Bringing a puppy home for the first time is one of the most rewarding things a family can do. It is also one of the most disorienting. The first month sets the trajectory for your dog's health, behaviour, and relationship with your household, and the decisions you make in those early weeks matter considerably more than most new puppy owners realize.

This guide is built around the clinical priorities we see at Liesse Animal Clinic, a full-service veterinary facility in Dorval serving the West Island of Montreal and surrounding communities since 1950. The checklist structure is designed to help Montreal families move through the first month with confidence rather than improvisation: what needs to happen before your puppy arrives, what the first vet visit should cover, how vaccinations and parasite prevention work in Quebec, how to feed a puppy correctly in the first weeks, and what the socialization window actually means for your dog's long-term temperament.

Use this as a working document. Come back to it each week. By the end of the first month, you will have covered the foundation of responsible puppy ownership in Montreal.

Before Your Puppy Arrives: The Prep Week

The week before your puppy comes home is more important than most owners think. A prepared environment makes the first 48 hours significantly smoother and reduces the anxiety the puppy experiences during what is an inherently stressful transition away from their litter.

Puppy-Proof Your Home

Puppies explore with their mouths and move fast. Before your puppy arrives, walk through every room at floor level and identify hazards. Common ones include electrical cords, toxic houseplants, cleaning products stored under sinks, small objects that can be swallowed, garbage bins without lids, and gaps between or behind appliances. Stairwells should be gated until your puppy has developed enough coordination to navigate them safely. Yards should be inspected for gaps in fencing, standing water, garden chemicals, and any plants known to be toxic to dogs.

In Montreal, this also means thinking seasonally. If your puppy arrives in late fall or winter, ice melt products and road salt on sidewalks are a real hazard to paw pads and, when licked, to your dog's digestive system. Plan for paw cleaning as part of your return-from-outside routine from day one.

Essential Supplies to Have Ready Before Day One

Do not wait until your puppy is home to shop. Have the following in place before pickup:

• A size-appropriate crate with bedding (the crate should be large enough for the puppy to stand and turn around, not large enough to use a corner as a bathroom)
• Food and water bowls, ideally stainless steel or ceramic rather than plastic
• A collar and ID tag with your current contact information
• A four to six foot leash
• Puppy-appropriate food (ask your breeder or shelter what the puppy has been eating and continue that initially)
• Enzymatic cleaner for accidents
• Puppy pads if you are using them during house training
• A few toys appropriate for the puppy's size and age
• Nail clippers or a plan to have nails trimmed at the clinic

Choose a Veterinarian

Your veterinarian should be chosen before your puppy comes home, not after the first health concern appears. In the Montreal area, look for a full-service clinic with on-site diagnostics. Liesse Animal Clinic in Dorval offers on-site laboratory testing, digital x-ray, a complete surgical facility, and dentistry with digital dental x-ray, meaning that most of your puppy's care needs over their lifetime can be handled under one roof. The clinic has been part of the West Island community since 1950 and was the first veterinary facility to open in the area.

Book your puppy's first appointment in advance, ideally for within the first week of bringing them home. Many breeders and shelters include a health guarantee that requires a veterinary examination within a specific window. Check the terms of your adoption or purchase agreement before scheduling.

Setting Up a Safe Sleeping Space

Crate training is one of the most valuable things you can do for a new puppy. When introduced correctly, a crate becomes a den: a place the puppy seeks out voluntarily for rest and security rather than a space associated with confinement or punishment. Place the crate in a room where the family spends time, at least initially. Cover three sides with a blanket to create a sense of enclosure. Add a worn item of your clothing on the bedding so the puppy associates the space with your scent.

Expect the first few nights to be difficult. Puppies who have just left their litter will cry at night, sometimes intensely. This is normal. Consistency is the most important thing: avoid taking the puppy into your bed if crate training is your goal, and avoid leaving them to cry for extended periods without any check-in. A gradual process of settling, where you are nearby and reassuring but not removing the puppy from the crate, typically produces better long-term outcomes than either extreme.

Week 1: Your Puppy's First Vet Visit

The first veterinary visit is not just a formality. It is a clinical assessment of your puppy's baseline health and the starting point for a preventive care plan that will carry through their entire life. What happens at this appointment matters.

