In this article
A new puppy brings a name, a bed, some paperwork and a surprising number of things you mean to remember. You do not need to turn the first evening into an administration session. Start with the information that will make tomorrow's care clearer.
This is an order for setting up your record, not a seven-day deadline for a puppy to settle, learn or reach a milestone. Work through it alongside the breeder or rescue's handover and your veterinary practice's advice for your puppy.
Put the puppy's age into the profile
Dogoos recognises a puppy from the profile birthday or the Puppy life stage. Nutrition then shows no calorie target, while meal logging continues. With no age recorded, the profile is treated as an adult1. This is one small entry worth checking before exploring the food screen.
Use the birthday from the records you received. If information is uncertain, keep that uncertainty in your working notes and ask the person or organisation handing over the puppy what they can verify. Do not turn an approximate memory into a precise historical fact merely because a form has a date field.
Read the profile back once it is saved. In a home with more than one dog, make sure the details belong to the puppy you intended. Choose a straightforward name for your own record, then leave the decorative details until the practical information is in place.
Check the microchip handover separately
GOV.UK says dogs throughout the UK must be microchipped and registered by eight weeks. Ask for evidence that the chip was fitted, check which database holds the entry and make sure the details are updated. Contact that database to change them2.
A Dogoos profile is separate from microchip registration. Adding the puppy to an app does not complete the database handover. Keep the chip number, database name and the relevant confirmation where you can find them again.
Paperwork to find and check
- Birthday or recorded age information
- Microchip number and database details
- Vaccination record and practice contact
- Parasite treatments already given and their dates
- Exact food and the handover feeding instructions
- Questions or missing information to clarify
Use the list to spot gaps, rather than assuming the presence of a folder means everything is complete. A label you do not understand is a question to resolve. Make a separate note of who you need to ask, so the same uncertainty does not follow you into every later entry.
Record the course already started and the next agreed date
The Health Hub keeps dated notes, appointments and vaccination, worming, flea & tick or custom reminders for each dog. You can choose a reminder's date and time; the repeats can be changed3. Begin with what the paperwork actually says has happened.
PDSA recommends discussing vaccination needs with your vet. Its guidance explains a primary course followed by boosters, with timing and additional protection depending on the vaccines and the dog's circumstances4. Give your practice the existing record and ask what happens next.
Record the next appointment as an appointment, and a treatment date as the appropriate reminder. Ask the practice about parasite prevention as well. Do not infer that a date printed on one document automatically settles every part of the puppy's care plan.
The phone app supplies reminder alarms; they may arrive late, so the practice's schedule remains the reference3. Keep important instructions accessible without waiting for an alert. Agree who will act on the date and who will record what happened.
Begin with the food the puppy has been eating
PDSA's puppy guidance recommends complete, age-appropriate puppy food, initially continuing the breeder's food. It advises following the pack's portion guidance and asking the vet or vet nurse when unsure5. Bring the handover instructions and the actual pack to that discussion.
The Royal Kennel Club warns that overfeeding can cause excessive weight gain and, particularly in larger breeds, bone deformities. It also highlights a useful label distinction: the feeding guide may use the puppy's current weight or their estimated adult weight6. Check which one you are reading.
Do not solve a disagreement between two sets of instructions by averaging them. Ask what applies to your puppy and note the answer. Include the exact recipe and portion unit in your record; a scoop without an agreed meaning can leave another carer guessing.
The Club suggests regular weighing and discussing growth charts with the vet6. Ask how the practice wants to follow this puppy's growth, rather than choosing an adult feeding target simply because a calculator can produce one.
Make the meal record simple enough to use
In Nutrition, a food name and portion can start an entry even when its energy is unknown. Unknown calories remain unknown, and the day's energy total is marked incomplete. Regular meals can be set up with their usual times and portions1.
Use the agreed portions to build the routine you will actually log. If two people share feeding, read the same instructions together. Decide how you will distinguish an intended meal from one already given, rather than relying on someone remembering the conversation later.
When the agreed portion changes, record the new instruction and when it starts. Keep a note of any question you want to take back to the practice. The point of logging is to preserve what happened, including changes, rather than produce a perfectly filled screen.
Let the first reads be ordinary moments
Dogoos's read guide recommends visible face and body, suitable light and natural behaviour, without making the dog bark, stare or perform. Five seconds is the starting clip length. A result is an interpretation of that moment, not a guarantee of how the dog feels7.
You can let a suitable moment come to you. Setting up a profile does not oblige you to film immediately, repeat the same scene until you like the answer or make a read part of every new experience. Keep your attention on the puppy in front of you.
If you record, add a plain note about the circumstances for your own reference. A collection of early observations can be useful to look back through; it should not be treated as a validated medical baseline or a test the puppy must pass.
Finish the week with clearer questions
A small setup sequence
- IdentityCheck age and the separate microchip handover
- HealthConfirm past treatment and the next agreed action
- MealsRecord the food and portions you were advised to use
- ObservationsKeep ordinary notes and optional natural reads
Review what is still unresolved. Have you checked the database handover, clarified the next practice contact and agreed what is going into the bowl? Can another carer tell which information is confirmed and which question remains open?
Leave yourself a short next-action list, then put the administration down. A useful first-week record is one you understand and can keep using, with space to learn about the individual who has just joined your home.
Sources and further reading7 sources
The small numbers in the article link to the source behind each fact. Sources open on their own websites.