Animiyo guides

The first months

The first months have a dense calendar with deadlines that cannot be recovered later. These guides lay it out week by week with verifiable goals.

23 guides

Open the guideBeginner15 min
Getting your puppy used to a collar and harness
The first collar should not be a struggle. With a few minutes a day, treats and pleasant associations, the puppy learns to wear it without stress.
DogCat
Open the guideBeginner20 min
Scheduling puppy and kitten deworming in the first months
A practical deworming calendar for the first six months, with typical intervals for dogs and cats and a method for never losing count of the doses.
DogCat
Open the guideBeginner20 min
Managing play and biting in a kitten's first months
A kitten that bites hands is not being naughty: it is hunting. In the first months you can teach it where to aim the bite, before the habit sets.
Cat
Open the guideIntermediate20 min
Introducing a new arrival to the resident pets
A first meeting is not improvised. Here is how to introduce the new arrival to the resident pets in stages, reading the signals and without turning cohabitation into conflict.
DogCat
Open the guideBeginner30 min
Getting a puppy or kitten used to household and city noises
Noise fear rarely starts in adulthood; it is built in the first months. Here is how to introduce a young animal to everyday sounds without scaring it.
DogCat
Open the guideBeginner40 min
Crate training a puppy without fear or force
A gradual plan that makes the crate the puppy's favourite spot, useful at night, on trips and for rest, and never a place of confinement or punishment.
Dog
Open the guideBeginner30 min
Settling a newly adopted kitten through the first weeks
A kitten does not need the whole house on day one: it needs a small, predictable corner where it can work out, on its own, that it is safe.
Cat
Open the guideBeginner30 min
Deciding when to neuter your puppy or kitten without guessing
A guide that turns an opinion loaded question into an informed decision, made with your vet and fitted to your animal's species, adult size and daily life.
DogCat
Open the guideBeginner40 min
Building the shopping list for a puppy's arrival
A thought through list that separates what you need on day one from what can wait, so you arrive ready without filling the house with things you will never use.
Dog
Open the guideBeginner30 min
Managing the first heat in a young dog or cat
What to expect at the first heat, how to tell real signs from false alarms, and how to get through the most delicate weeks without an unplanned litter.
DogCat
Open the guideBeginner35 min
Planning the first year of health for a puppy or kitten
The first year packs in more health decisions than any later stretch of life. A written plan lines them up instead of leaving you to chase them one at a time.
DogCat
Open the guideBeginner40 min
Bringing your puppy or kitten home: the first journey and the first hours
The ride home and the first few hours are the first experience your puppy or kitten has of you, and getting them right makes everything that follows far easier.
DogCat
Open the guideBeginner20 min
Taking your puppy out before the vaccine course is complete
A practical way to use the socialisation window without taking needless risks: outings that are safe from day one, places worth delaying, and how to read the risk where you live.
Dog
Open the guideBeginner40 min
Choosing the right vet for your new puppy or kitten
A way to stop leaving the choice to chance: where to look, what to ask before you ever set foot in the clinic, and how to open a record that will follow you for years.
DogCat
Open the guideAdvanced40 min
Hand rearing an orphaned puppy or kitten
A motherless newborn is lost in hours, not days. Here is how to organise warmth, feeds and daily weight into a routine that holds, and when to stop trying alone.
DogCat
Open the guideBeginner30 min
Weaning puppies and kittens from milk to solid food
A calm weaning shapes digestion, the bond with the bowl and growth: here is how to cross this stage without diarrhoea or refusals.
DogCat
Open the guideBeginner15 min
Manage puppy teething and mouthing
Mouthing is not spite: it is how a puppy explores and eases sore teeth. Here is how to redirect it without punishing, and when the vet is needed.
DogCat
Open the guideBeginner15 min
Helping a puppy or kitten sleep the first nights
The first nights with a young pet are the hardest. Here is how to prepare the sleep area, build an evening ritual and read when crying is a need and when it will pass.
DogCat
Open the guideBeginner15 min
Socialising a puppy in the sensitive window
The sensitive window is short and does not return: here you build a plan of positive encounters with people, surfaces, sounds and animals, dosed to the puppy and never forced.
DogCat
Open the guideBeginner10 min
Weighing a puppy or kitten and recording growth properly
One repeatable weighing beats ten approximate ones: the resolution each size needs, how often to measure, and how to read the slope instead of a single number.
DogCat
Open the guideBeginner30 min
Setting the routine for the first days at home
A simple, repeatable routine for the first two weeks that gives a newly arrived animal fixed points to build trust on, rather than leaving it to guess what happens next.
DogCat
Open the guideBeginner45 min
Preparing a puppy or kitten first veterinary visit
A checklist so you do not arrive empty handed at the visit that sets up the first twelve months, with an eight step procedure and the data to transcribe before you leave the clinic.
DogCat
Open the guideBeginner30 min
House training a puppy without punishment
A protocol built on early trips outside, a reward within three seconds and complete odour removal, with the holding time table and the rules for extending intervals.
DogCat