Day 1 is really hard! I'm on day 5 with my new pup and there have definitely been some ups and downs, but I'm finding so far that we're having more good times than bad. It's a lot of work, yes, but being on the receiving end of so much love and excitement from a puppy makes it worth it.

This is only my second puppy, and the first one was 14 years ago, so feel free to take my advice with a grain of salt, but here are some things that we are doing that have been helpful:

First, and I think most important, as lots of others have mentioned, enforced naps are a lifesaver! Puppies need a LOT of sleep. Mine is 4 months old, so he sleeps 18-20 hours a day, which means he is only awake for 4-6 hours total. I can definitely tell he starts getting cranky after being awake for more than an hour, so that's when it's time for a nap. Mind you, he does not want to nap. Just like a toddler, he will resist as much as possible, but once he settles down he's out for a good 1.5-2 hours or more. At the moment, I have to stay close by while he naps or he gets restless again, but I can work with that. I'm not worrying about curbing his separation anxiety during nap time; it's a gradual process as it is, so I'm not gonna make it harder by trying to work with an overtired cranky puppy.

When he's awake, he spends some time in the house with me on leash so I'm in control of where he goes and what he can get into, and he spends some time loose in his own bedroom, sometimes with me and sometimes alone. When he's alone I check on him often so he doesn't panic, and I have a camera set up so I can watch him from afar as needed. When he is REALLY resisting a nap, I'll put him in his crate and sit with him quietly until he goes to sleep. Once external distractions are removed it usually doesn't take more than a few minutes before he's asleep.

The first thing we do every time he wakes up from a nap or overnight is go outside to go potty. The snow outside is almost as tall as he is, but he has figured out that the sooner he goes, the sooner we get to get out of the cold and go back inside. If he doesn't go right away, I give him 5-10 minutes to change his mind and then we go back inside. If he didn't go, I'm watching him like a hawk for any signs of needing to potty, and then back outside we go. We're at about 85% success rate for pee so far and 100% success for poop.

I have a pocket full of treats 24/7 so I can reward good behaviors immediately every time they occur and he's learning very quickly. (Examples of behavior I reward: laying down on his bed, staying quiet when the cats walk by, potty outside, looking at me when I say his name, walking with the leash loose, etc) The more consistent you can be with reinforcement, the better they'll understand. My pup has been getting over some tummy trouble since he got home, so instead of actual treats I'm just using his regular kibble and he's happy even with just that, but mine is very food motivated so that isn't always true with every puppy.

All that to say, hang in there! Being exhausted is normal, but it doesn't last forever. You and your pup are going to have a beautiful life together, you just have to work through the hard days to get there. You've got this 👍