How To Handle Your Puppy’s First Night At Home
January 30, 2008 by Colby
Your puppy’s first night at home. It’s definitely exciting…It’s definitely fun…Here are some things to think about before your puppy arrives at your home.
It’s been just about a year since I brought Stetson home from Guide Dogs of America. It made me think of our wonderful first meeting in Sylmar, CA and also the countless nights without sleep for the following four weeks. Guide Dogs of America does not leave you empty handed. They give you a guide on what to expect and what you should do during those first few days and nights. These steps aren’t only for guide dogs and can be followed by anyone bringing home a puppy for the first time.
Everything’s New…Everything’s a First
Much of this is taken from my GDA handbook some of it paraphrased with some of my comments mashed in between.
First things first…We are informed that up to this point your puppy has been with his mother and his littermates in a sterile environment. It’s advised that your puppy’s first week at home should be a quiet one. The puppy should be allowed to explore and meet his new family. You should now start teaching the puppy his name (amazing because, now Stetson knows his name like the back of his paw). When you first arrive home give your puppy a chance to relieve itself in an area you have designated for that purpose (Stetson’s designated spot was in the dirt area on my patio).
Take your puppy out on leash (without his bib on) — GDA puppy’s in training are never allowed to “Get Busy” with their bib/jacket on — and repeat “Get Busy” (Remember this may be the first time your puppy has heard these words). Allow your puppy 10-15 minutes, if he hasn’t relieved, take him inside. Try again in 10 minutes. If the puppy does relieve itself in the proper area, give him lots of praise. Then let him explore the house (remember to supervise - don’t let him out of your sight). Afterwards your may take it inside, but remember to supervise the puppy; do not let it out of your sight. Talk to the puppy when it explores to make it feel more at home.
First Night At Home
If you’ve raised a puppy before then you probably know this is where the real fun begins.
From the GDA handbook:
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. - I had a large crate with a partion and put a blanket over it to make it seem more cozy.
- 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 leash to relieving area. After relieving put him back into his crate. Do not give him any treats or any play time. Put him right back into his crate and he should go back to sleep.
- Give the puppy a stuffed dog toy to snuggle with. - I was told to bring a toy with me to GDA when we met the litter and get each of Stetson’s littermates scent on the toy. Then when it was time to crate Stetson for the first night he could snuggle with the toy and smell his littermate’s scent.
- 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.
First Feeding
This will be your puppy’s first meal by himself. Once your puppy’s 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.
My Experiences With My Puppy
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 with house training and crate training. Puppy’s 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, and howled, and 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. 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 tell he stopped). To try and quiet him down I’d either say “quiet” or “Shhh”.
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. In 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 it gives me more peace and quiet.
What experiences do you have with your puppy’s first night at home? Was it miserable? Did you get any sleep?
I haven’t got my puppy get, but I do tomorrow. I am thankful for this website. My friends told me “I let my dog on the bed, and now she growls if my boyfriend tries to get in too.” So thank you so much
@Laura, thanks for the comment. I’m glad some of the information on our little website is helping you out. Please let me know if there’ anything in particular you’d like to read about.
What kind of puppy are you picking up? Are you a puppy raiser for Guide Dogs of America?
I am picking up a beagle/doberman mix, and no I am not, but, I am hoping to be within a few years. Thank you for all of your help though, it really is helping.
@Laura, good luck with your beagle/doberman mix. Be prepared for very little sleep your first few nights with your puppy. Stetson used to wake up several times a night when I first brought him home.
Did you get a chance to read this article?
The Scent of the Litter
Basically, I was told to bring a toy with me and rub it against Stetson’s litter mates. When it was bedtime I would put Stetson in his crate with the toy. The scent of the litter on the toy helped Stetson feel more at home when it was time to go to sleep.
Yes, I did read it thanks. We actually were able to take a toy home with us, and she did very well throughout the night. She woke up at 5:30 and started howling. When I pick her up, sometimes she has a tendency to growl, and I am really worried about that. But overall she is a great puppy.
@Laura, sleeping till 5:30 is not too bad. I’m sure she’ll start sleeping in later as she gets used to your home. How did she do this past week?
