🏡 Bringing Your WonderDoodles Puppy Home

Bringing home a new puppy is exciting—but for your puppy, it is also a very big transition.

Your puppy is leaving their mother, littermates, familiar people, familiar smells, sounds, routines, and surroundings and entering an entirely new world.

Even a confident puppy may be tired, clingy, quiet, mouthy, uncertain, or overwhelmed during the first few days.

This is normal.

We want the transition from our home to yours to be as gentle, predictable, and reassuring as possible.

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❤️ Your Puppy Is Still a Baby

Even though your WonderDoodles puppy has already learned a lot, they are still a very young baby.

They have had a wonderful beginning, but they are not a finished puppy—and they certainly aren't a miniature adult dog.

Your puppy may be doing beautifully with potty habits here and still have accidents in your home. They may play fetch wonderfully one day and seem to forget how the next. They may cuddle sweetly and then suddenly decide your fingers, shoelaces, or pants are the most fascinating things in the world.

They may sleep beautifully one night and have a harder night the next.

They may confidently explore something new one day and be cautious about something completely ordinary the next.

This is normal puppy development—not a failure of training.

Your puppy still needs:

• Frequent potty opportunities

• Close supervision

• Appropriate chewing and play outlets

• Lots of sleep and quiet rest

• Gentle guidance and redirection

• Predictable routines

• Help regulating excitement

• Safe opportunities to explore

• Continued socialization

• Patient repetition

• Time to develop impulse control

• Lots of connection

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🌱 Your Puppy Comes Home With a Foundation—Not a Finished Education

We intentionally give your puppy a strong developmental foundation before they leave us.

They have begun learning that:

People are safe.
People are fun.
Toys are appropriate things to play with.
New experiences can be explored.
Rest is important.
They can return to their people when they need reassurance.

But learning has begun—it has not been completed.

Please don't expect your 8- or 9-week-old puppy to behave like a trained adult dog.

Instead, think:

“What is my baby trying to learn, and how can I help them?”

Redirect the behavior you don't want. Show them what you do want. Give them an opportunity to rest. Try again.

Your puppy doesn't need a perfect family. They need a family who is willing to learn with them.

 

🏠 Preparing Your Home

Puppies explore with their mouths, and intelligent, active puppies will find their own entertainment if we don't provide appropriate outlets.

Set your puppy up for success with:

• Appropriate chew and sensory toys

• Interactive toys for playing with people

• A comfortable place to rest

• A crate and/or puppy pen

• A safe, puppy-proofed area

• A consistent potty area

• Safe opportunities for supervised exploration

Move electrical cords, small objects, medications, plants, and anything else your puppy could chew or swallow out of reach.

Check fences, gates, and other potential escape routes before your puppy arrives.

Management isn't about restricting your puppy. It is about giving a baby puppy freedom that is appropriate for their developmental stage while preventing them from rehearsing unsafe or unwanted behaviors.

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🧸 Familiar Things From Their First Home

We intentionally send familiar pieces of your puppy's life at WonderDoodles home with them.

Your puppy will receive a blanket that has been part of their litter's everyday life, along with familiar toys they have already played with.

We also send a large teddy bear that the puppies have learned to play with, cuddle with, and sleep beside.

These aren't simply gifts.

They provide familiar smells, textures, and associations during a very unfamiliar transition.

The puppies learn that their bears are comfort cuddle buddies as well as appropriate playmates. They play with them, snuggle with them, and sleep with them.

We also want your puppy to bring home toys they already understand:

People are for cuddling, communication, affection, and shared play.

Toys are for biting, chewing, tugging, chasing, carrying, and retrieving.

These familiar objects help bridge the transition from their first home to yours.

We aren't trying to make the transition from our family to yours disappear. We are giving your puppy familiar pieces of their first home to carry with them into their new one.

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👨‍👩‍👧 Preparing Your Family

Before your puppy comes home, talk with everyone in the household about what your puppy will need.

Your puppy is a baby who is learning how people communicate. The goal isn't simply to establish a list of rules—it is to help your puppy discover that their new family is safe, predictable, responsive, and fun.

Children can become wonderful puppy playmates when adults help guide the relationship.

Teach children to:

• Let the puppy approach rather than chasing or cornering them

• Sit on the floor for supervised cuddling and play

• Use toys for tug, fetch, chasing, and retrieving

• Allow the puppy to eat and sleep without interruption

• Respect the puppy's safe space

• Never climb on, tease, grab, or roughly handle the puppy

• Follow adult guidance during puppy play

Young children should always have active adult supervision with a puppy.

We want children to learn how to become safe, enjoyable people in their puppy's world, not simply what they are forbidden to do.

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🌸 The First Few Days

Keep your puppy's first few days relatively quiet.

Your puppy does not need to meet everyone, visit everywhere, or experience everything immediately.

