| Crates |
- Wire crate - 36" x 24" is the standard size for a
Golden. I clip a standard mesh shadecloth over it to give the
dog a more "den-like" feel. I have a 2-door crate, but notice
there is also a 3-door crate available now which looks interesting.
Both these crates include a puppy divider so you can make
their area appropriate to their size (for crate training purposes)
- Soft mesh crate - When the dog is trustworthy in a
crate, I love the soft mesh crates for taking to friend's
houses, to a dog show, etc. I even have one set up at home with the
door open because the dogs are very comfortable in them.
They are nice
and portable. This is the brand I use: Noz-To-Noz
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| Exercise
Pen |
Exercise Pen - 4' x 4' . This is a must-have
for a puppy! Many people make the mistake of giving the puppy
more access than they are ready for, and this results in bad behavior
like chewing on furniture, ripping up flooring, chewing on
inappropriate things like rocks, counter surfing, etc... If
you want a well-behaved adult dog later, then don't let these behaviors
start. People sometimes think they are being kind when they
give their puppies
lots of room, but it actually is stressful for the puppy because they
don't know what to do with the space.
One of the most important things a new puppy owner can do to influence
this is to keep the puppy in the largest size area where they can be
fully trusted (when the puppy cannot be fully supervised).
For me, this usually starts with a 4'x4' exercise pen with a
crate inside. Sometimes they are just in the crate, and sometimes the
crate door is open. Make sure they have lots of safe toys to keep them
occupied. As the puppy gets older and more trustworthy, let
them have more space (half the kitchen, then the whole kitchen, then
the kitchen and family room, etc...). If that space turns out
to be too big, go back to the last trustworthy size. This
works for both potty training and for general good-behavior.
Doing this with my puppies result in well-behaved dogs that
have the run of the house, and nothing gets destroyed and no one
counter-surfs or eats inappropriate things. For reference,
Cooper was 9 months old when he had full run of the house.
- 36"
height wire exercise pen
(for a puppy the 30" height is nice, but the 36" will last through
adulthood. Some people need to get covers for the pen because
the dog
scales the pen, but mine have never done that because I discourage them
from trying to scramble up or setting their legs on the side of the pen.
|
| Dog beds |
- Indoor- Costco has a great round pet bed as well as
fleece blanket. The dogs love it, it's attractive, and the
price is right!
- Outdoor- raised Kuranda Bed
|
| Baby Gate |
Baby Gate - I have a
couple of those wooden
pressure-mounted baby gates
(24" height) which don't require any installation and can adjust to
different door sizes. I teach my pups to respect the gate,
and not to
touch it. I do that with proofing, treats, and verbal
corrections.
Now I don't even have to set it up-- as long as the gate is resting
along the doorway the dogs know they are not supposed to cross.
They
could easily push it over or jump over it, but no one ever has.
I haven't been able to locate it on-line this morning, but
will try again later. Maybe they also sell it in baby stores. |
| Collar/Harness/Leads |
- Premier
Easy-Walk Harness
- While it's important to teach a puppy to walk well on a collar and
leash, one of the things I've found is if the puppy doesn't learn to
pull on the leash at an early age they often won't pull when older
because they simply are used to walking nicely with you. Service dog
organizations always use head halters on their puppies, probably for
this reason. This harness operates on the same principle as a
head halter, and that is if the dog attempts to pull, their forward
force will be turned to the side, effectively keeping them from
pulling. Which size to get depends on the size of the
puppy/dog,
so this cannot be purchased far in advance.
- (more to be added)
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| Identification |
- Boomerang
tags for the collar (there are lots of good places, but I
really like this one for their quality)
- Microchip at the vet when the puppy is 6 months old.
(AVID or Home Again)
|
| Feeding |
- Stainless steel food and water dishes
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| Stain/Odor/Housebreaking |
- Simple Solution - I get the 1-gallon size, and a
spray bottle. I used to use Nature's Miracle,
but on my carpet it left a bright fluorescent tint (when viewed with a
black light) so I switched.
