Week one is potty trips, crate naps and short training sessions. An over-tired Aussie puppy goes from angel to landshark fast.
If you expect polished manners by day seven, you’ll panic. Expect a schedule and small wins, and you’ll sleep eventually.
Before pickup
Food ready. Crate set up with the divider. A leash and harness that fit him now. Soft training bites. A plan for nights. We sent a Snuggle Puppy to the breeder ahead of time so it picked up his mom’s scent, and Kai still loves it. Our Regalo gates came later, so don’t panic if you don’t have gates on day one.
What I’d buy first is in the Owner’s Kit.
Days 1–3
Let him decompress. Everything is new. Take him out after every nap, meal and play session. Supervise or crate. Unsupervised roaming is how carpets get baptized. I wrote more on helping an Aussie puppy settle into a new home.
Name games and hand feeds beat formal heel work. Sleep is training. An over-tired Aussie puppy looks “dominant” and is usually just fried.
Crate nights
Expect interruptions. Potty trip outside, back to the crate, lights down. Keep the crate close at first. The full method is in crate training and the crate guide.
Days 4–7
Short sit and name sessions. Leash on the harness for walks around the house. Ours is the Freedom harness. It works well. It isn’t chew-proof, but it comes with a chew warranty for a small replacement fee. Keep greetings calm. Not every stranger needs to maul the puppy.
Food stays the same. Notes are on Food and in the puppy food guide.
What helps most
Structure cut the biting more than anything. Boredom invented hobbies fast. Nights get better with enforced daytime naps, and long “adventure days” do less for a baby puppy than plain routine.
Week one is the start
Nobody graduates in week one. Come, stay and leash manners take months of reps. If something medical looks off, like refusing food, lethargy or repeated vomiting, call your vet. Don’t crowdsource it.
Building alone time is in my separation notes. More on Training.
House rules
No couch until the potty rhythm was clear. No free roam behind closed doors. A few toys on rotation instead of a junk pile. Visitors ignored jumping and paid four paws on the floor. A puppy learns house rules from what pays. A poster on the fridge does nothing.
Expect some mess. Accidents happen, so clean up without drama. The schedule fixes it. Scolding doesn’t.