Give them opportunities to:

Connect → Explore → Play → Return → Rest → Try Again

Let your puppy investigate their new home at their own pace.

If they are curious, encourage exploration.

If they are cautious, let them observe.

If they become overwhelmed, help them return to a familiar person, place, toy, or activity.

You don't need to force an experience simply because it is "socialization."

Your puppy is learning that they can explore the world and still have somewhere safe to return to.

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🌙 Your Puppy's First Night

The first night away from littermates can be difficult for a puppy—and for their new family.

Your puppy has spent their entire life sleeping beside other puppies. Suddenly, everything smells different and their littermates aren't there.

Comfort does not spoil a puppy. Connection helps a puppy feel safe.

We recommend keeping your puppy's sleeping area close to you initially. A crate or secure puppy area can provide a cozy place to sleep while still allowing your puppy to know that their people are nearby.

Use the familiar litter-scented blanket and teddy bear we send home. These familiar items can provide comfort when everything else is new.

Your puppy may whine or cry. First consider whether they need to potty, are uncomfortable, or simply need reassurance.

Keep nighttime potty trips calm and boring, but you do not need to ignore a frightened baby in order to teach independence.

Over time, your puppy can gradually learn that being alone for short periods is safe because their people come back.

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❤️ Connection first. Independence grows from security.

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🚽 Potty Training: Remember, They're Babies

Your puppy has already begun learning potty habits with us.

But your puppy is not potty trained when they come home.

They are a baby entering a completely new environment with different smells, surfaces, routines, and expectations.

Expect accidents.

Your puppy will need:

• Frequent potty opportunities

• Close supervision

• Consistent potty locations

• Positive reinforcement

• A predictable routine

• Patience

If your puppy has an accident, clean it thoroughly and adjust supervision.

Do not punish accidents.

Your puppy isn't trying to disappoint you. They are learning what you want.

Think of our work as giving you a head start—not handing you a finished potty-trained dog.

 

💤 Sleep, Rest & Overstimulation

Young puppies need a tremendous amount of sleep.

One of the most common puppy mistakes is assuming that a puppy who is wild, bitey, zooming, or unable to settle needs more exercise or stimulation.

Sometimes they need a nap.

An overtired puppy may:

• Bite more

• Zoom around

• Become unable to settle

• Seem to "forget" what they know

• Become frustrated or silly

A helpful rhythm is:

Potty → play → connection → explore → potty → rest

You do not have to entertain your puppy every waking minute.

Learning to rest is part of learning how to live successfully in a family.

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🎾 Learning How to Play

Puppy biting is normal.

Puppies explore with their mouths, play with their mouths, and learn about the world by chewing and grabbing things.

The goal isn't to make a puppy feel bad for behaving like a puppy.

The goal is to teach them what to do instead.

When your puppy bites your hands, clothing, or feet:

1. Stay calm.

2. Redirect to an appropriate toy.

3. Engage your puppy in tug, fetch, chasing, or another appropriate game.

4. Praise and enjoy the behavior you want.

5. If your puppy becomes increasingly wild or unable to redirect, consider whether they need a nap.

Think:

“Don't bite me” → “Come play with this.”

Your puppy has already begun learning this with us. Continuing the same approach at home helps make the transition easier.

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🛏️ Safe Base & Confident Exploration

Our goal isn't to make puppies fearless.

It is to help them develop the security they need to explore the world with curiosity and return to their people when they need connection or reassurance.

Your puppy's safe base may be:

• You

• Their puppy bed

• Their crate

• A quiet area of the house

• Their familiar blanket

• Their familiar toys

When your puppy encounters something new, allow them to observe.

You don't need to drag them toward something because you want them to "get used to it."

Instead:

Observe → reassure → allow curiosity → explore → return

If your puppy is cautious about something, give them time.

If they confidently investigate, let them explore safely.

Connection first. Confidence grows from security.

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🌎 Socialization Isn't a Checklist

Socialization does not mean your puppy needs to meet as many people, dogs, and places as possible.

The quality of the experience matters more than the number of experiences.

We want puppies to learn:

“New doesn't necessarily mean scary. I can look, listen, explore, and come back to my person.”

Continue introducing your puppy to age-appropriate:

• People

• Friendly, appropriate dogs

• Household sounds

• Different surfaces

• Car rides

• Grooming experiences

• New objects

• Outdoor environments

• Normal household activity

Watch your puppy's body language.

If they are curious, let them investigate.

If they are uncertain, slow down.

If they are overwhelmed, give them space and return to something familiar.

You do not need to win every interaction. You are building a puppy who trusts you enough to explore.

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👧 Children & Puppies

Puppies and children can develop wonderful relationships, but both need guidance.

Rather than simply teaching children what not to do, help them learn how to become safe, predictable, enjoyable people in their puppy's world.

