Puppies For Christmas! An Exciting Dark Red Litter Is Coming Soon!
October 11, 2026
Bringing home a puppy for Christmas is one of the most common requests we hear every fall. This year it is a real question for us too, because Lucy and George’s litter goes home around December 21, and our other litters expected this winter go home between the start and the middle of January. Before you decide, it helps to know what the American Kennel Club advises and how to plan around it.
The AKC says the holidays are a demanding time to bring home a puppy. A puppy needs a great deal of time and attention in the first weeks, and busy schedules and holiday hazards make that harder to give. It also notes that many responsible breeders avoid planning litters with a Christmas due date.
Our litters follow our dogs’ heat cycles, and this fall the go home dates land around the holidays. Nothing in that advice rules out a December puppy. It does mean the week your puppy comes home deserves a plan.
If the puppy is a gift for someone else, that person should help pick the puppy and say yes to the commitment. The AKC’s own puppy for Christmas guide warns that a puppy given to someone who had no part in choosing it can leave that person struggling to bond. For children it suggests a letter on Christmas morning saying a puppy is on the way.
A leash, a bowl, a bed or a training book makes a good Christmas morning gift and tells the recipient a puppy is coming. One breeder quoted by the AKC puts a photo of the puppy under the tree. Our puppy go home day checklist is a ready made shopping list for it.
Timing matters most in the first days. One breeder the AKC interviewed sends puppies home up to a week before Christmas Eve to families with older children, and waits until after Christmas for families with small children. A pickup around December 21 gives you a few days to settle in before the visitors arrive, as long as you set the house up first:
Nights are the biggest adjustment, and our guide to crate training a puppy at night will help you get ahead of them.
Several of our winter litters go home between the first and the middle of January. A puppy who arrives then comes into a house where the guests have left and the decorations are put away, so you can give the first weeks your full attention. When training is available for a litter, our optional puppy training program is another way to bring your puppy home after the holidays, with some of the basics already started.
The AKC says the holidays are a hard time, because busy schedules and holiday hazards make it difficult to give a new puppy the attention it needs. A quiet first week at home or a puppy who arrives in January both work well.
The AKC advises against it. The person receiving the puppy should be part of the decision, so a letter, a photo of the puppy or wrapped supplies is a better surprise for Christmas morning.
If you are thinking about a puppy this winter, our upcoming litters page shows what is expected and when.
