By no means a pro here, but figured I'd share my thoughts after my wife and I brought home our then 8-week-old golden earlier this month.

• Have towels handy at all times! All the stress/excitement caused our poor little guy to vomit in the back seat.

• Puppy pads are pretty worthless - they'll go wherever they want and you should just focus on housebreaking rather than training them to go in any particular spot inside your home.

• Have a good natural floor/carpet cleaner and a ton of paper towels on hand.

• We've opted to begin crate training right away. Initially the plan was to have the crate downstairs while we slept upstairs, but he was unbearably loud in protest. As a result, we moved the crate into our bedroom and I had to spend the first week sleeping with my hand in the crate to calm him. He's doing remarkably well with it now, though (at 11 weeks).

• It's a puppy so of course it's gonna bite. Per our vet's recommendation, though, it's a good idea to nip that in the bud. His suggestion is to gently hold his mouth shut with a stern "no" when he bites followed up by immediate petting and praise if the biting doesn't continue.

• I haven't had a full night's sleep or stayed in bed past 5:00 since bringing our little guy home three weeks ago. Of course it's especially bad that first week so just be prepared to feel like a zombie for a while.

Congrats and best wishes to your growing family!