New Goldendoodle Puppy Checklist – A 2023 Complete Guide

So you’ve decided to bring a new Goldendoodle puppy home with you, a great choice, these dogs are adorable, but with a small puppy and all of the new excitement it brings, it can be very easy to forget a lot of essentials.

This article will help you prepare a new Goldendoodle puppy checklist, and how you can turn your home into the best place for a small puppy before they move in.

There are several things you’ll have to consider when bringing your new puppy home and it might feel a bit overwhelming, especially if it’s your first puppy. But don’t worry! If you read on, I’ll show you everything you’ll have to know.

Before Bringing Your Goldendoodle Puppy Home

When your new Goldendoodle puppy first arrives at your home, it’ll be an extremely intense moment for not only him/her but also for you. The key in this situation is to make this process as smooth and easy as possible with some proper preparation.

Let’s see some of the points you should prepare before bringing home your new pup.

Find Your Local Veterinarian

Something a lot of potential puppy owners often overlook, but it shouldn’t be as finding and getting to know the local vet is actually very important.

I’ve seen this happen several times. New puppy owners are over the moon excited when bringing home their cute new puppy but suddenly the little ball of fur makes some mysterious cough or sound and they fly into instant panic mode.

It isn’t until this very moment that you realize you basically have no idea who your local vet is, or where he/she is located.

How To Find The Best Local Vet

When looking around your area for recommendations, your best choice would be that you just ask any local dog owner you might know.

Friends and family will almost always let you know the truth about the veterinary practices they’ve visited. But perhaps you don’t really know anybody in your area that you expect can give you the needed information, and in that situation, you will have to use your Google skills.

Ask The Breeder For All The Information You Can

When bringing home a new puppy, the most knowledgeable and important person is the breeder where you’re getting the pup.

This person has been taking care of the puppy litter for weeks and he/she knows much more about your new Goldendoodle puppy than you possibly can at this point, so you should make sure to ask them as many questions as you can possibly think about.

What you should ask the breeder:

• Feeding routines and schedule
• Sleeping routines and schedule
• Which vaccinations they’ve received and when the next is due
• Health certificates on both the parents and the puppy
• The type of food or formula they have been using
• Contact information of the breeder for early days support
• The general health of the puppy and the parents
• Has the puppy received any specific medications (worming?)
• Is the puppy well-socialized with the rest of the litter

The more information you’re able to learn beforehand will make bringing home your new Goldendoodle puppy a lot easier. And while it might be easy to remember to ask the breeder about such things as health issues, asking about feeding schedules and sleeping patterns are also equally important. Perhaps the breeder also has other information that they might deem important that you hadn’t thought of.

Your new Goldendoodle puppy will quickly feel a lot more comfortable if it has some routines it’s familiar with when moving to live with you in their new home.

New Goldendoodle Puppy Checklist – The Essentials

Let’s take a look at some basic, but quite essential products that I would highly recommend any new puppy owner.

The supplies that I’ve personally tried and can recommend has a link. This can help you get a better idea about what other new puppy owners have experienced with the product, so you won’t have to only rely on my word of recommendation.

New Goldendoodle puppy checklist – basics:

• Puppy food – Related article
• Mental Stimulation – Read This
• Brush – A slicker brush is a must – Best brush on Amazon
• Puppy toys, durable chew toys – Related article
• Harness – Recommended Harness
• Puppy treats – Related article
• Pet first aid kit
• Puppy bed – Recommended Bed
• Suitable crate – Recommended Crate
• Metal food and water bowls – Recommended Bowls
• Nail clipper – Recommended Clipper
• Puppy or baby gate – Recommended Gate
• Leash – Recommended Leash
• Collar – Recommended Collar
• ID tags for the collar – Recommended ID Tag
• Waterproof blankets – Recommended option
• Poop scoop, bags, and a bin
• Extra household cleaning products

You don’t have to necessarily get every possible item on my list, but it’s all supplies that will help you be as ready as possible for a puppy’s arrival. And you can most certainly find a plethora of other products than the ones I’ve recommended, and the items on my list are just products that I’ve been able to test personally with my dogs and have been very pleased with.

As long as the product you decide to get does the job it’s supposed to.

Preparing Your Home – The Basics

Besides stocking up all of the required supplies a Goldendoodle puppy could possibly need, you should also take extra precautions to make sure that your home is properly prepared for a highly active and adventurous little puppy.

