# Ep 123 Top Tips for the First 24 Hours With Your New Dog or Puppy! Welcome Home!

An episode of [Help! My Dog: The Podcast. Dog Behaviour & Training Strategies that Work!](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1721245241), 8 Apr 2026, 14 min.

Audio: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2287608/episodes/18892039-ep-123-top-tips-for-the-first-24-hours-with-your-new-dog-or-puppy-welcome-home.mp3

Welcome home! Welcoming a new dog into your home is incredibly exciting, and there are lots of wonderful things to look forward to - from getting to make new memories, learning about their personality and having some extra cuteness around. But it can also be stressful and overwhelming for us owners as we navigate our new responsibilities and adjust to life with our new companion. This week, we’re breaking down our top tips for the first 24 hours with your new dog, whether they’re a puppy, a rescue or are just new to your home. From getting them settled in to taking the first steps toward socialisation, we’ll walk through all of the key information you need to know to help your new best friend feel happy and comfortable in their new home. ................ Whether your dog is unpredictable with other dogs or predictably bad… Whether it looks like freezing, barking, lunging or running away… Whether you are just starting out on your dog-owning journey or your dog has been labelled as having a “behaviour problem”… … this episode is for you and is going to give you huge insights! Want to join the Help! My Dog Online HUB? Here's the link: www.helpmydog.com/hub Dr Tom Mitchell is a world-renowned veterinarian, behaviourist and dog trainer and director of the Behavet behaviour clinic (rated Excellent on Trustpilot), which sees over 400 pet behaviour consultations each and every month no matter where you are in the world. In 2023, he founded Help! My Dog, an online dog behaviour learning platform to help even more owners all over the world and show that dog behaviour transformation is not only possible but it's FUN, with the right know-how! Make sure to subscribe/follow the podcast for the free weekly episodes! Useful Links: Follow Help! My Dog on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helpmydogofficial/ Schedule a Consultation with Behavet: https://www.beha.vet/ Follow Behavet on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/behavet

## Transcript

[0:00] SPEAKER_00: We must teach our dogs that novelty and new things in the environment are nothing to worry about.
[0:06] SPEAKER_00: As soon as you reframe it in that way, you start to realise well, this room is new to this puppy.
[0:12] SPEAKER_00: That room is new to the puppy.
[0:14] SPEAKER_00: That every corner and square meter of the back garden is new to the puppy.
[0:19] SPEAKER_00: So that is what exposure to novelty looks like in the first few days.
[0:24] SPEAKER_00: Yeah?
[0:25] SPEAKER_00: Before we dive in, a warning.
[0:28] SPEAKER_00: The content of this podcast may not be appropriate for some young listeners.
[0:33] SPEAKER_00: This is real life, and that means that sometimes it can be a little bit graphic.
[0:38] SPEAKER_00: So listen on at your own peril.
[0:40] SPEAKER_00: As a veterinarian, dog behaviourist, best-selling author and trainer over the past decade, I've had an obsession with transforming the behaviour of dogs.
[0:50] SPEAKER_00: Understanding their brains and creating practical strategies that you can implement easily at home.
[0:55] SPEAKER_00: I know all too well when the dream you imagined when you first got your dog is far from your daily reality.
[1:02] SPEAKER_00: In fact, out of the blue, a few months ago, my little dog Gorse was bitten by a dog 20 times her size.
[1:08] SPEAKER_00: And suddenly our life of stress-free walks, a calm and cuddly household, and being teammates was replaced with reactivity, anxiety, and worrying about what's around the next corner.
[1:19] SPEAKER_00: I'm Dr.
[1:20] SPEAKER_00: Tom.
[1:21] SPEAKER_00: This is the Help My Dog Podcast, and this is me documenting that journey of transformation, sharing my knowledge and experience with you and having a few laughs along the way.
[1:31] SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to this episode of the Help My Dog Podcast.
[1:37] SPEAKER_00: And today we're covering off a listener's question that is quite an important one.
[1:42] SPEAKER_00: It's really cool that this listener has asked this question because I think often we don't think to ask this question because we're just so excited about what is about to happen.
[1:52] SPEAKER_00: And that is my new puppy, I'm collecting my new puppy in two weeks' time, and I was wondering what I should do in that first 24 hours, right?
