Top puppy recommendations

[PhilomenaSkunk]

We're super excited to be bringing home a cockerpoo in a few weeks. I'm busy reading about puppy training and I would love some recommendations for:

lead
food
toys
good insurance companies
treats

thanks!

[Humansatnav]

Lead- we got advice from Pets at Home
Food - wainwrights
treats - we use the dry food as treats

[WeAllHaveWings]

lead - we have a padded cushioned dogmatic lead which we like (he never took to the head collar so its sitting unused somewhere)

collar - we have and like the wolters collar and collar tags from Indigocollartags; plain and functional; bought when he was 6 months and after still have the tag 2years on (after losing 4 dangly ones in the first few months)

food - millies wolfheart, suitable from weaning, excellent quality grain freee food.

insurance - pet plan; not the cheapest but never had problems paying out
treats - we used part of their kibble daily allowance; as there was a lot of treating with early training.

toys - kong; only thing that wasn't destroyed

also vet bed as bedding, cut to size. machine washable and (cheap enough to bin if badly soiled) less likely to destroy through chewing

[myusernameisusername]

Lead: Ezidog
Food whatever your budget is or whatever they tolerate if they are fussy like mine
Insurance pet plan every time so cheap for full life cover and so helpful
also if your training you might want to look at the flexi tape leads

[myusernameisusername]

toys go with Kong or tuffys the more you spend the betyer and look for good thick heavy toys the cheap plastic and rubber lasts 2 mins and nothing squeaky it's a massive chocking hazard

[littlepeas]

I wouldn't insure with anyone other than Pet Plan - they seem expensive compared to others, but definitely the best policy. I second Millie's Wolfheart for food - Lily's Kitchen are also very good and I tend to buy treats from them (online or Waitrose). Cheese is by far the most successful treat in our house though. Toys are very dog dependent - so many swear by Kongs but my puppy wasn't interested in his, he prefers tug toys/squeaky pheasant/that sort of thing. Recommend stag bar for a chew. Vet bed is fab - very quick to wash/dry. I got a lead and collar are from Oscar and Hooch - looks smart and does the job.

[JoffreyBaratheonFirstofHisName]

lead - My dog has my old dog's lead, which I bought in a huge discount warehouse years ago but it's still going strong. It's a rope lead - made from bright blue like climbing rope stuff. I have seen similar leads at the Museum of Rope in Hawes! Last forever.

food - our dog was on a good quality dry food when we got her, but we wanted to switch her to the BARF (raw food) diet like our last two dogs. Unfortunately... she hates raw meat! But she loves it cooked. So I buy industrial sized bags of white fish and lamb and beef mince in Iceland/Aldis, microwave it and she has leftovers (when it's stuff she likes) to give more variety. I don't believe in commercial foods and my last two dogs did so well on this diet, I'd rather just give them meat and scraps. She often has brown rice as well.

toys - she is a staffy cross so has all Kong toys as they seem to stand up to the staffy jaws better than others. She has a puppy Kong, a large Kong, a Kong ball and a Kong teddy. She had the teddy the day we brought her home and still hasn't killed it! She also has cheap ragga toys I get in B & M Bargains, etc. And she has a little tyre we put treats in, and she has to get them when they fall out. She loves the Kong ball, too.
good insurance companies - Petplan. I usually use them but for my last dog used Direct Line and although it was one of those "for lifetime conditions" policies, by the time she was about 12, it was £125 per month! We just had to drop it and keep our fingers crossed, in the end. Extortionate. It started off very cheap. But she went blind aged 4 - totally unexpectedly. And had an eye op which cost thousands and thousands. Direct Line certainly recouped it.

treats - she likes Aldi's cooked chicken, hot dogs, and cheese. Again, I don't buy commercial doggy treats - can't see the point. She is not very interested in hide chews (all my other dogs have been).

[SonceyD0g]

Ancol timber wolf are lovely collars. A good leather police dog training lead is a good investment. Don't forget it is a legal requirement to have your surname and address including postcode on your tag.
I feed James well beloved as one of mine allergic to chicken. They have food scraps mixed in with it eg bit of pasta, rice,veg meat,fish.
Never buy cheap toys your dog can choke on them. A kong is good stuffed with peanut butter or similar. Balls should always be tennis ball size or bigger. One of mine loves a nylabone the other prefers antler bones. Very important they have something hard to chew as keeps their teeth clean.
I always insure with pet plan for first two years in case any lifelong illnesses crop up. They are the best insurance company but expensive. After a couple of years I switch to a cheaper one but still keep fairly high level of cover. They are currently with debenhams. Had a claim last year for broken bone in paw and they paid up no probs. mine are pedigrees tho, cross breeds tend to be healthier and therefore cheaper to insure.
Cocktail sausages chopped to size of 1p, small chunks of cheese or liver far better than commercial dog treats. You don't know what's in them. Mine used to like a raw carrot to chew on too when they were pups.
Enjoy, puppy's are very hard work!

[clam]

Congratulations on getting a cockapoo! I have one, and have met loads over the 4 years we've had him. (see my profile). Can't ask for a nicer-natured breed.

He was a monkey as a puppy though, although I expect most puppies are. He was an absolute pest at night (whining and snuffling and harrumphing weeks after everyone told us he'd stop) and would chew through most leads. We had to get one with metal links on the bit nearest to him in the end.

Re: treats, even now we find it's better to have small ones when out on walks. He can down them in one, without having to take time out to chew. He'll do anything for those bacon twirl things - probably full of nasty additives, but we save them for higher-stakes recall, e.g. when he's mucking about outside and we need him back indoors quick. He will ignore the fridge door opening, until the nano-second you place your hand on the cheese, whereupon he will hurtle down to the kitchen from wherever he is, on the off-chance there's a bit about to be dropped on the floor. The teeth-cleaning sticks are useful. I've given up getting him bones (shop-bought, not cooked, as they can split and choke on them) as he just takes them straight out to the garden to bury. If I don't let him out, he hides them in the ironing basket or behind plant pots. Found one in ds's bed not long ago!

Don't get toys with squeaks in. Not only will the noise drive you insane, but they can choke on the workings, once they've worked it free. Trouble is, the vast majority of those on sale in, say, PetsAtHome have them in. Mine loves playing tug-of-war with one of those twisted rope things. He has also always had a teddy on the go - keep a watch for any eyes coming loose though, and make sure he doesn't actually eat the stuffing, as opposed to just depositing it all round the house. He sleeps with them and carries them everywhere until they fall apart.

What colour is yours, and what are you going to call him/her?