Your puppy's first Christmas: what to buy, and what to keep them away from

Christmas with a new puppy looks lovely in your head: the tree, the wrapping paper, a small dog in a jumper. In practice it's a house full of unfamiliar people, new smells, things at nose height that have never been there before, and a routine that goes out of the window for a fortnight.

Most of what a puppy needs at Christmas isn't a present. It's somewhere to switch off, and a few things kept out of reach

Start with somewhere to escape to

This is the single most useful thing you can do, and it costs nothing to plan. Pick one room or corner that stays quiet, put their bed in it, and make it off limits to visitors — especially children, who will want to follow them. A puppy that can take itself away from the noise will cope with the whole day far better than one with nowhere to go.

Puppies sleep a lot more than people expect — somewhere in the region of 18 hours a day for a young one — and they get overtired fast. A lot of what gets called "hyper" or "nippy" on Christmas Day is just a knackered puppy that hasn't been allowed to stop.

If you're buying a bed for it, the round calming beds suit puppies well, because the raised rim gives them something to curl into. Buy for their adult size if you'd rather only buy once, or buy small now and accept you'll replace it — we've written more on whether calming beds actually work.

What's genuinely worth buying

For the mess

• Washable pee pad (£14.99) — reusable, so you're not buying disposables all December. House training goes backwards when the routine changes, and it will change.

For the quiet hours

• Snuffle mat (£19.99) — scatter their normal food in it. Sniffing is calming for dogs, it takes a while, and it uses food you already have rather than extra treats on top of everything else they'll be slipped.
• Puzzle feeder (£19.99) — same idea, more of a challenge. Useful for the hour when dinner is being served and you need the puppy occupied.
• Plush squeaky toy (£19.99) — fine for most puppies, but supervise it. Puppies that pull stuffing out shouldn't have soft toys unattended.

For the growing up bit

• Adjustable nylon collar (£9.99) — puppies outgrow collars quickly, so adjustable and cheap beats smart and fixed. Check the fit weekly: two fingers underneath.
• Long training lead (£17.99) — for recall practice in the field once they're allowed out. Worth having before you need it.
• Grooming brush (£19.99) — start brushing early and they'll tolerate it for life. Start at two years old and you'll be fighting them.
• Nail clippers with a guard (£19.99) — same reasoning. The guard limits how much you can take off, which matters when you're new to it.

For days out

• Collapsible travel bowl (£23.99) — folds flat for the car and visits to relatives.
• Ear muffs (£14.99) — a stretch snood that takes the edge off noise. Worth having for New Year's Eve, which is often a puppy's first experience of fireworks.

What to keep out of reach

None of this is scaremongering — these are the things vets see every December.

Food

• Chocolate — toxic to dogs, and at Christmas it's hanging on the tree at exactly puppy height.
• Raisins, sultanas and currants — so mince pies, Christmas pudding, Christmas cake and stollen. These can cause kidney damage in dogs and the toxic amount is unpredictable, so there's no "small bit is fine".
• Onions, garlic, leeks and chives — which means stuffing, gravy and most leftovers.
• Cooked bones, turkey carcass included. They splinter.
• Macadamia nuts, and anything sweetened with xylitol (check sugar-free sweets and some peanut butters).
• Alcohol — including an unattended glass at puppy height, and brandy butter.

If you think your puppy has eaten any of these, ring your vet straight away rather than waiting to see what happens. Don't try to make them sick yourself.

Decorations

• Tinsel and ribbon — swallowed stringy things can cause a serious blockage. This is the one that catches people out.
• Glass baubles — keep the bottom third of the tree plastic, or bare.
• Fairy light cables — a chewing puppy and a live cable is a bad combination. Tuck them up and unplug when you're out of the room.
• Tree water, if you have a real tree with preservative in the stand.
• Snow globes — some contain antifreeze, which is extremely toxic and tastes sweet.

Plants

Poinsettia, holly, ivy and mistletoe are all best kept up high or skipped. Mistletoe berries are the worst of them.

Visitors, crackers and children

Three practical things that make the day easier:

• Tell visitors to ignore the puppy when they arrive. Everyone crowding in is how puppies get overwhelmed, and it's how nipping starts.
• Pull crackers away from the puppy, or in another room. One bang at eight weeks old can set up a noise phobia that lasts years.
• Give children a job — filling the snuffle mat, say — rather than telling them not to touch. They'll stick to it better.

And don't let the walks slide. A puppy that's had its normal outing is a puppy that sleeps through dinner.

Order in time

We process orders in one to three working days and they usually arrive within four to nine working days, so the first week of December is the safe window for anything you want under the tree. Free tracked UK delivery on every order, and unused items can come back within 30 days.

FAQs

Should I give my puppy a present on Christmas Day?

One, and give it in a quiet moment rather than in the middle of the unwrapping. A new toy in the middle of chaos is just more stimulation. Food-based toys like a snuffle mat work best because they calm rather than wind up.

Can puppies have turkey?

Plain cooked turkey meat with no skin, bones, gravy or seasoning is fine in small amounts. The problems are the trimmings, not the bird — and never cooked bones.

How do I stop my puppy chewing the Christmas tree?

Put a pen or gate around it for the first year, keep the lowest branches bare, and give them something better to chew within sight of it. Telling a teething puppy off for chewing rarely works; redirecting does.

Is it a bad idea to get a puppy as a Christmas present?

Honestly, yes — Christmas week is the worst possible time to settle a new dog, and good breeders and rescues generally won't rehome then. If a puppy is the plan, wrap up the bed and the collar, and collect the dog in January when the house is calm.

What size collar does a puppy need?

Buy adjustable and check it weekly — you should fit two fingers between the collar and their neck. Most puppies go through two or three collars before they're grown.

Browse pet gifts under £25 for stocking-sized bits, or the full dog beds and dog toys ranges. If you're buying for someone else's new puppy, our guide to buying for a dog you don't know covers what's safe when you haven't got their measurements.