New Puppy Checklist

New Puppy Checklist

Here is your must-have list of things you will need to make raising your puppy a successful and happy experience.

Dr Ian Dunbar's books "BEFORE YOU GET YOUR PUPPY" and "AFTER YOU GET YOUR PUPPY" - both are available for FREE download from his website www.dogstardaily.com. This is essential reading, preferably before you even choose your puppy, but its never too late to gain valuable, helpful information from these must have books. (find it here)

Puppy Preschool - book your puppy into preschool as soon as you know you are getting one. The sooner you start preschool, the more beneficial it is for the puppy. Puppies can start classes at 7 weeks of age, and it is strongly recommended that they begin before they reach 12 weeks of age. To find out more information about puppy preschool, click here.

TIME - you are going to need a whole lot of time to dedicate to raising, training and socialising your puppy properly if you want them to become happy, well mannered dogs that are a joy to live with and have in society.

Crate & Pen - these are essentail tools for effective housetraining. They will help your puppy learn toilet training as well as chew toy training and help prevent separation anxiety and teach coping skills for other later-in-life experiences - think boarding, vet hospital visits, grooming etc. Campbelltown Pet and Aquarium Centre has a great range of pens and crates locally or try Vebo Pets online who we have found to be the best quality and value for money online (find it here)

Indoor toilet - you can use those absorbent puppy pads, newspaper or the best option is grass (real or artificial). Many puppies just chew up the pads, and using paper can have the side effect of your puppy migrating towards any paper left lying around - like work documents, school homework, magazines, etc. 

Clicker - for training your puppy, if you wish to do clicker training with your dog. (find it here)

DAP or ADAPTIL - a plug in diffuser that uses pheremones that helps to calm your puppy and ease the settle in period. DAP can be purchased from your Vet.

Through a Dog's Ear cd's - music that has been specifically designed to calm your dog. These cd's can be a great addition to settling in your new pup and helping them learn to be calm when being left alone to help prevent separation issues. There is also a volume for car travel! (find it here)

Car harness or portable crate for car travel - dogs are safest when secured in the car and these items offer you an easy way to do this. (find it here - crate) (and here - harness)

Treat containers - this will make the job of training your puppy much easier as you can place containers of food/treats at convenient places around the home to quickly reward your puppy for desirable behaviours (like toilet training or sit and wait at the door etc). You can just use tupperware type containers for this.

Treat pouch - to keep food/treats easily on hand to make training easy, fast and effective. (find it here)

Puppy Lead and Collar - get something soft and light at first so that your puppy can get used to wearing them. Then progress to a stronger set once the puppy grows some more and needs it. A head halter or no-pull harness, like the Balance Harness, is recommended for puppies that are going to be big or strong, to help prevent leash pulling becoming a problem. (find it here)

Food and water bowl - while a traditional water bowl is necessary, a food bowl is not. We recommend you use food dispensing puzzle toys to feed meals to your puppy in. There is a wide range of these kind of toys on the market today, and we stock the ones we have found to be the best. Our favourites to use as food bowl replacers are the Nina Ottosson games and the Starmark Bob A Lot.

Feeding this way makes eating time last longer and provides your dog with much needed mental stimulation, plus dogs love it! By feeding your dog their daily meal allowance through toys, play, hunting/foraging games and training you can prevent boredom and all the problematic behaviours that go with it! (find it here)

Toys - mental stimulation toys are essential to provide your dog with fun and activities to make his day interetsing and to prevent boredom and problem behaviours. We recommend Kong toys, Starmark Bob A Lot and Bento Balls, Nina Ottosson puzzle games, Planet Dog toys and Egg Babies plush puzzle toys. Your dog will also enjoy a variety of other toys including plush toys, squeaky toys, balls etc. Home made toys can be a great addition to your dogs daily activities, like plastic bottles or cardboard boxes. Rotate your dogs toys regularly to keep them interesting. A box/bucket to keep the toys in is a good idea also so you can pack away at the end of play. (find it here)

Food/treats - These days, more research has been done into what food is the healthiest for dogs and a Raw Food Diet is found to be the best. Raw feeding can be accomplished by either feeding a researched quality balanced raw food home-made diet or a pre-prepared raw food diet. If you dont wish to feed raw then a premium quality dog food which is grain free is recommended when feeding a commercial dry food diet. Tinned food is not recommended.

For treats, go for the healthy option when choosing something you are going to give on a daily basis - freeze dried or dehydrated Liver treats are the tastiest and healthiest option when looking at pre-packaged treats. For training sessions you can also use small amounts of cheese, devon, ham, chicken, hot dog, sausage, smoked salmon...whatever your dog loves! Smelly meaty treats work best if your dog is distracted, but around the home you should primarily use your puppy's main food as food reinforcers and save the treats for special occassions and for toilet training to keep the treat value high and the puppy's diet balanced. (find it here)

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST... you are going to need a whole lot of patience, understanding, consistency and love! You are getting a puppy that will grow into a dog - do you know what a normal dog is? Read this so you can be prepared for life with a dog...its a whole lot of fun but ya gotta know what you're in for!