New Puppy - Stuff you need, stuff you wish you'd never bought!

[ILikePizzaAndWine]

Nice happy thread, not one to start questioning why we've not gone for a rescue etc etc. Just wanting practical advice and suggestions about essentials!

We're finally getting a dog. Much wanted for years have waited until we felt the time is right. That time came earlier in the year, and we have finally found our puppy. We will pick her up next month.

We've never had a dog before, have spent a lot of time researching (and stalking the new puppy survival thread!), but like with babies, there are things recommended that actually turn out to be useless (sleeping bags and slings for my kids) and things that actually were life savers (Ewan the dream sheep, jumperoo), so would really appreciate recommendations for both!

Thanks in advance.

@PermanentlyDizzy

The thing I wouldn’t have been without for my last pup was my acme whistle and lanyard (well multiple of the same whistle actually, as I had them stashed in every pocket) and the Total Recall book. He was a sighthound, but still had fantastic recall from a very young age and always charged back to me gleefully, no matter what I was calling him away from. It also meant that he would consistently recall to any member of the family.

The earlier you start conditioning a positive response to the whistle the better, imo.

If you’re considering a harness, I would recommend Perfect Fit, as you can fit it exactly to your dog and replace individual pieces as they grow. They’re also padded with soft fleece and are therefore even gentle enough for thin-skinned sighthounds.

To echo what others have said, we also do crocs, beanie with built in LED light and a warm coat all kept by the back door for nocturnal and early morning toilet trips. I also have neoprene lined ankle wellies for winter months. I’ve recently put one of those fabric sausage things for stuffing carrier bags into on a hook by the back door. It fits hundreds of poo bags in and makes it so easy to grab one/some as you head out of the door. I also agree that Simple Solution is an absolute must, for indoor accident clean ups, as is good quality kitchen roll.

This is interesting Dizzy - getting a sight hound myself I know there will need to be a lot of recall work. Did your dog learn to recall just for the whistle, or for voice commands too? I'd worry about being reliant on the whistle in case anything happened to it

Our pup is coming to live with us in 6 weeks so this is really useful! Will start saving cardboard now, and the whistle idea is genius.
I thought that puppy pads would be great, so interesting to see they're useless!

I hope you don't think I'm derailing @ILikePizzaAndWineOP, but if you don't use the puppy carrier how do you get them out into the world before their second jab?

We trained our dog to a whistle too. It only took one trip to a field and some cooked chicken breast! He races back to us and it also means that if there is panic in your voice they don’t hear it. It’s a consistent sound, which to him just means some decent reward!

We bought a second hand crate which was useful for the first 6 months as puppy slept in there at night and gave him a quiet place to chill out during the day. At 6 months old he point blank refuses to go in and he now sleeps on the end of my bed!! My advice would be to have one but personally I wouldn't spend loads on one and they're often going cheap on buy and sell pages (I suspect as most people do what we did and have one for a few months only!)

Other than basics like collar, lead, food etc I'm not sure puppies really need that much stuff. A few toys and chews are good to have around.

I wouldn't bother with puppy pads, our puppy never used them other than to chew on 🙄 and we focused on training him to wee/poo outside straight away.

Oh and forgot to say we did use a puppy sling which was great for socialising in the early days, we carried him everywhere in it! We do have a small breed dog though, not sure it would work with a large breed.

Also the book Easy Peasy Puppy Squeezy is good to read before your puppy arrives.

@GertrudeKerfuffle We trained him to recall to both. The whistle was most useful when he was running at full speed or had put a lot of distance between us. I tended to use voice commands if he was in close proximity and the whistle if he was running, further afield or distracted. Once the’ve learned that coming back to you is always rewarding I find they’re just as keen with voice commands as they are with the whistle - provided they can hear you, which is not always the case when they are full flight with the wind in their ears. It’s good to have both options in your toolbox.

The whistle saved my boy’s life as a youngster, when he was spooked by another dog who started chasing him. He ran full pelt, headed out of the park towards the road, called him, but he was in a panic and didn’t respond, used the whistle, the sound broke through his panic, the conditioned response kicked in, he turned on a pin and shot straight back to me. I have never been so relieved in my life!

By the way, the Perfect Fit harnesses are great for sighthounds, because they’re so adaptable. My boy needed a really small front/Y-piece, medium back section and XL girth to fit his massive ribs/chest.

@PermanentlyDizzy - thank you, makes a lot of sense. Our rescue never had brilliant recall so I want to get it right from the start with the pup. I'm looking at the perfect fit harnesses too thanks, although I think I'll get something cheaper for while he's tiny as - from what I can tell - you can't adapt a perfect fit from tiny puppyhood to full grown (happy to be corrected though!)

