I regularly receive emails from readers with new puppies asking for advice on everything from food to training to exercising to gear and more. Since I’m such a dog person and I share so much about our dogs with you, I thought that I’d sprinkle a few pet posts in here and there.
I’m going to start general today with some of my top 10 tips for raising a puppy. While they are so cute and fluffy, they are a ton of work!
Be prepared for what you’re getting into.
Nothing makes my blood boil more than those stories about families who adopt puppies only to drop them at the humane society a week later because, “They peed all over the house and were too much work. It just didn’t work with our lifestyle.” Remember, when you bring a 7-week old puppy home you are basically welcoming a baby into your house. Do you expect children to be potty-trained and well-behaved straight out of the womb? Of course not. It takes time…and training. So before you even make the choice to bring a puppy home, ask if you can handle it at this point in life. Are you prepared for the work it takes to raise a puppy? Will you freak out if the puppy has accidents inside? Has your family had a real discussion on the responsibilities for caring for the puppy? If you can’t handle a puppy, consider adopting an older and calmer dog. There are so many in need of homes.
I remember thinking on quite a few occasions with Zoey, “Oh my god…what have I done? I totally forgot that it was this hard. Can I do this? Will I ever love her as much as Sullie?” These are normal thoughts. Stay the course. You can do this and it’s worth it.
Embrace the crate.
I cannot sing the praises of crate training enough. First, it’s important to adopt the mindset that crate training is not mean. It’s actually a wonderful way to create a safe place for the pup and it facilitates good potty, eating and sleeping habits in addition to giving you peace of mind that the puppy isn’t going to destroy your house while you’re away. I’ll write a separate post on the ins and outs of crate training soon.
Start training early. And hire a professional.
Sullie was my first pup 10 years ago and while we did an okay job training her, we definitely could have done better. While she is overall the sweetest and most well-behaved pup ever, she is still no fun to walk on a leash. I did the Petsmart Puppy Kindergarten with Sullie and while it was “okay,” I knew I didn’t want to go that route with Zoey. I don’t agree with some of their training techniques (personal preference) and I wanted a deeper dive into training.
We made the investment to hire UberDog here in Charlotte to help us with training Zoey. They did several in-home session and we have lifetime group classes (that we need to take advantage of). It was totally worth the investment for us. Before choosing a trainer or training program, make sure that you agree with their training method and beliefs. I’m in the “positive as possible” camp when it comes to training so UberDog was a great fit for us.
Make sure you’re committed to doing the work you need to do for training your dog. They’re not going to learn everything they need to know through one training session with a trainer or a class every week. It’s day in and day out work at home. Also, take responsibility for some of your dogs bad habits. Case in point, Zoey still jumps up on the counter and eats things. While I get mad at her, it’s mostly our fault for failing to do the proper training to stop the habit.
Dogs are so smart and they want to make you happy. You just have to train them!
Be patient with potty training.
I had this dream that Zoey would just be potty trained within a week of coming home. WRONG. We had so.many.accidents no matter how diligent I was about crating, looking for signs she needed to go, how many trips we took outside, etc. It seemed like she could just squat and pee in an instant. While there are definite dos and don’ts of potty training, you just have to give them time. A puppy’s bladder is not matured enough to hold it for any length of time until about 4 months old. Before this they literally have to go when they have to go.
Hitting that 4 month mark was magical and we had very few accidents after because we’d done all the work on good potty habits before. Another friend of mine recently brought home the cutest lab puppy but she was so upset because he was having accidents everywhere…including in his crate. I encouraged her to be patient and he did eventually mature out of it.
Just a note: I am not a fan of using puppy pads in the house. I personally don’t ever want to train my dogs that it’s okay to go inside. But that’s just my opinion, I know for some city dwellers or those with small dogs it can work well.
Love on your puppy from day one if you want a dog that likes to cuddle.
