First year puppy guide: stage-by-stage care, training & health

Before you bring your puppy home

A week before pickup day, do three things.

Puppy-proof your home. Get on your hands and knees in every room and look for cords, loose small objects, houseplants, and accessible trash. Puppies chew. A roll of painter’s tape and a box of cord covers keep the most tempting hazards out of reach.

Stock the basics. You do not need everything in the pet store. You need: a crate that fits adult size with a divider, food and water bowls, the same food the breeder or shelter has been feeding (change diet gradually later), a leash and a soft harness, enzymatic cleaner (you will use it), a couple of soft toys, and a chew toy rated for puppies.

Book the first vet visit for day three or four. Most breeders and shelters require a vet visit within 48 to 72 hours of pickup as part of their health guarantee. Book it before your puppy arrives so the slot is reserved.

One thing new owners often skip: write down the first vaccinations and the next ones due. You will get a piece of paper from the breeder or shelter. Either tape it to your fridge or save a photo somewhere you can find it. Nine months from now, you will wish you had.

Weeks 1 to 4 at home

Your puppy is 8 to 12 weeks old.

Sleep and crate training

The first night is almost always hard. Your puppy has just left its mother and littermates and now sleeps alone. Crate near your bed for the first two weeks. A soft blanket, a chew toy, and a ticking clock (seriously, it mimics a heartbeat) can help. Expect to get up at least once in the night to let them out. It passes quickly.

Feeding

Feed four times a day at this age. Small-breed puppies may need more frequent meals, according to the Merck Veterinary Manual. Meals taper to three at about four months and to two at about six months. Use the same food the breeder or shelter used for at least the first week. If you want to switch, do it over about a week, mixing in a little more new food each day. An abrupt switch means diarrhea, and nobody needs that.

First vet visit

Your vet will check for congenital problems, confirm vaccination status, start a parasite prevention plan, and answer every question you have. Bring the paperwork from the breeder or shelter. Write down questions in advance. At this visit, your vet will typically give the next round of vaccinations (see the vaccine section below).

First vet visits are easy to get wrong. See our puppy first vet visit checklist for what to bring, what to ask, and what to watch for.

House training starts now

Take your puppy out every two hours, right after waking, right after eating, and right after playing. Bring them to the same spot every time. Reward immediately when they go. Accidents will happen inside. Clean with enzymatic cleaner (not regular cleaner, which leaves scent markers). Do not punish after the fact. They have no idea why you are upset.

The bond

You are building a relationship. Talk to them. Let them nap on you. Hand-feed some of their meals the first week. The trust you build now makes everything else easier.

The socialization window (up to about 14 weeks old)

These are the most important weeks of your puppy’s entire life.

In the first three months of life, a puppy’s brain forms its baseline for what is normal and safe. The AVSAB position statement calls this the most important socialization period in a puppy’s life. The ASPCA puts the peak between 3 and 12 weeks, with the window closing between about 12 and 18 weeks. Whatever they experience (or do not experience) during this window shapes how they react to the world as an adult. A puppy who meets men in hats, hears vacuum cleaners, and rides in the car during these weeks becomes a dog who is fine with all of it. A puppy who does not meet those things might become a dog who barks at every stranger.

What socialization is NOT. It is not “take my puppy to a dog park and let it get mauled by a Great Dane.” Bad experiences in this window can stick for life.

What socialization IS. Controlled, positive exposures to as much variety as possible. The AVSAB Position Statement on Puppy Socialization (American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior) is the canonical reference and explicitly states that socialization should be the standard of care for puppies before they are fully vaccinated.

A practical list for this window:

• People of different ages, sizes, skin tones, and styles (hats, beards, umbrellas, sunglasses).
• Children (supervised, calm ones).
• Other healthy, vaccinated dogs and puppies (puppy kindergarten is ideal).
• Cats, if you can arrange it.
• Loud noises (vacuum, blender, thunder recordings, traffic).
• Surfaces (grass, gravel, tile, metal grates, stairs).
• Car rides (short, ending in a fun place, not just the vet).
• Being alone for short periods.
• Being handled (paws, ears, mouth, tail, brushing).

Aim for seven to ten new things per week during this window. Keep it positive. Back off if your puppy is scared. The goal is confidence, not flooding.

The vaccination question. Your vet may advise limiting exposure to unknown dogs until the vaccine series is complete (the final dose comes at 16 weeks or later). This is a real risk to balance with socialization. Most modern advice is that controlled, low-risk socialization (well-known vaccinated dogs, puppy class with vaccine requirements, clean indoor environments) is more important than total isolation. Ask your vet where they stand.

We’ve written a deeper guide to the puppy socialization window. Read that next if your puppy is between 8 and 14 weeks old.

Months 4 to 6: training and teething

Basic obedience

By four months, your puppy can learn the basics. Start with: sit, down, come, stay, leave it, and loose-leash walking. Keep sessions short (five minutes, two to three times a day). Use high-value treats. Reward generously. End before your puppy gets bored.

If you can afford it, a six-week group class with a positive-reinforcement trainer is worth doing. Not because the tricks are complicated, but because group classes teach your puppy to focus on you when other dogs are nearby. That one skill pays off for life.

Teething

Between about three and seven months, the puppy teeth fall out and adult teeth come in. The Merck Veterinary Manual says all 42 permanent teeth are present by about seven months. Your puppy will chew everything. Buy frozen washcloths, frozen carrots, and chew toys rated for teething. Redirect every time you catch chewing on something off-limits. Do not scream (it rewards the behavior with attention). Be patient. It ends by seven months.

