New puppy

[ImagineRainbows]

We have officially reserved a puppy after months of planning and looking for the right breeder.

While we’ve had dogs before we’ve never had a puppy so I’m about to start the shopping ready for her arrival.

What things did you but that ended up not being used? What was absolutely essential?

I’ve set up insurance and booked her onto puppy classes starting when she’s 14 weeks. Anything else I’m not thinking of?

And of course puppy tax, here is our gorgeous girl.

Ahhh, congrats OP - she's beautiful!

Things I (strongly) recommend:

• Tea towels - you can make them damp, stick them in the freezer, and then use them as teething aids
• Crate - but you do need to do crate training slowly
• Multiple leads on walks (have two at any one time) as puppies chew through their leads in an instant and the last thing you want is it to snap!
• Some sort of restraint in the car (crate, harness you clip in etc)
• Puppy food

But more than 'items' - which although they are important, can be managed without or you can improvise - the things you need to think about now (which I consider to be absolute essentials):

• House-training - have her set up near doors that give her a route into the garden. Picking the right spot for her to 'live in' is key.
• First night (who will be with her, or will you go with a tough love approach)
• Training (never too early to start)
• Puppy proofing the house (I know a puppy that teethed on a concrete pillar in it's owners kitchen...)
• Socialisation (taking her out in your arms or preferably strapped to your chest) and how you'll do it.
• Getting her used to people coming to visit (but not overstimulating her)
• Getting her used to being touched or held and groomed (ears being cleaned, groin touched, paws examined etc).

Good luck! Looking forward to (p)updates!

She is gorgeous!

My main advice would be don't buy too much until your puppy is here and you know what they like and don't like. We spent so much money on our beagle and half the stuff never got touched and we ended up giving it away. Puppies grow so quickly too so don't get tempted to spend a fortune on expensive collars or harnesses either.

Get signed up with a local vet. There is a bit of a shortage in some places - our local one isn't accepting new clients.

Don't be tempted to give the puppy too much freedom too soon before a year. It's more difficult to roll back privileges if you change your mind about something a few months down the line if you decide that dog isn't quite ready for something yet.

Think of socialisation less like socialisation and more like acclimatisation. That's really what you're doing. Socialisation is the worst word for it!

Congratulations! My pup was 1 recently and is the best decision I ever made! Essential for me was a crate, puppy pen set up in the living area for down time or when I needed to do things around the house, spot cleaner for carpets and a few wees off work to settle in. Oh I also used an app to help with toilet training, where you log each toilet, eating, drinking etc. Not essential but helpful once we got past the taking out every 20 mins phase

Get the Woofz App, it shows you how to train each command and gives you a curriculum to work off, wish I'd had it day 1.

Don't get puppy pads. Do prepare like you're getting a hairy toddler with needle teeth and no nappies. Lots of coffee - you're not going to be getting a lot of sleep. You'll want a single space for the first few weeks - I penned off half my dining room which had wooden floors - but cleanable floors can be slippy and end up damaging their joints so as soon as you can you want non-slip rugs down again.

Dogs are social sleepers and puppies need secure attachment to their carers, so most good advice now says the puppy should at the very least be in the same room as you - either someone sleeps downstairs or the puppy sleeps upstairs, and when very tiny you may want them in the bed with you (trust me, you'll wake up a lot easier when they need the loo).

Someone has to be home all the time at first. You can't leave a tiny puppy alone at all. If you have to go out you need a sitter. Some dogs will be better at separation from you, sooner, than others; terriers for example are bred to work alone. Gundogs and other hunting dogs like poodles are bred to work with you; spaniels for example are notoriously velcro. Some may need another person or another dog with them for most of their first year or even longer.

Take them out in a rucksack on your front, or a sling, to get used to as many experiences as possible before 16 weeks (the more the earlier the better). Think about seeing men, children, hats, prams, going on buses, trains, in lifts, in shops, traffic noise, washing machines, etc etc.

Socialise with other dogs really carefully - other puppies of similar age and breed will often have similar play styles, whereas a small, shy puppy may be overwhelmed by getting body slammed by a confident young Labrador or barked at by an adolescent spaniel. They need to learn from adults too, and not all adult dogs like puppies or are good around them. It's really easy to get a puppy magnetised towards other dogs, so also spend time (when they can go out for walks) sitting and watching other dogs without greeting them.

Finally, I'd recommend clicker training eventually. In the meantime, Easy Peasy Puppy Squeezy is the best puppy book on the market.

didn’t need - loads of toys (a couple of chews and one special toy for training is all)
chew spray - he doesn’t chew furniture
flexi lead - get a proper leather one
harness - useless, just need a collar - Buckle is best
don’t use puppy pads, but do get an enzyme cleaner spray

This is great advice. Thanks so much everyone!

Cant wait until we pick her up!

Some great advice on here already. I would also suggest getting her booked in at the Groomers for her first visit before the socialisation window closes and making that appointment now. It will get her used to going and being groomed but also, appointments with good groomers are like hen’s teeth around here so best yp get it booked now rather than wait and find out you can’t get in anywhere decent

Things I found useful:

1. A play pen so she had a bit more freedom than a crate but was in a safe area when I needed to do something
2. A crate with a cover for sleeping in. The cover made a big difference to her settling!
3. Puzzle toys and kongs. Great for keeping them occupied and tiring out.

Things I wish I'd had in hindsight:

1. A bandana that says something like "must sit for fuss". You will get A LOT of attention from people when you go out with a cute puppy. Mine learnt that jumping up at people gave her more attention because she was small and cute and people didn't mind. Fast forward 4 years and it's so hard to change. I should have been stricter with it as a puppy.

Enjoy!

She’s gorgeous!!

Our last 2 puppies slept in bed with me for the first couple of nights and then moved to their own bed. Seemed to make the transition much smoother than the ‘tough love’ in the crate I’d used for our first dog.

Remember for the first few months they sleep loads in the day so factor this in. Also when you start taking her out on the lead to busy places don’t expect to get anywhere fast as people like me can spot a puppy from the other side of the street and want to say hello 😄

As I’m sure others will mention don’t worry if you have the thought “what the hell have I done?” in the first few weeks/months, very normal. I had this multiple times with our first dog and we went on to have 16 wonderful (admittedly sometimes expensive and occasional embarrassing episodes included…) years.

Enjoy and please update with photos!

Our local Pets Corner pet shop runs a puppy club on Saturday mornings, where they section off part of the shop and the puppies can all go in and play together from (I think) 12-18 weeks, which was great for socialising with other dogs before you can let them off the lead out and about. Worth seeing if there’s one near you as you have to book 😊.

Our pup was a big chewer, and liked the texture of wood best, so we got lots of natural wood type chews to try to save the furniture, which did def help!

We did use puppy pads, which lots of people say not to, but it worked for us and he was house trained just the same!

I wish we had been firmer on stopping the game any time teeth made contact with skin, as the mouthing in play is much harder to stop when they’re older!

good luck!