Essential Shopping List for Bringing Home a New Puppy

So with the addition of our new puppy, Opie, to the Two Hearts One Roof Household I will be totally honest and say we were completely unprepared! Although we had been looking for a puppy since we had moved in, we hadn’t actually bought the things needed for a puppy. We assumed when we did find the right dog to add to our little family we would have a bit of time between finding him and bringing him home. But this wasn’t the case with Opie. I found him on a Facebook pet selling page at 3pm on a Sunday afternoon, his mum and dad were family pets, all the other pups had been sold so he was the last of the litter who was meant to be going to the owners sister, but she had changed her mind so they were looking to re-home him asap. Jon rang the owner to see if we could go see him, and that evening at 7pm we were cwtching the adorable little excited bundle. As he was almost 12 weeks he was ready to go and he came home with us there and then.

As he hadn’t exactly been planned we had nothing in the house, except a fleecy blanket. A quick trip to the only tesco open on a sunday meant we could at least pick up some dog food, we want for a meaty chunk in gravy instead of a block as he really needed puppy food but they didn’t have any. So after a night of Jon sleeping on the sofa with Opie curled up on the blanket Monday morning meant a mad dash to the pet shop to pick up all the essentials we needed for little boy. So here is the essential shopping list for bringing home a new puppy. 

1. A Dog Bed – How would you like to sleep on the floor! Having a cwtchy pet bed of their own will help your puppy feel more at home in its new house. Plus its integral for sleep training your new puppy (we are not fans of crate training in our household, but if your going down this route then get a crate bed for your pooch instead). Although your puppy is going to grow don’t get a bed too big, you can always buy a bigger one once they get a bit older, they like the security and comfort of a smaller space, just make sure its big enough for them to lie stretched out. 
2. A Food and Water Bowl – We had to use some tupperware for the first night, but then we went out and got a small due bowl, one side water, one side food. Opie isn’t going to grow too big so we went for a smallish size bowl that will hopefully last, but you may want to consider the amount of food you will need to be feeding your pet before you chose your bowl size. 
3. Placemat – This might sound a little odd, but certain breeds of dogs are majorly messy eaters and drinkers. Opie isn’t too bad at the moment, although he has knocked into his water bowl a few times, leaving the floor below soaking. So if you want to save on some mess just invest in a non-slip pet placemat to keep your kitchen floor tidy.
4. Puppy Food – Just like babies puppies need a special diet, their digestive system isn’t quite up to regular dog food until they are around 6 months old. When you first get your puppy they will need specialist puppy food made for their simpler digestive systems. Whether you chose dry and wet food, or a combo of both is up to you, just look for a complete food that will give your puppy all the nutrients he/she needs to grow.
5. Training Treats – Dogs learn better when rewarded for their good behaviour (and given a sharp stern ‘no’ when badly behaved) so when training your puppy to go to the potty using training treats really help (as does verbal praise). Opie loved the Mr Goodlad Puppy Treats from Pets at Home and they are small enough that you are able to feed them quite a few throughout the day, when ever they use their puppy pad, or alert you to needing to go outside. 
6. Puppy Pads – When we picked up Opie he hadnt yet had any of his jabs so isn’t able to go out walking yet, plus our garden isn’t easily accessible at the moment, meaning our first step of puppy training is getting him to use puppy pads in our kitchen. Yes you could do it the old fashioned way with newspaper but it really isn’t that absorbent when compared with proper puppy training pads, plus they are meant to be scented so puppy can find them easily. We have found the cheapest in Pet Hut and Wilko’s, 30 for £4, 1 pack lasted us just over a week, but once he is actually using them more consistently we will no doubt go through more of them.
7. Baby Play Pen/Gate – This has been a god send for us as we have used it for numerous things so far. One that can be adjusted is best so it is more versatile. We use ours to pen off the area we don’t want Opie in during the day, to close off our kitchen (we have an open plan house) when we need to leave Opie on his own when we go out (although he is not liking being left on his own at all at the moment) and even to create a pet pen next to the bed at night for him to sleep in (this is to help basket and toilet train him). And when he is bigger we will be able to put it across the stairs to keep him safe. We got ours second hand on Facebook but you can find them lots of places. Just make sure if you have a tiny pooch they can’t sip through or get stuck between the bars.
8. Chew Deterrent Spray – Ok this isn’t essential, but I think you will find that all puppies, no matter what breed, like to chew on things, and your banister, sofa, table legs, skirting board, fridge, chair legs, bed frame, pretty much anything will do. Deterrent Spray is bitter tasting to your pup so will hopefully deter them from chewing on your furniture.
9. Chew Toys – This follows on from the deterrent spray, if you keep puppy entertained with his own chew toys he is less likely to want to chew on your stuff. Don’t go overboard hoping more toys will keep them more entertained, but have a small selection so they are less likely to get bored. Opie has a rope tug, cuddly bear, tennis ball, rubber ring tug and edible bone chews and this has kept him happy 90% of the time. There are hundreds of types out there so try out a few and see what your puppy enjoys.
10. Kitchen Roll – Lots and lots of it! Pretty basic but you will use lots whilst cleaning up all the little accidents.
11. Antibacterial Spray/Wipes – And these are for after you cleaned up the accident! Keeping your floors clean and bacteria free.

Of course there are lots of other things you’ll need (lead, nail clippers, brush, etc) but these are the essentials for a new puppy. If you think we should add anything to this list just leave us a comment. And we hope adding a new puppy to your household goes smoothly. Opie has made our house a home and he is awesome!