Guide dogs of America teaches us to try and handle our puppies as much as possible. That includes cradling them and handling their feet, nails, ears, and mouth. I would do this at least three times a day with Stetson when he was very young. At first your puppy will struggle to get out of the cradle position (we put them on their back and between our legs), but over time they become comfortable and will just lie in place. It helps when you have to cut your dogs nails, brush her coat, or brush her teeth. Over time handling your puppy this way may solve the growling problem.
Another possibility is she may have a tender spot on her body that may need to be checked by your veterinarian.
I hope everything is going well with your new puppy.
I don’t raise guide dogs but we just got a puppy, already having an adult dog, but we’re so new at this. just wanted to thank you for the article. I found it very helpful. We were planning to leave her outside with our older dog, but instead we assigned a kid to keep her by their bed in the crate. She did really well, whining for a little while but then sleeping 6 hours through. Thanks for the tips.
@Josi, I’m glad you found the article helpful. Puppies can be a lot of work I hope everything is going well with your new addition to the family. I saw the picture of your puppy on your blog. He’s adorable! What breed is he?
Crate training is a great way to house train your puppy. It sounds like your puppy is taking to the crate very nicely. Let me know if you have any other questions and I’ll do my best to answer them.
Just an update to let you know Jasmine is doing great, besides still waking up early still. Her growling has stopped and I am handling her everyday around her ears, mouth, etc etc.
Thanks so much
@Laura, I’m glad Jasmine is doing great.
I’ll be raising a new puppy soon too. Just the other day I was asked to raise another Guide Dog puppy. I’m going to write a short post on my blog later today.
Thanks for this thorough description of puppy’s first night / weeks home. We are pondering raising a puppy in training, and at the moment I am looking around for more information and first person experiences before making a decision.
Very helpful!
Karen
@Karen, If you have any questions regarding puppy raising please send me an email at ckmorita at gmail dot com.
It’s a great experience raising a guide dog puppy in training. You get to do all kinds of fun things with your puppy including go to restaurants and movies…I even took Stetson to Disneyland! It’s also very time consuming, but I’d say not much more than raising your own puppy. I’m now raising my second puppy and often write about the things we do together here on my blog.
I listed some of my fellow puppy in training bloggers in this post:
Fellow GDA Bloggers
Again if you have any questions send me an email.
Hi I just got a German Shepard puppy 2 months old, his first day is going well, just a little bit of whinning but that’s to be expected, i appreciate the advice on the first few weeks. I am planning on leaving him outside tonight, hope that he won’t keep the neighbours up too much.
@Tyler, he sounds a little young to stay outside alone. How did he do on his first night?
I keep my puppy’s in the crate next to my bed on their first night at home. It’s usually a fairly traumatic experience for puppies on their first night away from their litter mates.
I hope all is going well with your new German Shepherd puppy. Let me know if you have any questions.
His first night was good he didnt make too much noise and went to sleep after not long at all. The second night however he went to sleep as normal and around 3:30 he started howling and whimpering, so i went outside to find he had started chewing our clothes off the line, i spent the rest of the night outside with him at that point i was too tired to care. I’ve removed all things for him to chew or knock over so hopefully he will try and relax tonight. He seemed alot more calm and relax this afternoon
@Tyler, my last three puppies have been raised indoors and two out of three would whimper, bark, howl for at least the first month even though they were sleeping in the crate right next to my bed. It would take me anywhere from 30 seconds to 20 minutes to calm them down.
The good thing is today all three dogs are content to just sleep in their crate until I let them out in the morning. I’m actually only strict about the crate with the current puppy (5 months old) I’m raising to be a guide dog. The other two usually just sleep on the floor beside my bed.
Yeah i expected as much, he’s getting better every night, which is a good thing. He only started at about 6:00 this morning so yeah im proud of him getting used to his new home so quickly. He’s just goes a little crazy for the first 5-10 mins when we see him, but soon after calms down
@Tyler, I’m glad to hear that your little German Shepherd is doing so well on his first few nights alone.
Let me know if you have any questions and best of luck with his training!