Top 10 Things You Need For Your New Puppy
Congratulations!! You’re getting a new puppy and the fun is about to begin! However, in order to be prepared for your new fuzzy bundle of joy, there are a few things you should have on hand to make that transition home easier. These are the items we recommend in order to set your puppy up for success in their new home.
FOOD
So this one is a no-brainer! Of course your puppy is going to need to eat. But WHAT are they going to need to eat? First of all you should find out from your breeder what your puppy has been eating, but keep in mind that not all breeders feed a high quality dog food. A dog food that is specific to whether you have a large breed or small breed puppy is important. We like to assume, since we breed German Shorthaired Pointers, that everyone that comes to us for information also has a sporting breed of some kind, but that isn’t always the case. So pick a food that will fulfill the dietary needs of your breed of puppy. Also, expect to pay at least $1.00 to $1.50 per pound for a high quality dog food. That is just an estimate and a higher price doesn’t always correlate to better quality.
We feed Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy food to all of our puppies and have been very happy with the quality of the food. Our puppies do really well on the food as far as coat, digestion, and body condition, plus, the puppies all really like it!
COLLAR
Keep in mind most puppies have never worn a collar before and learning to wear one might take a little while for them to feel comfortable. However, wearing a collar is important. First of all, it gives you a place to attach a nameplate or important I.D. or vaccination tags. Secondly, it gives you a way to put them on leash for potty breaks and walks.
Puppies are typically much smaller than you expect and a puppy collar is needed. Many times new puppy owners will arrive at puppy pick out with a collar that is much too big, that is why we send all of our new puppy owners home with a small collar that will fit their 8 week old puppy. However, as your puppy gets bigger a collar that allows you to attach a customized name plate is a great way to make sure your information is available if your puppy runs away or gets lost! We recommend having at minimum a phone number on your puppy’s collar.
LEASH
When you pick up your new puppy you may need to stop for potty breaks on your trip home. Being able to safely walk your puppy on leash when they need a bathroom break will be very important. Little puppies can be faster than you think! Letting them potty off leash when they don’t really know you yet could end in disaster or at least a prolonged puppy chase!
We really like our EasyLeads because they are so versatile. They work great as a clip leash to take your new puppy for walks while they get comfortable being on leash. For the first little bit your puppy will probably pull, tug, and jump around. This is because they have never been on leash before. In a short amount of time they will be walking along confidently at the end of that leash. Once your puppy gets older, bolder, and stronger (typically closer to 5 months old) we start using the EasyLead flipped up over their muzzle for added control and pull management. This will be the beginning stage of teaching heel. The reason we recommend waiting until your puppy is older, bolder, and stronger is that for hunting dogs we want to make sure our puppies have an opportunity to develop an independent search in the field before we put too much emphasis on them heeling right by our side. We definitely don’t want a clingy puppy when it comes to hunting the field!
CRATE
You will also need a crate when you go to pick up your new puppy! Crate training is super important and is often overlooked, started improperly, or downright avoided! Crate training is necessary to keep your puppy safe while riding in the car. Are you excited to bring your new puppy home? Yes! Is it fun to cuddle your new puppy? Yes! However, if you were to get in an accident on the way home, you and your puppy will be much safer if they ride home in a crate. Furthermore, properly introducing the crate and teaching your puppy that the crate is a good and safe place for them to be while you are not available to supervise their playtime or while you are out of the house will keep them safe at home and your stuff safe from your new puppy! We have tons of resources on how to introduce your puppy to the crate and some tips and tricks for helping your puppy adjust to being crated.
Keep in mind, your puppy’s crate should be small enough that they can’t potty at one end and play and lay down at the other, but big enough that they can stand up, sit down, and pick a bale of cotton. Just kidding, but seriously, they should be able to stand up comfortably and turn around to lay down, but not a lot of extra space should be available which will help with potty training.
We also aren’t huge fans of wire crates for a few reasons:
Most dogs will have an accident at some point in time, then they will dance around in it and splash it everywhere. If they are in an enclosed crate that will keep the mess mostly contained. If they are in a wire crate that mess will be… everywhere!
Puppies can pull things into the crate through the wire and you would be surprised what they can get to that you would swear was out of reach!
Finally, if you are going to have a Houdini puppy, those wire crates are the easiest to escape from.
We would recommend a small, inexpensive crate that you will end up replacing around 12-16 weeks, then investing in a more durable crate like this one that your puppy will be able to stay in at home but also a crate they can travel in safely.
NAIL TRIMMER
Nail maintenance is something that your puppy may or may not have been exposed to prior to going to their new home. However, now that they are a part of your family neglecting their nails is not ok! Poor nail maintenance can lead to a lot of problems including improper growth and alignment of foot joints, painful breaks, infections, and even the amputations of toes! That sounds pretty scary, which is why creating a good nail maintenance routine to prevent any of these complications from occurring is so important!
Nail trims aren't always easy to begin with, but if you take the time now to develop good behaviors while your puppy is small and manageable, it will make your life and your puppy’s life so much more enjoyable as they get bigger! We have tons of nail trimming videos available and are constantly adding to that database of resources to help you learn and get comfortable with nail trims. There are also a couple of different tools that you can use to trim and maintain your puppy’s nails from clippers to dremels, so find what works for you and your puppy and start a routine today!