[2:03] SPEAKER_00: Which is awesome.
[2:04] SPEAKER_00: I would love to say that I would I would think like this, but I'd just be thinking about oh my god, I'm so excited.
[2:09] SPEAKER_00: Anyway, um, so what do you do in the first 24 hours when you are bringing a dog into your home, regardless of whether they're a puppy or you know an older dog, right?
[2:19] SPEAKER_00: Um and so let's do let's do a few tips, three to five, depending on depending on how deep we go.
[2:27] SPEAKER_00: So um tip number one, what I want you to be aware of is that the act of moving from one environment to another environment is very, very stressful, right?
[2:38] SPEAKER_00: Think, isn't it something like moving house is like top like top three human stressors?
[2:44] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but we forget that when it when it comes to a dog.
[2:47] SPEAKER_00: Um and so definitely be aware that your puppy's little stress bucket is gonna be very, very full, and so we need to be careful that we don't add unnecessary things to that bucket, okay?
[3:01] SPEAKER_00: So, what is that gonna look like?
[3:02] SPEAKER_00: Well, first of all, just giving them opportunity to decompress and just be in that home environment.
[3:08] SPEAKER_00: Second thing would be not to impose yourself too much on them.
[3:12] SPEAKER_00: Check that, you know, they're wanting to engage with you and don't make it like super, super exciting, even though their little personalities might want it to be super, super exciting.
[3:21] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there's enough, there's enough stress in that bucket without adding some excitement in there as as well.
[3:27] SPEAKER_00: Um so that would be um that would be the the the second one.
[3:31] SPEAKER_00: Third one, that also means don't be in a rush to get them out for a walk, get them visiting family or whatever else.
[3:38] SPEAKER_00: Get rid of this idea that there's this closing window where you've got to do all these things, otherwise they're never gonna be cool about them.
[3:45] SPEAKER_00: It's not accurate, okay?
[3:47] SPEAKER_00: Let them decompress, all right?
[3:49] SPEAKER_00: Tip number one.
[3:51] SPEAKER_00: Tip number two, be aware of how much is new to that puppy, okay?
[4:01] SPEAKER_00: There's this whole like push that owners feel of you must socialize them, you must get them out, you must get them seeing things.
[4:09] SPEAKER_00: Flip that around and think about it as we must teach our dogs that novelty and new things in the environment are nothing to worry about.
[4:18] SPEAKER_00: As soon as you reframe it in that way, you start to realise well, this room is new to this puppy.
[4:24] SPEAKER_00: That room is new to the puppy.
[4:26] SPEAKER_00: That every corner and square meter of the back garden is new to the puppy.
[4:31] SPEAKER_00: So that is what exposure to novelty looks like in the first few days.
[4:36] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[4:37] SPEAKER_00: Um, and um, and it's quite simply looks like being in the environment, noticing things and pairing it with a positive outcome, aka their daily food allowance, right?
[4:47] SPEAKER_00: Tip number three.
[4:49] SPEAKER_00: Start to think about what this is such a powerful question for new dog owners.
[4:56] SPEAKER_00: What arousal level do I want my dog to experience in this space for the rest of their life?
[5:05] SPEAKER_00: Yeah?
[5:06] SPEAKER_00: And what I mean by that is let's take the living room, for example.
[5:10] SPEAKER_00: Yeah?
[5:10] SPEAKER_00: What do you do in the living room?
[5:12] SPEAKER_00: Maybe you watch TV, maybe you uh sit with visitors coming to the house and chat to them.
[5:19] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that is what that room is for.
[5:22] SPEAKER_00: And I think sometimes what happens when we get a new puppy is we're like, oh my god, cute puppy, and we can do all these things with her, but it's like they're so much fun and it's all you know really, really cool.
[5:31] SPEAKER_00: Um, and what we do is we do lots of exciting things with them in the space that ultimately we want that to be a calm space.
[5:39] SPEAKER_00: And then what we've got to do when they get to six, eight, nine, ten, twelve months, we've got to start to re- we've got to start to unwind what we created, which was we set the arousal level, we set the tone to high excitement in that space.
[5:54] SPEAKER_00: And so ask yourself the question: what arousal level do I want my dog to experience in this room, you know, in the future and forevermore?