@Frenchfancy

Yes a stair gate is essential. I might have missed what breed you are getting, but deending on the breed you might not want a harness while they are growing. I was concerned about shoulder damage as they are growing so we just use a collar at the moment. We are looking to get a harness for canicross once she is fully grown.

I didn't say, but I'm getting a cockerpoo - I was assuming I'd need a harness, but happy to be directed otherwise!

@GertrudeKerfuffle

I'm following this thread with interest as I'm due to get my first puppy (a whippet, squee!) in a few weeks. I've had a whippet before but an adult rescue so I'm a bit nervous shitting myself about the puppy stage

Me too!!

@RoSEbuds6

Our pup is coming to live with us in 6 weeks so this is really useful! Will start saving cardboard now, and the whistle idea is genius. I thought that puppy pads would be great, so interesting to see they're useless!

I hope you don't think I'm derailing @ILikePizzaAndWineOP, but if you don't use the puppy carrier how do you get them out into the world before their second jab?

Don't mind at all! Happy for as many questions and answers as possible on here! x

@Girliefriendlikespuppies

Oh and forgot to say we did use a puppy sling which was great for socialising in the early days, we carried him everywhere in it! We do have a small breed dog though, not sure it would work with a large breed.

Also the book Easy Peasy Puppy Squeezy is good to read before your puppy arrives.

I'm sorry if I sound really stupid, but can the puppy go in this before their injections?

@GertrudeKerfuffle, you can adapt the Perfect Fit from puppy to adult size. My boy came to us at 10 weeks and needed a toy breed puppy size front very narrow chest) we then just replaced each individual piece as he outgrew them, which is much cheaper than having to replace the whole harness every time and you get a better fit.

Their customer service is really good, they will advise you if you need help and are happy to exchange pieces if they aren’t the right fit.

@PermanentlyDizzy I DO stand corrected 😁
I will get in touch with them then, thank you.

I'm also planning on getting an adapter to connect the harness to the car, I've seen one that hooks onto isofix points. In case anyone is unaware, you are supposed to have your dog secured whilst in the car by law.

I have been listening to the Pets at Home puppy podcasts, and they are really good. I've found them very interesting.
Apparently Pets at Home run puppy socialisation sessions which sound great - they have behaviourists and veterinary nurses standing by to make sure they are all playing nicely together. I thought it sounded really good.
We live in London and we are discussing whether to take dpup on the tube and into central London when she's older. It seems to noisy and dirty for her exquisite tiny paws, but if we don't she'll never get to go to Hyde Park or Hampstead Heath, so I may have to be brave.

I over crated so have a brand new, never used crate to sell, if anyone wants it and can pick up. We used the enormous fabric crate instead. Echo cardboard boxes. Put a pillow in or a blankie and hey presto you have a bed that they can chew!

I used one puppy pad so have a whole pack going spare. A friend sent me Easy Peasy but already have a copy so more stuff to sell.

A torch and warm clothes for night time wees. Very good poo bags - we use Fetch it ones and they do good wipes shaped like a mit that you can wash.

Campbed down stairs for first few nights.

@ILikePizzaAndWine yes a pup can go in a sling before their vaccinations. Basically they can’t go on the ground where other dogs have been. But socialisation is SO important and there’s a set window.
Using a sling enables you to go out with your pup and see and experience different sights and sounds

Ilikepizza yes you can, you basically have to expose your puppy to pretty much everything and anything it may come into contact with before they're 16 weeks as the socialisation window is pretty short.

Perfect places are garden centres, playgrounds, outside supermarkets, pet shops etc. We did actually find the puppy pads were useful for lining the sling as 9 times out of 10 our puppy wee'd in it when we went out!!

podcast mentioned earlier which I listened to this morning. I think one of the episodes is about teeth cleaning which would be good to know about.

Our dog LOVES the Beaphar Toothbrush and Toothpaste Kit from amazon (£4.80). He happily brushes his teeth daily with it. On the other hand, he hates the minty finger-pad type toothbrushes.

