Puppy Supply Starter Pack: Preparing For Your Puppy to Come Home
To say I haven’t had any desire to write on my blog in the past few months would be an understatement. And I don’t think I can pinpoint it on just one reason. Work has been more than overwhelming (always grateful for the paycheck but I just want the madness to end), Kitchen design has been booming, Shad and I bought a camper and have been doing a reno on that if you caught it in my instagram stories… and then there’s the depressing fact that my instagram magically erased just 2 days after my last blog post on here in October. It took so long to build this all up and the thought of having to do it all over again, coupled with the loss of all my photos and projects made me want to quit everything.
So I took a break…. a much needed one. Because we can’t do everything. And I focused on the things I love the most: Shad & our puppy.
While I’m sure everyone can agree this year has been emotionally draining, the one good thing in my life that came out of this year is that Shad and I decided to take the jump and like many others: we got a puppy during the dark days of quarantine.
Benny, our F3 goldendoodle, arrived home on June 5th, and while I was so anti-dog and anything I had to keep alive or would keep me chained down, for so long, Benny has brought me more joy than I ever imagined.
I was nervous as hell to be introducing a puppy into my house. I knew it was a big commitment, I worried if my husband and I were going to be ok with not being able to just get up and go, travel, etc. from here on out, and I was probably most nervous about the idea of Benny potentially ruining all my house.
About a month prior to picking him up, I reached out to my mom who absolutely loves dogs and can’t live without them- to ask her what exactly I needed in terms of supplies (outside of food dishes, food and a bed), to prepare for this puppy in our home. She made me a list that was about 12 items long and I thought to myself- there’s no way I need all this crap for a puppy. Boy was I wrong.
I needed those 12 items and much much more.
Many of you have reached out to me over instagram to say that you’re getting a puppy and to ask questions about items that I purchased for Benny and so I compiled them into this post.
While I’m no expert on dogs… Benny has been with us for just 6 short but fast months- I outline what worked for us below & why.
I’ll also include a section on the two items that people swore by that didn’t work for me as well.
The Basics
I knew we were going to crate train Benny so that we could lessen the chances of accidents in the home- and we did so for exactly 2 months. We bought an adjustable crate that came with the bed below, so that it could be adjusted to give him more space as he got older. Benny wasn’t a fan of the crate at night at first- he cried and cried and cried. I tried everything- people told me to put a blanket over it, to get him this puppy that had a warm-pack and a heart beat, etc- and nothing worked. Until one day a friend of mine recommended a dog music app from the App Store on my iphone- and it was the best $1.99 I ever spent. It put him right in to a trance every night when I put him to sleep. I bought him the donut bed for when he took naps downstairs so I wouldn’t have to transport his crate each day- and he absolutely loved it.
After Benny was completely potty trained- which was at about 4 months old (we did a puppy boot camp schedule we created at week 14 and he mastered it like a champ in just 5 days), we ditched the crate because he wasn’t a fan. I wanted a dog bed that “went with my decor” as cheesy as it sounds- and I settled for the pup rug because it looks just like a small shag throw rug. On most nights Benny goes between the hardwood floor and this rug next to my bedside. His “puppy blanket” is just because I have an obsession with blankets and I thought Benny would ruin some of my favorites (which he didn’t). So while it’s not a necessity, he certainly cuddled up a lot to it in the beginning. We often put his donut bed and puppy blanket in the puppy play pen early on when we needed a break and didn’t want to watch him like a hawk as he roamed the house. The gate we use everyday when we go to work- when we leave Benny penned off in the laundry room. Food wise: when we took Benny home he was on TLC food from the breeder- and because I read due to nervousness the first few days puppies can have issues eating and also pooping in your home- I stayed the course with TLC food until he was 6 months old. Then I switched him to a grain free salmon and pea food by Whole Earth brand for two reasons: 1) Benny’s brother Roni (who my friend Megan took home) developed an allergy to the TLC food and 2) Whole Earth is sold by Amazon and will ship to my home every month through the subscription service.
Cleaning the home + the dog
I invested in a carpet shampooer and stain remover to save any rugs that I thought Benny would have accidents on. Luckily he only had three accidents in total on my rugs, and a number of other accidents on our hardwood floors- prior to being completely house broken. A friend of mine bought me Folex as a puppy gift, and I absolutely love it for all types of stains. We use Burts Bees Shampoo and dog tooth paste by Arm + Hammer, as well as a bristle brush to brush him after he dries. However Benny has more of a straight coat and I know the type of brush varies by coat. One item I found super helpful was recommended to me by my friend Beth: the paw plunger. I’ve used this so much to clean off Benny’s muddy paws before coming in our house after playing outside.
