Extending your family and bringing home a pooch is one of THE most exciting things. I will never forget how I felt the day we picked Pepper up and I’m so glad we had everything under control at home so we could fully relax with her rather than fretting that we didn’t have the right kind of toys or any puppy wipes. If you’re picking up your new canine friend soon then here’s a puppy checklist to help you make sure you’ve got everything you need before the big day!
Crate
Not everyone wants to crate train their pup but if you do, you’ll need to get your hands on a crate whether that’s one you buy yourself or borrow from someone else. Whichever option you go for, just make sure it’s the right size for your pup and will be big enough for them when they’re fully grown.
Comfy bed
Your pup needs a comfy bed to snuggle up in whether they’re in a crate or not and I really recommend Homesense for this. They’re really reasonably priced in a range of sizes and I even want to curl up and sleep in some of them, they’re so cosy!
A little nugget of advice would be not to invest in an expensive bed until you know whether your pup is a chewer or not! Fortunately, we just bought Pepper a cheap-ish one and I’m glad we did as it the cushion was completely destroyed in just a few weeks!
Food
When you join a puppy group on Facebook you will start to understand the big debate between all the different types of dog foods and brands and it can get pretty heated sometimes! All I can suggest is that you do your own research into what sort of food your pup needs based on their breed and age. For example, working dogs will need more protein and some dogs will need gastrointestinal food if they have problems with digestion.
If you’ve decided to switch the food your puppy is on then remember it’s not something that can be done with the click of a finger. It can take a couple of weeks to gradually introduce them to their new food and phase out their old food so don’t try to rush it!
Treats
Training a puppy can be tricky so you’ll need a couple of different varieties of treats. Make sure you have some standard treats as well as some really tasty high-reward treats too for toilet training, etc.
Food and water bowls
It’s pretty standard practice to pick up food and water bowls for your pup and for most dogs this shouldn’t be a problem but if you have a large dog, you’ll need to look into stands so they don’t hurt themselves bending down. And if you’ve got a gannet like Pepper, I recommend looking into slow-feeding dog bowls!
Toys
Buying Pepper’s first toys has become such a fond memory and it’s so much fun picking out the most random toys (despite the high chance of them getting destroyed within a few hours). I recommend getting one of each kind of toy (chew toy, ball, squeaky toy, soft toy) to see what your pup gravitates to the most and when they’re a bit older, look into antlers and yak chews. There are also special teething toys which you might want to look at like the Nylabones (although Pepper chewed those up too).
Shampoo
Although your pup will be visiting the groomers every couple of months, you’ll need to pick up some shampoo to give them the odd bath. And I’ll make it clear now, you should try to use shampoo as little as possible as it can affect the oils in your puppy’s coat. There are loads of different shampoos and detangling conditioners available but I’ve got my eye on the Dug and Bitch ones on Ruby & Olive. They’re organic and smell of coconut, what more could you ask for?
Brush
Some dog breeds are really low maintenance when it comes to grooming and you might not even need to buy a brush but if you have a longer haired pup then you’ll definitely need to buy the right kind of brush. Do your own research as there are a few different types of brushes and I’d recommend picking up a comb too. Pepper is a cockapoo which means there is A LOT of brushing and combing involved and we use a Tangle Teezer (it’s just my old hair one but there are special pet ones) and metal comb which do the job!
Collar, lead and harness
It goes without saying that at some point after your puppy is vaccinated, you’ll be able to take them out on walks which means you have the exciting job of choosing a collar, lead and maybe even harness. What I will say is, your pup is going to grow so don’t splash out on fancy matching sets for the first few months or so because they’re just going to grow out of them, trust me! It’s worth looking at what age your puppy should be fully grown and waiting until that point to buy them a cute set. Also, you’ll need to do some research into what type of collar/harness your pup will need as different breeds tend to have different requirements.
And one last piece of advice about collars which our dog groomer told me is to always take them off when they’re at home. The reason behind this is that pups love to explore and it only takes for them to catch their collar on something and they could really hurt or strangle themselves.
Puppy pads
I’ll start by saying that puppy pads won’t work for every dog. Pepper ripped them into shreds so toilet training with them was short lived but if you want to use them then go for it! I’d recommend just buying a small pack to begin with in case they don’t work so then you haven’t wasted money on buying tonnes of them!
Kitchen roll
I mentioned in my post about what I learnt in my first week as a puppy parent that you fly through kitchen roll, like seriously. I know it’s not the most sustainable thing for the environment but when you’ve got a pup having accidents left, right and centre (not all of them being on puppy pads), you’ll realise that you can’t help but reach for the kitchen roll every 10 minutes!
Extras
- Seatbelt
- Poo bags
- Puppy wipes
- Odour neutralising carpet cleaner (this is a MUST)
- Training whistle
- Dog towels
- Blankets
I’m sure there are a few items I’ve missed off this puppy checklist but these are the main ones which were an absolute necessity for us straight away.
If you’re picking up your pup soon then good luck and enjoy every moment of it! Well, except for the early morning carpet cleaning!
Is there anything I’ve left off this puppy checklist? What are your absolute essentials?