Meet Isla + the secret to easy puppy training that saved my sanity

Well, we did a thing. A very fluffy, very wiggly, very puppy-breathed thing. Meet Isla, our English cream golden retriever puppy who has stolen our hearts! She is quite literally the sweetest puppy I have ever met. I am writing a blog about it only because I was gifted an easy puppy training book by a friend that has been a GAME CHANGER and I want everyone to know about it. Also because I have lots of cute photos of her and they need to go somewhere. 😬

Here’s the wild part about having this puppy for a week—she hasn’t had a single accident since we brought her home. Not one. (Is this what having your life together feels like?!) How? I am about to tell you!

The Secret Weapon: Puppy Brain by Kerry Nichols

This isn’t just a puppy brag post (okay, maybe a little). I have to shout from the rooftops about a book that completely changed the way I approached puppyhood this time around: Puppy Brain by Kerry Nichols (← affiliate link, because you’ll want this). This is not technically a puppy training book, but holy moly does it prepare you to bring your puppy home in ways you never even thought of!

The book introduces the concept of the “puppy zone”, which is basically the dog version of a Montessori toddler room, minus the tiny wooden toys and Pinterest guilt. It’s a designated area that makes your puppy feel safe, gives you some peace of mind, and—get this—sets you up for potty training success.

Isla’s puppy zone setup? Life-changing. For her, for me, for the kids, for my floors.

Looking back, our first golden, Murphy, taught us a lot… mostly via trial by chaos. But reading Puppy Brain gave me so many ah-ha moments about her behavior as an adult that directly traced back to those puppy months. Stuff that felt like stubbornness or bad habits or quirks? Yeah, turns out those were just poorly met puppy needs. Our bad, Murph!

Now with Isla, we’re doing things differently. And it shows! I know we have only had her a week but YOU GUYS. I cannot emphasize enough how much easier this time has been compared to when we brought Murphy home and had no idea what we were doing, lol.

Puppy Zone Must-Haves

Here’s what we’ve included in our puppy zone—and everything I’m loving so far. Truly I wish I could just build you an Amazon cart, lol.

• Crate: I found this exact crate at Goodwill that’s cozy but not a palace. Big enough to stretch, small enough to discourage bathroom breaks. When she is bigger, I’ll use Murphy’s old, larger crate! This pad fits in there well.
• Chew toys: These teething toys have saved at multiple pieces of clothing and one toddler’s toes.
• Enrichment toys: I rotate this snuffle mat and these lick mats daily to keep her mind busy or when she gets yippy in the puppy zone.
• High-value treats: We use pig ears (gross, I know but you’ve never seen a tastier treat for a dog lol) for big scary stuff like car rides, as suggested in the book. These training treats have her full attention in 0.2 seconds (I cut them into 4 pieces), but the book recommends just using kibble which is what we are trying to move into, but she wasn’t very interested in her kibble the first few days she was home so we caved for treats.
• A Rug: I had an old one in the basement under a kids table that was the perfect size, and topped it with a gathre mat! I would recommend a washable one if you dint have one you can use already.
• Waterproof mat: I also had this already, and it is the perfect size to go on top of the rug but under the walls of the puppy zone. I haven’t needed to wipe it down yet but it’s nice to know I could if she had an accident!
• Puppy food: We’re using this brand as recommended by our breeder, and these vitamins!
• Enclosed pen: We got this extra wide and versatile baby gate that one to define the puppy zone and give her space without the whole house being a chew buffet. It is PERFECT! You can attached two ends to the wall or just connect ends together.

Other Things That Have Helped:

• Consistency. Isla knows the rhythm of the day—mealtimes, outside breaks, crate time, play, sleep, repeat.
• Gentle guidance instead of frustration. Because dogs are intelligent beings, not furry robots.
• Short, fun training sessions focused on name recognition, exposing her to new experiences, and crate training. We’re keeping things playful and light.

TL;DR (But Seriously, Read the Book)

Bringing Isla home has been a completely different experience thanks to Puppy Brain. Whether you’re a first-time puppy parent or a recovering “did everything wrong but somehow still loved” dog mom like me, I highly recommend reading it before you bring home your own furry hurricane.

You’ll feel more confident, your puppy will be calmer, and your household will be happier.

Got questions about the puppy zone or need help figuring out what to put in yours? Leave a comment—I’m happy to overshare!