meals a day until six months old. After six months, switch to two meals. This applies to all three breeds we place: Maltipoos, Cavapoos, and Teddy Bears, since they all fall in the small-to-medium range.

What to Look for in a Puppy Food

We recommend a food with a named meat as the first ingredient, like chicken, beef, or salmon. Avoid foods where the first ingredient is corn, wheat, or a vague term like “meat meal.” Look for the AAFCO statement that says “complete and balanced for growth” on the bag. That means it’s formulated specifically for puppies.

Fresh Water Is Non-Negotiable

Your puppy needs access to clean, fresh water all day. Stainless steel bowls are easier to clean and don’t harbor bacteria the way plastic bowls can. Wash the water bowl every day.

For full portion charts by age and breed, see our complete Puppy Feeding Guide.

Vet Visits and Vaccines

Every puppy we place has already had their first round of vaccines and a vet health check before going home. That paperwork is in your puppy packet. Your first job as a new puppy owner is to schedule a vet visit within 72 hours of bringing your puppy home. This is also required to keep your 2-year Health Guarantee valid, so book the appointment before your puppy even arrives if you can.

This first vet visit isn’t just about health. It starts a relationship between your puppy and the vet while the puppy is young and easy to handle. Puppies who visit the vet often as babies tend to grow into dogs who tolerate vet visits calmly as adults.

Core Vaccine Schedule

The vaccines below follow guidelines from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). Your vet may adjust slightly based on your puppy’s health and local disease risks.

Heartworm and Flea Prevention

Start your puppy on a monthly heartworm prevention medication at 8 weeks old. This isn’t optional. Heartworm is deadly and preventable. Ask your vet about a chewable option that also covers fleas and ticks. The Companion Animal Parasite Council recommends year-round prevention for all dogs.

Spay and Neuter Timing

For our three breeds, Maltipoos, Cavapoos, and Teddy Bears, most vets recommend spay or neuter around six months old. These are all small-to-medium designer breeds, and early spay/neuter at six months is generally well tolerated. Talk this over with your vet and factor in your puppy’s own weight and development at that visit.

See the full shot-by-shot timeline in our Puppy Vaccination Schedule.

Potty Training Your Puppy

Potty training is the number one thing new puppy owners worry about. Here’s the simple truth: puppies don’t know the rules yet. Your job is to teach them, not punish them for not knowing. The process is repetition, praise, and patience.

The Golden Rule of Potty Training

Take your puppy outside every one to two hours during the day. Always go out first thing in the morning, after every meal, after every nap, after every play session, and right before bed. When your puppy goes outside, praise them the moment they finish, not two minutes later. That connection between going outside and getting rewarded is what speeds up training the most.

Accidents Happen. Here’s How to Handle Them.

Never punish a puppy for an accident inside. They don’t understand why you’re upset, and it makes them afraid to go to the bathroom in front of you at all, even outside. If you catch them in the act, calmly say “no” and take them outside right away. If you find an accident after the fact, just clean it up and move on.

Nighttime Potty Training

Young puppies (8 to 12 weeks old) can’t hold their bladder through the night. Expect at least one nighttime trip outside for the first few weeks. Set an alarm for about four to five hours after bedtime. As your puppy gets older, that gap extends naturally. By 12 to 16 weeks, most puppies are sleeping through the night with no accidents.

For the full bell-training method and a step-by-step system, see our Puppy Potty Training guide.

Crate Training

A lot of new puppy owners feel bad about using a crate. We want to change that thinking. Dogs are den animals by nature. A crate gives your puppy their own safe space, a place that’s just theirs, where they feel secure and calm. A properly used crate isn’t a punishment. It’s a bedroom.

How to Introduce the Crate

Never force your puppy into the crate and close the door on day one. Start by putting the crate in the main living area with the door open. Toss treats inside so your puppy goes in on their own. Feed meals inside with the door open. Let them explore it freely. After a day or two, start closing the door for short periods while you’re right there. Build up slowly from five minutes to thirty minutes to a few hours.

Crate Time Limits by Age

• 8-10 weeks: No more than 1 hour at a time during the day
• 11-14 weeks: Up to 2 hours at a time
• 15-16 weeks: Up to 3 hours at a time
• 4-6 months: Up to 4 hours at a time
• Over 6 months: Up to 6 hours, but never as a full-time solution

These time limits come from guidance shared by the Humane Society of the United States. A puppy crated too long too soon can develop anxiety around the crate, which defeats the purpose.

Socialization: The Window You Can’t Miss

Between 3 and 16 weeks of age, puppies are in what behaviorists call the socialization window. What they experience, and don’t experience, during this window shapes who they are as adult dogs. Our raising partners start this work from day one. By the time your puppy comes home, they’ve already been handled by multiple people and exposed to household sounds, children’s voices, and normal everyday life. Your job is to build on that foundation.

What Good Socialization Looks Like

Socialization isn’t just about meeting other dogs. It’s about exposing your puppy to as many different sights, sounds, smells, surfaces, and people as possible, in a positive, controlled way. Think different types of flooring, men with beards, children, umbrellas, bicycles, car rides, noisy environments, and calm environments.

• Introduce new things one at a time so it doesn’t feel overwhelming
• Let your puppy approach new things at their own pace; never force them toward something that scares them
• Pair every new experience with treats and praise to build positive associations
• Aim to expose them to at least five new people, places, or things every week

The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior notes that insufficient socialization is a bigger long-term risk to most puppies than the diseases they haven’t yet been vaccinated against. Get your puppy socialized safely, even before all vaccines are done.