As you all know, I love to cuddle with my girls. When Sullie was a puppy I received advice (I can’t even remember where from) to hold her belly up to teach her a) that I was the alpha/one in charge and b) to trust me and relax and it worked so well. To this day she loves to be held belly up and she’s also an excellent spooner. I did this with Zoey as well and although she’s an independent wild child (so much more so than her sister), she loves quiet cuddles. We have family cuddle parties every morning and at night before bed. 🙂
Keep your puppy close.
You have to watch puppies like a hawk. Turn your back on them for a second or let them wander into another room and you’re looking at a potty accident or them getting into something. With Sullie, I shut her in whatever room I was in at the time and with Zoey, her trainers encouraged us to leash her to us no matter where we were in the house so that she was never more than 4 feet away when behavior needed to be corrected. We hooked her to chairs, coffee tables, cabinets, etc. What I’m trying to say is…we spent a lot of time together and she was never unsupervised.
A tired puppy is a good puppy.
Regular play sessions and walks are great for wearing puppies out but you also want to mentally stimulate them as well. Zoey would sleep for 3 hours after a 30 minute session with her trainer. It wiped her out! So remember, physical AND mental stimulation. In addition to training activities, there are all sorts of toys that you can purchase that mentally stimulate them too.
Offer a variety of appropriate things for your puppy to chew.
Puppies are going to chew, period and the end. It’s important to give them lots of options for appropriate things to chew so that they’re not chewing your furniture. Every dog is different so offer different textures, shapes and sizes and be sure to follow the age guidelines listed by the manufacturer. Related to the idea of loving them from day one if you want a cuddler, if you want a dog that loves to play with toys and balls, offer them early so they get in the habit.
I’ll do another post about our favorite toys, bones, accessories, etc.
Mess with your puppy.
When Sullie was a puppy we messed with her all the time (bows in hair, case in point…ha!). We pulled on her ears and her tail (gently), put our hands in her bowl while she was eating, rough played with her and my ex even shot a cap gun while she was eating to get her used to loud noises (not my idea but…it worked). I did this (minus the cap gun) with Zoey too and it really helps to develop a dog with a good temperament. I wanted dogs that weren’t sensitive to having their ears or paws touched or groomed, were cool with kids messing with them and that didn’t have food issues. The food training was especially important to me because I didn’t want to deal with any food guarding or aggression issues. I’ve trained both of my girls to eat on command and they could care less if I came in and took the food away or touched them while eating.
Socialize your puppy.
Get your puppy out of the house! We took Sullie everywhere with us…on adventures around town and on road trips. As soon as she had the appropriate shots to play with other dogs, we scheduled play dates. Same with Zoey, I was taking her to the gym with me daily from the first day I brought her home. You want to get your puppy used to the world outside of your house so that they are relaxed and not anxious when you take them out in public. The play dates are great for helping them learn to socialize with other pups and for wearing them out.
Bonus: have fun!
The puppy phase will be over before you know it so soak up that puppy breath, puppy belly and puppy fluff. You’ll have a rambunctious teen on your hands soon enough!
I’d love to hear your puppy advice! Share your best advice and stories in the comments below.
Love these tips- thanks for posting Jen! My husband and I are bringing home our first puppy in September (a goldendoodle) and this was super helpful!
Thank you so much for this, Jen! I look forward to the post on favorite dog toys!
You’re welcome Emily! 🙂
Please, please, please share a post on crate training! We just got a puppy and, while its only been a week, we are definitely having some issues getting puppy to embrace his crate. He is doing really well with potty training, and has yet to have an accident in his crate, but soon after he enters his crate the howling begins. It doesn’t last too long, but I’d love some tips on how to help puppy love him crate! Thanks!
Hey Mary – I’ll give you a few tips right now. FEED HIM IN HIS CRATE! This way he associates it with a positive place. Also, leave treats in there. Some dogs do better with their crates covered so like drape a blanket over the sides so it feels more like a cave. Like a baby you are also going to have to let him cry it out in the beginning (it’s good that he stops howling after a bit) but try those other things to make it a more positive place. You might also try placing a t-shirt or something that smells like you in there. Also, leave the door open all the time and praise him if he goes in on his own.
Good luck!