Your veterinarian will conduct a full physical examination: weight, temperature, heart and lung auscultation, eye and ear evaluation, assessment of the teeth and gums, palpation of the abdomen, inspection of the skin and coat, and assessment of muscle development and mobility. This baseline record is valuable. Every subsequent exam is compared against it.

Come prepared with the following:

1. The puppy's vaccination history, if any vaccines were given by the breeder or shelter
2. Any deworming history, including what products were used and when
3. The puppy's current diet, including brand, type, and feeding schedule
4. A fresh stool sample for fecal parasite testing
5. Your questions. Write them down before the appointment. First-time puppy owners often find that the information coming from the veterinarian during the visit is enough to push prepared questions out of mind.

This visit is also the right time to discuss microchipping. In Quebec, microchipping is strongly recommended and increasingly required by municipal bylaws in the greater Montreal area. A microchip is a permanent form of identification that cannot be removed or lost the way a collar tag can. At Liesse Animal Clinic, microchipping can be done at the same appointment as the first wellness exam.

Puppy Vaccination Schedule in Quebec

Vaccinations are the single most important tool in protecting your puppy from preventable disease during the period before their immune system is fully developed. Understanding the schedule, and why the timing matters, helps owners stay on track.

Puppies receive maternal antibodies through their mother's milk that provide some protection in the first weeks of life. As those maternal antibodies decline, the puppy becomes vulnerable, and the vaccination schedule is designed to build active immunity during that window. The timing is critical: vaccinating too early may not produce a response because maternal antibodies interfere with the vaccine; waiting too long leaves a gap in protection.

The core vaccination schedule in Quebec follows these general intervals:

1. 6 to 8 weeks: First DHPP combination vaccine (distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus, parainfluenza). This is typically the first vaccine a puppy receives, often administered by the breeder before the puppy is placed.
2. 10 to 12 weeks: Second DHPP booster. This is often the first vaccine administered by your veterinarian if the puppy arrived at 8 weeks. Bordetella (kennel cough) vaccine is typically introduced at this visit, particularly for puppies who will attend puppy classes, dog parks, or boarding facilities.
3. 14 to 16 weeks: Third DHPP booster and rabies vaccine. The rabies vaccine is legally required in Quebec. This visit completes the core puppy series and closes the most vulnerable window of susceptibility.
4. 12 to 16 months: First adult boosters, typically including DHPP and rabies. After this point, most vaccines move to a one- to three-year interval depending on the specific vaccine and your veterinarian's protocol.

Leptospirosis vaccination is increasingly recommended in Montreal given the urban wildlife population and the risk of exposure through contaminated water sources. Discuss this with your veterinarian at the first visit to determine whether it is appropriate for your puppy's lifestyle and environment.

Deworming and Parasite Prevention in Montreal

Parasite prevention is a year-round concern in Montreal, not a seasonal one. Montreal's urban environment, parks, and shared green spaces mean that puppies face consistent exposure to intestinal parasites, fleas, ticks, and heartworm from the moment they begin going outdoors.

1. Intestinal parasites: Most puppies are born with roundworms, transmitted from mother to puppy before birth or through nursing. Deworming is typically initiated before the puppy leaves the breeder and continued at each veterinary visit during the first months. A fecal exam at the first vet visit confirms whether parasites are present and which type, allowing targeted treatment. Common intestinal parasites in Montreal puppies include roundworms, hookworms, and giardia.
2. Flea and tick prevention: Montreal's tick season now runs from early spring through late fall, and the risk period has been extending in recent years with milder winters. Black-legged ticks capable of transmitting Lyme disease are present in the greater Montreal area, including green spaces on and around the island. Year-round flea and tick prevention is recommended for most dogs. Your veterinarian will recommend an appropriate product based on your puppy's age, weight, and outdoor habits.
3. Heartworm: Heartworm is transmitted by mosquitoes and is present in Quebec, with cases reported annually in the greater Montreal area. Heartworm prevention is administered monthly during the mosquito season, typically May through November, and testing is recommended annually. Prevention is straightforward; treatment of an established heartworm infection is lengthy, costly, and hard on the dog. Starting prevention early is the right approach.
4. Ear mites: Less common than other parasites but worth checking during the first exam, particularly in puppies acquired from shelters or multi-animal environments. Ear mites cause significant discomfort and are easily treated when identified early.

