After You Say Yes to the Dog
Real-Life Family Manuals: Puppy Routines, Potty Training and the Hard Weeks
Pre-order · 4 November 2026
The first book is what you read to know. The companion book is what you print and stick on the fridge.
Manuals for the moments that actually happen — the first night, the vet visit, the guest at the door, the week it all falls apart. Written to be used with one hand while the other holds a leash.
Coming as Paperback · Kindle
WHO THIS IS FOR
Who this book is for, and who it is not for
This book is for
- Families who have already said yes — from the decision through buying, setup, arrival, and the daily life that follows (roughly the first three years).
- Households living the real pressure moments: accidents, biting, night barking, visitors at the door, a nervous family member, a bad week.
- Parents who want everyone using the same words and the same rules instead of improvising.
- Readers who never opened Before You Say Yes to the Dog. You can start here — already have the puppy? This is your entry point.
This book is not for
- Readers who only want obedience commands or competition training.
- Readers who do not yet know what a family-dog system is, or how to build one — that foundation is taught in Before You Say Yes to the Dog.
- Families dealing with serious aggression — that needs a qualified professional in person, not a book.
- Anyone still deciding whether to get a dog at all — that conversation is Before You Say Yes to the Dog.
WHAT’S INSIDE
Twenty-one manuals. One per situation.
- 00How to Use This Book / Find It Fast
- 01House Setup Before Puppy Arrives
- 02Family System Manual
- 03Selecting the Puppy Checklist
- 04First 48 Hours Manual
- 05First Week Manual
- 06Potty Training Manual Free to read
- 07First 3 Months / Freedom Review
- 08Mum SAFE Manual
- 09Kids Daily Operator Manual
- 10Visitors, Workers, and Deliveries
- 11Night Barking and Fence
- 12Outdoor Freedom and Play
- 13Socialization Manual
- 14Mental Games Manual + Game Library Annex
- 15Grooming, Shower, Hygiene, and Parasites
- 16Emergency Manual
- 17Bad-Day and Bad-Week Reset
- 18Walks and Leash Manual
- 19Home Alone and Separation Manual
- 20Feeding and Food Safety Manual
READ ONE FREE
Manual 6: Potty Training
One full manual from the book, free to read here: POTTY triggers, tracking, accidents, cleaning, and freedom reset.
“Same Place. Same Word. Same Timing.”
Read the Potty Training ManualOr take the first manual with you: House Setup Before Puppy Arrives, free as a PDF. No email.
THE OTHER BOOK
Two crises, at different times
There are two crises, and they come at different times. The owner’s crisis is the first two to three weeks: in a 2025 survey of 500 dog owners, one in four new owners had considered rehoming by the end of week two. Almost all of them get through it. The dog’s crisis comes later, when the puppy becomes a teenager and actually loses his home: in a 2021 study, dogs given up to shelters had been owned for a median of 18 months, against 32 months for dogs that stayed.
These manuals are for the first night, the first week and the week it all falls apart. Before You Say Yes to the Dog is about the decision and the first year, and it ends with the Family Readiness Test.
See Before You Say Yes to the Dog →
About the author
by Mohamed Abu Khadra
Mohamed Abu Khadra failed three times to bring a dog into his family home. Three dogs, the same breed, each gone by month three. His wife is afraid of dogs, and nobody had planned around that. Before the fourth dog arrived he wrote a system for his own children, and that dog stayed. The two books are that system. Away from the books he is a management consultant in Cairo: former CEO of the payments company CowPay, named Most Innovative Payment Solutions CEO 2023, and the author of the first Egyptian case study in Philip Kotler’s Marketing Management. He is not a trainer, and he says so.
More about Mohamed →