I didn’t use a crate for my first golden, however I did use one for my three others. OH, what a difference! They never went potty in their crate, but it’s still easier to clean up one small area (and a pup) than accidents all over the house. Make his crate “his safe spot”.
When Abby, Annie & Claire were in their crates, the kids could not bother them. They were never corrected & sent to their crate & I treated them after they went into the crate. Long after they no longer needed their crates, we kept them and always left the door opened. They would go into them when they were tired, knowing they were in a safe place; their place.
Friends always said to us that they would have a dog if it behaved like our dogs. They didn’t show up well trained. We socialized them with children, took them to obedience classes (take the basic class, at the very least), and taught them to sit, stay, not to nip, not to jump up, heel & come. Goldens are so smart and such “pleasers” that they learn quickly & love being with their family. Be consistent. Put in 10 minutes a day to go over training commands & you will be able to take them anywhere. Fun for all of you.❤️
I loved this post, it was very informative. My husband and I adopted a 1 1/2 year old lab mix from the shelter 4-5 years ago and so many bad habits were already em-brained in him and it’s been hard to kick those bad habits. I can definitely see how teaching while a puppy can make a huge difference. Looking forward to your next dog related posts :).
Ahh thank you for this post! My husband and I are looking into getting a pug puppy soon and these tips are so helpful. Looking forward to reading more posts on this, especially the crate training.
All the Zoey pics made my day!!! Love the tips, we are still trying to stay the course with the UD group classes! 🙂 I will reach out to you & Ashleigh via FB to see if we can pin down a golden puppy play date for Zoey, Paul Newman and Ernie! 🙂
Love all of your puppy pictures! Golden are the best! We have a golden retriever named Zoë, and thinking about adding another in the near future! I hope they will get along as well as Sullie & your Zoey do 🙂
This post is so timely! It has been such an eye-opening month with our new puppy. Our other dog is 8 so everything feels brand new. I actually wrote about it in my post for tomorrow, but a puppy is like a baby. You have to know what you’re getting into! But he’s brought so much love and joy into our house 🙂
Keep these posts coming! My boyfriend and I are getting a golden pup in the fall and while I grew up with the breed I have never trained a pup on my own. We made the choice to get a puppy mostly to instil good habits and behaviour long term. Honestly I’m not super excited for the puppy phase because I long for the years when they can run/hike with us and are trained but I really want to put in the work to develop their behaviour and amazing personality! Also side story, I frequently take care if a very sweet 4y old golden who is well behaved but he is petrified of bags/luggage/large objects in the house because he was crated and put on a plane for 4h when he was a pup. So long story short, I would never put a puppy or young dog (or any age) in airplane cargo!
Good tips! We rescued one of our pups (from a bad home) when we think he was ~10 weeks old and even breaking habits that had formed that early took a lot of time. Socializing him right away and crate training him were so key to having an awesome, well-adjusted dog!
One thing that I’d encourage everyone who is training a dog to remember is that your dog is a dog, not a child! As much as I love my dogs like they ARE children (like you do, Jen!), I try to remember that they don’t process emotions the same way that we do. So, for example, if they’re whining and we run over to them and coo at them “you’re ok” and pet them, it actually teaches them that whining is a GOOD behavior. That’s when you run into separation anxiety, etc. It’s hard for us tender-hearted dog people, but really important!
Hello! Just wondering where you got your goldens? I’ve been trying to research some different breeders and your pups are beautiful!
Sullie came from Creekstone Retrievers in Alabama and Zoey from Seasons Gold in Charlotte.
Thanks for these tips and tricks! We are getting an eight week old golden retriever on May 5th (Friday) and we’re naming her Olive. This really helped me figure out what to do when she gets here.
YAY! 🙂
I’m with you on the puppy pads… we tried them with Sherman our Golden who tried so had to please…he would sit on the pad and poop on my hardwood floors!!! Now it’s funny, but 4 years ago not so much… lolol. But sll the holding and cuddling paid off… Sherman is a lover and enjoys company. People and dogs love him too.
