Over the years, Beyond the Dog Kansas City has helped thousands of puppies settle into their homes, learn good manners and obedience skills, and grow into confident and happy dogs. But what do you need to get before bringing your puppy home? Make sure you have the essentials, including food, toys, training supplies, and a dog crate for them to rest in. In this blog, we have compiled a list of items that every puppy owner needs. Let’s start by covering your puppy’s favorite must have items, treats.
Puppy treats
Treats are more than just delicious snacks for your puppy. They are a powerful reward in dog training, after all, puppies are very food motivated. Treats help puppies stay engaged in training and respond to your commands.
All puppies have preferences for their favorite treats, though some puppies are more picky than others. It’s important to find out what treats are highly valued, so that you can get the best results from your training sessions. To help, our Beyond the Dog Kansas City team has compiled a list of our favorite treats on our Amazon shopping list. As you learn more about your puppy, you will see what their preferences are. But to help you on your training journey, this list includes a wide range of different treat types, including:
Freeze-Dried Treats
Oven baked treats
Chewy treats
We also recommend taking peanut butter, as long as it is xylitol free. This includes skippy peanut butter squeezes, but you could also try out some banana and peanut butter training treats.
Toys
We don’t recommend rope toys or plush toys. These are easy for dogs to tear apart and can be a choking and digestion hazard. It’s important to get your dog around 8 to 12 chew toys to help with teething, provide enrichment, and help stop your bored puppy from chewing up your clothes, carpet, and shoes. You should rotate through these toys to keep your dog engaged.
Chew toys that we recommend include:
Food and water bowls
We recommend stainless steel bowls for food and water because they are easy to clean, and your puppy won’t chew them up.
Some puppies like to be speed racers and eat as if they haven’t had a meal for days. To help slow down their eating, you can get a slow feeder bowl for them.
Playpens and baby gates
Playpens and baby gates are great for confining your dog to certain areas of the home. It helps prevent them from running to the bedroom to chew up clothes, disturbing the cats, going into the next room to go potty, or exploring the kitchen for food.
Though if you can’t directly supervise your puppy, we recommend putting them in the crate.
Dog crates
Crates give your puppy a safe place to rest when you can’t supervise them, leave the home, or overnight. Crates give them a place to rest away from distractions and help with potty training. We recommend purchasing a wire crate with a divider or a plastic crate.
Leashes, harnesses, and collars
Leashes, harnesses, and collars that we recommend include:
- A long line is useful for teaching commands such as recall and following exercises.
- A flat leash provides you with more control than a retractable leash. You can have your puppy drag a flat leash around during training, including when you are working on potty training and obedience training.
- A chain leash is useful for puppies who chew through their flat leashes.
- A gentle leader is useful for loose leash training.
- An easy-walk harness is great for leash walking and doesn’t pull on their throat.
- A martingale collar is a great non-slip collar. This is very useful for dogs who love to try to slip out of their collar when pulled.
- A long line is essential for teaching the recall command and following exercises.
Dog beds
Orthopedic dog beds have raised sides and are very comfortable. They also have removable covers to clean. We also recommend raised dog beds, which are durable and easy to clean. Raised dog beds are a good choice for puppies who tend to destroy their beds, and are also suitable for staying outside.
Grooming supplies
Every puppy needs some grooming supplies, though some breeds like Siberian Huskies, need them more than others. Grooming supplies that we recommend include:
We are here to help
Do you need help teaching your puppy high-level obedience and manners, or would you like to discuss any behavioral concerns you may have? Beyond the Dog Kansas City offers personalized board and train programs and virtual training programs. Our board and train programs include in person return and follow up lessons at your home and local neighborhood. You can schedule a free consultation with our Pet Behavior Team to discuss your training goals and receive a personalized recommendation.
Beyond the Dog Kansas City is led by our co-founders, Dr. Echterling-Savage, a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (CAAB) and Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), and Sean Savage, a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant (CDBC) and Certified Professional Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA). We use scientifically proven training methods that are supported by over 20 years of hands-on experience.
