Starter kit for bringing pup home

[Mrs K]

As some of you may already know (never stop going on about it!) we are due to get our pup in Jan   
I already have a hard plastic puppy bed and plan to get a spaniel specific bowl. Obviously will keep her to food she is used to. Does anyone have a comprehensive list of everything else I will need. Want to start buying it all just now before the prices shoot up on the run up to Christmas   
Apart from the above and a baby collar what else? Where is best place for crate etc.
Wasn't sure whether to put this under puppies or shopping so apologies if in wrong place.
Lorna
x

[milly]

Like you I am expecting a pup soon (2 weeks today ), I read through pages and pages on this site for months and gained enormously from the advice and experiences here. After reading about crates I decided to buy a Savic Crate as several people on here were pleased with them. I also found advice about Kongs and Snuggle Puppies, toilet training etc. Hubby thinks the snuggle puppy will be a waste of money but I liked the ides of giving the pup something warm with a 'heartbeat'. I can't remember is this is the site I bought it from http://www.canisgrooming.co.uk/ but it will give you an idea what it is. Other people wouldn't bother with these but I thought I'd give it a try. I'm sure the others with cocker experience will give you lots of tips but read through as well as there is lots of advice 

[Mrs K]

Yeah, this site is brilliant isn't it? I even found my expected litter through it - what great people everyone on here are!
I love the idea of the heartbeat thing, babies and puppies will surely miss this sound when seperated (I know my first daughter only fell asleep if I put the hair drier on...apparantly similar to sounds in the womb!).
All other ideas please pass on - I'd rather have too much that too little, want my baby to settle in without too much anxiety.

[Han]

Hubby thinks the snuggle puppy will be a waste of money but I liked the ides of giving the pup something warm with a 'heartbeat'. I can't remember is this is the site I bought it from http://www.canisgrooming.co.uk/ but it will give you an idea what it is.

My pup has a little snuggle baby from PAH http://www.petsathome.com/find/category-is-2+dog/category-is-2j+toys/category-is-2j03+comfort+and+cuddles/product-is-15036 and she LOVES it. When I heat it up in the microwave she jumps straight into her crate and snuggles down with it. Best 5 quid spent I reckon! 

[milly]

Wow Han, wished I'd found that site. The one I bought was £30 
Never mind.

[Cocos mummy]

hey! i know how you feel, we are picking our first puppy up in a few weeks! woo hoo!
just did a bulk online order at pets at home (its free delivery over £50 and you can return stuff in store if its wrong). i got a puppy pen aswell as a 28" crate as we have young children so want a safe place for her to play when they are about! also we are putting a stair gate on the kitchen door. i also ordered a really cute puppy collar and lead set from there and i got the puppy toilet pads plus one of those little snuggle babies and afew teething toys, oh and two small metal bowls, as i really want the chow bella bowls but i figure she will be to small for those for a while....
hope that helps!
oh and i was going to get the puppy kong but they only did large and medium so not sure if that would be to big? does anyone know what size is best for a cocker pup?
 

[Coco]

It's exciting betting things for new pup but very easy to get carried away  
My list would be, though you could get away with much less...
Crate (We got ours from he local market saving about £20. I also have a spare from a boot sale (plastic coated that I bleached and jeys fluid-ed) for about £10)
Stair gate (we never actually got one but we do need it, we just use a piece of trellis as a baracade  )
Kitchen roll, plenty of
Camera (& lots of batteries if needed) (Xmas pressie if you don't have one)
Old towels and maybe puppy shampoo
Big pile of newspaper and or puppy training pads (I got Giz's from pound stretcher for £2.50 rather than £8 from PAH as Wherry didn't use hers at all. As it goes Giz didn't really either)
A couple of toys, I had puppy kong but neither were/are interested at first
Small collar (we got a basic tiny collar & lead set for about £3 as they grow out so quickly)
Food bowl and larger water bowl, possibly a place mat to go underneath to help mess (Mine don't have spanel bowls)
Training treats for puppies for toilet training.
Bed (I prefer a cosy soft one but a hard one with soft things in is fine)
Maybe a teddy bear for company and a small radio that can be where they are quietly.