Good for us: a pen for the garden, we used it to fence off an area and jump behind or put him behind if he was getting too giddy. Wellies inside protected against nipped ankles! Long knotted cords eg dressing gown or strips of old shirt Jean's or blanket with a toy tied to the end, kept him at arms length for playing. A crate with a bed and blanket over for sleeping, screw on water bowl for inside the crate at night. Lickimat. Random bits of recycling- cardboard tubes and boxes for hiding treats in. Paper for shredding, plastic bottles to chew and play with. Yak chews. Tangle Teaser, he hates the proper dog brush and comb but daughters old tangle teaser is fine and does the job, he's a poodle but we keep him short. Car crate (this was a hand me down). Squeaky ball. Equafleece suit - excellent for keeping him clean and dry in the rain. Bedtime biscuit - part of his bedtime routine and he sleeps from 8pm to 8.30am sometimes later. Sling-useful for getting him out before vaccinations and sold on afterwards for what I'd paid originally. Face to face puppy training classes - great for pup and your own confidence.
A warm coat shoes and umbrella by the back door for toilet training. A torch for night time wees. The pen came in handy for night time wees as he was restricted to where he could go, no chasing round the garden to get him in at night! Dog Training Advice & Support group on Facebook, lots of great advice.

No good for us- various harnesses he was happier on a collar and lead and our trainer recommended this for better control. Extendable lead- prefer a 2m lead gives him a bit of freedom on the lead without the dangers associated with extendable ones. Kong - not interested. Snuffle mat - not interested. Lots of toys, he's only really interested in squeaky balls and tug toys. Plastic chews - not interested.

That's all of can think of. Lots of patience, I found the young pup stage very hard despite him being pretty easy to train and well behaved. From about 5 months it got better and now at 1 year old he is fab and wouldn't be without him. Good luck!

If you’re getting a notoriously ‘mouthy’ breed your most important thing is going to be toys and chews! Ours loved antlers, yakers, pizzle sticks.

We use puzzle toys and feeders a lot as ours needed to use his brain. Kong, Trixie Snack Snake and K9 connectables are all worth buying. We freeze ours to make them last longer.

A treat pouch for training has been useful. Also drying mitts when he was little for wet/muddy paws. He has a drying coat now which is also great for after wet walks/beach etc.

If it’s a short haired breed that’s likely to feel the cold we found the Rydale Clothing fleeces to be good for the money. He has an Equafleece now which is well worth it when fully grown. It’s polar fleece so water repellent and breathable. Our boy feels the cold but I’ve got friends with longer haired dogs that use them to avoid bathing every time they get home from muddy walks.

We didn’t use puppy pads. Just took him outside every time he ate/drank/played/woke up.

I’d also wait to make sure you don’t have a chewer before spending a lot of money on beds and blankets. Ours hasn’t chewed anything but we still waited until he was about 6 months before getting a nice bed. His first was from Aldi and we’ve still got it so look out for their pet special buys.

Also if you’re intending on doing training classes and persevering with loose lead walking (expect it to take 12 months of patience to get it pretty much nailed) I’d recommend using just a normal collar and lead. The biothane ones are great as they wipe clean.

We do have a harness for ours but only use it with a long line or for clipping him in the car (with a seatbelt connector). The rest of the time we use a normal collar and lead. Harnesses are designed to allow the dog to push forward (think sled dogs) so not the best tool for teaching nice lead walking. The best thing to do is stop as soon as the pup pulls, lots of direction changes end treats. They soon get the hang of it and realise they don’t get to go any further if they’re pulling. Ours is a year old now and pretty reliable until he sees another dog or gets a scent he wants to track.

If you go to training classes you’ll probably be told no extendable leads - we had half our puppy class being told on the first session to get rid of them for the next time!

Perfect fit harness.
Get one.
Amazingly effective and comfy for them I think. Not cheap but cheaper then the 3-4 poor fitting harnesses we went through before we got the perfect fit at 8m that he still uses now and fits fine though we have bought a 2nd with slightly wider straps as he’s a strong puller at times.

They are quite extendable so I think you would get a decent amount of use even with a fast growing pup and then you could sell second hand.

Re leads - extending ones are bloody dangerous though seems good for a small pup - when your fog is fast and strong ( and I include my 9kg cavvie in that ) you can loose skin from fingers / serious saw your legs up.

A fixed lead is easy ehrn you get used to it.

A biothane long line for recall training ( leave it training , stand on it for “ emergency stop “) is a good thing - we had a cheap woven one that’s a bit rubbish - though when it gets wet and muddy it’s like a ball snd chain so the dog can’t run away 😂). You must , for safety use a long line on a harness. You can’t stop them with a full tilt run on a collar 😱😩

Agree with above, I use a cardboard box as a bed for my pup - I tend to grab a Lidl veg one when I go shopping as they're quite robust, then when they get chewed / wet I just stick the remains in the fire, or the compost bin, and replace it. Mine's now just over a year but still chews a bit, and that way you can have lots of beds without the worry. I bought a lovely wooden bed for a previous pup, she never used it. My older dog has a double bed with duvet and pillows. She lets my oldest daughter share it with her.