What to buy for a puppy?

This is an age old question, and I will tell you with all honesty I got far more than the "basic" puppy needs. But I have all the things we need and some extra things, some training things, grooming, washing... 

Disclaimer: All this we got with our own cash, we had no benefit for advertising certain things. These are just the things I researched and decided we wanted for our puppy. You can research yourself and make your own decisions about your needs. 

I also went to the UK on holiday to see my family and got quite a lot of stuff from there to ship back to Finland. The price of things here is very high and it was still cheaper to buy in the UK and ship here. Also there's more choice in the UK for things. Somethings, I have to get from Finland but I am looking forward to people visiting us and maybe chucking in a few things for Dinky, if she needs something else (new toy, coat, whatever).

My dearest husband has well learnt that I love to plan and make lists. I love to learn new things and check it all from every angle I see at that time. So he didn't really jump in on the planning for what to buy. Just told me "don't go nuts", with us both having a different definition of that, I didn't go nuts for me but I guess he knows that Dinky could manage with less *winks*.

Training

Yep, as a proud owner of a puppy I don't expect it to come home without any accidents. It's a baby afterall but we are planning to try to make those accidents as infrequent as possible.

When we moved to our new house, it was a renovation project. Now, we are almost complete with the living rooms and for some reason I picked hardwood floors and he pointed out that vinly would have been a much smarter choice. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, the next time we replace them it will be but I expect they will out live the dog as I have no plans for change them for the next 15-20 years. 

The breeder lady is also using puppy pads, so we decided not to confuse Dinky anymore and continue with them. I will also be taking her outside in the day, in the night maybe too (we will see if I leave her with a pad or take her out at 3am).

We also have a clicker to train her when she's a bit bigger and a puppy poo bag holder and treat bag for walking (they are in the first picture of the Grooming section).

Gromming

 By all means I am not claiming to be a professional groomer. These choices are made by myself after some research. The daily brushing is a must but if you don't want to trim your own dog then it needs to goto a groomer every 6-8 weeks (make sure you budget for whatever option you pick).

I have a whole selection of different kinds of brushes, one for getting out matts should I manage to get one (I hope this is a bouns tool I don't use). We plan to start brushing her with the paddle brush and double sided one, a few days after we have her and she's settled in.

We also a tick removal tool, we do live in the countryside and we do have ticks here. We also keep all the grass around our house now mowed short as we even see the odd tick on the neighbours cats so they are here. She will also get her vacination against it annually too, I guess I might also as well get the people version against Lyme's Disease.

We also have a dog toothbrush and toothpaste, you can also use a baby toothbrush but there was a sale on this set. It's a good idea to get the puppy used to you looking in it's mouth soon after you get it and it's initial shock is over. Then you can brush it's teeth once or twice a week. You start by letting it lick the paste off your finger but there's instructions on the back of the packet.

I have not unpacked these clippers, they are meant to be a professional kind. They were by far not the most expensive ones but we should get a few years at least from them with the proper care for them, keeping the blades clean and oiled. 

So we live in Finland, we still have 4 seasons here I have to say most of them include something wet and muddy or snow failing that (haha, I made a joke that summer is also muddy and wet). I got these microfibre towels to dry up the moisture. I will also get a few normal towels but ones for the dog. Note, they come in a plastic pot don't throw that away like I did, the one outside is now like a brick. Opps. I'll keep it in a zip up bag in the future. There were no insructions but I kept the others in their packages. 

I got these from Pets at Home in the UK. I as mentioned in another post am allergic and have to be a bit careful about almonds in hair products. So I got these hypoallergenic ones for it's puppy time. I have my eye on some more professional ones which are cheaper to buy in 4 litre tubs and ship to Finland. I will buy the smaller ones first when these are out to test them on me, if there's no almonds I can get the bigger pots which are cheaper. Also last longer so I can forget about getting it for ages. Two brands I like the look of on the professional ones are Groom Professional Argan Oil and Pet Silk, our breeder recommends both and a few more.  I saw these ones as well, so I'll get some in the future and let you know which I like best! 

 I had heard alot about Groomers spray, so when I went to Pet's at Home, I picked one up for trial.We also have some nail cutters but they are in the post at the minute.

Toys

I guess in the mind of a dog, it can never have enough toys. We got a few specialised teething toys, some Nylabones (some edible ones too but not here yet).The plush toys have a squeak inside, some small tennis balls, a rope pull and a frisbee that flashes (soley as daylight is pretty much a no show now so it's nice to play and find it).

So far I haven't got a Kong as the treat spray is expensive and I'm allergic to peanuts so I figure she'll get one when she's bigger and can eat other stuff to go in it. We also got her some interactive games for when she's a bit bigger. Not intended for now, but we can see when she's big enough for them.

Beds, Blankets

We have a softbed for her in the living room with us and we have a soft sided crate so she has somewhere safe and enclosed she is free to come in and out of as much as she wants in the day. At night until she's settled we will close the sides just because the house is open plan and we can't put a child gate on the bottom of the stairs so it's for her own safety so she can't fall down or fall through the gaps in the stairs when I'm not watching her.  