I think it depends on the puppy, some people use DAP diffusers, snuggle pads etc to settle them if they are anxious but we never did.
I don't think they have any concept of being over fussed but I didn't want to over load them of make them dependent on 'props'. They were fine without  

[milly]

Forgot to say, I got the 28 inch Savic crate off ebay and used Zoflora to disinfect it as it said this was safe for animals if diluted correctly. It was in very good condition and not too far away so we picked it up and saved about £15. I bought baby blankets at the car boot for 30p each. Its amazing how much stuff people get bought for babies and don't use. The people looked clean and 2 blankets still had price tags on. I freshened them up in the washer and thought they would be ok for 'snuggly' bedding, plus I love a bargain

[Nicola]

You're getting prepared early!!    Just kidding you though, I know how exciting the wait is and she'll be worth it     For me with a first time pup the list would be:

Crate - I have two, one big one for the house and one smaller one for the car
A sturdy cardboard box with one side cut down - I don't buy 'proper' beds until they're a lot older as they've ALL been destroyed
Old towels/blankets for bedding - easily washed and easily chucked and replaced when (not if!) puppy chews and messes them really badly!
Simple Solution for cleaning accidents
Stair gate - I never had one but I can see how they'd be handy, especially if you have kids
Food bowl and water bowls, I keep one spaniel bowl for water in the crate as they can't tip it over but my lot won't eat out of spaniel bowls so they have normal food bowls, I also keep another water bowl in the kitchen and one on the patio outside
A supply of the food puppy has been on with the breeder
Newspaper/puppy pads but I don't use these for long
Couple of safe cuddly toys (no eyes etc.)
Couple of chewy/play toys like a puppy Kong, a rope chew and maybe a chewy puppy bone type thing
Puppy treats
A clicker - I usually use one for training the basics
Soft brush and some shampoo for cleaning off poo related incidents
Puppy collar and lead (even though mine hardly ever wear collars I get them used to one as pups and use it for lead training before moving to a slip lead)
Identity tag
Endless supplies of kitchen roll, humour and patience 

Pretty similar to Coco's list really, I've never bothered with heartbeat or heated toys or DAP diffusers etc. either. TBH whether it's a small pup (as Alfie was), an older pup (as Rodaidh was), an adult rescue (as Tilly was) or an adult foster (we've had a few!) coming into the house I tend to just act as if the pup/dog has always been here, the more laid back and matter of fact and less 'fussy' I am then the more laid back I generally find they are too and they settle in really quickly.

[Mrs K]

Thanks so much - a wealth of information as always - what would I have done without COL?
Question - I foolishly put in a new kitchen without really thinking that a destructapuppy might come along. If it is being left in the kitchen while I go to supermarket etc is a pen worth investing in to keep her away from a £15k disaster!? or is there enough room in a crate, if so for how long can they stay in the crate (age I mean rather than hours!).
All opinions welcomed! - Also if pen is a good idea, do they collapse easily to go against a wall when not being used?

Lorna
x

[Nicola]

I know mine would jump or climb out of a pen (even as pups, apparently Alfie was hauling himself out of the whelping box from almost as soon as he could walk), they might work for some pups but I've always gone with the crate for containment purposes. The one I have in the house is very big (all 3 of them can fit in it with room to lie down but I don't put all of them in it!) and Rodaidh who is nearly 2 still goes in it if I have to nip out due to his penchant for chewing on electrical cables although I'm thinking he might hopefully be getting past this now. He does like his crate though, he sometimes paws the door open and takes himself in there of his own accord for a snooze.

[Cocos mummy]

the pen i bought is fully collapsible, it was £40.00 from pets at home but you may be able to pick up a bargain on ebay....

[Karma]

As far as Kongs go, we got the small puppy one, but upgraded to medium when we got an adult version... seemed to suit Honey well (she still uses the puppy one on occassion!).

Start collecting the insides from toilet rolls now - these are great for putting a biccie inside to give a pup something to work for (Honey still gets one every night - OH steals the empty loo rolls from work and I've been known to smuggle them out of pub toilets!!!    ).

Also, start looking at your house from the ground and make it safe - get all those trailing wires safely tucked away!!

As far as crate/pen, I think it depends on what you are needing it for - if it's just for relatively short periods of time to do the shopping and so on, a crate is great - if you want to be able to keep the pup contained for longer (say if there are young children about) then a pen can help, just so they can still play and run about but can't get up to too much mischief.  While we used a crate, we never shut it, as we knew the length of time she was left was on the high side so felt it unfair to restrict her too much - instead we made the dining room safe and gave her free reign in there - the only damage we've really had there is the back of the door, which was always first thing in the morning, never when we were out... 

Plenty of people continue to crate their dogs for their entire life - many dogs prefer a confined space to feel secure in. 

[Han]

Definitely don't underestimate the amount of kitchen roll you'll need  !
Also baby wipes - Darcey had a really runny bottom for the first few days and these were essential for cleaning her up. Also good for cleaning mucky little paws.

We have a pen as well as a crate - as Karma says I will ultimately sometimes have to leave her for 3/4 hours and I don't think it's fair to crate for that long. She has a small crate in the pen which is her cosy bed.  Once she's too big for the pen she'll have the run of the utility room. It's also helpful when you're cooking etc as it means you can put pup out from under your feet. She has all her meals in her pen and often asks to be lifted into there.

[Hurtwood Dogs]

HOT TIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DO NOT FLUSH THE KITCHEN ROLL DOWN THE LOO.....

I won't go into detail but thank doG the man hole cover is in my back garden, think I could face anything now