The First Week Home: A Gentle Playbook

Bringing a puppy home is joyful, and it's also a big transition — for you and for them. The temptation is to overload the first weekend with visitors, new spaces, and long adventures. Resist it.

Instead, keep things small for the first week. One quiet room. A predictable rhythm of naps, meals, potty breaks, and short play sessions. A calm household teaches a calm puppy — and that early template is worth more than any advanced training later.

Two things matter more than everything else in week one: sleep and potty rhythm. Puppies need 18–20 hours of sleep. Protect that sleep like it's medicine (it is). And build your potty schedule around it — after waking, after eating, after play. Consistency is what makes house training feel easy.

By the end of week one, most puppies have a favorite napping spot, a rough sense of the routine, and the beginnings of trust. That's exactly where you want to be.