The Modern Guide to Your New Puppy
The first eight weeks at home
Most puppy books give you a list of things to buy and a list of tricks to teach. Then the puppy comes home, cries all night, bites everyone's ankles and wees on the rug every twenty minutes, and nobody knows whether any of it is normal. This guide follows your puppy's first eight weeks with you in the order you'll actually live them, from the week before collection day to around sixteen weeks old.
Each chapter tells you what's normal, what to do and what can wait. It starts with an "Is this normal?" finder for the worries families bring me most in the early weeks, and it's honest about the hard bits too, including the broken nights and the puppy blues. It follows the same approach as my online Puppy Club, so it hands over neatly if you want to go further.
I've been training dogs for over 30 years, and I wrote this the way I'd explain it if we were sat at your kitchen table together.
What's inside
An "Is this normal?" finder for the ten worries families bring me most, plus when to ring your vet straight away
Eight weeks at a glance: what to focus on from collection day to around sixteen weeks
Getting ready: what you really need, setting up their space, puppy-proofing at puppy height, a vet, insurance and agreeing the house rules
Collection day: the drive home, the toilet spot first, meeting the family and other pets, and what can wait
The first nights: why I'd have them close to you at first, the three kinds of crying, night-time toilet trips and moving the bed gradually
Sleep and settling: why puppies need 18 to 20 hours a day, the overtired puppy, and teaching a settle
A daily routine that's an order to follow, with no fixed timetable, and how it changes up to sixteen weeks
Toilet training with routine, supervision and reward, what to do after accidents, and when to call the vet
Nipping and chewing: why it happens, when it peaks, what to do in the moment and what not to do
Their space and alone time, built in tiny steps from the first days
Food, the first vet visit, vaccinations, handling, and keeping food bowls stress-free
The world before and after vaccinations, without tick lists, and why watching counts
Children, other dogs and cats, first training games, first walks, looking after yourself, and what comes next
Pages to print and keep
An "Is this normal?" finder for the fridge
A shopping list and questions for your breeder or rescue
A collection day and first night checklist
A daily routine planner and a sleep and toilet log
A family rules card, a note for visitors and a quick-reference page
Why this guide is different
It follows the first eight weeks in order, so you always know what to focus on now and what can wait
It's honest about what's normal, from crying at night to the evening crocodile, so you can stop worrying about the things that don't matter
It keeps your puppy close at night at first, and builds independence in small steps during the day
It treats socialisation as a few good experiences, with no tick list, and keeps unvaccinated puppies safe
It's built on games plus structure, with reward-based training and no punishment
Who it's for
Families who are about to bring a puppy home, or have just done it, and anyone who wants a calm, clear plan for the first two months. It works for any breed, and for older puppies and rescue puppies too.
What you get
A 109-page PDF and an EPUB in one ZIP file, emailed to you straight after checkout. Read it on your phone, tablet, e-reader or computer, and print the pages at the back.