Teach children to:

• Let the puppy approach rather than chase or corner them

• Sit on the floor for supervised play and cuddling

• Use toys for tug and fetch instead of hands

• Allow the puppy to eat and sleep undisturbed

• Respect the puppy's safe space

• Avoid climbing on, teasing, grabbing, or roughly handling the puppy

• Follow adult guidance during play

Young children should always have active adult supervision with a puppy.

The goal is not simply a puppy who tolerates children.

The goal is a relationship in which both the child and puppy learn that they are safe and enjoyable companions for one another.

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🐕 Puppies & Other Dogs

Your puppy has had opportunities to interact with trusted adult dogs and littermates.

Continue those experiences thoughtfully. Monitor interactions closely to ensure safety.

Good puppy-dog interaction includes:

• Play with appropriate breaks

• Opportunities to disengage

• Respect for an adult dog's signals

• Supervision

• Space to rest

• Positive experiences with calm dogs

Your puppy does not need to greet every dog they encounter.

Learning that they can simply notice another dog and continue with their person is an important skill too.

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🧼 Grooming & Handling

Goldendoodle coats require regular brushing and professional grooming throughout life, so we begin making grooming and handling a normal and positive part of puppyhood.

Puppies are gradually introduced to:

• Brushing

• Paw and nail handling

• The sound and vibration of a nail grinder

• Ear handling

• Face and body handling

• Gentle restraint

• Bathing and grooming experiences

The goal is to help your puppy learn that being handled and groomed by their people is safe, predictable, and simply part of life.

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🦷 Teething & Chewing

Teething is a developmental stage, not a behavioral failure.

Provide appropriate things to chew and rotate toys to keep them interesting.

If your puppy chooses furniture, clothing, hands, or another inappropriate object:

Redirect → offer an appropriate chew → praise the choice.

Management matters too. A puppy cannot learn what is appropriate if they have unlimited access to everything in the house.

Set your puppy up to succeed.

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🩺 Veterinary Care, Vaccinations & Deworming

At approximately 6 weeks old, our puppies are examined by a licensed veterinarian and receive their first age-appropriate puppy vaccination and deworming. Puppies may also be microchipped by the veterinarian at this visit for an additional fee.

Your puppy will go home with veterinary records documenting the care they have received.

Your new puppy should see your veterinarian when you take them home. Your veterinarian will provide guidance on recommended vaccinations, parasite and pest prevention, and appropriate spay/neuter timing.

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🍽️ Nutrition & Healthy Growth

Your puppy will go home with information about the food they have been eating and guidance for transitioning gradually if you choose a different diet.

Growing puppies need appropriate nutrition and healthy body condition.

We also believe in supporting developing joints and bones through:

• Appropriate nutrition

• Healthy body condition

• Age-appropriate exercise

• Avoiding excessive repetitive impact

• Plenty of rest

Your veterinarian can help you make individualized decisions about nutrition, growth, vaccinations, parasite prevention, and other health needs.

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🌱 A Foundation, Not a Finished Puppy

This is worth saying again because it is so important:

Your puppy is still a baby.

The fact that your puppy comes home with early potty habits, socialization, appropriate play skills, grooming experiences, crate introduction, and a strong relationship with people does not mean they are finished learning.

There will be accidents.

There will be biting.

There will be chewing.

There will be zoomies.

There will be naps that turn into chaos.

There will be days when your puppy seems to have forgotten everything they learned.

That is puppyhood.

Please don't compare your 8- or 9-week-old puppy to an adult dog.

Your puppy's brain, body, impulse control, emotional regulation, and understanding of the world are still developing.

They need you to be their teacher, advocate, playmate, comfort, and safe base while they grow.

We have given your puppy a foundation.

Now you get to build on it.

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📚 Keep Learning Together

Your puppy comes home with a foundation—not a finished education.

We encourage families to continue learning alongside their puppy. We particularly recommend Zak George's Dog Training Revolution because his practical, positive approach focuses on communication, relationship, teaching alternative behaviors, and helping families understand what their puppies are trying to communicate.

We especially encourage new puppy families to explore his New Puppy videos and resources covering:

• Puppy biting

• Potty training

• Crate training

• Chewing

• Socialization

• Coming when called

• Basic training

• Grooming

• Everyday puppy challenges

Your puppy doesn't need you to know everything on day one. You can learn together.

 

❤️ From Our Family to Yours

When your puppy leaves WonderDoodles, our relationship with them changes—but our hope for them doesn't.

We want them to grow into healthy, confident, connected dogs who genuinely enjoy being part of their families.

Relationships are not the reward at the end of puppyhood. They are the foundation on which puppyhood is built.

You aren't bringing home a finished dog.

You're bringing home a baby who has already learned that relationships are safe, rewarding, and worth coming back to.

Now you get to help them grow.

And we'll be cheering you on along the way. ❤️