We pick up our English Cream Golden in 2 weeks at 17 weeks old. Our 3rd Golden in about 33 years and know he has some big paws to fill(Taegan was wonderful for 14 years). We are so excited!!
Hi! I have a new English Cream Golden. He’s so independent. Not super cuddly and doesn’t come to me eagerly. I feel like I need to work for his affection. Great otherwise! Not super energetic. Bursts of energy followed up by lots of naps but never really interested in walks. He’s 10 weeks. Thoughts?!? First timer here.
Hi Gina – congrats on the new pup! It sounds like he’s doing all the things a puppy should be doing! I always make an effort to spend a lot of time holding and snuggling with my dogs when they’re puppies to encourage them to be more affectionate and to get them used to it. Your pup could really benefit from basic positive obedience! I would recommend seeking out an experienced trainer in your area to help you as your pup grows!
I appreciate that you mentioned it’s important to be prepared for a puppy, and if you can handle it right now. Having a puppy in the home can be fantastic, but you also need to make sure that you can offer it the best as well. If you believe you can and you stick to it, you’ll definitely be glad you did.
We bring home our first Golden Retriever in 3 wks . This will be our first “big dog ” experience, we have a Yorkie mix . She has been really easy to house break . I think we just got lucky with her and realize that’s not always the case, we are hoping that Ellie can set a good example for our new girl and help with some of the training. We are excited to bring her home. Thank you for the helpful tips.
I am adopting a golden retriever puppy soon but I do not agree with crate training or “messing” with my puppy I am hoping he will do fine without it
My husband bought my son a golden retriever puppy for his birthday and he was super excited. In the excitement I forgot that we need to train the little guy and I don’t know how. That is a good idea to make sure that we are committed to doing the work to train this dog. We do really want him to be well trained. It’s true that we won’t learn everything in one training session. Thanks for the tips!
I am about to receive my first puppy golden retriever of 7 weeks I’m over excited but so nervous at the same time I hope I do well with training and raising him.. reading your article gave me a bit of a clearer view. Thanks
I love how you took Zoey to gym every day! I want to take my dog everywhere, but PLEASE tell us how you manage potential “accidents’ in public spaces??
Thank you so much for this super informative post!
I always made sure she went before we got to the gym and walked her frequently. That said she did have a few small accidents but she was so small at the time that it didn’t make too much of a mess.
Thank you so much for the reply!! 🙂
We did all of these with 3 Goldens and this article describes what works!! We kept each of our puppies on a leash in the house, never out of our sight (except when they were in the crate) for 4 months before we gradually gave them independence. We always messed with them and held them. They had accidents as you would expect until fully house trained at about 4 months, but never any destructive or aggressive behavior. We gave them plenty of tough chew toys. Also training classes. They were never nervous or skittish. They love to lay on us and never have had any trouble with grooming, food guarding, loud noises, children or other animals. Goldens are great dogs but like any dog, they can only know what you teach them. Great article!!
Hi Jen, how old are your puppies when you let them go out?
What do you mean? Out to the bathroom by themselves or out into the “real world?”
Golden Retrievers are literally angels sent from heaven, they’re just so pure and amazing!
Thank you so much for your article! We are picking our new Golden next week and are looking forward to bringing him/her home in October. As Golden’s are social dogs, I’ve considered getting 2 but have heard negative feedback on this idea. What would your input be? Do you think they would focus on each other more than their humans? Would 2 puppies be so much more difficult than 1? Any advice is greatly appreciated!!
P.S. Love the name Zoey!!
We had put our puppy in her cage at night but she always peed and pooped in it so we had to give her a bath everyday because she sat/rolled in it. Any tips to
Prevent that??
Did you use the spacer to make the crate smaller so that she couldn’t move around much in her crate?
About to get golden #3. We are older then when we got the first one and stilĺ terrified about starting over again. Learning all over about everything. So many questions and Don’t know where to start. ??
It is like starting over again but you will figure it out! Every pup is different but be patient and consistent!
