Puppy care basics

[ItsMilkAndEggsBitch]

New to this board!

We are getting a puppy in the next few weeks, we are going to meet him today he is a chihuahua/shitzu so only small, 4 year old DD literally cannot walk past a dog in the street saying 'AWWEE LOOK AT THAT CUTE LITTLE DOGGY' every. Single. Time. So we are very excited (she doesn't know yet)

What are the essential things for a puppy that I cannot think of?

So far in my head I have got;
Harness
Lead
Poop bag holder and bags
Feeding dishes
Puppy pads
Toys
Bed

Is it a necessity to have them in a crate? I don't like the idea of them really, I work PT and someone is pretty much in the house most of every day as me and OH work shifts around each other. We have a baby gate on the stairs already.

Also, what is the best age/way to start training?

Sorry if this was long and annoying but just want to give the little lad a great home as we have wanted a dog for a few years now.

congratulations on your new addition! i would recommend putting them in a crate overnight, and when you are out of the house. it's the safest way for them to stay home alone and whilst they whine/complain at first, they soon get used to it and go to sleep.
this article is really helpful with how to house train puppies. focus on this, and once they no longer wet in the house. then teach their name (you can learn how to do this in the recall articel), before you move onto training, with things like how to teach them to sit, and recall.
all the best x

oh and to add to the list, you will need training treats later on. we give our puppy vets kitchen treats. you will also need an ID collar as it is now illegal for a dog to not wear one. try here for one that doesn't have a loose tag (cant get caught on things etc). they need to wear this all the time when they are leaving the house, even if they are going into the garden x

Get rid of the pads. Train from day one for it to toilet outside. Use a crate. It’s not a cage but a safe haven for the puppy, especially with a small child who may not recognise that the puppy will tire and need rest. Your pup will be very small but your child needs to know it is a dog (that can bite) not a moving toy.
You house train a dog like you train a child. You take it out for a wee regularly, lots of praise when it goes outside. Set up a routine (up, get dog out, inside for breakfast, play, out, in crate for quiet time...). Put in crate overnight with blanket covering it and as long as it’s had a wee and has water ignore cries. Up early take dog out. Ignore any accidents. Put in crate when you go out.
Your four year old needs to be trained on how to treat the puppy. Again it’s not a toy! The puppy can get irritable and if so may communicate it’s discomfort in the only way available - by biting.
And no puppy/dog, no matter how gentle, should ever be with a very young child without supervision.

We joined the Facebook group 'dog training advice and support', it has units on every aspect of having a dog/puppy and experts will answer any additional questions not answered in the units. I do wish we had read it before we had the puppy as we made a few mistakes but with the resources on the group we are putting them right.

We also watched lots of YouTube videos (again after we had him and wish we had before!) Zak George and Kikopup are our favourite.

Zak George has a new series about training a new puppy which should be interesting for you.

Crates have their fans but are not essential, though any dog needs a secure bed where it won't be disturbed unnecessarily.

Slide tags are a lot better than dangling tags - they don't get lost. We have the legally required info on ours, plus our number, our vet's number and also that the dog is chipped.

I would train from day one, pretty much. You can teach sit and stay when feeding the puppy, and gradually move the position of the sit further and further from the provision of the food until you can trust your dog to stay put when it can't see you, but can hear the food bowl. This sounds a bit OTT for a family pet but it means you can be sure that the dog will eg sit stay next to you on the pavement while you do up a child's shoes.