[6:03] SPEAKER_00: Um, and that is the arousal level that we want to start to aim for from day one.
[6:08] SPEAKER_00: We want to not do things that are gonna push them into too high arousal in that space, and we want to try and do things that are um appropriate and conducive to that level of calmness that we're wanting to achieve.
[6:20] SPEAKER_00: That might look like long-lasting chews, passive calming activities like stuffed kongs, right?
[6:26] SPEAKER_00: That is, you know, that is that that is just so, so powerful.
[6:30] SPEAKER_00: And we call it rehearse the room, right?
[6:32] SPEAKER_00: Or rehearse the space.
[6:33] SPEAKER_00: Rehearse what we want in the future.
[6:35] SPEAKER_00: So that would be tip number three.
[6:37] SPEAKER_00: I think we're on tip number three, all right?
[6:39] SPEAKER_00: Hey guys, I just want to take a moment to answer a question that has been coming in in literally 10 emails today, and that is how can we help you with your dog's behavior struggle, whether that be reactivity, separation, anxiety, resource guarding, maybe you've got multi-dog household struggle right now, maybe your dog's just so over aroused on a walk that they just can't listen to you and they're chasing everything inside.
[7:02] SPEAKER_00: Like, can I get Tom's help?
[7:05] SPEAKER_00: Um, and the answer is that actually you can, and you can do that by booking a behavet behavior consultation.
[7:12] SPEAKER_00: That's where literally my team give you the plan on how to transform your struggle and get you to that dream that that made you get a dog in the first place, right?
[7:23] SPEAKER_00: Your world's got smaller and smaller and smaller, and actually it doesn't need to be that way.
[7:27] SPEAKER_00: You just need to reach out for help.
[7:29] SPEAKER_00: Now, a couple of things to say on that.
[7:30] SPEAKER_00: First of all, if you're insured, if your dog's insured with Pet Plan, Kennel Club, Agria, or many pets, we actually do direct claims with them, which means that that's covered by your insurance.
[7:41] SPEAKER_00: So you don't you don't pay out of your pocket, your insurance covers that.
[7:45] SPEAKER_00: Um and the second thing to say is that we have loads of options if you're insured with another provider, or if your dog's not insured at all, that's also totally fine.
[7:53] SPEAKER_00: We have loads of options that we've developed to make this so accessible for you.
[7:58] SPEAKER_00: Um, because we're aware that you've already invested a load of time and a load of money in getting your dog, looking after your dog, caring for your dog.
[8:04] SPEAKER_00: But the last thing we want is for you to have done all that and still not be living the life that you deserve with your dog.
[8:10] SPEAKER_00: And we know we can get you there.
[8:11] SPEAKER_00: So all you need to do is go to the Behave Vet website, and the way to do that is go B-E-H-A.V-E-T.
[8:20] SPEAKER_00: That's Behay.vet, and it will take you there, or just Google Behave Vet, right?
[8:27] SPEAKER_00: Um, and you can get scheduled in and we can literally get you booked in for a consultation as soon as possible.
[8:33] SPEAKER_00: We normally can accommodate it within a week, right?
[8:36] SPEAKER_00: So that you can be getting to your dream ASAP.
[8:39] SPEAKER_00: Tip number four that I'm gonna go for is on the first night, okay.
[8:44] SPEAKER_00: I think we we we get told or or there's certain schools of thought that you should like have these boundaries from day one, and you should, you know, they've gotta you you've got to they've gotta get used to what you know what you want to happen, and they've got to be in a crate downstairs and not in your bedroom.
[9:05] SPEAKER_00: And the reality is they have just left probably some other littermates, left their mum, left their environment that they're comfortable with, and so we need to find some compromise in between that and and the the scenario that you don't want and the scenario that you do want, right?
[9:23] SPEAKER_00: And so what I always think about is have them cratered, okay, but next to you in the bedroom, and um, and effectively so you're there, but they don't have direct access to you.
[9:36] SPEAKER_00: Um, and what you can do is you can pop your hand on their, you know, on their crate to let them know that you're there, um, and um and just keep it nice and calm and as as non-event as possible, right?
