Preparing for a Dog or Puppy

What should you have ready for your new dog? Having food, a bed, a crate, and other things ready and set up at your home before you bring home your dog will make it easier on you and the dog.

For instance, what are you going to feed the dog? Canned dog food? Dry dog food? Will you need puppy food or are you getting an adult. If you are bringing home a puppy you will want to plan on feeding them puppy food for the first year or more.

Maybe you are going to prepare natural food for your dog. That is a good choice, since there are so many dog foods available and it’s hard to know which ones can actually hurt your dog’s health. By making the food at home you know that your dog is eating healthy and nutritious food that will more likely give him a long and healthy life.

When you are getting a new Dog or Puppy you might want to consider a Dog Bed. When you provide your new pet with a Pet Bed you give your Dog or Cat a place that is all their own.

For training and for providing the dog a secure and safe place to go, a crate is highly recommended. For more on crate training read this article called Housetraining Your Dog.”

You should have a few dog toys around for the dog to chew on (especially if you are getting a puppy) and have a good vet picked out, too. You will want to get your dog at least a rabbies shot. After the killing of tens of thousands of dogs in China recently, I have to highly recommend getting your puppy or dog a rabbies shot. Why take chances?

Other items you want to have on hand before your dog comes home is a good food container (metal is highly recommended for health reasons), several water bowls (outside we use empty 5-quart icecream buckets and inside we use a big 2-gallon container that looks like a Sparklets water container which we got at Wal-mart in the pet section for a few dollars), some dog treats, and a leash and halter.

You might also want to have a spray that deordorizes in case your dog or puppy has an accident in the house, and you should have something to get rid of fleas (we use Frontline, but if you have ticks in your area use Advantage). If we are bringing in a dog from the shelter or off the street I use Frontline on him or her before bringing the dog in the house. I know they say it takes 24 hours to get rid of the fleas, but I figure the sooner I put it on the dog the sooner he will be free of fleas.

Bringing home a dog or puppy can be a fun experience or a frantic one. Make it a fun experience by being prepared with these things and anything else you can think of.