Spay or neuter conversation

This is the age where your vet will bring up spay or neuter timing. The right age varies by breed and size. The AAHA 2019 Canine Life Stage Guidelines draw the line at a projected adult weight of 45 lb (20 kg). For smaller dogs they suggest neutering males at about six months and spaying females before the first heat, at five to six months. For larger dogs they suggest waiting until growth stops, at about 9 to 15 months. For some large and giant breeds, the UC Davis breed data points to waiting as long as 24 months. Recent UC Davis research on long-term health risks of spay and neuter shows disease-risk variation by breed at different neuter ages, which has shifted modern practice toward later neutering in large and giant breeds. This is a conversation with your vet, not a one-size answer from the internet.

Months 6 to 9: adolescence (the hard part)

Your sweet, obedient puppy will seem to forget everything it learned. It will ignore its name. It will chew the couch leg. It will pull on the leash like it has never seen a leash. This is normal. It is called the adolescent regression, and it affects almost every dog.

What to do:

• Go back to basics. Shorter training sessions, higher-value rewards, more patience.
• Do not skip exercise. A bored adolescent dog is a destructive one. Thirty to sixty minutes of physical plus mental exercise daily.
• Consistency over perfection. If you reinforced “sit” fifty times a day at five months, keep reinforcing it now, even when they act like they forgot.
• Do not use this age as the reason to rehome. It passes. Most dogs come out the other side as they reach adulthood, at around 10 to 18 months depending on size. Small dogs get there first, giant breeds last.

Months 9 to 12: approaching adulthood

Your dog is starting to settle. The energy is still there, but it is more directed. House training is solid. The wild chewing of teething is done. The switch from puppy food to adult food follows skeletal maturity: at about 12 months for dogs that will weigh under about 33 lb (15 kg) as adults, about 15 months from 33 to 88 lb (15 to 40 kg), and about 18 months above 88 lb (40 kg), once your vet confirms growth is finished. The 2021 AAHA Nutrition and Weight Management Guidelines tie the growth diet to skeletal maturity: about 1 year of age for small and medium-size dogs, and closer to 15 to 16 months for some large and giant breeds. Von Pfeil and DeCamp (Compendium, 2009) note that the growth plates of some giant-breed dogs may not close until 15 to 18 months. Your vet will guide on timing. Breed-specific feeding charts help here. A Dachshund feeding chart sets portion control around lifelong spinal-health goals, while a German Shorthaired Pointer feeding chart is calibrated for a high-drive sporting dog with bloat risk. The feeding hub covers popular dog breeds.

By twelve months, book the first full annual vet visit. Your vet will check growth, run bloodwork if needed, and update vaccinations. This is also the age many dogs settle into the routine they will keep for years: same walk times, same mealtime, same favorite spot on the couch.

First year health: the quick reference

Everything in this section is general. Specifics depend on your vet, your region, and your puppy’s individual history.

Vaccines (typical US schedule)

• 6 to 8 weeks: DHPP (distemper, hepatitis, parainfluenza, parvovirus) first dose. Often given before pickup.
• 10 to 12 weeks: DHPP second dose, Bordetella (kennel cough) if advised. Leptospirosis first dose at 12 weeks or older.
• 16 weeks or older: final DHPP dose. Leptospirosis second dose, 2 to 4 weeks after the first. Rabies, usually between 12 and 16 weeks, as state law sets it. Lyme if regional risk.
• 12 to 16 months: DHPP and leptospirosis boosters, within a year of the last puppy dose. Leptospirosis is then yearly. Rabies booster one year after the first shot, then every 1 or 3 years depending on region.

This is a general US schedule per the AAHA 2022 Canine Vaccination Guidelines, which call for at least three doses of the combination vaccine, two to four weeks apart, and a booster within one year of the last puppy dose. Since the 2024 update they list leptospirosis as a core vaccine for all dogs: two doses 2 to 4 weeks apart, starting at 12 weeks of age, then yearly. Always confirm specifics with your vet. UK and EU schedules differ (rabies is not routine in the UK for domestic dogs). See our puppy vaccination schedule guide for region-specific timing, or use the vaccination schedule generator. It covers popular dog breeds across the US, UK, and EU and personalises by your puppy’s age.

Parasite prevention

Monthly heartworm prevention starts around eight weeks and is lifelong in most regions. Per the American Heartworm Society, year-round prevention is recommended in essentially all of the US; missed doses risk transmission, and treating heartworm is costly and carries serious cardiac risk to the dog. Flea and tick prevention is usually monthly or every three months, year-round in warm climates. Deworming runs in phases: the Companion Animal Parasite Council advises every two weeks until about 8 weeks of age, then monthly, plus fecal checks at least four times in the first year. These are US routines. UK and EU parasite schedules differ, and heartworm prevention is not a routine everywhere: see the UK and EU first-year guides and ask your vet.

Spay or neuter

Timing depends on breed and size, as discussed above. The range runs from about 6 months for small dogs to 24 months for some large and giant breeds.

Dental

Start brushing your puppy’s teeth now, even if it is just a weekly wipe with a finger brush. Dogs whose owners brush early have dramatically better dental health for life.

How Flok does it

Full disclosure: we make a pet care app.

Here is why.

Scan with your iPhone camera to get Flok.

The honest truth about the first year: you will not remember all of this. You will forget the date of the last vaccination. You will lose the piece of paper from the breeder. You will miss the deworming on month four because week four already blurred into week six.

Records keeping is the unsung-hero skill of first-year puppy ownership. See how to organize your pet’s vet records for the framework, or Flok’s pet records feature if you want a tool that handles it.

That is what Flok is for. You snap a photo of the paperwork from the breeder or the vet, confirm what Flok read, and the record is filed under your puppy. Flok sends vaccine and care reminders. A weekly check-in, about a minute, turns into a quiet record of their first year that you can show your vet when something seems off.

Android is on the way.