Best puppy advice please !

[Justwantaneasylifenowplease]

Have a puppy arriving home with us in 5 weeks. I need everyone's top tips ! Must have's to buy etc.
Plan on crate training. She's our first dog, so feel a bit daunted really .....

[BorderlineExperimental]

Join this FB group, it's run by professional trainers/behaviourists and is full of excellent, up to date advice covering pretty much every aspect of training and behaviour. In the 'Files' section there's a great collection of guides and articles called <a class="break-all" href="//%27www.facebook.com/notes/dog-training-advice-and-support/congratulations-on-your-new-puppy/1607688335913384/" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">Congratulations on Your New Puppy' which which are all must reads for puppy owners.

Get booked onto a good puppy class as soon as possible. Decent ones do tend to book up quickly and poor ones can do more harm than good. That FB can help you find a decent one (they have a list in the 'Files' section or you can post asking for recommendations) or you can look via organisations such as the APDT or IMDT.

The Puppy Plan has some good information specifically about socialisation that is worth a read.

Start getting them used to being handled/examined all over, as well as things like grooming, teeth brushing and nail maintenance, right from the start and make it all a positive experience for them.

Get insurance quotes done now and pick who you're going to go with now rather than trying to do it once you're busy running around after your puppy.

[OverFedStanley]

Buy this book and read it easy peasy puppy squeazy

[MrsEricBana]

I have that book. It caused me stress. It recommends things like putting puppy crate in your bedroom and taking puppy out to the garden through the night. I would NOT recommend getting into that at all. I like the Dr Bruce Fogle book and I have a good breed specific book. Second puppy classes.

[adaline]

Start as you mean to go on - be that crate training, leaving them regularly for short periods, not allowing them on beds (or whatever it is) - basically, whatever you want them to do as an adult, start training it straight away.

Lots of consistency - make sure everyone in the house deals with things the same way (eg. you all need the same method of dealing with puppy biting, toileting accidents, pulling on the lead). If they think they can get away with a certain behaviour (eg. jumping) they'll try it. If they know nobody will let them get away with it, they'll soon not bother.

My other advice would be don't feed scraps from the table and don't give human food unless you're doing a training session eg recall.

[ChestyNut]

Stock up before they arrive and prepare for battle

Wine ( I shed a few tears the first week)
Tissues ( see above)
Poo bags ( oh so much poo)
Disinfectant (ditto for pee)
Shin guards ( puppy teeth are sharp)
Robust shoes ( as above)