First dog incoming.. What do we need?

First dog incoming.. What do we need?

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justin220

Original Poster:

5,331 posts

203 months

Tuesday 17th November 2015
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Morning all,

We have decided it is time to make an addition to our house, too early for a child, but felt a pet was the way forward.

My girlfriend has grown up with dogs all her life with her parents and my side have had cats. She is a huge animal lover and we can't wait to have a new member in the family.

After much deliberation, we have decided on a puppy. A rescue dog was first choice initally but we read a few horror stories on not knowing what behaviour we would end up with. We have about 5 weeks until delivery.

Can anyone please advise on what we need? This probably seems like a tremendously daft question, but I just want to make sure we are not forgetting anything.

Food, bowls, bed (which?) rugs, transporter, insurance, lead, dogbags... I know we'll have forgotten something.

Extremely excited, any advice on initial puppy ownership would also be much appreciated. We have a reasonable sized enclosed garden, and plenty time off for a lot of walking smile

Thanks in advance.

Spiffing

1,855 posts

209 months

Tuesday 17th November 2015
quotequote all
A crate/cage/den call it what you like is an absolute must IMO.
Gives the pup a chance to wind down and have his own space and allows you to leave him alone safe in the knowledge he can't get up to much.

Mine all love it, so much that my old boy when he used to want some peace and quiet used to take himself in and then hook out a paw and close the door after himself!

bakerstreet

4,755 posts

164 months

Tuesday 17th November 2015
quotequote all
justin220 said:
Morning all,

We have decided it is time to make an addition to our house, too early for a child, but felt a pet was the way forward.

My girlfriend has grown up with dogs all her life with her parents and my side have had cats. She is a huge animal lover and we can't wait to have a new member in the family.

After much deliberation, we have decided on a puppy. A rescue dog was first choice initally but we read a few horror stories on not knowing what behaviour we would end up with. We have about 5 weeks until delivery.

Can anyone please advise on what we need? This probably seems like a tremendously daft question, but I just want to make sure we are not forgetting anything.

Food, bowls, bed (which?) rugs, transporter, insurance, lead, dogbags... I know we'll have forgotten something.

Extremely excited, any advice on initial puppy ownership would also be much appreciated. We have a reasonable sized enclosed garden, and plenty time off for a lot of walking smile

Thanks in advance.
In the politest possible way, the fact you are having to ask this does worry me slightly.

Your list isn't far off:

Dog leads x 2 - Breed will dictate type. You might want to consider a harness
Dog beds (Multiple) - The type depends on what breed you have and the size)
Baby gates - You will want to confine the dog to certain rooms in the house
Dog crate - If you can crate train your dog from the start, then that will life in the future easier. Depends on the size of the dog. We tried with our Greyhound, but he didn't like it and quite frankly the crate was the size of a double chest freezer
Food - Get advice on what type you should buy fro the breed. Wet food stinks. We only use dry with a few additions every day.
Blankets - Puppy will be nervous and scared, so give him something to make a nest with.
Puppy Pads - Buy them in bulk
Stainless Steel Bowls
Dog Guard for Car - This is essential. Dogs should travel in the boot and not on the back seat or passenger seat. If you have a saloon, then be prepared to change your car. We have a Travall guard one for the Saab and the C-Max. Both work well and are much cheaper than the Saab and Ford equivalents.
Toys - Lots of them
Coat - Subject to breed. Some need a jacket more than others.
dedicated towel for the dog
Collapsible dog bowls for the car when you go out on walks.
Poo bags. We buy ours in bulk. I calculated that we need 1600 a year frown
Pet insurance


rev-erend

21,404 posts

283 months

Tuesday 17th November 2015
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Patience, oh and some rubber gloves.

Dand E Lion

404 posts

105 months

Tuesday 17th November 2015
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As above, but curious about the dog's 'delivery'??? Please tell me you are not buying it over the web or from abroad, sight unseen weeping The Kennel Club or even the free-ads will advise that you really should see a pup with its mother

http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/getting-a-dog-or-p...

chrisga

2,087 posts

186 months

Tuesday 17th November 2015
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What breed have you chosen for your first dog?

