Welcoming a new doxie puppy into your home is very exciting but it’s also a big responsibility. You want to do everything you can to ensure that your puppy has a successful and enjoyable first week at home. From introducing your dachshund pup to their new environment to potty training and establishing daily routines, it can be hard to know exactly what to do in their first week. Which is why we can’t wait to tell you all about our dachshund puppy’s first week at home!
Our Dachshund Puppy’s First Week At Home – Table Of Content:
- First day at home with our puppy
- Spending the first night together
- Taking our puppy for her first vet visit
- Completing our puppy’s paperwork
- Settling into a routine
- Potty training our puppy
- What to expect from your puppy during the first week
Our Dachshund Puppy’s First Week At Home
First day at home with our puppy
Our first day at home with our dachshund puppy was super enjoyable and we instantly fell in love with her! We set aside the whole day to bond with her and make her feel safe and comfortable. This really helped us to get to know her better and she already felt so much more relaxed towards the end of the day. You can read all about our first day at home here.
Spending the first night together
We promised to tell you how our first night together went and to be honest it went much better than expected. Of course, it was not perfect but we were prepared for a sleepless night and lots of crying. Having the crate in the bedroom next to our bed was super helpful for her to feel safer but also for us to comfort her during the night.
At bedtime, Daisy took about 10 minutes to calm down with my daughter sat next to her crate. She then woke up 6 times during the night and went for a potty break twice before waking up at 6am. Every time Daisy woke up we would sit next to her crate and put our hand inside to pet her.
We already knew she found it comforting resting her head on the palm of our hand so we would intentionally place our hand under her head and surely enough this worked every single time. She took less than 5 minutes to fall asleep again and if she was still restless and kept on crying then we would take her out for a potty break.
As soon as Daisy was awake, we took her out into the garden and she straight away went for a wee and poo. We then spent some time bonding in the bed with her. She was so excited to be close to us and already so super loving smothering us with lots of doggy kisses! 🙂
Taking our puppy for her first vet visit
Later on that morning we took Daisy for her first vet visit just to have a general health check and to book her next vaccination appointment. We would definitely recommend having your puppy checked by a vet within the first 48 hours of picking her up from the breeder. You want to ensure your pup is healthy and that there are no medical issues you should be aware of. Daisy had been given a clean bill of health (yay!) and also received her next worm, flea and tick treatment tablet.
Taking your puppy out on their second day is also a good opportunity to socialise your puppy to get them accustomed to different places, people and animals. Daisy was shaking quite a lot when at the vet’s and because we didn’t want to over-do it, we just walked straight home. However, visiting the vet’s surgery was a good start to introducing her to different situations.
Completing our puppy’s paperwork
The next task on the ‘to-do’ list was to complete our puppy’s paperwork. Definitely not as enjoyable as playing with your new puppy, but this is something you should take care of during the first few days. After all, you want to make sure your puppy is registered as yours as soon as possible. Here is a list of the tasks to do:
- change the ownership of your puppy with the Kennel Club
- register as the keeper of your puppy with the microchip database provider
- file all medical documents and make sure this is updated regularly with their vaccinations and worming treatments
- this is not neccessary to arrange during the first week if you have a one month’s free pet insurance in place but I wanted to take care of everything in one go and applied for a lifetime pet insurance cover
- download and register with a video vet app
Settling into a routine
As the week went by we started to settle into a routine that seemed to work for both us and our puppy. It took about 3-4 days to get to know Daisy’s own routine such as when she wakes up, when she is the most active and when she likes to rest. So we tried to establish our routine around her as well as the feeding times she was used to from the breeder’s.
It soon became apparent that our day would be split into 4 time blocks, each of which would pretty much consist of the same activities…feeding, training, playing and napping. And because we wanted socialising to be big part of Daisy’s training right from the beginning, we made sure to take her out in her carrier twice a day. It took her about 3 days to get accustomed to the outings and stop shaking, however she absolutely loves it now!
This is what our schedulle looked like at the end of our first week. Of course it’s not set in stone and may alter on some days but this is just to give you an idea.
