Bringing home a new puppy or rescue dog: the first-weeks checklist

Before they arrive

• Dog-proof your home — chewables out of reach, bins secured, stairs blocked off if needed.
• Buy food matching what they're already eating. Switch gradually later, not on day one — a sudden change is the fastest way to an upset stomach in the first week.
• Book a first vet check within the first week, even if they seem completely healthy.
• Microchipping is a legal requirement in the UK. Confirm it's done and that the database has your current address and phone number, not the breeder's or shelter's.
• Agree house rules before they arrive — on the sofa or not, which rooms are off-limits — so everyone in the house is consistent from day one instead of confusing a nervous new dog.

The first-week checklist

Print this or tick it off as you go — it's the same list MyGroom's new-dog guide walks through in the app:

• ☐ First vet visit booked
• ☐ Microchip details confirmed and registered to you
• ☐ Feeding schedule set and being kept to
• ☐ Lead and collar introduced calmly — no forcing it
• ☐ A walk routine set up, ready to track
• ☐ A quiet space set up for them to retreat to

Puppy or rescue — what actually differs

A young puppy needs more sleep than owners expect (up to 18–20 hours a day is normal) and shouldn't be over-walked while joints are still developing — a rough guide is five minutes of structured walking per month of age, twice a day, until they're fully grown. A rescue adult often needs the opposite: patience rather than training intensity, since the biggest job in the first few weeks is just letting them decompress and learn the house is safe, before you start layering on expectations.

What to set up from day one

The walk routine and feeding schedule you set in the first week are much easier to keep than to introduce later once habits have already drifted. This is exactly where a lot of owners lose track — remembering the next vaccination booster, when the microchip was actually registered, what the vet said at the first check-up.

MyGroom's Guide walks through this same before-they-arrive and first-week structure in the app, with the checklist saved against your dog's profile so it doesn't get lost in a notes app.