When we were days away from bringing home our new puppy we went shopping. It was like shopping for a new baby. We ogled all the toys, treats, and accessories.
Basically, we checked out all the promises of easy pet maintenance, perfect home transition essentials, and must-have items that would make our dog ever so happy, calm, and trainable. Thankfully, we didn’t buy into all of the promises.
Here’s what worked for us. Remember, every new puppy and every family is different, so go with your gut.
What Our New Puppy Came Home With
Our new puppy came home with a good set of starter items. The lady we got her from spared no expense on making sure all the puppies got started on the right foot.
Pandora came with a little receiving blanket that had her mother’s scent to help her separation go a little smoother. She also came with a set of puppy-sized water and food bowls, a bag of Blue Wilderness Dry Puppy Food and two cans of Blue Wilderness wet puppy food, a matching collar and leash set, a round nubby chew toy, and a stuffed Panda. Yes, we were lucky to find this woman who really cared about the puppies.
Aside from the physical things Pandora came home with, she also was well on the way toward learning. The lady we got our new puppy from had already begun to teach the dogs to sit.
What We Bought
We didn’t know how much food our new puppy would be getting so we bought a bag of dry food and about ten cans of wet food. We bought a stuffed squeaky hedgehog, a nubby chew toy, another chew toy that was in the shape of a teething ring, a chicken-flavored Nylabone, and two bags of training treats: Blue Wilderness Trail Treats in Chicken flavor and Wellness Soft Puppy Bites in the lamb and salmon flavor. Oh, we also got the finger toothbrushes that slip over your finger to brush her teeth, a set of clickers for training, and a big fuzzy dog bed.
Items That Were Big Hits
The biggest hits for our new puppy were the chicken-flavored Nylabone, the nubby chew toy, the stuffed Panda, the blanket with her mom’s scent, and the dog bed.
The Misses
The first items we scratched came right after our first vet check-up. All of Pandora’s treats and food were grain-free. The vet wasn’t sold on the all-grain-free diet. There are studies that show an increase in a heart disease condition called DCM (dilated cardiomyopathy) in puppies and dogs who are on a grain-free diet.
I hadn’t paid attention to the particulars of the food we bought. After an in-depth conversation with the vet, personally, I don’t think we should start new puppies (or babies for that matter) off on any diet trend. If they are getting a healthy diet and exercise routine then they should be fine. Take that information with a grain of salt, because I am not a vet or doctor.
So we returned the food we bought, it hadn’t been opened yet, and we bought a bag of dry food that wasn’t grain-free.
The treats we got our new puppy were okay with her, she wasn’t overly crazy about them, but she wasn’t going to pass up a human food treat like chicken either.
Aside from food, the biggest no-go was the clicker. We decided it was easier for all of us if we used a word as a marker rather than the clicker. So her marker is “Yes.” It’s easy to say and reward instantly, plus we don’t have to run around the house trying to find out where the last person put the clicker.
What we should have bought immediately
We thought we’d be fine without using a crate for bedtime. After the first night (even though it went well) we realized potty training would be much easier with the crate.
Unfortunately, we ordered the crate when all the COVID-19 lockdowns began. Which meant we waited almost a month before it arrived. We used our small cat crate until the new crate got here. It worked, but it was close because little miss was growing fast.
Now
Pandora is now 16 weeks old and she’s been home with us for two months.
She still loves the big fluffy dog bed and the purple nubby chew toy (that we really need to replace). Her favorite training treats are chicken, turkey, and cheese. We also use Cheerios and, her ultimate favorite among puppy training treats, Dingos (which is funny because Australian Cattle Dogs are a mix of a herding breed from England and Dingo – and yes, that amuses me).
We are on a new collar and leash set. She grew out of her first collar and the first leash took a tumble through the teeth of the land shark.
Pandora loves most stuffed toys. We have a purple ape thing that hoots and hollers and she gets so much joy out of that.
My biggest advice is to not buy into all the promises. Take the extra time to know what you need and buy as you need it. All the promises of easy puppy life are empty promises. The first and foremost thing is to settle in for the long haul of mishaps and on-the-fly learning.