Our family added a puppy to our lives back in December and it has certainly been an adventure. Buddy is sweet and loving but quite mischievious. Our girls adore him, though and it has been such a joyful experience to see them take care of him, teach him, scold him and grow to love him. I tell them the way they feel about Buddy is how I feel about them only times a zillion. They get it.
Having never owned a dog before, this puppy ownership is all new to me. I'm learning right alongside my kids and there is so much to learn! So, as we've gone through this four month journey, we've discovered some things that have really made our puppy ownership better. We just completed an awesome puppy class locally and learned even more. Our trainer gave us some really good tips and I thought I'd share a few of those with you today.
So here they are . . . my 7 Must-Have Essentials for a New Puppy
1. Identification Tag
So, you can get an ID tag from a few places, but I wanted ours to be cute! Right?! I ordered one through Sassafras Paper and I love it. It's super cute, and we've gotten lots of compliments on it at the dog park and puppy class. Our Buddy wears it on his collar along with his rabies vaccination tag. At some point, we will also get a microchip for him, but for now it makes me feel good knowing that if he should get out of my sight, someone could contact me.
2. Crate/Crate Pad
A good crate and a crate pad are a must for your new puppy. It will help keep your sanity when the little pup starts darting around to every corner of your house and leaving little deposits for you to clean up. Plus, if you are going to be gone from your house at all, you are going to want that little guy to be contained so he can't get hurt and neither can your belongings.
3. Books
We had several books suggested to us and I also scoured the reviews on Amazon. Our ultimate vision for Buddy is to be a therapy dog. It's going to take a LOT of work, but it's something that has always interested my daughter and I love the idea that this could be a way our family could serve others together. So, I ordered more than a couple books and found some good information that was easy to follow and really helped at the beginning before we started a puppy training class. Here are our favorites:
Good Owners, Great Dogs - Lots of fantastic information about puppies in general, and then step-by-step ways to train specific commands.
How to Speak Dog - We love National Geographic books around here, and this is no exception. My daughter loves this book.
Puppy Training for Kids - Ideally, you would get this book before you get a puppy and read this to your kids to prepare them for the responsibility of owning a dog. It is great and my kids have read this on their own to work on certain things with Buddy. Highly recommended if you have kids!
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photo by hbrowns photography |
4. Training Treats
When you train, you need small treats to reward your puppy. This helps quickly reinforce any of your commands. Our trainer really discourages anything that's not a natural treat. They tend to make your pup gassy and bloated. She recommended Blue Buffalo and Zuke's. We love Zuke's - you can buy it on Amazon and the prices there are WAY better than the pet stores. Buddy is a fan of Wild Rabbit. ;)
5. Easy Walk Harness
If your little angel is a pain in the butt and pulls on his leash like ours did, I highly recommend the Easy Walk Harness. Buddy went from 8 lbs to 31 in less than three months and just about jerked my shoulder out of its socket one day when he was pulling on his leash. It was becoming impossible for my 9 year old to walk Buddy without dissolving in tears.
6. Chewing Deterrent
7. Urine Destroyer
Last, but not least of course, is the Urine Destroyer. There will be accidents no matter how closely you watch your little guy. You want to put a good Urine Destroyer on the spot so that it does not become the "go-to" bathroom. These are usually safe for all kinds of rugs and blankets. We got ours at Target and it's been absolutely perfect. I was also recommended to use Nature's Miracle, which you can find on Amazon. You want to make sure that whichever one you buy is enzymatic and addresses odors and stains. You'll be happy you have one when you need it!
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photo by hbrowns photography |
That's it! My 7 must-haves. What are your must-haves with a new puppy?
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