Feeding Your Puppy in the First Month

Puppy nutrition in the first months of life has a direct impact on skeletal development, immune function, and long-term health outcomes. The stakes are higher than they will be at any other point in your dog's life, which is why feeding decisions should not be made on the basis of cost alone or on the advice of whoever happened to be working at the pet store that day.

1. Continue what the puppy was eating, initially. Changing a puppy's diet abruptly in the first week causes digestive upset that compounds the stress of a new environment. Whatever the breeder or shelter was feeding, continue it for the first week. If you intend to transition to a different food, do it gradually over seven to ten days by mixing increasing proportions of the new food into the old.
2. Feed a food formulated for puppies. Puppy formulas have higher protein, fat, and caloric density than adult maintenance foods, and the mineral ratios are calibrated for growing bodies. For large-breed puppies, choose a food specifically formulated for large breeds, as the calcium-to-phosphorus ratio in standard puppy food can contribute to skeletal development problems in breeds over 25 kilograms at maturity.
3. Feed three times daily until 12 weeks, then twice daily. Young puppies have small stomachs and inconsistent blood sugar. Three meals per day prevents energy crashes and reduces the risk of hypoglycemia, which is a real concern in small breeds. After 12 weeks, twice daily feeding is appropriate for most breeds.
4. Measure portions. Free feeding, where food is left out and replenished as needed, makes it impossible to monitor intake and contributes to overeating. Use the feeding guidelines on the food packaging as a starting point and adjust based on your puppy's body condition. Your veterinarian can show you how to body-condition-score a puppy at the first visit.
5. Ask your veterinarian before adding supplements. Most puppies eating a complete and balanced commercial diet do not require supplements. Over-supplementing with calcium, in particular, can cause skeletal abnormalities in large-breed puppies. Discuss any supplements you are considering before introducing them.

Liesse Animal Clinic carries a selection of veterinary-recommended foods through its online store and in clinic. If you are uncertain about which food is right for your puppy's breed, age, and expected adult size, your veterinarian can help you make an informed choice.

Puppy Socialization: The Window You Cannot Miss

Socialization is not a casual recommendation. It is one of the most clinically important things a new puppy owner can do, and the timing of it is fixed by the puppy's neurological development. The primary socialization window runs from approximately three weeks to 14 weeks of age. During this period, the puppy's brain is primed to form associations with experiences, stimuli, and environments that will shape their responses for the rest of their life. After 14 to 16 weeks, the window does not close entirely, but it narrows significantly, and the effort required to produce the same results increases substantially.

Socialization in this context means controlled, positive exposure to the full range of things your dog will encounter as an adult: different people (children, elderly individuals, people in uniforms, people with hats or beards or mobility aids), other animals, vehicle noise, urban environments, different floor surfaces, being handled for grooming and veterinary examination, and brief separations from their owner.

1. Balance socialization with vaccination status. This is the legitimate tension in early puppy socialization. The same window in which socialization is most critical is also the window in which the puppy is most vulnerable to infectious disease. The current guidance from veterinary behaviourists is that the risk of behavioural problems from under-socialization outweighs the risk of infectious disease exposure in controlled, low-risk environments. Puppy socialization classes held on clean indoor surfaces with vaccinated puppies are generally considered safe. Avoid high-traffic outdoor dog areas, dog parks, and contact with dogs of unknown vaccination status until the series is complete.
2. Make every new experience positive. Flooding a puppy with stimuli they are not ready for produces fear responses, not resilience. The goal is controlled, gradual exposure where the puppy can approach, investigate, and retreat on their own terms. Pair each new experience with high-value treats. If the puppy shows fear or stress, create more distance from the stimulus and give the puppy time to settle before trying again.
3. Handle your puppy daily for veterinary desensitization. Hold the puppy's paws, open their mouth gently, look in their ears, and run your hands over their body from head to tail every day. This is not about obedience; it is about preparing the puppy to tolerate examination without fear. Puppies who are handled regularly from early on are far easier to examine and treat throughout their lives, and they experience significantly less stress at veterinary visits.
4. Enroll in a puppy class. A good puppy class serves double duty: it provides structured socialization with other puppies and people in a controlled environment, and it begins building the communication foundation between you and your dog. Look for classes using positive reinforcement methods, held on clean, disinfected surfaces, with vaccination requirements for all participants.

