Labrador puppy essentials

[Springpartyideas]

We are about to get our new puppy and it’s been 15 years since we had a puppy in the house. We are going to crate train and have a large crate which our old dog used, but so far I haven’t purchased anything else.

What items do you recommend as puppy essentials? What bedding is your favourite for puppies? Which collar and lead for puppies? Which treats do you like for the start of training and then beyond? We don’t want to purchase anything surplus so any tried and tested recommendations would be most appreciated.

Mine had an inch of Daily Telegraphs topped with vetbed and a snuggly fleece blanket from his breeder in his crate. I sectioned a chunk off while he was tiny.

I found the Happy Puppy Handbook by Pippa Mattinson very helpful, even after having previous Labs, and was still referring to it almost a year later. It goes through on a timeline so it's easy to find where you should be.

He had a soft webbing collar as a baby plus a harness and lead.

I used tiny cubes of mild Cheddar (doesn't crumble like mature!) and a huge tub of dried liver treats from Amazon as rewards in training.

Vet bed in crate - harder to chew and destroy but easy to clean.

Cheap adjustable collar they wil grow up so quickly and need new ones.

JR Pate for treats all through their life but generally weigh out food alowance and use that throughout the day for training. Personally I find cheese is very salty and fatty for treats for puppies.

Don’t bother with puppy chews for a labrador. You need the hard wearing stuff straight away (mine chewed the walls, the couch, the doors).

For treats you can just use their food if you’re doing dry food. Just take it of their main meals allowance. Kongs and licks mats are great for labradors but, again, you need the hard wearing stuff. Don’t faff about with a puppy Kong, they’ll probably be able to shred that in a matter of minutes! Food puzzles are good for a lab but you’ll want to supervise them as they’ll try taking shortcuts to find the food.

A decent vacuum 🤣

So jealous, we lost our Labrador a couple of years back, but for various reasons we won’t be in the position to give a puppy the time it needs now until I retire.

Recommend a webbed collar and one of these style of tags https://www.indigocollartags.com/Engraved_Collar_Tags.shtml#AtTheTop

A couple of Kongs. We had the classic puppy one, and a bone shaped one with holes on each end. A teeny smear of peanut butter in there and she'll chew at it for absolutely ages! The classic Kong you can fill with kibble you've soaked in water so it's all mushy, and then freeze it. That's a good one to leave with them when you go out.

These are all brilliant - thank you for all the ideas

I wouldn't bother with kongs or puzzle matts or any of that. A good 10 minute training sessions 3-4 times a day with a puppy will exhaust them enough you don't need them. It's also really far better for building a bond with your dog than plonking it in front of a kong. Puppies want to please (particularly retrievers), so training them when they're young to build good habits is going to make your life so much easier in the long run and it really doesn't take much effort.

And you shouldn't really be leaving things like kongs or puzzle matts with a dog without supervision - dogs can swallow them, or chew off the plastic and choke. Really surprised anyone has suggested that as it's so irresponsible. Ultimately, teaching a young puppy to be alone, without a 'crutch' is one of the most important things a responsible owner can do.

For treats, I cook up a joint of beef once a week for my dogs. Roast beef is their reward regardless of what they've done - be that on a walk or training. Also it's easy to keep track of how many calories I am giving them and avoid overfeeding them.

I'd get a houseline so the puppy can get used to being on a lead. It also gives you some control over the puppy to stop it wondering off, which is useful.

Maybe a few soft toys.

Otherwise, puppies really don't need that much. Most toys don't last that long, or you're better off using a wet and frozen tea-towel (i.e. for managing teething), and they outgrow beds quickly unless you buy a big one. Good luck!

Single best purchase I made when I got my lab puppy was a baby gate!

I really wouldn't provide a Lab, even at 8 weeks old, with soft toys. They will chew to destruction and it is far too easy for them to swallow the stuffing, potentially resulting in very expensive vet bills.