Puppy essentials

[Dollygirl2008]

Well after a couple of years deliberations, research, reading and generally scaring myself, I've now taken the plunge and finally picking up our new puppy!

I have all (what I consider) to be essentials under control, but I'm interested in your "must have's" and anything golden gems that a newbie wouldn't necessarily think about! Thanks!

I bought a snuggle puppy for my pup which I put in her crate at night with her.
She hasn’t cried at night so it may of helped a bit.

puppy milk - mine won’t drink water at the moment 😅

Love the snuggle puppy!!!

Crate

Puppy collar and lead. Adult lead, just get the halti 2 ended training lead. Save yourself the expense of anything else, it's perfect.

Snuggle pup was essential for us. He still carries it off to bed every night.

Puppy Kongs and toys.

Pack of cheapo teatowels or old ones and buy yourself new ones. Dampen, knot and freeze, best teething aid ever!

Biological washing powder for cleaning up accidents

Training pouch the clips onto waistband

Training clicker

mine are…
yak bars
split antlers
coffee sticks & olive branches (safe sticks!)
nyla bones

crate (differing opinions on that so make your own decision if it’s something you want to do)

get pup used to the car straight away, before final jabs build up the length but daily short journeys

find a trainer you like and go and watch some classes before you have d pup

Puppy kongs

whistle and pippa mattisons total recal boom

easy peazy puppg squeezy book 🐶

and wine….. all the some wine

Boom = book

Puppg = puppy

🙄

Reading with interest.

Easy Peasey Puppy Squuezey - just read this. Fab book. Lots of good tips and advice (now got to put into practice!).

I think a stair gate was the best thing we bought! The crate however was a waste of money as he doesn't like it but sleeps in his bed each night.
Good luck with your new puppy ❤️

Thank you all - some bits I hadn't thought of!

Yep very excited but also terrified!! I remember reading parenting books and thinking I was prepared before realising I hadn't got a clue when DD arrived - I guess this is the same, right?!

Ahem young lady!

you know the rules!!

photo photo photo!!!

Several very thin and very soft blankets. Quick drying after accidents and dpuppy still loves diving into the really soft ones and is now 2. 8 years old!!

Gwen Bailey's perfect puppy ebook and Zak George on YouTube.

Don't get tons of stuff. I didn't need half the stuff I thought I did. Just get the basics and get more if you need it.

My godsends were:
A crate and crate bowl
A house line
Plenty of poo bags
A small bag of the food the breeder is using (don't get a sack as you may not want to keep using the same one)
Plenty of cheap blankets
Several different toys to chew and destroy

Vet appointment for vaccinations. Some vets are very busy at the moment and you want to start vaccs asap to be able to get your puppy out and about and seeing the world.

Insurance

Toys
Think about how you are going to transport your pup in the car
Don't forget that they grow very quickly and, like DC, they have personal characteristics and likes and dislikes so don't stock up on things until you know they will be useful.
Puppies nip with their sharp little dagger teeth... it's normal puppy behaviour so warn everyone.
Tidy away all the shoes!

Lots of great suggestions but my main one is
PUPPY PEN.
Absolute lifesaver especially when they are at the bitey stage where they will NOT STOP and you just need 5 minutes without being bitten so you dont throw them out of the window. Honestly ours was a lifesaver and actually really helped with the training - it was her 'time out' place. We really only ever wanted to do positive reinforcement but after it was clear that she understood the 'no' command but was ignoring us, we used to do a 3 strikes then time out system and the biting was 99% resolved in like 4 days. My only regret is not doing it sooner!

Also (and this is personal preference) after the first couple of weeks i stopped buying stuff marketed as 'puppy treats' because i found it annoying to keep an eye on how many she'd had (they recommend you only do x number a day) and they were all quite dry and hard and our idiot would swallow them without chewing then cough back up. We were doing 3 x 5 min training sessions a day (which again i recommend, little and often and always try and do some training on a walk too so they get used to listening to your commands with distractions around!) so i switched to chicken or JR Pet Products pate which is brilliant - its soft, but solid enough that you can cut it into chunks and give them more than you can the dry puppy treats. And she loves their ostrich range which is really digestible for young pups.

Also: you are going to have times where you are like WTF have i done - i promise you, everyone feels the same and it will pass!

Thank you so much - all your comments are so helpful and positive!!

So she's coming on 16th September.....!! . Who wants to help with names?! We've got a couple of ideas...!!!!

Jess?

I like Jess! Also on the list is Betty and Heidi

Toffee was my first thought.

oh She's sweet!

thank you for the photos! How many weeks is she on them. She looks a good size already.
Do you like Sally?

Wine!

(She is gorgeous! I like Betsy)

Sounds like you have all the ‘stuff’ covered. My biggest advice, that I wish I’d done from the start, is to contain the puppy in a specific part of the house that is easy to clean during the day (or a puppy pen as PP suggested). Ideally near the door to the garden so they can learn to go out. I gave mine the run of downstairs initially and just tried to watch her (I naively didn’t realise I would have to keep watch over her constantly). Was nearly in tears after the first few days and then everything changed for the better when I kept her in the kitchen-diner. Now she is 90% successful at going to the toilet outside 😃
You sound far more prepared already than I was though. Although we had planned to get a dog for years, ours ended up coming to us quite last minute so I hadn’t prepared anything and it was all quite a stress but has worked out well in the end.

Following as we just saw our puppy who we’ll be picking up in 2 weeks with any luck! He’s already pretty chunky so probably going to be quite a big boy.

a friend has suggested yak milk bones, easy walker harness and bitter apple spray for furniture legs.

Better apple spray sounds interesting! I'll look into that!

I've got a list building and I think less is more at this stage. I'm going to the local pet shop tomorrow to ask their advice as well.

To all you crate people, can I ask where you placed your crates?