Your puppy’s first week home: what to teach first (and what can wait)

You’ve brought the puppy home. The house is full of newspaper, there’s a toy in every room, and you’ve read eleven different lists of things you should already be doing. Breathe. Most of it can wait.

Week one has three jobs: help your puppy feel safe, set up the routines that stop problems before they start, and begin building value in you. That’s it. Sit, stay and walking nicely are for later.

If you’re doing online puppy training, week one is where it pays off most. The lessons are short, you can watch them during a nap, and you practise at home where the puppy actually lives, instead of waiting for a class to start.

Job one: safety and sleep

A puppy who has just left their litter is tired, unsure and processing everything. Puppies need around 18 hours of sleep a day, and an overtired puppy bites more, barks more and learns less.

Set up one small, quiet place that is theirs: a pen or crate with a bed, water and something safe to chew. Put them in it for naps, not as punishment, and don’t let visitors wake them. If your puppy is wild at 7pm, they’re almost always overtired, not naughty.

Job two: the routines

Three routines in week one prevent most of the problems people pay trainers to fix later.

Toilet. Out after every sleep, every meal, every play session and every 45 minutes or so in between. Go with them, wait quietly, and the moment they go, calm praise and a treat. Accidents inside aren’t a training failure; they’re a timing failure, and timing is yours to fix.

Alone time. Start on day one, in tiny amounts. Puppy in their pen with a chew, you in the next room for two minutes, then back before they fuss. Build from there. A puppy who learns in week one that you always come back is far less likely to develop separation problems later.

Food. Hand-feed some of every meal. A puppy’s dinner is dozens of free deposits; don’t put them all in a bowl.

Job three: become worth choosing

This is the one almost nobody starts in week one, and it’s the most important.

In the Asset Method, everything your dog will ever learn depends on one thing: do they choose you? Week one is when you start building that account, and the balance starts at zero.

Several times a day, in a boring spot, say your puppy’s name or a marker word like “yes”, then immediately give them something great: a piece of food, a quick game with a toy, a silly chase. Ten repetitions, twice a day. Mix it up so they never know what’s coming, only that it’ll be good. You’re not teaching a behaviour yet. You’re teaching your puppy that you are the best thing in the house.

What can wait

Sit, drop, stay, heel: all of it can wait until week two or three. A puppy will learn these in a few days once they’re settled and value you. Teaching them in week one, when the puppy is exhausted and doesn’t yet care what you think, mostly teaches you frustration.

Socialisation matters, but it means calm, positive exposure to the world, not meeting every dog on the street. One new thing a day, at a distance where your puppy is curious rather than worried, is plenty. Your vet will tell you what’s safe before vaccinations are complete.

Try this today

Write your puppy’s toilet schedule on the fridge, pick their nap spot, and do your first ten deposits. That’s a good day one.

Where to from here

Our Online Puppy School walks you through the first months in order: toilet training, biting, settling, alone time and the foundations of the Asset Method. Watch the first lesson free.