A Goldendoodle puppy is extremely curious and persistent and will without a doubt find several things that you never even imagined they could, which is why it’s very important that you take a look at your home through the eyes of a little puppy. What’s within their range? Are they able to sniff around?

Some of the things you should prepare in your home before the puppy arrives are:

1. Designated Daily Area

Constantly looking after an energetic puppy is quite a challenge, so creating an enclosed area or room for them to live in will help you a lot. And preparing such a room before your puppy arrives is strongly advised.

The designated daily area should contain a crate, some water, and food bowls, a bunch of toys, puppy treats, and some nearby cleaning products to use when needed. This area doesn’t necessarily have to be the same spot they’re supposed to sleep in, and I’ll look into that area in a bit.

2. Designated House-Training Area

As with several other types of training, house training should begin immediately after your puppy has moved in. There aren’t any valid reasons to delay house training, as it will almost always lead to nothing but bad habits.

Build a little area in the backyard of your home where the pup will be able to go do their business. I’ve created a HOW-TO guide on Doodle house-training so I won’t go into too much detail here, but consider house-training as essential and something you should most certainly at least have a plan for from the very first day after your new puppy has arrived in your home.

3. Designated Sleeping Area

Several studies have concluded that having your puppy sleep in a crate next to your bed and not in some other room of the house, will lead to a much more successful situation for your pup. It’s very overwhelming for a small puppy to leave its mother and sibling, and that will often make bedtime a bit of a challenge.

But if the puppy knows it’ll be able to fall asleep beside you will make it a lot easier.

And I don’t expect you would enjoy moving the crate all over your home every single day, consider getting one for both your bedroom and also for whatever room you have chosen as their future sleeping area. All you really need to equip a crate with is a waterproof mat and some comforting toys or an old rag from the breeder. Remember to ask for something like that when picking up your puppy!

4. Electric Wires

This point can be potentially life-threatening if it’s not something you’ve taken care of beforehand.

You will have to make sure you don’t have wires and cables that are easily accessible for an adventurous and sharp-toothed puppy. These days, most of us have cables and wires going through our home to a multitude of lamps, TVs, and random appliances, but you’ll have to be absolutely sure your dog won’t be able to reach them.

A small puppy will chew on everything and anything they can get their paws on, and they have no idea how dangerous chewing through an electric cable might be, so it’s your job to make sure it can’t happen by moving/removing any potential hazard.

5. Puppy/Baby Gates

Puppy or baby gates would be a great idea to have spread around your home before you bring your new Doodle home. Not only are such gates great for different training purposes, but for your dogs’ own safety, they can be quite vital.

A puppy doesn’t require the option to be able to completely free-roam your home, and if you have a home with any stairs or room entrances that don’t have a door currently, you should purchase some puppy/baby gates.

6. Final Check Of Your Home

As mentioned earlier, your new Goldendoodle puppy will most likely surprise you constantly with their enthusiasm and curiosity that never ends.

If you drop something on the floor and don’t pick it up immediately, expect that your pup will be all over it soon, and even if it’s as far from food as you could possibly imagine, there’s a good chance they’ll try to devour it.

A puppy is basically a toddler or baby, and we all know how important it is to keep all choking hazards far away from those. Your new furry toddler won’t know what’s made for chewing, and what isn’t so that’s why you have to go above and beyond to make sure the risk is as minimal as possible.

Have Several Of the Right Toys On Hand

When it comes to new puppies, a question I hear a lot has typically something to do regarding the pup’s mouth. Their teeth, biting, chewing, and so on. So let’s take a quick look at that.

Goldendoodle puppies love to explore the world using their mouth, and a dogs’ mouth is their primary method for communicating, discovering, and is really just an enormous part of a dogs’ life.

And when you bring a new puppy home, remember that they might not have received any valuable training, which is why you should immediately be training when they get home to you, but even with training, you can still expect their habits of chewing and biting can be quite intense for the first few weeks.

This is why I would recommend that you get a bunch of some proper puppy toys as that will be extremely beneficial for both you and your dog. 

The best toys for Doodle puppies include:

• Hard, durable chew toys. These types of toys are usually produced from hard rubber or plastic as has massagers and small recesse.
• Interactive toys. These are great for ensuring your puppy will be entertained for several hours, and that’s verfy useful when you have something to do And can’t give your dog your complete attention.
• Chew bones. Known for being very durable, chew bones are often found with a slight flavor to make sure your puppy Is attracted to it and these toys are really great all-round products.
• Soft training toys. These toys should only be used for training where the toy will serve as a high-value reward for your pup after successfully completing a specific training exercise. Because these toys are soft means that they can be ripped apart quite easily by some sharp puppy teeth, which is why they shouldn’t be available to your dog all the time.

