1st time dog owner. PIP

[awick14]

DH an I are picking up a dog tomorrow from a local dog rescue. DH has had dogs all his life, except since we moved in together. But for me this will be my first dog. I am so excited but so nervous.

What do I need to puppy proof?
What do I need to buy in advance of getting him tomorrow?
Anything else I should know?

(the dog on the right is the dog we are getting, if the pic works.)

[redheadbaker]

Aw, he's so cute!

Crawl around on the floor, and hide any wires. Put away shoes, etc.

Get a crate, preferably one that will "grow" with him (one that will fit him as an adult, but has a dividing panel).

Collar and leash, obviously. My preference is a martingale collar. How are his leash skills? If he still needs training, get an Easy Walk harness.

Food/water dishes. Will they supply you with a small bag of the kibble he's eating now?

Don't go crazy on toys until you know his preferences. Get a puppy Kong (or other puzzle toy) and a Nylabone.

It's early and I haven't had coffee yet, so that's all I can think of.

[secondhandscottie]

He's adorable! Congrats and thanks for adopting!

Ditto redheadbaker's list of stuff to get. I'd add an ID tag to the mix too.

I noticed you have a cute black cat in your signature. When "puppy proofing" I'd make sure the cat has a place to escape to when it needs a break, a place the puppy isn't allowed to go. That should help make things a little less stressful.

Have fun with your new addition!

[independencegirl74]

Jun 25, 2012 7:33:30 GMT -5 secondhandscottie said:

I noticed you have a cute black cat in your signature. When "puppy proofing" I'd make sure the cat has a place to escape to when it needs a break, a place the puppy isn't allowed to go. That should help make things a little less stressful.

So super cute!!

On top of Scottie's suggestion to have a "cat space," I'd ensure the puppy won't be able to get into the cat box. You do not want any litter box snacking! Yuck!!

Perhaps pick up an inexpensive dog bed to keep in the room you and your SO hang out most often. This way, puppy has his own space right in there with you in case you don't want him up on the furniture, or if people come over and you need couch space for human bottoms!

[awick14]

Thanx you guys. I am so excited! 8 pm tonight cant come soon enough, i guess the first thing I do before he come will be to hide wires an shoes.

Is there any books or online resources that I can read in regards to training the puppy. (he has had some training but he is only 12 weeks old today, so I anticipate more training is needed.)

[kellbell191]

Congrats! We use Nothing in Life is Free with both of our residents and all of our fosters. Consistency is key, they catch on quickly if you are consistent. When we got our first we signed him up for obedience and went to every session together. It helped us to be on the same page, to make sure he always had consistent commands and expectations, and for us to work together in training him.

We've only fostered one puppy and he was fantastic at getting into anything. Especially if you're potty training I would tether him to you all the time, then babygate him in a dog safe area or crate him if you can't watch him. Crate training is excellent, especially for puppies, because it keeps them safe and helps with potty training. Our rule of thumb is that nothing a dog would like to chew its left knee level or below. Darwin will chew shoes, trash cans, boxes, anything that is left on the floor.

[kellbell191]

Oh I would also suggested walking him on a harness when he is outside and having puppy safe chews, like bully sticks, antlerz, kongs. Puppies loveee to chew. We use hot dogs cut into small pieces for training. Every good behavior we exclaim "yes!" and immediately give a hot dog piece.

[kellbell191]

Sorry I keep posting. For introducing to cats, we keep the dog crated and distracted with a toy or chew. The cats get treats for approaching the crate. Then we babygate so the cats can get away from the dog but the dog can't chase. we keep the dog on leash and monitor. When the dog reacts properly to the cat (no chasing, barking, lunging) they get a treat.

[awick14]

Thanx again everyone for all your posts.

Kellbell those are some great ideas. I will look up the training you use and I am going to see what I can do to get a baby gate. (SIL has been keeping her baby stuff for us as she is done having kids, there may be one in there.)

Puppy is crate trained and he walked in there and fell asleep on his own tonight. we just closed the door and will let him sleep in there tonight.

As for the cat she doesnt like him in or out of the crate. We have made a safe place for her, and she will have more save places once the baby gate is found and brought here.

I will post more pics in the next few days when I have time.

[independencegirl74]

Just in case you haven't seen them, look at all the training tips in the FAQ sticky post. That's where I went to read up on all the training techniques we've used so far, and following those worked brilliantly!

Give your kitty time. Mine took months to start coming around to the puppy, and now at 14 months (so we've had her for just about a whole year), they're starting to actually like her sometimes, lol. Meaning they'll actually rub up on her or try to give head butts if she holds still long enough. Let the cat come around to this new "intruder" on her own terms and in her own time and you'll all be just fine.
(PS: the cats did have quite a bit of stress at first, as evidenced by sudden inappropriate elimination outside the litter box, but changing up the box locations and giving the cats their own room where the dog was never allowed to go helped out a LOT. If kitty is showing too much stress, try Rescue Remedy drops in her water or Feliway diffusers around the house.)

[kellbell191]

Jun 26, 2012 1:47:45 GMT -5 awick14 said:

Thanx again everyone for all your posts.

Kellbell those are some great ideas. I will look up the training you use and I am going to see what I can do to get a baby gate. (SIL has been keeping her baby stuff for us as she is done having kids, there may be one in there.)

Puppy is crate trained and he walked in there and fell asleep on his own tonight. we just closed the door and will let him sleep in there tonight.

As for the cat she doesnt like him in or out of the crate. We have made a safe place for her, and she will have more save places once the baby gate is found and brought here.

I will post more pics in the next few days when I have time.

Already crate trained= lucky you!!! We have three cats, one loves dogs, one thinks they're fine, one pretended he hates them and will smack them all the time then be caught spooning with them. The cat will come around!

[kelly072206]

So so so cute! Congrats!

[osulori]

Ditto everyone else's suggestions...one more that I didn't see (but mightve missed) is shampoo. In our case, our girl came from a shelter and stunk to high heaven so a quick trip to the local pet store for some shampoo was needed but it sounds like your guy's coming from a foster home so you may not have that issue. Regardless, its amazing what dogs can find to roll in...the stinkier the better

[awick14]

I didn't notice the sticky with the training tips at the top of the forum. I will read that for sure. A friend of SIL's trains pets for a living so we might take our puppy there to gets a few tips. (this should help us figure out what he is currently trained to do, or so the guy says, lol)

I have put a baby gate up in the hallway do that the cat can go into our room, our spare room an has a little hallway space. The cat has yet to venture past the gates with the dog out of his crate. While the dog is in the crate our cat comes out for a little while. The cat normally spends a lot of time sleeping on our bed to begin with, so she is content staying in there. We moved her food, water, an litter box into our bedroom to hopefully help her not pee on our bed.

**scrolls over to look at the sticky**