Training + Chewing
It took a ton of work, a crazy OCD schedule, and lots of kibble as treats to train Benny in basic commands to ring a bell to go out to the bathroom. He responded really well early on, he’s still a work in progress, and we just invested in a shock collar to try and curb a recent bad habit he’s picked up of jumping on people when they walk in the door. The bell that Benny steps on is my absolute favorite- he lets us know when he has to go out by ringing the bell- sometimes with such intensity that you know he’s really gotta go. The “fanny pack” I link in the next section was recommended to me by Roni’s mom for training, and I love it- it’s great to hold his treats and water bottle on long walks, and I wore it all day long during puppy boot camp week at our home when training him to give him kibble as soon as he did what I asked. I was super worried Benny would chew all our furniture- and even invested in this Bitter Apple Spray everyone swore by- but it was a waste of money. He never chewed on our shoes or furniture and when he was nippy when he was super small- he never responded to the spray. Instead Benny prefers chew toys like the Benebone that my friend Katie recommended, but his favorite is the Good Lovin’ Brand Bully Sticks from Petco. They don’t really smell like other sticks I tried- and they’re not gooey. It’s honestly equivalent to handing a toddler an ipad- once I give one to Benny he stays on that bone until it’s gone.
While we’re at work
I was super nervous about going back to work after being with Benny from June to August, since Shad and I were able to work from home in June. When we returned to work Roni’s mom told us about the Blink camera she purchased from Amazon to check in on her pup while she was at work. At $29.99 for the camera and no fee for the Blink app- it was a steal and we’re able to check in on him often in the laundry room to see what he’s up to (for which he’s usually sleeping). The food dispensing toy I included (that certainly has an odd shape… lol), Benny loves and pushes it around all day in the laundry room when he’s not sleeping. I included the frisbee because Benny loves to play with it in the yard- and he quickly broke many plastic ones early on. We’ve had this one for a long time and it’s in great shape.
I found the following items helpful for when we’re outside and on the move with Benny:
Early on I didn’t strap Benny in on car rides because he was so small and he slept for most of the day as well as the car ride. I took some heat from people on instagram for not having a “puppy seat belt on him”. We used a combination of the Kurgo harness and belt as well as the zipline for in my husband’s truck when Benny got older. This allows him to walk freely in the backseat while being strapped in. I also bought these car seat protectors- not so much for hair because Benny hardly sheds- but rather so he wouldn’t stain my seats while chewing on bones when we’re traveling. They were super reasonably prices from Amazon. When we travel we also bring his water bottle which turns into a bowl and you squeeze the water into it (and then it flips down) and collapsible bowls- both we received as a gift from my brother- and was probably the gift we get the most use out of.
We use a few leashes on him with poop bag plastic attachments to them: the climbing robe leashes (that I honestly just liked the look of), for when we’re out in public or on hikes and I need to control Benny more, and the retractable leash for when I’m on walks with Benny around the neighborhood or in our yard and he wants more freedom. Recently he wants to be outside all the time and barks a lot to go out. Because our yard is not fenced in and we haven’t invested in an invisible fence yet- we bought 25 foot tie outs- one for the back of the house and one for the front porch- and we put Benny on them when we’re home and he wants a half hour outside alone. Probably most helpful to us in the poop clean up department besides the pooper scooper- is the yard marker cones (especially in the fall… no one told me what a problem leaves would pose to finding poop… even when I try to pick it up immediately after he goes.) Lastly, on my moms list of 12 definite items I needed for Benny was the flea and tick collar. We live in a more rural area and deer are always in our yard- it’s become so helpful with keeping ticks off Benny. (Note: he also takes a pill for flea, ticks, and heartworms. Also- be sure to buy the small dog up to 18 lbs when they’re little, the large dog ones can’t be used on puppies until they’re a certain weight- I didn’t know this at first.)
Two items I purchased + didn’t work for me… but may work for you:
Everyone swore by this snuggle puppy- the reviews say that puppies find comfort in the warmth of the stuffed animal from the heat pack inside and the heart beat because they’re use to sleeping with their siblings. Benny didn’t find comfort in it…. in the way that we planned. He still cried all night for the first week (until I bought that music dog trance app), and then he began humping it at just 9 weeks old. Til this day he occasionally tries to hump us whenever this stuffed animal is in his mouth. At $40, I thought it was pretty steep for something that didn’t help Shad and I get to sleep at night that first week. Although it didn’t work for Benny… some people swear by it and you can be brought to the product by clicking on the pic below.
Bitter Apple Spray… this was out of stock when we first got Benny and I couldn’t wait to get it because I thought I’d spray it all over the legs of every piece of furniture. By the time it showed up Benny was 4 month old- and he had never chewed on furniture or shoes… he seemed unphased by it when I would spray it on myself in hopes he would stop nipping at me early on.
And there you have it… plenty of products to get you started in preparing your home and life for a new puppy… if you’re new to dogs in general :) And as always, thanks so much for supporting, reading, and sharing my blog. I know it’s a “decorating blog” and I’m not sure if anyone found this post helpful, but if you would like to see more of it in the future, be sure to comment below :)
<3 Barbra
PS: This is what the dog music app looks like in the App Store… best $1.99 I ever spent.
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