YNP #099: Why Not to Give a Puppy as a Holiday Gift
Your New Puppy: Dog Training and Dog Behavior Lessons to Help You Turn Your New Puppy into a Well-Behaved Dog
Debbie Cilento: Dog Trainer | Dog Behavior Consultant | Owner of Playtime Paws | Belly Rub Specialist
4.8 • 917 Ratings
🗓️ 17 September 2024
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The holiday season is a popular time to bring a new puppy into the family. But how we do it can make a big difference in the well being of all involved.
Now before I totally burst your bubble, I’m not saying you shouldn’t get a puppy this time of year (though there are things to consider while making that decision).
What I’m going to talk about here is why you shouldn’t surprise someone (kids or adult) with the actual puppy on a specific day – Christmas morning, for example.
We think of it as a special magical moment where a puppy comes out of a box and our kids or family member is overwhelmed with joy. But the reality is, this can be a stressful experience for a puppy who is also meeting their new family for the first time.
If you’re considering getting a puppy around the holidays, this episode will help you keep the time special while making sure it’s a joyful and stress free experience for both humans and puppies!
Enjoy!
In this episode I talk about:
- What to think about when giving a puppy as a gift.
- Why you shouldn’t plan a surprise with an actual puppy.
- The importance of building trust with your puppy during the first few days home.
- The importance of preparing your family before bringing a puppy home.
- Alternative ways to make the holiday special without surprising someone with an actual puppy.
Enjoying this podcast? Please rate and review it wherever you listen. This helps other puppy parents find it.
Other resources mentioned and related to this episode:
YNP #060: Kids and Puppies
The 3 Phases to Bringing Your New Puppy Home – Video series
Book a virtual session with Debbie
YOUR New Puppy: My signature new puppy course that has helped hundreds of new puppy parents raise their puppies into well-mannered, happy dogs.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You are listening to your new puppies podcast. Starting you and your dog off on the right paw. Here's your |
| 0:16.8 | host Debbie Salento. Hello and welcome to episode 99 of your new puppies podcast. I'm Debbie and today I want to talk about why |
| 0:36.8 | it is not a good idea to get a puppy or to give a puppy as a holiday gift. Now most commonly we think about this as |
| 0:46.0 | Christmas morning we're gonna give a puppy to the kids. Now this can relate to any |
| 0:51.6 | holiday or celebration like a birthday. |
| 0:55.0 | And I'm not saying you should not get a puppy this time of year |
| 1:00.0 | or during the holiday season. I mean, there are reasons not to do that but they don't |
| 1:06.0 | necessarily apply to you and I understand that and I'll talk about that a little |
| 1:09.6 | bit in a moment but what I'm going to go into detail about is why we shouldn't try to |
| 1:17.2 | aim for a specific day to give this puppy as a present. |
| 1:22.8 | Okay, because we have to think about the puppy's experience |
| 1:27.1 | as well as the people we're giving it to. |
| 1:30.6 | Most of the time, it's the kids kids but this also goes for adults as well. So even if I might be |
| 1:37.0 | bursting your bubble about getting that magical Christmas morning moment I do have some alternatives for you, which I will talk about towards the end. |
| 1:45.9 | But first, like always, I want to talk about why. |
| 1:48.9 | Now I do want to mention that we should always use caution when we're giving a puppy as a gift because it's a big responsibility |
| 1:59.6 | and we should never surprise somebody who especially has never's never owned a dog before, wasn't even thinking |
| 2:05.0 | about getting a puppy, or anything like that. |
| 2:08.6 | Now, when we gift a dog to the kids, as the adult, you're the one taking on the responsibility of this dog and |
| 2:16.8 | typically gifting it to the kids is more symbolic. So that's less of an issue of giving it to somebody and being like it's your responsibility now. |
| 2:26.0 | Not saying that you can't do that. I mean it depends on the person, on the situation, and all of that. |
| 2:32.0 | So as long as you're keeping all of that in mind, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Debbie Cilento: Dog Trainer | Dog Behavior Consultant | Owner of Playtime Paws | Belly Rub Specialist, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Debbie Cilento: Dog Trainer | Dog Behavior Consultant | Owner of Playtime Paws | Belly Rub Specialist and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.