Exercise and Play

Exercise is important, but too much is hard on growing puppies. Young puppies have soft, developing joints. Forcing them to run long distances or jump often before their growth plates close can cause joint damage that shows up years later as arthritis.

The 5-Minute Rule

A common guideline is five minutes of structured exercise per month of age, twice a day. So a three-month-old puppy gets about fifteen minutes of leash walking, twice a day. Free play in the yard doesn’t count the same way, since puppies naturally self-regulate during free play. It’s structured, forced exercise like jogging or long walks that you need to limit early on.

Mental Exercise Matters Just as Much

A puppy who’s mentally tired is a calm, well-behaved puppy. Use puzzle toys, Kong feeders, training sessions, and sniff walks where you let your puppy follow their nose. Even five minutes of training practice can tire a puppy out more than a fifteen-minute walk, since thinking is hard work for a young brain.

Grooming Your Puppy

Start grooming from week one, even if there’s nothing to do yet. You’re not just cleaning your puppy. You’re teaching them that touching, brushing, and handling their paws, ears, and mouth is safe and normal. The payoff for doing this early is a dog who’s easy to groom for the rest of their life.

Grooming Needs for Our Three Breeds

Ear Care: Don’t Skip This

All three breeds we place have floppy ears that are prone to moisture and wax buildup, which is exactly the warm, damp environment bacteria and yeast like. Clean your puppy’s ears once a week with a vet-approved ear cleaning solution. Signs of an ear infection include head shaking, scratching at the ear, odor, or visible redness inside the ear.

Nail Trims

Trim nails every two to three weeks. Nails that are too long change the way your puppy walks and put pressure on their joints over time. We recommend starting with a rotary-style nail grinder instead of clippers. There’s less chance of cutting the quick, and most puppies find the vibration less scary than a sharp clipping sound.

Dental Care

Dental disease is the number one health problem in adult dogs, and it starts in puppyhood. The AVMA recommends brushing your dog’s teeth daily. If you start with a finger brush and puppy toothpaste from week one, most puppies accept it easily. Daily brushing takes thirty seconds once they’re used to it.

For full breed-by-breed brushing, bathing, and haircut schedules, see our Puppy Grooming by Breed guide.

Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS): Why We Require It

Every puppy we place has gone through an Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) program. We require it from every raising partner in our network, no exceptions. Here’s why it matters to you as a new puppy owner.

ENS is a series of gentle stress exercises performed on puppies from day three through day sixteen of life, a specific developmental window before the puppy’s nervous system has fully formed.

What the ENS Exercises Look Like

Each exercise takes only three to five seconds per puppy. They include gentle head-down tilts, tactile stimulation between the toes, supine positioning, thermal stimulation on a cool surface, and point-up positioning. All five exercises are performed on each puppy, every day, from day three to day sixteen.

What the Evidence Actually Shows

ENS traces back to the U.S. military’s “Bio Sensor” program from the 1970s, developed by Dr. Carmen Battaglia. It’s worth being honest with you here: the scientific evidence on ENS specifically is genuinely mixed, not settled. Some studies and a lot of breeder-reported experience point to calmer, more resilient puppies. Other researchers haven’t been able to replicate those effects under controlled conditions. We require it because we believe in it and because it can’t hurt, not because it’s proven science beyond doubt.

In our own experience, the puppies we place tend to be calm, confident, and adaptable, and we think ENS plays a part in that. But your everyday handling, socialization, and training in the first year matter just as much, if not more.

For the full breakdown of all 5 exercises and the research behind them, see our dedicated ENS Training guide.

Signs Your Puppy Is Sick: When to Call the Vet

Young puppies can go from healthy to seriously ill quickly. Their immune systems are still developing, their bodies are small, and they don’t have the reserves adult dogs have. When in doubt, call the vet. A five-minute phone call is never a waste of time when it comes to a puppy’s health.

Call Your Vet Immediately If You Notice:

• Vomiting more than twice in a few hours, or any blood in vomit
• Diarrhea that lasts more than 24 hours, or blood in the stool
• Refusing to eat for more than 12 hours
• Lethargy: your puppy is suddenly much less active and hard to wake up
• Labored or rapid breathing
• Pale, white, or bluish gums (healthy gums should be pink)
• Crying in pain when touched or when they try to move
• Seizures of any kind
• Suspected ingestion of a toxic substance

Common Puppy Health Issues to Know About

Hypoglycemia (Low Blood Sugar): Especially common in small breed puppies under 12 weeks old. Signs include shaking, weakness, confusion, and collapse. If your puppy seems wobbly or unresponsive, rub a small amount of Karo syrup or honey on their gums right away and call your vet. Don’t wait and watch. This is an emergency.

Kennel Cough: A respiratory infection that causes a dry, honking cough. Usually mild and clears up on its own, but puppies under 12 weeks should always see a vet, since they can develop pneumonia. The bordetella vaccine helps prevent the most common strains.

Giardia: A common intestinal parasite that causes soft, greasy-looking stool. Very common in young puppies and easily treated with medication from your vet. If your puppy has loose stool that doesn’t clear up in a day or two, ask your vet to check for Giardia.

Parvo: A deadly viral disease that strikes unvaccinated puppies. Symptoms include severe vomiting, bloody diarrhea, and rapid decline. This is why completing the vaccine series on schedule matters so much. If your puppy shows these signs and hasn’t completed vaccines, go to a vet emergency clinic immediately.

For a full traffic-light guide to symptoms, gum color, and temperature, see Signs Your Puppy Is Sick.

Frequently Asked Questions