Your What should I do with my dog on the first night? Essential Tips

Puppy’s First Night At Home How to handle a puppy’s first night home

If you’ve raised a puppy before then you probably know this is where the real fun begins (sarcasm…this is actually when you learn that you do not get to sleep your first night home with a new puppy).

QUICK TIP: Check out this blog post if you want to know everything you should expect from your 8-week-old puppy.

The first few nights at home may be difficult for both you and your pup.

At night the puppy will feel lonely and will probably demonstrate this by whining (Oh, you betcha!).

These are a few things that you can do that might make the puppy feel at home.

Your puppy’s sleeping quarters should be in a small crate. We use a MidWest Life Stages Double Door Crate which comes with a divider (this allows us to adjust the crate size) and put a blanket over it to make it seem cozier.

Keep the crate in a draft-free area next to your bed. For approximately the first three weeks, if your puppy cries, take him out, on a leash to relieving area. After relieving put him back into his crate. Do not give him any treats or any playtime. Put him right back into his crate and he should go back to sleep.

Under no circumstances take the puppy to bed with you. This will form a very undesirable habit. – trust me…it’s difficult to avoid doing when your puppy is whining all night, but it’s very important to leave him in his crate.

Give the puppy a stuffed dog toy to snuggle with. – I was told to bring a plush dog toy with me to GDA when we met the litter and get each of Stetson’s littermate’s scent on the toy. Then when it was time to crate Stetson for the first night he could snuggle with the toy and smell the scent of his littermates.

QUICK TIP: Over the years we’ve tried many different plush toys for our puppy’s first night home. Our favorite and one we highly recommend is the Calmeroos Puppy Toy with heartbeat and heat pack. Our last puppy, Anna loved her Calmeroos Puppy Toy and it helped her sleep better her first night in her crate.

Puppy’s First Feeding Picking up Archer. Prepping for another first night home with a new puppy

This will be your puppy’s first meal by himself. Once your puppy’s food (we feed our puppies and recommend Wellness Core Natural Grain Free Puppy Food) is prepared, you will start having your puppy sit and wait for his food.

Hold your puppy by his collar by slipping your thumb in his collar and set his food about two feet away. As soon as he stops wiggling, say the words “O.K.” and release your puppy.

This should be done at every meal throughout training.

At Stetson’s puppy kindergarten I was always reminded that every puppy is different. Even within a breed.

There are several people in our group who have raised 10 or more Labrador Retrievers in the Guide Dogs of America program and each one is different.

My experience with Stetson was very difficult in the early days and weeks. I had no problem with Stetson when I first got him home.

I already knew about the trials and tribulations of house training and crate training after raising my first rescue puppy, Linus.

Puppies tend to piddle about every 10 to 20 minutes. You have to watch them like a hawk or they will end up using your house as their personal restroom.

Stetson had some accidents here and there, but nothing out of the ordinary.

The agony came in the evening.

Stetson did NOT take to the crate!

He whined, howled, cried, and barked…probably made every noise he could possibly produce, but would not relax and go to sleep.

He did sleep once in a while (honestly I felt like a zombie for over a month).

During those first 4 weeks, the most sleep I got was approximately 6 hours, broken up 3 or 4 times a night by whining, howling, barking…you get the picture.

I was a wreck and I thought Stetson would never get used to his crate.

The only way I was able to get him to sleep was to talk to him for 5-10 minutes, telling him what a “good boy” he was when he wasn’t crying (if he did cry I would just keep silent until he stopped).

To try and quiet him down I’d either say “quiet” or “Shhh”. Awww, the first night home with puppy Stetson was…sleepless…

I have two words for you – consistent and patient. After about 4 weeks of consistently sticking to my guns, not letting him out of his crate, and praising him when he was quiet Stetson suddenly stopped making noise in his crate.

He’d let me sleep through the night and I thought I’d reached bliss.

I’m constantly reminded that I need to be consistent with Stetson’s training and patient. In the long run, it pays off. Stetson has not barked, howled, or whined in months.

As a matter a fact I can only recall him barking one time in the past 1/2 year (he barked because he was trying to get my attention to go outside).

I actually think it’s kind of unusual that he doesn’t bark at all anymore, but I’m lucky to have more peace and quiet.

If you’re having trouble getting your puppy to quiet down in his crate at night then take a look at this article that includes 20 tips for helping your puppy get used to his crate.

Give your dog his own space

You should set up a separate space for your puppy to be alone, since being in a new environment can be overwhelming. Crate training your puppy is a great way to make him feel comfortable when he gets home (just make sure to take time to train your pup to use the crate and never force him inside).

A dog pen or a small room closed off with a gate can give your puppy a space of his own where he’ll feel safe, too. Fill the space with everything he’ll need, like toys, a dog bed and a water bowl.

“It is important to realize that regardless of whether you bought or adopted your puppy, they will be in stress and shock the first few days,” Hartstein said. “Allow them quiet time to decompress and offer them a safe, quiet environment.”

First Night with NEW PUPPY! How to Survive Your First Day Home

Learn all about dog education and dog behaviour. Subject Matter Expert Brydie Charlesworth; Director DOG EDUCATION CENTRE

You’ve done it, taken the plunge and today you bring your new puppy home. The feeling is intense, like a new baby, you think about all the joy this petite life is going to bring into your home. His little wet nose, soft fluffy puppy fur and the way he snuggles into you is a feeling of instant love. It is one of those feelings that you experience so seldom, that immediate and unconditional sensation of devotion, can life be any better?

Night falls on the first day, your tuck your buddle of joy into his new bed, you’ve specially found after hours searching the internet and asking all manner of professional advice. Hopping into your own you feel blissful, alive and content. Just as the sandman begins to do his work. Oh, my goodness what is that? The blood curdling howl, the sharp piecing yelps the sounds of a little one crying. They all slice you open, prickle your skin and pull hard on your heart strings.

Surely this sweet innocent puppy can’t just transform into the spawn of Satan, like a Mogwai being feed after midnight a gremlin has awoken.

The first thing to understand is this behaviour is completely natural; and today we’re offering you some tips to help you and your puppy get through this challenging stage.

Firstly, a puppy should stay with its mum for at least the first 8 weeks of his life. Most likely your puppy has come from a home with a few litter mates, his mum and his human family. For his first 2 months of life he would have snuggled into his siblings feeling warm, comfortable and safe. When a puppy moves to a new family, it is a HUGE adjustment for him, and you will need to exercise plenty of patience.

My first tip, is DON’T get up and put the puppy in bed with you on the first night; that is unless you plan on having him sleep with you forever. Sounds great but the reality is very different. By doing this the puppy will see that it was upset, it cried, barked, howled and you came and put him into a warm cosy place. The next night, guess what? Your puppy will expect the same and when you try to be tougher and not succumb, your puppy will only repeat the behaviour from the previous night and on and on it will go. It will become a vicious cycle and you can’t blame the puppy this is on you.

Here are some basic steps you can use to help settle your puppy into his new home with minimal fuss.

Patience is the key. When you’ve implemented all the tips above, the crying will stop. The more you can ignore the behaviour knowing you’ve instilled these disciplines, the quicker the crying will disappear, and you and your puppy will sleep better and bond better.

It is such a special time and the perfect opportunity to set up a long lasting, healthy and loving relationship with your dog. Thank you for loving your dog as much as I do.