Many of our clients ask us what they will need to have on hand when they bring their new puppy home for the first time. It’s hard to know sometimes as you walk the aisles of a big pet store and see all the wonderful toys and products for dogs which ones are the best and most useful. Over the years, we have tried many different products and offer the following suggestions for our clients bringing home a new puppy.

Toys

Toys are often expensive, and many don’t last very long with the persistent, sharp teeth of a young puppy chewing on them ! We have found that Nylabone products are very tough, and last quite a while. They are made in different “toughnesses” and sizes for young and adult dogs, and the dogs are only able to gnaw tiny, rice-like pieces off the Nylabones, which are not likely to block their digestive tracts.
https://www.nylabone.com/products

One of the big problems with rawhide chews (aside from being breeding grounds for Salmonella and other bacteria) is that dogs will sometimes soften larger pieces of the rawhide with chewing, and then swallow them. These large pieces can block their digestive tracts, which can wind up being a life-threatening problem, and necessitate a very expensive trip to the vet to have them surgically removed ! We would recommend just staying out of the aisle with the rawhide chews, pig’s ears, and hooves altogether...there are many better alternatives.

Be wary of letting your dog play unsupervised with ANY toy that could be chewed into pieces which are large enough to cause blockages if swallowed; this can include things like tennis balls, which are not really made to withstand chewing. (Although tennis balls are a great “supervised” toy, especially when you have a plastic “tennis ball launching stick” to throw them with !) Also watch out for garbage such as plastic bags blowing through the yard, and socks, towels, and other items of clothing blowing off your clothesline into the yard where the dogs can get at them.

Puppies and older Goldens LOVE to carry around stuffed toys, which we often buy for them from Goodwill, but these should be supervised toys. Carrying them around appeases their retriever instincts, but sooner or later, they settle in to chew them to pieces (usually to get the “squeaker” out of them,or pull off the toy’s ears or button eyes) and that’s when they might swallow a hunk of Winnie-The-Pooh, so keep an eye on them !

Ropes are a great chew toy, and because the dogs can usually only pull off short bits of string from the ends, are safer than cloth toys or stuffed animals.

We have also found Kong brand toys to be very durable and safe. Kong make tough balls which can stand a good chewing, as well as their signature “beehive-shaped” hollow toy which you can fill with peanut butter and kibble and then freeze for a (messy) treat.
https://www.kongcompany.com 

Our dogs will play fetch for hours with a Jolly (Teaser) Ball. They are tough plastic, and come in a smaller and larger size. We have found that the smaller size is easier on your arm to throw repeatedly, and last longer because the adult dogs can’t get their noses all the way in to the side holes to chew the holes bigger ! These toys float, and are great for the cottage as well as at home.
https://jollypets.com


Bones or no bones ? We are often asked about giving puppies (and older dogs) bones to chew. In general, fresh, raw beef bones are good. We give our dogs and teething puppies fresh soup bones (beef femur bones cut into pieces) from the butcher occasionally for a treat. After a day, we usually get rid of them to avoid problems with bacteria. Dogs should never be given cooked bones of any kind, as they will splinter into sharp shards when chewed.

Crates & Pens

We highly recommend crate training for dogs  and if you elect to go this route, we recommend buying the extra large size crate right away. This will avoid the expense of having to buy the larger size when your puppy grows up, and is useful because it will allow you to create an area with newspaper at the back of the crate for accidents, and a bed with towels or a dog “bed” at the front for your puppy’s comfort when he is crated. We recommend solid fabric or plastic sided crates, as wire mesh crates can cause injuries if your pet gets their leg caught in the mesh.

The crate also works well in tandem with freestanding fabric or plastic pens, another very handy item we would consider a necessity for a client bringing home a new puppy. These can be used out in the yard to keep puppy out of trouble, Again, we do not recommend wire mesh style pens.

Whatever pen or crate you choose, make sure your puppy cannot get their legs caught through any openings.

Leashes & Collars

A collar and leash will be needed as well. We recommend using a regular leather or nylon collar (which does not constrict when pulled) at first; when the puppy is older you can switch to a chain-style training collar for learning to walk. We use both flexi-style (extending & retracting) leads and static nylon or leather leads for walking. A static lead with a training collar is best for training; once the dogs are trained, or for young puppies, we often use a flexi-style lead. One thing to keep in mind is not pulling too hard when correcting a dog with any type of lead; you can damage the dog’s windpipe if you are too rough.

Food

We recommend either a high-end dog food with little or no “filler” (such as corn) or a raw food diet for dogs. 

We use TLC Pet Food. You can get more info on TLC pet food by clicking the link in the bottom left corner of each of our pages.

We hope that we can save you some unnecessary headaches, disappointment, and expense from our experience. Opinions vary on such topics as crate training, and bones for dogs. We recommend these practices and products based on our positive experience with them. Please consult your veterinarian if you are unsure about anything discussed here.