Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Puppy Preparation

Preparing for the arrival of a puppy is exciting and surprisingly fun. While you’ll have to spend a bit of money, it’s well worth doing. What’s more, once you’ve got all the things you need, there’s no need for late-night rushes out to the pet store for more supplies.

Puppies, like all baby mammals, need extra special care and attention for the first few weeks of life. The time you spend with them over the first six months of their lives is essential and will shape their character for years to come.

So if you’ve seen puppies for sale and will have a new member of the family joining you soon, how should you prepare?

Buy The Food That They’re Used To Eating

The last thing you want is to get your new puppy home and find that they don’t want to eat the food that you provide. It’s a scary experience.

While there’s no foolproof way of getting a new puppy to eat immediately, there are things that you can do. One of the best ways of getting a puppy to eat is to provide them with the same food that they ate before they arrived at your home. It’ll help them feel more like a part of the family and more welcome.

Collars And Leads

Unless you’ve got a collar and lead, you won’t be able to take your puppy out for walks when it gets older and has had its vaccinations.

It’s best to start training with collars and leads immediately. You want to get your dog used to wearing them from a young age so that there aren’t issues when they get older.

There is a selection of leads on the market. The best types are leads with adjustable collars. The leads will grow as your dog grows. You want to make sure that it isn’t too tight when you fit it. Ideally, you should be able to slip a couple of fingers under the collar once it’s in position. Less space than that, and it’s too tight.

Some tiny breeds of dogs are better off with harnesses instead of collars. You can buy harnesses that adjust, but you may have to swap for a larger harness as the dog grows.

Insurance

Veterinary treatment for dogs can be expensive. Some operations can run into thousands of dollars. Most puppy-owners-to-be, therefore, take out insurance. Pet insurance helps to blunt the cost of vet bills over the long-term, preventing you from getting into a situation where you can’t afford to treat your pet.

Stair Gates

Puppies have a natural desire to explore their environment. You may, however, want some parts of the house to be off-limits.

A stair gate is a great way to prevent a puppy from going upstairs to the bedrooms. It lets you contain your puppy downstairs and prevents them from chewing potentially valuable possessions upstairs. You don’t want to come home one day to find that your puppy has chewed up your bed.

Dog Grooming Supplies

Like many animals, dogs connect with each other via the sense of touch. It’s crucial, therefore, that owners touch their new puppies to form bonds with them from an early age. One of the best ways to do this is to combine it with dog grooming.

Dog grooming is an integral part of keeping pups healthy. Dogs need to be groomed at regular intervals to protect their fur, skin, and paws. If you don’t groom dogs regularly, it can lead to all kinds of health problems. Getting your dog used to grooming can help grow the bond between you and prevent health issues from cropping up in the future.

Buy A Travelling Crate

You’ll be surprised after you get your puppy just how many times you have to take them places in the car. Dogs need transporting to the vets, the park, and friends' houses. It’s a never-ending logistics operation. Getting them to behave themselves in the car, however, can be a challenge, even for the most docile of dogs.

Many owners, therefore, choose to use traveling crates. These are just boxes that unlock at the front when you want your dog to come out.

Traveling crates are also perfect for toilet training your pup. Most dogs hate to go to the toilet in their bedding. Using a traveling container at night as the dog’s bed is a great tool that allows you to prevent them from going to the bathroom in the night train them to go outdoors.

Get A Selection Of Toys

Dogs are mentally active creatures, always looking for new experiences. Toys help keep life fun for dogs and provide them with an endless source of entertainment to keep them happy.

Pet shops are a great source of dog toys. You can buy all sorts of things, from frisbees to tugs. Different toys have slightly different purposes, so having a selection ready can help your pup with their development.

Buy A Tag

Dogs should have an identification tag with their name and their address on it. It’s so that people can return your pup if it gets lost.

Getting a tag is easy. There are numerous services over the internet that will ship you a label in the post after you enter your details online. You can also go to your local pet store and get them to make a tag for you on the spot. They should have the facilities.

Bowls For Food And Water

It’s best to buy food and water bowls for your puppy in advance instead of temporarily using makeshift containers.

There are several reasons for this. First, it’s good to be organized and set up for your new pup. Second, dog bowls are made of stainless steel which makes them both strong and hygienic. You never know what germs your puppy is bringing with them when they eat and drink. And, finally, it teaches your pup that they have to eat and drink out of different bowls than you, helping to improve their table manners.