Pupdate 2: The First 48 Hours With a Puppy

Becoming a puppy parent takes a lot of time, energy, and patience. I did hours of reading and research to prepare, and asked our parents millions of questions. I wanted to share a look at our first 24 hours as a family and share lessons I learned in that short window of time.

Hours 1-5: We spent the first five hours on the road as we had to drive to Southern Illinois to pick Pancake up. We had a carrier with a potty pad, a few toys, water, a bag of food, treats, leash and collar all in the car ready to go. Luckily, Pancake took very well to her carrier and still loves it to this day. She played with her toys a bit, smiled along the bumpy country roads, and fell asleep pretty quickly. We stopped about 1.5 hours into the drive to let her go to the bathroom. One lesson here: don’t take them out at a rest stop by the trucks. She was so scared of the trucks loud noises that it took forever for her to finally go to the bathroom. Overall, it was a very easy, smooth ride home.

Hours 6-11: We spent the next batch of hours allowing Pancake to adjust to her new home. Before she arrived, we set up gates/barriers for areas of the home we did not want her to go near, such as by the radiator. We also set up a puppy play area and had her food/water bowls prepped. (I’ll share a full puppy supplies checklist on our next pupdate!) We let her scoop the place out, pick her favorite toys, and got in as many snuggles as we could. The only tricky thing here was getting her to go on walks. She didn’t have any accidents during this time, but she was very stubborn on walks after she went to the bathroom.

Hours 12-18: Here’s where we messed up as parents. We initially did not like the idea of “caging” in our dog and opted to not use a kennel. We thought a nice play area with a comfy bed would be better. We were wrong. I barely got a wink of sleep. She kept whining, crying, yelping all night long. We’re in an apartment (a non-dog friendly one at that, but with an emotional support dog we were able to get her in) so I did not want her yelping to wake the neighbors. I spent a lot of the night outside with her, cuddling her, and staring at the ceiling waiting for the yelping to get loud enough for me to go get her again.

Hours 19-24: The first morning were spent playing, going outside and napping. She started to fall into a routine (play 1 hour, nap 2-3 hours, bathroom, eat, repeat), and we adjusted to limited sleep for the next few days.

Hours 25-35: In the afternoon after her nap we met my friend Sally in the park. This was the first person outside of us and random strangers on the sidewalk that Pancake got to interact with. She did so well and loved the new toys Sally brought. She loved the park and definitely loved all the leaves/sticks to snack on :) She wore herself out so much that she fell asleep on my lap in the park.

Hours 36-42: The next night sleep was not any better than the first. We still used the play pen, but took turns on who would take her out at night. For safety, Jake came with me or took her on his own between 1-4 a.m.

Hours 43-48: Pancake had a busy morning. We took her to the vet for an initial check-up (perfectly healthy little pug!), went to Petco to pick up a kennel because we desperately needed sleep (this was the best thing we’ve done. The first night she slept a few more hours at a time, and the night after that (and all nights following) she’s slept through the night 6-7 hours at a time. She loves her kennel and goes in it throughout the day just for fun too! I was so against it at first, but seeing as it’s more a little haven for her than a cage makes me happier. Plus getting my sleep definitely helps!). We also went to Panera and she got to meet Jake’s mom for the first time that afternoon.

Overall, we feel incredibly luckily to have an easy pug like Pancake. Sure, leash training is tough and she nibbles at everything, but that’s to be expected. She’s only had two accidents in the home, and that’s more my fault for trying to get an extra hour of sleep the first night. Pancake is a perfect little pug, who loves attention from strangers on the sidewalk, kisses + cuddles in the mornings, and is very treat-motivated.

Don’t forget to check out @pancakethepugofficial on Instagram for more daily pupdates!