New Puppy - help me compile a list of must-have things!

[Dappled]

After putting off getting a dog for 5 years, until we felt the DCs were old enough to be sensible around one and until our elderly and sensitive cat had passed away, we will be finally getting our long-awaited puppy in February. I feel I've been researching this for months/years, but now it's getting close I'm worrying I will forget to prepare something essential and obvious! (My DH had a family dog growing up but neither of us have owned a dog as adults). I've got things like a crate, playpen, stairgates (to help with slow intros with our cats - hopefully) on the list, but tell me, what things were essential for you when you brought your puppy home? Or non-essential but useful? Or things you bought that turned out to be a waste of time? Also any recommendations for specific products e.g. brands of crate (have been wondering if the Pets at Home ones are any good?)
Any suggestions to add to this exciting shopping list will be much appreciated!

@WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants, I forgot that's a requirement of this forum! (this was her a couple of weeks ago)

I love all these ideas, thank you. @SimonJT, the bell is genius, I think I've read about that somewhere but it's good to know that it's actually achievable!

What breed are you getting? I found puppy pen really useful (soft sided one from Amazon). Linked it to his crate and put his water/toys in the pen. The pen has a door that zips open so when he was directly supervised we could leave it open, if I was working/helping kids with schoolwork it meant he was safe and contained. Also was perfect to zip him in when he was overtired and getting bitey, we’d just put him in with his toys, zip it up and watch tv....within minutes he’d settle right down and go to sleep.

I'd really recommended the Dog Training Advice and Support Pre-Puppy Club on Facebook. Really useful group, and very helpful training advice from qualified trainers.

Be careful with the bell. Once they learn that ringing it means they get to go out they will ring it even if they don't need to go.

My life savers have been lickimats, kongs and a yak chew. The lickimats make mealtimes last more than 10 seconds and she’ll happily lick away for 15-20 mins in her crate while I shower etc.
Also a training treat pouch! I resisted for ages but it’s so handy for training especially loose lead walking.
And loads of carrots and apples.

Simple solution spray for accidents, lots of long tug toys. You get squirrel/rabbit shaped ones that crinkle and squeak which dpup loves. The solid rope ones can be a bit hard for puppies teeth but there are softer rope ones too. These are essential to divert when they start shredding your ankle skin. You don't need too much else at this stage apart from the obvious housing and bowls food etc and some puppy safe chews. They have a separate section in pets at home to keep you right. Licky mat and kong can be useful, the latter my pup found too hard work initially but loves now.

Old towels to clean muddy dog (you won't want to use your good ones). It's useful to have some in the car for minimising the mess if you drive to walks.

Obviously won't need these right away but I have the microfibre ones from decathlon. They fold up really small and are so much more absorbent and easy to work with than regular towels

Folder for insurance document (preferably a decent lifetime policy with someone like petplan), microchip details and vaccination card. This means that every 12 months you won’t have a panic while searching for their vaccination card.

Do you have all this stuff? Mine is all online including an email from the vet detailing vaccinations as they are not issuing physical cards due to covid.

My pup doesn't like his Yak chew but he loves buffalo horn.

@IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere a little tip, if your pup doesn't like the yak chew as is then rather than waste it, pop it in the microwave till it puffs up a bit. He'll probably love the big cheesy puff which is a totally different chewing experience

Do you have all this stuff? Mine is all online including an email from the vet detailing vaccinations as they are not issuing physical cards due to covid.

Yes, you don’t always have access to the net so having a paper copy available is important, its the same as having a paper copy of your car insurance in the car. Our vets are still updating vaccination cards.

All this stuff.

Also you need wine. Lots and lots of lovely wine.

Yes, you don’t always have access to the net so having a paper copy available is important, its the same as having a paper copy of your car insurance in the car.

Maybe it's where I live but I don't remember a time in the last 10 years or more where I've had no access to internet for any length of time, (ie out of range on a hill) however a screen shot with the policy number would be sufficient. Even without that you just call with your name and postcode etc. I can't think of an occasion where you'd need immediate access to paper copies of these things where a quick phone call couldn't resolve the matter. My policy is paperless and they didn't send me a copy.

The thing I was most grateful for was a puppy playpen which I bought so that I could put the puppy in it to go to the toilet - as soon as they do a poo you can move the sides so the poo is now outside the pen and the puppy can't tread in it while you reward them and clear it up.

Ditto to not using puppy pads. You don't want any wee indoors at all! I took mine outside every half hour at first, then every hour until her bladder got stronger.

@midnightstar66

Yes, you don’t always have access to the net so having a paper copy available is important, its the same as having a paper copy of your car insurance in the car.

