New Puppy Things I'm Grateful For

As I live with a new puppy again, there are a few things I find myself very grateful for, and if you have or planning to add a new puppy to your household, you may find them helpful as well.

Teddy / Snuggle Puppy

Tristan's first night home was awful.  The next day I got a teddy bear from Walmart with no beads to chew off and swallow and he loved it.  He would snuggle with it and wanted to take it everywhere with him.  This time, knowing Liv had been kept with her litter sister until 11 weeks, I decided to try the Snuggle Puppy that has a heart beat.  I honestly don't know if it helped more, or if Liv wasn't as bothered by the change as Tristan but her transition when much better.  She would snuggle with it in the crate and occasionally in her playpen but other than that hasn't really been interested in it.  But the car ride home and first night were so much better than Tristan's.

Bully Sticks & Bully Chomp chews

This is something I didn't use when Tristan was a puppy and now wish I had.  I find that the bully sticks are a higher value chew for my dogs, while the bully chomps are valuable enough for the adults to give them an occasional chew but not need to finish them or get bent out of shape that the puppy is chewing on one.  This allows me to leave several (more than the number of dogs) down on the floor or in the yard so that Liv has a better outlet for her chewing than the other dogs or my furniture, floor or me.  I closely supervise or separate for bully sticks, because my adults chew those until gone and I don't want any issues between the dogs over the chews.  Your experience may be different depending on how your individual dogs view these chews.

Top: BoniVet Bully Stick Holder
Left: Standard Bully Stick
Center: Jumbo Bully Stick
​Right: Bully Chomp 

Drag line / Houseline / Leash

A cheap leash that Liv can drag makes it easy for me to keep her with me if I need to stop her taking a flying leap at one of my older dogs or chewing things she shouldn't.  The key is that it needs to be one you don't care about!  At 12 weeks, she's chewing everything almost all the time, so this will include the leash and I don't want to care about it.  Teething will pass.  If I don't make a big deal about it, or constantly pull the leash out of her mouth, interest in leash chewing will decrease as she ages.  My floor is also littered with toys and chews so I can provide alternative chewing options, which she picks unless it's bedtime. 

Note - I started with the blue leash, then needed to stop as I found it did have some sentimental value for me.  The house lines I'd been sent with something else years ago have no handle, so more annoying to hang onto, but less likely to get caught anywhere if dragged.  And I don't care about them :)

Puppy Play Pen (x-pen)

For times when I need to be out of the house longer than Liv can hold her bladder, or times I need to get something done without her underfoot or tackling my other dogs, a playpen with a potty area reduces accidents, keeps her safe and gives her more freedom to move around and play than a crate.  This particular set up is because she likes to jump at the top of the pen, so it is lower than my usual one and has a lid to try and discourage that behaviour as I don't want that landing stress on her back legs.  It has room for a sleeping space, toys, chews, water and a potty.

Wood Pellet Horse Bedding

I was so happy to hear that my breeder had started this litter on pellets!  I find them so much easier to work with than paper.  I tried paper with Tristan and it was a mess, as he liked pulling the paper around.  These pellets are designed for horse bedding, and when they get wet, they turn into a fine sawdust.  Not as handy for clean up, but much less stressful if a puppy tries eating them.  I put them in a boot tray and have a potty area that I occasionally scoop and routinely dump out that I can phase out as Liv gets older.  When she's outside of her playpen I take her outside frequently and reward pottying out there.

Left: After adding water      Right: how they come
As the wet ones dry, they just turn into piles of sawdust.