First Year Puppy Guide: Week-by-Week Care, Training & Health

The first year with a puppy is exhausting, exciting, and full of small choices that matter more than you would think. Vaccinations, socialization, the routine you build in the first four months, the habits you accidentally reinforce at 3am. The stuff you decide before your puppy turns sixteen weeks old shapes how your dog behaves for the next decade.

This guide walks you through what actually matters, month by month. Not every tip on the internet (there is too much), and not a replacement for your vet (nothing is). Just the handful of things that matter most.

At the bottom of this post, you can grab our free printable Puppy First Year Checklist so you do not have to remember all of this at once.

Throughout this guide we link to specific deep dives on key milestones: the vaccination schedule, the critical socialization window, and your puppy’s first vet visit.

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 will save you a vet bill.

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 (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 three to four times a day. Use the same food the breeder or shelter used for at least the first week. If you want to switch, do it over seven to ten days, 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 (12 to 16 weeks old)

This is the most important four weeks of your puppy’s entire life.

Between about eight and sixteen weeks, a puppy’s brain forms its baseline for what is normal and safe. 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 (usually around sixteen weeks). 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 every dollar. 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

Around four months, the puppy teeth fall out and adult teeth come in. 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. Large breeds (over 25kg adult weight) often benefit from waiting until growth plates close, sometimes as late as 18 months. Small breeds can often be done at six 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. By nine to twelve months, most dogs come out the other side.

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. You can start transitioning from puppy food to adult food, usually around twelve months for small and medium breeds, fifteen to eighteen months for large breeds. 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 30 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 if regional risk.
• 14 to 16 weeks: DHPP third dose, Rabies (legally required in most US states after 16 weeks), Lyme if regional risk.
• 12 months: DHPP booster, Rabies booster (1 or 3 year depending on region).

This is a general US schedule per the AAHA 2022 Canine Vaccination Guidelines; 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 free vaccination schedule generator — it covers 30 dog breeds across 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 with treatment costs running over $1,000 and serious cardiac risk to the dog. Flea and tick prevention is usually monthly or every three months, year-round in warm climates. Deworming is typically given at the first vet visit and again at the second.

Spay or neuter

Timing depends on breed and size, as discussed above. Typical range is six to eighteen months.

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.

Why pet parents forget things (and how Flok helps)

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, and Flok sorts and stores it. The app remembers when the next vaccine is due and reminds you. You get a daily quick check-in about how your puppy is doing, which turns into a quiet record of their first year that you can show your vet when something seems off. Floky, your in-app companion, keeps it all light.

Flok is free on iOS, with optional add-ons if you want them later. Android is on the way.

Quick answers

When can my puppy go to the dog park? Wait until the vaccine series is complete (usually sixteen to eighteen weeks) and your vet gives the all clear. Even then, choose quieter times and watch carefully.

How much should my puppy eat? Follow the feeding guide on the bag for now, split across three to four meals a day. Adjust based on body condition (ribs should be easy to feel but not see). Ask your vet at visits. For breed-specific portion charts (30 breeds covered, including small breeds like the Pomeranian, long-back breeds like the Dachshund, and high-drive sporting breeds like the German Shorthaired Pointer), see our feeding chart hub, which lays out portions by adult weight, life stage, and activity level for the most common breeds.

Should I get pet insurance? If you can afford the monthly cost, yes, especially in the first year before any pre-existing conditions appear. Compare at least three providers.

My puppy bites my hands. How do I stop it? Yelp and stop all interaction for ten seconds. Repeat every time. Most puppies stop by sixteen to twenty weeks. If biting is escalating or drawing blood by then, talk to a positive-reinforcement trainer.

My puppy has an accident in the house. Should I punish? No. Clean with enzymatic cleaner. Take the puppy out more often. Reward outdoor elimination heavily. They will get it.

Sources

• WSAVA Vaccination Guidelines
• WSAVA Global Nutrition Guidelines
• AAHA Canine Vaccination Guidelines
• AAHA Canine and Feline Behavior Management Guidelines
• AVMA Pet Owner Resources
• Companion Animal Parasite Council (US)
• ESCCAP (Europe)

This post is general guidance for pet parents and is not a substitute for veterinary care. Last reviewed: 2026-04-28.