The day the puppy moves in is one of those days you never forget. The little nose at the car window, the first unsteady steps in the hallway, the first time he snuggles against your foot and falls asleep. And then, around 11 pm, the first whimper in the dark. Welcome to the pack.
Three questions almost always come first: What do I really need? What do I do on the first nights? And why is the little one so strangely quiet on the second day? Here are the answers. Not an ideal picture, but what works.
Before he moves in: what really needs to be in the house
The pet shop will tell you that you need everything. You need surprisingly little, but the right things:
- A retreat: A crate with the door open or a basket in a quiet corner. Not in a passageway, not next to the TV. The puppy should be able to see the room from there, but not be in the middle of it.
- The food he is used to: Ask the breeder or the animal shelter what he has been getting so far, and stick with it for at least two weeks. Changing food plus moving house is the surest way to diarrhoea.
- A harness, not a collar: A soft, adjustable harness in puppy size. On a collar, an insecure puppy quickly pulls on his own windpipe. A collar can be added later, for tag and address tag, but you do not pull on it.
- A light lead, 2 to 3 metres: No retractable lead. In the first days you want closeness, not radius.
- Two bowls, one chew, one soft toy: Ideally leave the soft toy with the breeder a few days beforehand, so that it smells of his littermates.
- Kitchen roll and enzyme cleaner: Not vinegar cleaner. The enzyme cleaner breaks down the smell, so the spot does not become the regular toilet.
What you do not need: mountains of toys, a puppy bed for €120, a camera that notifies you every three minutes. That comes later or never.
Day 1: arriving, not training
The most important sentence for the first day: Nothing happens today. No visitors, no round of introductions to the neighbours, no training. The puppy has just lost his mother, his littermates and everything he knew. He is not excited, he is overwhelmed.
Show him the garden or the spot where he should relieve himself straight after arrival. Praise him calmly if he does it there. Then inside, put water down, show him his retreat and leave him in peace. Sit on the floor, read a book, be there. The puppy decides when he seeks contact. Almost all of them do so within an hour.
For the first night there is only one rule: the crate or basket stands next to your bed, not in the kitchen and not in the hallway. If he whimpers, let a hand hang down, speak quietly, do not turn on the light. If he needs to go out, go with him without a word and straight back into the basket afterwards. Everything else, from the evening routine to the hour-by-hour plan, is in Puppy won't sleep: what really helps on the first night.
Day 2: the quiet day
Many owners get a shock on the second day. The puppy eats less, hardly plays, lies around a lot. That is normal. The adrenaline from moving is gone, now comes the processing. Let him sleep. An eight-week-old puppy needs 18 to 20 hours of sleep a day, and an overtired puppy is a biting, howling, unmanageable puppy.
What you build on day 2 is routine: out after every sleep, after every meal, after every play. Always the same spot, always the same calm word. Accidents happen indoors, and that is okay. Do not scold, do not push his nose in it. Wipe it up, enzyme cleaner, carry on. The full protocol for this is in House-training a puppy.
A short outing is allowed: five minutes in front of the front door, in your arms or on the lead, just looking. Cars, people, noises. Do not walk up to things, just observe. This is the start of socialisation, and it consists of watching, not of touching.
Day 3: first rules, very quietly
Now a bit of everyday life may begin. The puppy knows his place, his toilet spot and your voice. Three things are worth doing already on the third day:
- The name. Say it when he looks at you, and give a piece of food. Do not call it ten times in a row, he will only learn it as background noise.
- Being alone in mini doses. You go into the next room, door ajar, 30 seconds, come back without drama. This is the basis for him later staying home alone calmly.
- Bite inhibition. Puppy teeth are needles. If he nips too hard, a short, high "ouch", the way a littermate would squeal, and the game pauses for 10 to 20 seconds. No muzzle grab, no shouting. The whole process with all its steps is in Puppy bites: teaching bite inhibition.
And no, on day 3 he does not have to know sit. He has to know that you are predictable.
The five mistakes almost everyone makes
- Too many visitors. Everyone wants to see the puppy. Put everyone off until week two.
- Walks that are too long. A rule of thumb going round: five minutes per month of age, twice a day. There is no study that proves exactly this figure, it comes from breeder and trainer practice. The direction is still right: a ten-week-old puppy does not go on a hike, and the open growth plates are a real reason for that.
- Ignoring him at night. A puppy who howls alone at night does not learn independence, but that nobody comes.
- Punishing accidents. He does not understand the connection. He only learns to hide from you when he relieves himself.
- A new place every day. Dog school, DIY store, café, grandma. Two new stimuli a day are completely enough.
What you should keep from these days
Take photos. Not the perfect ones, but the real ones: the puppy falling asleep in his bowl, the crooked ears, the first look he gives you, as if he already knew you are his person. In three years these pictures will be worth more than any toy you buy today.
Photos from the first weeks are later often the only ones in which the dog is still small. Keep them in full resolution, not only as a WhatsApp copy. If you want to know which photo will later suit a portrait: daylight, eye level, face sharp. More on this in our article about dog photos.
A puppy photo ages faster than any other picture in the house. If one of them is going on the wall, you see the preview first. We only print once you like it.
In short
- Day 1: let him arrive, show him the toilet spot, basket next to the bed.
- Day 2: lots of sleep, routine when going out, five minutes of watching the world.
- Day 3: name, being alone for seconds, bite inhibition.
- No visitors, no long walks, no punishment.
And if something does not work: that is the normal case. No puppy reads checklists. He reads you.
The complete starter pack, free
Everything important from the first thirty days on 50 pages to print out: the honest shopping list, the first 72 hours hour by hour, a 4-week plan, a socialisation bingo with 50 experiences and the emergency page for the fridge.
Download the first 30 days here for free
If you prefer a book in your hand: Welpenerziehung & Junghundtraining (Puppy Training & Young Dog Training) covers the same foundation in detail, right into young-dog age.
To go with it: the food bowl with your dog's name, made of stainless steel with a printed band.
Keep reading
- The first 30 days with a puppy: the monthly plan these three days belong in
- House-training a puppy: the point where most people despair
- Puppy training: the 5 rules: the principles behind everyday life
- 150 dog name ideas: in case the name is still missing
Source on bite inhibition: ASPCA, Mouthing, Nipping and Play Biting. Accessed on 19.09.2026.
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