- Odor-Mute - good for outdoors (I'll post links to
this later)
- Pooper scooper for outdoors
|
| Grooming |
- Human nail clipper - this works really well for
trimming toenails on puppies
- Dog nail clipper and/or Dremel rotary tool - I
personally prefer to use a Dremel tool to grind my dog's nails.
Or, I will use the dog nail clipper to take off the tips,
then use the Dremel to finish it off. There is a link to a
tutorial on using a Dremel on your dog's nails on the Grooming links
section of this page.
- Styptic powder - to stop the bleeding if you cut too
close on the nails. You usually won't run into this problem
if you grind the nails.
- Undercoat
rake
- Pin
brush - this brand is good, and the 27mm length looks right
- Shampoo-- For regular use, I like the Earthbath products, which you can get at most pet stores like Pet Food Express. Sometimes
I use their spritzes, too, especially after Cooper decides to rub
himself all over a smelly bush (ugh). The Vanilla Almond spritz
smells really good.
- Booster Bath
- if you're like me and prone to lower back problems, this is a real
back saver. You can get an optional attachment called the Tropic
Shower (shown on that page) which allows you to hook it up to your
clothes washer for warm water. When the weather is nice I just
bath using the outdoor hose, but in the cooler months I'll hook it up
to the washer.
- Grooming table and dog dryer
. It's not just for show dogs! Again, having a table for
grooming saves your back, and makes it easier to work on their
basic grooming care. A dog dryer is great especially during the
cooler months after an outdoor bath, or after a hike because you can
locate ticks or burrs really easily.
- Ear wash and cotton balls - I use a homemade ear wash solution these days, but prior to that just purchased an ear wash from the vet's office.
|
| Toys/Treats |
There are a bazillion great dog toys out there, but here are a few that
have been popular for us.
- Kong
toys - the kind you can stuff treats in to keep the puppy
occupied. This is great to give them before you leave the
house, because if the puppy is otherwise occupied when you leave they
usually just fall asleep and won't worry about your being gone.
I see there are Puppy
Kong toys now too, but I haven't used those before.
- Chuck-it
with tennis balls and Ultra-Balls
- Sport says this is a must-have! (there are a few different kinds of
Chuck-it launchers so I'm just sending you to the general page where
they are on the middle of the page.
- Puzzler
toys - very popular with my dogs. We have almost all of
them-- the balls, squirrels, bees, and birds!
- Tug
toys
Treats - Bully sticks - I get the solid ones, not the braided. I usually buy them from Red Barn at the dog shows, but they will ship, too.
- Charlie
Bears liver treats - I use these for regular training treats. I
get these at Trader Joes, but you can get it on-line as well.
- For
high value training treats, I often make liver treats (email me
for recipes if you want them). Or, use pieces of hot dog, cheese,
etc... There are some really good ones to purchase, too.
Just be sure to look at the ingredients for the good healthy
ones.
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| Other
Useful Items |
- Bitter Apple - a bitter tasting spray to teach
puppies not to chew on certain things. Obvious items are
furniture, etc that you don't want damaged (spray only on things that
you see them trying to chew on), but for me most importantly it was
dangerous items like rocks. You DO NOT want your puppy
playing with rocks, because if they get into the habit of chewing rocks
they could ingest it and die, or you'll go through expensive surgery to
remove rocks. Fortunately I never have had to do this.
If I catch a puppy chewing or playing with a rock, I will not
only spray the rock with Bitter Apple to make it distasteful to the
dog, but I will attempt to scare the puppy by stomping very loudly when
I catch them with the rock, and giving a verbal correction.
Then, follow immediately
with something appropriate and attractive to chew on instead.
This is an important lesson for the pup, that the rock is BAD
and the other thing is Good. Most puppies like rocks, so it's
important to be consistent and eventually they will stop.
- Bug-Off
screen
- We have never wanted to install a permanent dog door, but when we're
at home we often want the dogs to have free access to the backyard.
I found this screen for our sliding glass door many years ago
and
love it. We are on our second screen, and everyone that has
seen it wants one, too!
- Poop bags
- Lint rollers - get a pack from Costco. We
have one in each car and almost every room. :-)
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