Our Dachshund Puppy’s First Week At Home – Schedule
- 06:30 – 06:45 – wakes up and out for a potty break straight away
- 06:45 – 07:15 – playtime and bonding followed by a potty break
- 07:15 – 07:30 – feeding time and another potty break about 5 minutes later
- 07:30 – 08:30 – walk outside in her carrier and a visit to a local park, cafe or a shop
- 08:30 – 08:45 – return home and straight for a potty break
- 08:45 – 09:00 – little bit of play and another potty break after
- 09:00 – 11:15 – nap in her crate followed by a potty break
- 11:15 – 11:45 – feeding time including some training and another potty break about 5 minutes later
- 11:45 – 12:30 – playtime, a supervised chew session and free time in her playpen (with a potty break half way through)
- 12:30 – 12:45 – potty break before her nap time
- 12:45 – 14:30 – nap in her playpen followed by a potty break
- 14:30 – 15:00 – feeding time including some training and another potty break about 5 minutes later
- 15:00 – 16:00 – walk outside in her carrier and a visit to a new place such as a garden centre, bus station or a short drive in the car
- 16:00 – 16:15 – return home and straight for a potty break
- 16:15 – 16:30 – little bit of play and another potty break after
- 16:30 – 17:45 – nap in her playpen followed by a potty break
- 17:45 – 18:15 – supervised chew session and free time in her playpen followed by a potty break
- 18:15 – 18:30 – feeding time and another potty break about 5 minutes later
- 18:30 – 20:30 – playtime and bonding with short naps in between, potty break every 30 minutes
- 20:30 – 20:45 – last potty break before bedtime
- 20:45 – 21:00 – last minute cuddles before bedtime
- 21:00 – bedtime
Potty training our puppy
You can see from our routine that we train Daisy on daily basis and this includes potty training from the very first day. We already mentioned potty training in our previous diary entry but we would like to dive into more detail this time and give you a few tips.
– Start potty training as soon as you arrive home from the breeder’s on the first day. Your puppy will be distracted by the new smells in your garden and may take longer to relieve themselves so be patient.
– Although your puppy may not go potty every time you take them out, it’s important to take them out regularly. We made a habit of taking Daisy out every time she wakes up, eats and plays as well as every 30 minutes or so in between. Yes, this is time consuming but the more opportunities you create for your puppy to do their business outdoors the more successful the training will be.
– Learn to read the signs your puppy gives you that they need to go. They will always give you some sort of sign and if you watch them carefully you should be able to read the signs by the end of the first week or so. For example, Daisy starts sniffing around, circles and is restless walking back and forth several times.
– We also use a bell that is placed by our garden door and ring it every time we take Daisy out. She is not yet used to ringing the bell every time she needs to go but she already used the bell twice by the end of her first week with us, which is a very good start.
Daisy did really well with the potty training during her first week at home and didn’t have any accidents indoors for the first 3 days. Then she had a couple of days with a few accidents followed by a couple of good days.
So no matter how well you think the potty training is going, your puppy will always have a few accidents indoors to start with but stay consistent and patient. It’s two steps forward and one step back kind of exercise until you finally get there.
To learn more about how to potty train your puppy, make sure to read our article on How to potty train your dachshund puppy easily and fast!
What to expect from your puppy during their first week
You can learn more about what to expect during the first week by reading our complete guide to the First week with your new dachshund puppy. But here is a consice summary for you.
Settling in: spend time playing and bonding with your puppy several times a day and you should start feeling a strong connection from your puppy’s side by the end of the first week
Feeding: feed your puppy as per their breeder’s routine and with the same food but expect your puppy may not eat much at all for the first few days due to feeling stressed
Crate training during the day time: your puppy should start being more comfortable sleeping in the crate with the gate closed even if you leave the room for a couple of minutes
Sleeping at night time: expect your puppy to cry at night time so take the crate to your bedroom and stay close to them. Don’t leave them alone and comfort them every time they wake up. Your puppy will probably wake up several times a night but may need to go for a potty once or twice only.
Potty training: your puppy should start getting used to the potty training during the first week and show some understanding of what is expected of them. They will still be having accidents but they should not be regular.
Other training: start training your puppy some basic commands such as sit, stay and name association.
Socialising: your puppy should be used to regular outings and should stop shaking when outdoors by the end of the first week
Our Dachshund Puppy’s First Week At Home – Conclusion
Our dachshund puppy’s first week at home was lots of hard work but we throughly enjoyed it and started to see the fruits of our hard labour towards the end of the first week already. We totally fell in love with her and it took just one single week to create a strong bond between us!
In our next diary entry, we will tell you all about Daisy’s progress with training and socialising and will give you some more tips on crate training so stay tuned! 🙂
Our Dachshund Puppy’s First Week At Home – Let Us Know What You Think!
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