First Month with a New Puppy: Our Top Recommendations, Training Tips, and Favorite Products
We are always asked for advice on puppy training, products, and personal experiences.
My wife and I reflected on our first month with Emma at home just for you!
Here’s a review of our top recommendations, training tips, and favorite products after the first month with a new puppy.
4 Products We Were Happy to Have
When puppies are awake, they can have a lot of energy!
We couldn’t spend all our time with her and not get anything else done.
We often gave her a bully stick to chew which is excellent for satisfying her urge to chew, cleaning her teeth, and keeping her occupied.
I never give Emma a bully stick without a Bow Wow Buddy.
This safety device allows Emma to enjoy the benefits of long-term chews while reducing choking risks.
Read more in our blog about the Bow Wow Buddy.
You can use the promo: GOLDEN for 10% off your order.
Dog Food: Spot & Tango Cod & Salmon
Emma is obsessed with her food!
We split it into three portions (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and hand-feed her during training sessions.
The best part about this is that she maintains a balanced diet with the correct nutritional inclusion.
I know choosing food for your new puppy can be a difficult process, so I shared my journey of searching for the right food in this blog.
If you want to try out Spot & Tango, use promo GOLDEN for 50% off.
With Ellie, we had the benefit of letting her out in the backyard. We now live in an urban apartment and must take a few extra steps of caution.
Puppies should not be in common spaces before receiving their full set of vaccinations (around 16 weeks).
We use natural grass we can put on our private balcony and use for potty training to ensure Emma is kept in a safe environment.
Puppy Shopping List
📝 We compiled a list of 16 items to buy for a new puppy and have used all of them in the first month.
Visit our blog for more information about each item.
Our Top Recommendations
1. Read ahead of time.
We felt well-educated on a plan for taking care of a puppy by reading books before Emma came home.
We needed to be very hands-on and involved when Emma was here, so we were happy we already had a plan ahead of time.
Planning allowed us to maximize our time with her and increase success.
From Day 1, we worked on very simple training tasks with her and added more skills or increased the complexity each week.
We offer an entire section on our puppy training app for what to know before bringing home a puppy. If you’d like access to this content, it is FREE, and we would love to support you on your puppy training journey.
2. Watch your puppy like a hawk.
Puppies do not know right vs. wrong. Our job is to teach Emma what she should and should not do.
By watching her closely, we were maximizing success for the long term. The goal is to intervene or redirect her before she starts an undesired behavior.
It is easier to provide direct supervision by using puppy gates to limit her access in the apartment.
3. Start training from day #1.
Puppies need mental and physical exercise.
A great way to keep them entertained is to start basic obedience skills such as “sit” and “down.” Keep sessions short in between play.
Puppy Training
We followed a five-week training plan to cover basic obedience skills and a few fun tricks. We found each week's pace of training and structure to be highly successful in building a solid foundation.
🔹 We published five blogs with easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions on the training we completed with Emma each week.
I would recommend following the training in order as each week build on the previous week starting with week 1 training.
Puppy Socialization
Our at-home training was supplemented with puppy socialization classes at a local training facility for Emma to be around other dogs and people. We were happy we were already registered for puppy socialization classes before Emma came home.
There is some urgency to this step as there is a window of critical development before three months of age that will shape your puppy’s temperament and behavior habits. A dog’s temperament is largely a result of its socialization during puppyhood.
Honestly, it is one of my favorite parts of the week. Who wouldn’t want to sit back and watch puppies play for an hour? Emma always came home ready for a nap.
I recommend searching in your area for puppy socialization classes by looking online, asking neighbors, or asking your vet.
What’s Next?
When Emma receives all her vaccinations, we will be out and about with her more often, which will help with socialization and provide the opportunity to continue training in various environments.
We plan to visit some of the pet-friendly stores in our area.
Lastly, we will sign Emma up for an obedience class to continue to work toward our goal of her becoming a therapy dog to continue our mission to spread smiles. 😁
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