CLICKER
People always ask when they should start training their puppy. You can start training your new puppy right away! A clicker is a great tool to start teaching your puppy new behaviors. First you have to charge the clicker, but then the possibilities are endless. If you have a hunting dog, we typically focus on sit, kennel, and recall. But you can also teach all the parlor tricks like shake, lay down, play dead, etc.
We usually use some form of a food reward when we are clicker training. Whether that is your puppy’s dog food or a special training treat. Using meal time as training time is a great way to build a bond between you and your new puppy, as well as utilize their meal as their food reward. However, if your puppy is less food motivated or slow to eat their kibble pieces you may need to get a softer, more enticing food reward. Which leads us into our next recommended item…
TREATS
When you are training your new puppy you may want to use a special training treat. Like we mentioned above, we use clicker training to teach new behaviors. Clicker training uses positive reinforcement, which involves some kind of reward when a behavior is done properly. Our puppies and most dogs are very food motivated so you may be able to use their dog food kibble as their reward during training sessions. However, a small training treat, that can be eaten quickly so the momentum of your training session isn’t interrupted, is a great idea as well. The training treats we use smell so good sometimes they make me hungry!
DOG BED
It’s nice to have a dog bed for your puppy to lay down and relax. The more that you condition that behavior the more automatic your puppy will get at going to their bed on their own. You can start this conditioning behavior by simply giving your puppy special chew bones they get only when they are on their dog bed. If they try to run off with the bone or take it to lay down on the floor just redirect them back to the dog bed with their bone. Soon your puppy will associate their dog bed with where they go when they get a chew bone. Developing this positive association will help your puppy think of their dog bed as a nice, safe place they can go to relax and enjoy a special treat but still be part of the family.
Also, as we mentioned above, you can clicker train your puppy to go to and get on their dog bed. Then when you give the cue “kennel” your puppy knows to go and get on their bed. Having a good dog bed will make place training your puppy even easier. We really like Kuranda dog beds because they are a raised platform or cot style bed which creates a distinct boundary of being on the bed and stepping off the bed. This very black and white boundary will help your puppy stay on the bed, so you can continue to extend the amount of time you can reasonably expect them to stay there.
CHEW BONES
We mentioned chew bones above when we were talking about dog beds and place training, but there are many more reasons to get some good chew bones and treats. First of all your puppy is a puppy and they are going to want to chew on anything and everything, so giving them an alternative to your shoes and furniture is a good idea. This initial chewing is only the beginning. Your puppy will start teething around 16 weeks and will want to chew even more! Chew bones can also keep your puppy occupied for quite a while which can definitely help when crate training, place training, and even going for car rides.
Not all chew bones are created equal! We definitely have our no go’s and our go to’s. Our no go would definitely be rawhide chews. They can cause blockages in your puppy’s tummy and if not addressed very quickly could even kill your puppy! Our go to’s include:
Pork Chomps are baked pig skin chews that are much more digestible than rawhide.
Pet Stages Dogwood Sticks are made of compressed wood that will last a very long time and won’t splinter and poke your puppy’s mouth like a real stick.
Nylabone Healthy Edible Chews aren’t quite as long lasting as the above mentioned chews, but will keep your puppy interested because they are able to chew it up completely, usually in one sitting.
Just keep in mind that too much of a good thing isn’t always a good thing! So don’t give your puppy chew treat after chew treat or it could upset their stomachs!
TOYS
Last but not least, let's talk about toys! Puppy’s are babies and will need some toys to play with and entertain themselves. Plus, toys will help them learn new behaviors. However, we want to make sure those new behaviors they are learning are good behaviors and some puppy toys can teach naughty behaviors especially for an up and coming hunting dog.
Again we have our no go’s and our go to’s. A couple of no go’s would be:
Tennis balls create a rolling and mouthing habit that almost always leads to mouthing and rolling and munching birds during retrieving work later on.
Squeaky toys can also cause poor retrieving habits because birds squeak the same way when they are chomped and if your puppy learns how fun a squeaky toy is to chew on they can transfer that chewing to birds.
Finding puppy toys without squeakers is almost impossible, so if you can’t find any, get one and let your puppy play with it for a while. Not IF, but WHEN your puppy starts squeaking the toy consistently it’s time to take it away, or at the very least remove the squeaker! Now for a couple of go to’s:
Rope Toys are great because they can be chewed and won’t squeak as well as typically last much longer than toys with a bunch of fluff. Plus you can play a little tug of war with your puppy which can actually help develop a natural hold for retrieving! Don’t believe us, watch this video to see how and why it works!
Water Bottle Toys don’t squeak but make satisfying crunching and crinkling sounds when chewed and we all know puppies love to chew!
Squeakless Toys as the name implies don’t squeak, but we also like these because they don’t have stuffing which not only can get everywhere once your puppy chews a hole in it, but then your puppy isn’t eating those puffs of fluff and potentially getting a bowel obstruction! So these are pretty much a win, win, win situation!
Now you know what you need to be prepared for your new puppy and you can set yourself and your puppy up for success!
Kat