Monitoring Your Puppy's Health Week by Week

Between veterinary visits, owners are the first line of observation. Knowing what to watch for in the first month allows you to catch problems early, when they are most treatable.

1. Week 1: Settling and basic observation. In the first week, your focus is on observation. Is the puppy eating consistently? Drinking water? Urinating and defecating normally? Are the stools well-formed, or are there signs of diarrhea? A small amount of loose stool in the first day or two from stress is not uncommon. Persistent diarrhea, blood in the stool, vomiting, lethargy, or refusal to eat for more than 12 hours warrants a call to your veterinarian.
2. Week 2: Energy and behavior baselines. By the second week, you should have a clearer sense of your puppy's energy pattern. Puppies sleep a great deal, typically 16 to 18 hours per day, with bursts of active play in between. Sustained lethargy outside of normal sleep patterns is a concern. Monitor the eyes for discharge, the ears for odor or excessive scratching, and the skin for redness, scaling, or unusual hair loss.
3. Week 3: House training progress and parasite check. Week three is typically when house training patterns begin to emerge. Puppies at this age do not have full bladder control, so accidents are expected. What you are watching for is whether the puppy is beginning to signal or move toward the door. A fecal re-check may be warranted at this point if parasites were identified at the first visit. Continue monitoring stool consistency.
4. Week 4: Pre-booster assessment. By week four, your puppy should be due for or approaching their second round of vaccines. Note any changes in energy, appetite, coat condition, or behavior to discuss at the appointment. Weigh your puppy at home if possible. Steady weight gain is a positive sign. Weight loss or failure to gain weight in a puppy this age is a clinical concern that warrants prompt attention.

Complete Checklist

Before Your Puppy Arrives

• Puppy-proof the home including cords, toxic plants, and chemical storage
• Inspect the yard for fencing gaps, standing water, and garden chemicals
• Purchase all essential supplies including crate, collar, leash, bowls, and food
• Set up and introduce the crate before the puppy arrives
• Choose a veterinarian and book the first appointment
• Confirm what food the puppy has been eating and have it on hand

Week 1

• Attend first veterinary wellness exam
• Bring vaccination and deworming records from breeder or shelter
• Bring fresh stool sample for fecal testing
• Discuss microchipping at first visit
• Begin crate training and house training
• Begin daily handling and desensitization routine
• Confirm parasite prevention protocol with veterinarian

Weeks 2 and 3

• Monitor eating, drinking, and elimination daily
• Continue house training consistently
• Begin controlled socialization with vaccinated dogs and new people
• Research and enroll in a puppy class
• Continue daily handling routine including paws, ears, and mouth
• Monitor stool for signs of parasites including worms or mucus
• Note any changes in energy, appetite, or coat condition

Week 4

• Attend second veterinary visit for vaccine booster
• Weigh puppy and compare to week 1 baseline
• Confirm deworming and parasite prevention schedule going forward
• Begin puppy class if not already enrolled
• Review feeding schedule and adjust portions based on growth
• Discuss spay or neuter timing with your veterinarian

Conclusion

The first month with a new puppy is demanding. It asks a great deal of your time, your patience, and your attention. It is also the month that matters most. The habits, routines, and experiences your puppy has in these early weeks set the foundation for their health and behavior for the next decade or more. Getting them right is worth the effort.

At Liesse Animal Clinic - veterinary clinic in Montreal, we have been helping West Island families navigate puppy care since 1950. Our team is here to answer questions, catch problems early, and provide the kind of consistent, compassionate care that makes a difference over a dog's lifetime. Preventive care is not just something we recommend; it is the organizing principle of everything we do.