[9:48] SPEAKER_00: And then what you can do over the subsequent days and and weeks is move the crate further and further away, yeah?
[9:57] SPEAKER_00: Um, so that you can start to transition the crate to where you want it to go.
[10:02] SPEAKER_00: Now, the other way of doing this, which is less comfortable, is that actually they're in the final destination of where you want them to sleep, and you sleep next to them on the floor or whatever, right?
[10:13] SPEAKER_00: Which I know is is common for people to do.
[10:15] SPEAKER_00: I just like my bed, and so instead we do it the other way around.
[10:19] SPEAKER_00: That that fits with the that fits with me.
[10:22] SPEAKER_00: But don't think that you know by by you sleeping next to them or them sleeping next to you, that then you're gonna be stuck with that forever.
[10:31] SPEAKER_00: It's not how it works.
[10:32] SPEAKER_00: If anything, that's how you can make sure that isn't the scenario that you end up with.
[10:37] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[10:37] SPEAKER_00: Um, and then the fifth tip that I'm gonna give you is um is is is I think it's got to be one around separation again and um and and kind of sleeping, um sleeping alone.
[10:52] SPEAKER_00: Make sure that you know, from from early on, in some form that is suitable for that individual, that they don't have access to you all the time when when you're in the house.
[11:04] SPEAKER_00: So that might look like you're sat on the sofa reading a book, they're in a crate next to you, chilling, having a long-lasting chew.
[11:11] SPEAKER_00: They don't that yeah, you're next to them, but they don't have access to you, okay?
[11:15] SPEAKER_00: And then that build, you know, that morphs into actually you being able to move around the room, they're in their crate chilling, and you can then start to build that out to them being in a separate room, okay?
[11:24] SPEAKER_00: This is what separation training should look like.
[11:28] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, not you leaving the house for a second and then building up to five seconds and ten seconds.
[11:33] SPEAKER_00: It needs to be a non-event that you're in the house, yeah, and you have to start to build that in from you know early on, um just in the form of utilising barriers and giving them something to engage with on the other side of the barrier.
[11:46] SPEAKER_00: By by making your presence in the house not super exciting because they don't have access to you when you're in the house all the time, it means that your absence is not so important, right?
[11:59] SPEAKER_00: And and that is how ultimately you set them up to just really not be bothered about whether they're home alone or not, okay?
[12:06] SPEAKER_00: Because they've already practiced approximations of it.
[12:08] SPEAKER_00: So they're the five tips that I've got for you.
[12:11] SPEAKER_00: Obviously, there are tons more.
[12:12] SPEAKER_00: My I guess my sixth tip, if I if I can, is if you join the Help My Dog Hub, which is like the Help My Dog membership area where there are all the videos and step-by-steps of how to teach your dog to do this and how to teach your dog to do that, by by doing that from day one and teaching them the skills to be cool about you know interacting with other dogs or visitors coming to the house or whatever else, that's really powerful because you're kind of just doing the right method from from the the word go.
[12:40] SPEAKER_00: Um and I think sometimes what we what we can do is we can kind of go, oh, I'll figure it out, you know, I oh I've had a dog before.
[12:47] SPEAKER_00: Um, and the challenge with that is that when your dog be when your dog rehearses choices and behaviors and emotions that we don't want them spending their their days, you know, rehearsing that emotion, choice or behavior, what starts to happen is it starts to send them on a trajectory of heading in that behavioral direction.
[13:06] SPEAKER_00: Whereas if we can get them rehearsing what we want in terms of choices, behaviors, and emotions from day one, well, it's just way easier, right?
[13:14] SPEAKER_00: Um, and so if you can jump into the help my dog hub, it's helpmydog.com forward slash hub.
[13:21] SPEAKER_00: That's helpmydog.com forward slash hub.
[13:24] SPEAKER_00: Um, and um you can be a member, you know, a month, two months, six months.
[13:28] SPEAKER_00: Basically, you can cancel any time.
[13:30] SPEAKER_00: So, you know, um we we just want to help you for as long as you want to be helped, right?
[13:34] SPEAKER_00: Um, so hopefully you got value from that.
[13:36] SPEAKER_00: Hopefully that's helped you and sorted that first 24 hours.
[13:40] SPEAKER_00: Um, and we will see you next time.

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.