Autopilot

1,298 posts

183 months

Tuesday 17th November 2015
quotequote all
In addition to the list of actual stuff you need....

Training, lots of training. Use consistent commands, it's either 'here' or 'come'. don't confuse it by using different commands. A dogs name isn't a command.

Ground rules - It can or can't go on furniture. It only gets attention when there are 4 feet on the ground etc

Socialisation

Getting it used to everything, the more it experiences now (Noise, cats, cars, horses, fireworks etc)

Understand the breed and its traits (which you'd know already or you wouldn't have got it)! The next person who gets frustrated by their Dachshund's perpetual habit of wanting to rip the throats out of badgers gets a slap! etc etc blah blah blah

justin220

Original Poster:

5,331 posts

203 months

Tuesday 17th November 2015
quotequote all
Excellent thanks all. We've gone for a Pomsky.

The list is very helpful thanks. As expected there were a couple of things I hadn't thought of, so was worth asking. A brush is another!

I'm reading as much as I can. A close work friend also runs a dog walking/caring business so its very knowledgeable about training etc, and has recommended obedience classes also.

bakerstreet

4,755 posts

164 months

Tuesday 17th November 2015
quotequote all
Autopilot said:
In addition to the list of actual stuff you need....

Training, lots of training. Use consistent commands, it's either 'here' or 'come'. don't confuse it by using different commands. A dogs name isn't a command.

Ground rules - It can or can't go on furniture. It only gets attention when there are 4 feet on the ground etc

Socialisation

Getting it used to everything, the more it experiences now (Noise, cats, cars, horses, fireworks etc)

Understand the breed and its traits (which you'd know already or you wouldn't have got it)! The next person who gets frustrated by their Dachshund's perpetual habit of wanting to rip the throats out of badgers gets a slap! etc etc blah blah blah
Good point regarding the furniture. Mrs Bakerstreet does like a cuddle wityh Herbie on the sofa though biggrin In fact he gets closer than I do these days!

Routine is vital. If you mess up their core routine, then be prepared for grief. I speak from experience!

bakerstreet

4,755 posts

164 months

Tuesday 17th November 2015
quotequote all
justin220 said:
Excellent thanks all. We've gone for a Pomsky.

The list is very helpful thanks. As expected there were a couple of things I hadn't thought of, so was worth asking. A brush is another!

I'm reading as much as I can. A close work friend also runs a dog walking/caring business so its very knowledgeable about training etc, and has recommended obedience classes also.
Socialisation is also important. They won't be able to manage the obedience classes if they aren't socialised.

Hooli

32,278 posts

199 months

Tuesday 17th November 2015
quotequote all
bakerstreet said:
Dog Guard for Car - This is essential. Dogs should travel in the boot and not on the back seat or passenger seat. If you have a saloon, then be prepared to change your car. We have a Travall guard one for the Saab and the C-Max. Both work well and are much cheaper than the Saab and Ford equivalents.
I disagree with that. Just get one of those straps that clips a harness into the seat belt buckle & a saloon is fine.

castex

4,935 posts

272 months

Tuesday 17th November 2015
quotequote all
Hooli said:
a saloon is fine.
Surely, if you like hoovering & mopping the back seats every 5 minutes. hehe

Hooli

32,278 posts

199 months

Tuesday 17th November 2015
quotequote all
castex said:
Hooli said:
a saloon is fine.
Surely, if you like hoovering & mopping the back seats every 5 minutes. hehe
We've got a cover that 'hangs' off the rear headrests, just drag it out & hose it down if the worse happens.

Changing your car to suit a dog is almost as mental as people who change cars because they managed to breed.

Bobhon

1,057 posts

178 months

Tuesday 17th November 2015
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Remember that dog training is 80% about training you and 20% about training your dog usually. Generally your dog will do whatever you want it to once you get it to recognise what you want by means of each separate command.