Maybe it's where I live but I don't remember a time in the last 10 years or more where I've had no access to internet for any length of time, (ie out of range on a hill) however a screen shot with the policy number would be sufficient. Even without that you just call with your name and postcode etc. I can't think of an occasion where you'd need immediate access to paper copies of these things where a quick phone call couldn't resolve the matter. My policy is paperless and they didn't send me a copy.

When you’re at the emergency vet at 3:30am on holiday a paper copy is definitely needed and removes a lot of stress.

(It was a suspected cord from a toy, little bugger).

The puppy playpen was for outside,obviously!

Legislation from several years ago means dogs HAVE to be restrained while travelling in a car. A dog guard, crate or harness that clips into the seatbelt are all OK. I see people every day with dogs roaming around the car, sitting on the passenger's knee (or even the driver's), hanging out the window. If these people are involved in an car accident their insurance company won't be paying up.

I personally like making games and toys, one of the favourites with my dogs and fosters has always been filling a small cardboard box with toilet roll tubes (like below) and putting treats or kibble under a couple.
You can make it harder by folding over the ends and rubbing different rolls in strongly scented things too, to help disguise the treat scent.

If you google DIY doy toys or games there are loads of ideas, and its a great way of getting DC involved pre-puppy .

Plastic coffee jar lids (the hard plastic round ones, about the same diameter as a mug, cleaned and made sure they are safe/appropriate for your size of dog) are also good as they slide across the floor like hockey pucks.
PolePup loves having five or so at a time to chase after, and as its an easy game to pick up, even the most severely abused of my fosters all loved it, and it was a great gateway game for them to learn other games.
If your dog is food motivated you can put a smear of peanut butter (dog safe stuff) underneath for added fun. You do have to watch them carefully and make sure you take away any which are getting cracked or chewed as they can become sharp.

We have solid wood varnished floors throughout the whole house so the coffee lids slide around brilliantly, but perhaps not so good if you are worried about your floors scratching, thought its not something I am fussed about personally.

Not all dogs are food motivated or interested in food based games, PolePup and PoleDog both ignore kongs, regardless of the filling. Our cats on the other hand greatly appreciate their disinterest .

PolePup absolutely lives for praise and cuddles, and he loves things he has to work out and scentwork, he`s very patient and focused. His favourite toys are little cat ones (dog safe ones obviously) and I hide those up for his games.

She is beautiful @Dappled!

This is a good DIY one too, dried sweet potato slices on a rope, our vet put me onto this one years ago, it has been brilliant for all the teething puppies I`ve had. Not my photo again, and there are lots of instructions if you google:

We have found empty fizzy water bottles without the lid to be a great toy. They skid around the floor and make a great noise. A bit of kibble inside adds interest.

Enzyme cleaner is a must - it really does remove the smell.

We have a Pets at Home crate and have had no issues with it.

A warm cosy bed. We tried a vet bed initially and a lot of owners on here rave about them. But our dog is clearly a 'nester' and ignored the vet bed in favour of a pile of old fleecy blankets, which she takes great delight in rumpling up to her exact specification. 😁

Really recommend slow feeder bowls. Our dog bolts her food so quickly she will, and has, made herself sick before....

Kongs are great. I’d get 3 or 4. We fill them with leftover mashed potato and veg or mushed up banana, natural yoghurt, a bit of squeeze cheese and peanut butter. Pop them in the freezer and they spend ages licking to get the filling out. Great for putting in their crate/pen to train calmness.

We've only got a couple of weeks to go so it's feeling real now! Thanks everyone for the help here.....so far I've got the P@H crate, playpen, kong - I was wondering what to put in them, thanks @Teeninabeanie - , dynabones, enzyme cleaner, I've bought a bed, but now I don't know whether I should've got one of the "self heating" types to keep the little mite a bit warmer. Are the thermal "self-heating" beds and blankets any good? Wondering about the plug-in heat pads, but worried about chewing + read a couple of reviews where they had overheated dangerously. Our downstairs is a bit cold at night so am keen to keep things cosy for her. I've read a hot water bottle instead can work well - do they stay warm long enough though? I love the DIY toy ideas, thanks @Frenchfancy and @PoleToPole - love the idea of being able to get the DC's involved in this too. I'm leaning on the side of not using puppy pads - seems to make sense to not to want to confuse things by "allowing" some wee-ing indoors. But what about at night? Do they tend to wet the bed? Do I need to buy two beds to allow for this? I've never heard of lickimats, thanks @Cripesalive. It's like buying for a new baby isn't it ...worry that you'll forget something coupled with fear that you're overspending.....

The lickimat is great - keeps her occupied for ages in her crate. Allowed me to shower in the early days without barking etc. Now she eats most meals on it to slow her down, or occasionally just peanut butter as a treat :)

Also if they are in a small enough crate then they are very unlikely to soil it, so one bed should be fine to start with. Unless you have a shredder - my sister's cockerpoo is on his 4th bed now!