Sweet!!!
My tips:
1. take a baby blanket with you when you go to pick the little guy up. Rub the blanket all over his mom and siblings to get the 'scent of mom' on it, and take that home with you for use in the crate (or where ever he'll be sleeping). The smells of home will go a long way to helping him sleep quietly (at least for a few hours) those first few nights in a new place.
2. keep the travel home and arrival in the new home as low key and relaxing as possible. Have a comfy spot in the living room ready for him to relax in (with you) once you arrive, so he can nap and recover from the car ride.
3. be sure to get some of the food he was eating with the breeder to take home with you. Just a few days worth would help - so his tummy isn't getting something new at the same time he's stressing about losing everything he's ever known in his life. You can switch over to whatever food you want later, blending in slowly, to transition over - but if you can wait until the stress of the new surroundings diminishes, that will help avoid a GI upset.
4. take a pillow off your bed - something you've been sleeping on, so full of "you" smells - and put that in his crate (or on his bed), so along with the baby blanket of 'old home' smells, he'll be snuggling up with the smells of you and his 'new home'.
Denna still has both her baby blanket and the pillow she first slept on. She doesn't need them anymore, but I can tell she still loves them both (i.e. they have never been shredded!)
If you haven't considered crate training - I'd recommend you look into it. We've found it a life saver with our pups. Saves the pup from getting into trouble and eating something they shouldn't, and saves the house from puppy-destruction.
Be ready to not sleep more than a few hours at a time for at least a few weeks! How fast they adjust and build bladder holding capacity varies A LOT puppy to puppy... Denna was sleeping through the night pretty quick (within a few weeks) versus our last dog, who took waaaay longer.
Come back with more puppy pictures!! Please!!
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All fabulous advice. And yes that no sleep thing is very very real. How soon you get back to a full 8 hours may depend on the pup and also whether you crate at night. Diesel was crated at night as a puppy and learned fairly quickly and he can hold it ages. Kahlua got spoiled and the both became bedroom dogs at night... she goes 4-5 hours before waking us to potty and she is just over a year so... that means we haven't had more than 5 hours straight of sleep in over a year. Ouch. I would recommend crating at night til your pup is fully potty trained and used to holding it all night long.
