The first month is mostly routine, repeated. Nothing on this page is difficult; it is simply relentless for a few weeks, and then suddenly it is not.
The journey home
Bring a second person if you can, a towel, and water. Most puppies sleep. Some are sick — it means nothing beyond a car and a full stomach, so keep the last meal small and stop for air if the journey is long.
The first night
He has never slept alone. Expect crying, and expect it to be worse on night two than night one, because night one he is exhausted.
Where he sleeps on the first night is largely where he will sleep for months, so choose the arrangement you actually want rather than the one that gets you through tonight. Beside your bed is the easiest start — a crate or a bed within arm's reach, so a hand over the side settles him without him being lifted into your bed unless that is where you intend him to stay.
House training is a timetable, not a skill
Take him out after waking, after eating, after playing, and every two hours besides. Go with him, wait, and praise the moment it happens rather than when he comes back in.
Accidents indoors are your timetable being wrong, not his character being wrong. Clean them with an enzyme cleaner rather than anything with ammonia, which smells to him like the spot is already in use.
Most puppies are reliable in daylight within a few weeks and dry overnight somewhat later.
Vaccination and worming
He arrives already started, and the schedule he leaves us on is written in the documents that come with him. We will go through it with you before he goes, and your own vet will carry it on from there.
The microchip
He is chipped before he leaves, and the chip has to end up registered to you. The number in the database is what makes him yours, and a chip still registered to the breeder is of no use if he is ever found without you. Ask us to walk you through it — it is a short job and worth doing in the first week.
Insurance
Worth arranging in the first week, before anything has happened. Insurers exclude conditions the dog already has, and "already has" includes things that showed up between collecting him and buying the policy.
Meeting the world before he is fully covered
There is a real tension here: he needs to meet the world early, and he is not fully protected yet. The usual answer is a good one — carry him. Sit on a bench in town with him on your lap. Have visitors come to the house. Let him hear traffic, children, hoovers and doorbells before he is old enough to decide they matter.
Avoid places unknown dogs use as a lavatory until your vet says otherwise.
The first vet visit
Book it for the first week or two, before anything is wrong. It is a weight, a listen, a look at the paperwork, and a chance for the practice to meet a puppy who is not frightened. Bring his documents and his chip number.
Ringing us
Ring. About anything, at any hour that is not unreasonable, for as long as you have him. A question that turns out to be nothing costs a two-minute call; the same question left for a week sometimes costs a great deal more. It is not a nuisance — it is the arrangement.