The Do's and Don't's of Bringing a New Puppy Home

Upon bringing a puppy home, there are many factors to consider. Assuming the necessary research and planning have already taken place to acquire the right dog, you've brought home your 8 week old puppy.

One of the most common mistakes I see people make is not crate training. Puppies thrive on a schedule. Crate training ensures that the puppy has a safe place to rest peacefully, as they need a lot of sleep. It also ensures that potty training is quicker and more successful. A puppy's crate should not be big. They should have enough room to stand and lie down easily, but an 8 week old puppy doesn't belong in a 36" crate. If the crate is too large, the puppy can potty in the crate, walk away, and lie down away from the mess. Dogs are inherently clean animals, and they don't like to be in their mess. A properly sized crate helps them learn. Additionally, allowing your puppy to cry in the crate and learn to be calm away from you helps to curb separation anxiety. They will learn that you will come back, and their screaming and being upset won't help that happen faster.

A puppy cannot hold their bladder all night at 8 weeks. A fair tool to go by is a puppy can generally only hold their bladder for the number of hours they are months old. So an 8 week old puppy can hold their bladder for roughly 2-3 hours. They will have to go out regularly and at night.

Puppies should not have free run of the house. I raise my puppies with limited freedom. If they are allowed to be loose, they could get under the couch, chew cords, irritate an older dog, get stuck somewhere, or be injured. Puppies don't have much sense beyond food, potty, toy, sleep, and hopefully engagement if you are training. I raise my puppies in an ExPen (exercise pen). This allows them to be with me, but be contained. They learn to have limited freedom where they can stretch and run and play, but they are in a safe space. I can also turn my back to work or cook and know that they are safe.

A puppy can and should start learning immediately. There's no need to wait to train a puppy. An easy way to start puppies is with a name game where they work for food. You throw a piece of food away, and when they run back to you, you call their name and feed them from your hand. You will be surprised how much attention they give you when they associate you with hand feeding.