Hope you have lots of fun with the new addition.

Shaw Tarse

31,543 posts

202 months

Tuesday 17th November 2015
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Never mind what you need we need picssmile

mids

1,505 posts

257 months

Wednesday 18th November 2015
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I don't agree with a dog crate being an absolute must nor a dog guard in the car or puppy pads but it comes down to how you want to bring up your dog so it's best to do a bit of research about the pros and cons of that sort of thing.

A couple of books I'd recommend (I just got a pup 6 weeks ago) are 'The Perfect Puppy' by Gwen Bailey and 'The Happy Puppy Handbook' by Pippa Mattinson. Both contain lots of sensible advice and are worth reading before you collect your dog IMO.

Good luck!

justin220

Original Poster:

5,331 posts

203 months

Wednesday 18th November 2015
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Brilliant, thanks again everyone.

I'll post plenty pictures smile and get a book ordered up.


bakerstreet

4,755 posts

164 months

Wednesday 18th November 2015
quotequote all
Hooli said:
I disagree with that. Just get one of those straps that clips a harness into the seat belt buckle & a saloon is fine.
I disagree with that. My wife has a 2008 Ford C-Max. We have a 10 month old and a Greyhound. How do you suggest we go somewhere as a family with dog in a saloon?

We have a normal buggy (Baby Jogger Mini City GT). Its not big wheeled, but it does have chunky tyres.

With the dog in the boot, there is no room for the buggy, so buggy goes on the back seat next to baby in the car seat. We obviously sit in the front seats.

The Saab 9-5 (Aero of course!) has a slightly wider boot, but there isn't really room for buggy and dog in the boot, so we do the same thing.

I'd like to get a bigger car at some point, but wife is happy with the C-Max as its small and the spaces at her work car park are quite tight frown

Hooli

32,278 posts

199 months

Wednesday 18th November 2015
quotequote all
bakerstreet said:
Hooli said:
I disagree with that. Just get one of those straps that clips a harness into the seat belt buckle & a saloon is fine.
I disagree with that. My wife has a 2008 Ford C-Max. We have a 10 month old and a Greyhound. How do you suggest we go somewhere as a family with dog in a saloon?

We have a normal buggy (Baby Jogger Mini City GT). Its not big wheeled, but it does have chunky tyres.

With the dog in the boot, there is no room for the buggy, so buggy goes on the back seat next to baby in the car seat. We obviously sit in the front seats.

The Saab 9-5 (Aero of course!) has a slightly wider boot, but there isn't really room for buggy and dog in the boot, so we do the same thing.

I'd like to get a bigger car at some point, but wife is happy with the C-Max as its small and the spaces at her work car park are quite tight frown
Obviously depends on the number of dogs & kids you have, but generally people flap & pretend they need huge cars without thinking first.

Autopilot

1,298 posts

183 months

Wednesday 18th November 2015
quotequote all
mids said:
I don't agree with a dog crate being an absolute must nor a dog guard in the car or puppy pads but it comes down to how you want to bring up your dog so it's best to do a bit of research about the pros and cons of that sort of thing.
I guess this is subjective and also depends on the dog.

If I only had my female, I wouldn't use crates nor would she go in the boot of the car. She's very calm, likes sitting still and generally not very destructive. She very much has and on/off switch as she goes completely bonkers when out the house.

When my male was a pup, he ate doors, walls, anything he could reach. If he was left unsupervised for more than 2 minutes, you could guarantee something has been eaten, chewed or generally destroyed. We are literally talking about going for a very quick shower and then finding the kitchen trashed by the time you got down again. In his case, a crate was absolutely essential as the house would have been completely destroyed and we'd never have got any peace and quiet. His crate has NEVER been used as punishment so was never an issue to get him to go in there. He was/is an absolute nuisance in the car. A clip from his collar to the seatbelt anchor didn't really work. He's fairly large, liked nothing more than to keep nose-butting me in the ear and then push his face alongside mine and start barking at me. If you shortened the connector, then he couldn't really turn around, so no good for him.