Essential items

[coffeewithmilk]

Hello,

What would be your essential items for a new dog?
We are waiting to collect our puppy in a few weeks and want to be prepared with everything.

What essential items did you need for your puppy?

We have the obvious ones like dog bowls/collar/bed.

Thank you

[Girlintheframe]

If you have a car something to keep pup secure in.
Harness/lead/collar
Enzyme cleaner for floors
Crate/playpen/baby gate depends on your choices and house
Selection of cheap soft toys
Old towels

[coffeewithmilk]

@Girlintheframe thank you!
I actually bought a little car seat belt for him - it attaches to his collar and then plugs into the seat belt holder - very good idea!

Thank you for your other suggestions

[petalpower]

Poo bags
Lots of cheap kitchen roll for cleaning up accidents
We bought a doughnut bed as well as an ordinary soft bed which was recommended for when the puppy was small as it makes them feel a bit more secure.

[Monkeytapper]

Decent insurance!...at least 7k per year....pup should come with about 8 weeks free insurance anyway so start shopping around now. Our 12 week old puppy broke her elbow, £4.5k vets bill, we were insured thankfully.

[GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman]

Vet appointment for vaccinations. Parvo is out there - I know of a puppy who recently died from it.

Also sort out flea and work treatment with the vet. Ours does a scheme where you pay so much a month and get all the flea and work stuff, plus a reduction on all consultations, operations, etc.

An identity tag for when the puppy can go out. We use brass slide tags from Identitag. They cost about a fiver, arrive very quickly, and can be used with a buckle (not a clip) collar. They don't get lost, unlike dangling tags.

Is the puppy coming with a starter pack of food? If not, lay in some.of whatever the breeder is feeding, and give your puppy a few days before you switch to anything else (if you do).

Depending on how active you and your new dog are likely to be, it might wise to set up a basic first aid kit - saline to flush a wound or an eye, wound powder to disinfect and slow bleeding, low adhesion dressing, conforming bandage, vet wrap, tweezers, tick remover, scissors, Piriton. We have this and more and it's saved us a fortune over the years.

Acquire some indifference to the state of your garden.

Oh, and patience. Lay in massive stores of patience, because puppies are lovely but also pains in the arse!

[GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman]

*worm, not work.

[SoosanCarter]

You will need gin. Trust me.

[Floralnomad]

@coffeewithmilk the car seat belt attachments need to be attached to a harness not a collar as they can seriously damage their necks if they get jolted / are in an accident . Likewise any type of longline / extender lead also needs to be used with a harness .

[vanillandhoney]

Poo bags
Simple Solution for all the inevitable accidents.
Training treats (something as natural as possible).
Old towels/blankets.
A t-shirt that smells of you.
Insurance ASAP, so you're covered for everything as soon as the breeders insurance runs out.
An appointment at the vet for vaccinations and a check up. I would also get an appt. with a groomer ASAP if you're going to need to take them so they can become desensitised to it.

And if you use a seatbelt attachment it MUST be attached to a harness. If you get in an accident and it's attached to his collar he could be badly injured or even killed.

Good luck! Puppies are the best