I am a new golden retriever of 9 week old puppy. This is my first large dog breed so a little nervous. I read your post and you give wonderful tips that I will follow. Please let me know if it is safe to put a flea collar on the puppy. After I bring her in from a walk she seems to scratch a lot but I don’t see any fleas on her. Thank you.
I would consult with your vet to see what they recommend for flea prevention and treatment. Also, about the scratching. It could be due to something else like an allergen outside.
CONGRATS on your sweet puppy!
On Tuesday I am getting my first golden. I have not had a dog in 3 years because I lost my last one in a painful way for me and I am afraid to get another one. I am now ready to get one and this page has helped me prepare for my new puppy. If anyone wants to help me name him (it’s a boy) just reply to my comment 🙂
Hi Jen, I am looking for your thoughts about me getting a Golden Retriever or possibly a Lab. I am a 74 yr old male in pretty good shape no health issues, and retired so I should be around a while to look after a dog. My wife passed about four months ago so I guess I am looking to fill a void. I live in a single family home and have plenty of time to spare. Your honest thoughts please you won’t hurt my feelings. Thanks
I am picking my pup up in 2 weeks! This is the best AND most realistic article I have read about training….I love that you haven’t sugared coated any expectations….having said that I am as nervous as h***!!! I haven’t had a dog in 15 years. My pup Tank will be 4 months when we get him. He is absolutely adorable. Have only seen photos. He lives with his breeder in Missouri and we live in Canada….it is going to be some kind of an adventure!!! LOL
Hey Marion! I am so excited for you!!!! Puppies are intense but so much fun. You’ll do great. I’m so happy to hear that you found my article to be helpful. And wow, that is going to be an adventure!
Do you have suggestions about golden retriever puppy biting? We got ours at 7 weeks. She is now 12. How do we stop her from snapping and biting? She is smart and loving . I don’t work and train her. The biting has been rough though. Can you help?
I’ll be getting a golden pup soon. I’m so excited and kinda worried bcos it’s my first ever pup. But I love dogs soooo much . This info is everything to me. Ik having pup is quite hard to maintain but I’m all in. I love this post Soo much. Thanks a ton.
You say you took your dog to the gym with you. You left puppy in car? Or what? I’m Bri hi g home my golden puppy in 6 days!! ??
I am picking up my 7 week old golden in 2 days! I am so excited! How did you go out taking him places before he had his full shots? I want to socialize him, and of course potty train him immediately, but obviously there are risks. Whats your take on this? I live in NC so I know we don’t have any Parvo outbreaks where I live, but its still a little scary being a new pup owner! Thanks in advance 🙂
So I am the proud owner of a 9 week old golden retriever just over the weekend, and It seems the big mush that she is, with her hugs and lovin, she can also be testing me as well. So the whole crate training thing is not going so well. I’ve tried treats, toys, blanket, water, everything in there to make her comfortable, and she isn’t having it! She hates it. If i leave the door open put a treat & a toy in there shes hesitant to go get it, but if she does she goes in half way, grabs it & runs out. I’m stressing! help!
Hi !
I just got a golden retriever a little over a week ago and your post was VERY reassuring to things I’ve already noticed within myself and within my pup, Pete.
Really appreciate you sharing all of this advice! It was super valuable.
Loved your comments. I have a 9 week double doodle. I have crate trained since day 1 and she has been really good, day 1 upset for a couple of minutes. Day 2 no problem at all. Now just the occasional cry when I leave her but that is over with in a very short space of time. I also leave a low radio on for her. She uses the garden most of the time for toileting, but occasionally she will come into the house and do another wee. The problem I have at the moment is trying to stop her biting. I have tried the gentle command which she listens to some of the time. And I have tried standing and turning my back on her so she realises I am not playing when she bites, but she will then go for trousers or feet, which I try my best to ignore, or she will just go off and do something else like chew a mat or something which is a no no. Any ideas?
Also as we are in lockdown at the moment and can’t get out to buy things, do you have any ideas on mental stimulation that I can do with her?
Regards
Julie
Really great info, thank you for your article. Our puppy arrives in 5 days and we have been preparing for months. Your advice is. Very helpful. Blessings to you.