• READ MORE: 12 TOYS YOU MUST TRY – AND WHAT TO AVOID

General Advice For a New Goldendoodle Puppy

You can be a lot more prepared for the arrival of your puppy if you follow just some of the advice I have given above, but allow me to add some general tips on how you should care for a new puppy.

The tips below will hopefully help you better understand what you should do in common situations new puppy owners often find themselves in.

1. Use Comforters

What I mean by comforters, is that you use something that your little pup will be able to associate with either your or their mother. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy at all, a torn-up t-shirt or an old sock will be fine, as long as it’s something that they recognize, and will give them a comforting feeling.

It can be anything like the shape, texture, or smell of that item that invokes a sense of calm in your dog. When I got my current dog, I had an old t-shirt from work laying around, and now that my dog is almost 2 years old, he’s still keeping that shirt safely located in his bed.

You should give your puppy your comforter of choice when it’s sleepy-time or if you have to leave, even if it’s only for a bit. If your puppy will be able to still smell you through the item, it will help him/her keep calm, even when you’re not really present.

Something I’ve found that works surprisingly well as a comforter is a “snuggle puppy.” These lovable little creatures are fuzzy teddy bears that will allow you to insert a heat pack and they can also have a pulsing heartbeat. These things combined will remind your puppy how it feels to have their mother right beside them.

When I first noticed these products, I thought they seemed like a goofy gimmick, but a friend of mine gifted me one and my dog absolutely loves the thing, so I won’t argue with his decision! And other puppy owners are also giving them high recommendations.

2. Potty Mistakes

Even if you’ve done everything you can to prevent accidents, you can be certain it will happen eventually, so you might as well be prepared for it.

And remember that when an accident does occur, make sure that you don’t shout or hurt your dog, as that will only feed their distrust in you, making any further training absolutely impossible. Instead, you should just show your puppy the mistake and then take him/her outside to their pre-selected potty area.

A good idea would be to have a specific command to use for potty time, and you should use that command every time you’re near their potty area. Goldendoodle puppies are highly intelligent, and will usually quickly be able to link your chosen command to bathroom time.

When your dog finally does manage to do all of its business in the designated spot, even if that involves that you had to carry him all the way there, make sure you give your dog a lot of love and praise. The most important factor to a well-behaved dog is positive reinforcement.

• READ MORE: HOUSE-TRAINING A PUPPY

3. Feeding Your Doodle Puppy

Normally you won’t be able to bring home a new puppy before they’ve reached the age of 8 weeks old, as the puppies have to be weaned off their mothers’ milk first. But a puppy’s stomach is still very sensitive when 8 weeks old, so you should only buy puppy food that’s specifically designed for puppies, to not risk stressing your dogs’ digestive system.

Most breeders, if they are worth anything, will often offer that you can take some of the specific food they’ve been feeding the puppies previously, and that can be a tremendous help to you.

Ask the breeder what the puppies’ current meal times are, and then you should continue following that schedule. This is another thing that will make it much easier on the puppy when transitioning into this brand-new life.

4. Don’t Allow Your Puppy To Roam Everywhere

At some point in time, you’re bound to have to leave your puppy alone, even if it’s just for a few hours, and when that’s the case, I would advise that you keep your dog in the designated area, or if they’ve been crate-trained, you should use the crate.

Allowing your puppy to roam your entire home is bound to go wrong, as a small pup will always be able to find something it can chew on that isn’t supposed to be chewed. It’s much easier to puppy-proof a single designated room instead of an entire house. And cleaning up any potty mistakes will also be much easier if that area has some type of hard flooring.

The safety of your puppy should always be your number one concern when having to leave them alone in the house.

• READ MORE: CRATE TRAINING A PUPPY

5. Does Your Puppy Have Access To a Yard?

When bringing home your adorable new Goldendoodle puppy, don’t put it out in the yard the second you get home. Wait until two weeks after the puppy has had their second round of vaccinations. 

At precisely what age you can take your dog outside, I can’t tell you, as it entirely depends on when they’ve previously been vaccinated, so that’s another thing you should ask the breeder about.

Most yards are like a zoo when talking about foreign bacteria and weird substances, and every single one of those could potentially be harmful to a small puppy’s health, so make sure they are properly vaccinated before bringing them out to explore the world.