We are however up around 6am in the mornings so she won't be there too much and hopefully after the first few nights will be happily snoozing in there. It's also a travel bed for her when we goto ski break, and if she stays at someone elses house on the once a year we both goto UK for 10 days, she has somewhere familar and safe to go. She of course will know the people by then too.

I did spend a little extra cash getting this luxury extra soft blankets, There's three bigger ones for her beds and one to wash. The two smaller ones I have for her walking bag (explained a little later).

This about one is for her walking bag when she's tired and needs to be carried. 

The above photos are more for our travels, in summer we got back into hiking here in Finland so we decided it was smart to get Dinky some stuff so she can join us. These are collapsible water and food bowls. And two waterproof blankets, one for the car seat and other can be used for picnics when we are walking. 

 

We have two of these beds for the living room, one is spare in case of accidents and general cleaning. The other great bonus is we get one too from the breeder that mom has been sleeping in while they were all together. This is the size for the full grown dog but it's very comfy and I think she will like it in there when she's sleeping.

Treats, Food

I did most of my "treat" hunting in the UK. I checked out the food here and was a little overwhelmed by the options. However, when I went to the UK I was also a little frustrated by many "puppy" treats not being suitable until 12 weeks old. I found only one brand, this white one which could be given from the beginning. I only got one bag as it's only 10% of the daily diet max which isn't going to be much. I just wanted them for something nice to get used to new beds, and situations. 

 

Check your treats before feeding for age guidelines! 

I saw many kinds of bowls, read many stories about metal feeding bowls and then decided to get some expensive ceramics ones from here in Finland. There's a bigger one for water and smaller for food. One to wash and one to use. They are imported from America, I really liked the design. Yeah Dinky is a girl but I'm not really a pink fan. 

We also got an automatic feeder for when she's a bit bigger incase she goes to stay at family and they want to make it easier. She will be kibble fed so it's not too bad.  We looked into Raw Feeding and it wasn't for us. If it's for you, that's fine. However, we plan on having kids and my dad is post chemo with a weakened immune system so we picked the safest way to not have bonus E, Coli and Salmonella risk around. For me, this is choice we make ourselves, what's best for us and what's best for us is not best for everyone. I always believe in respecting someone else's choices even if they aren't the ones I would make myself. It's been an educated and well researched option. There are many heated debates about this topic, it's not something I want to debate about.

Walkies / Outside

 So as I mentioned before, we don't live in the city per se. So I got a few things she will need as she won't be able to walk the distances I do yet and I didn't want to always leave her in the house.

 

This is her carrying backpack which can also be used on the front. It's not huge but the biggest they had, other Havanese and Bichon Frise owners had them and it was rated as suitable for cats. It's pretty comfy in there. We will see how she likes it when she's tired as 8km will be a bit far to carry her in my arms. 

This is the travel bag for her to come home and goto the vets for her next shots. It might also be the place she can sleep for a few nights if she feels safe in there. It's a big scary world for her then. My guess is she will like the bigger soft sided crate where her bed from her moms will be. This is quite a nice bigger travel bag as winter is coming here and puppy school is starting too, so we will need to travel by bus and some walking to get there. I can at least get a blanket in there for those cold days. 

We have a selection of coats, the bigger ones are actually only a small! But I managed to find an autumn style coat in extra small. And of course a little Ruddolf hat for her Christmas photo. I picked all high vis stuff as it's dark here now. I'm also considering ordering an Equafleece from the UK but I'm a bit torn as she will grow so quickly and they aren't that cheap. Saying that, the winter coats here are much more expensive. I have ordered another kind of winter coat from online today and I'm sure it will be too big for now. But she will grow! 

So, we knew she was going to be small, I got the smallest dog collar I could find. Then when it came I thought "omg, this is far to big". The breeder lady is giving us collars (cat collars, they are so small) and we ordered an expandible cat harness to walk her with. It's not come yet but I'll add the photo when it does.

We plan to keep her in a collar always with her cat sized ID tag on it. It has our surname, address and phone number on it. She is also microchipped (or will be next week!).

We have a collection of leads, some retractable ones when she's a bit bigger and likes to walk more. Two fabric ones so we can use them when she's smaller. We don't have a fence around our garden so we will need to focus only one sit, stay, come commands. The most important thing is socialisation and getting her used to life's noises and events. But we wanted her to have a light lead too.

As we don't have a fence we have some stakes and long leads for them, she won't need these until summer and then she's big enough for this option. We can't put her out alone as we have noticed a chicken hawk around here.

We also have an RAC seatbelt harness, it's small but will be too big for a while. We also have some bells for the toilet training. Ring the bell every time you go out to toilet, keep the bell in range that the dog can knock it near a outside door. And evenchually the dog will ring the bell when nature is calling.