Suggested supplies
Get ready for puppy coming home! Here are some of our favorites and suggestions!
These are simply our recommendations and suggestions from personal experience. Please do not feel that you have to use what we do. We want to help where we can, but this is YOUR journey with YOUR puppy.
**Please note that puppy should not enter the pet store until fully vaccinated. Your puppy comes to you with her first set of shots, but requires a booster before she is safe for public spaces. Every trip to the pet store I see people "puppy shopping" with their puppies, putting them in a huge amount of risk. I understand it is so much fun and very exciting to let him/her pick out her new things, but Parvo IS in your local community, and is often fatal. Please have your puppy shopping done in advance, or go without your furry friend- its not worth the risk.
Dog Crate
A dog crate is a must for bringing puppy home- Not only is it an invaluable potty training and puppy training tool, It also keeps puppy safe if you are not able to watch him for a moment. Puppies can eat things so fast, and surgery to remove a foreign object is very costly, not to mention terrifying as a pet owner!
We recommend a 36 inch crate, with a removable divider so you can slowly make the space bigger as puppy grows. A puppy will be much much harder to potty train if given a large space.
Puppy treats
You will need some great treats for puppy training! Our dogs LOVE this brand of treats, and fortunately they are available at Costco, as well as most pet stores (and amazon!). They come in long strips so we chop ours up into puppy-size bites to have ready for training sessions.
You can of course experiment and find what your Labradoodle puppy likes, but we recommend you stick with one-ingredient treats for the first few months while your puppy is in such a transitional stage to lower chances of allergies and tummy- upsets.
Toys!
You will want to purchase a variety of toys and we recommend trying different types and textures- every dog is unique in what they like.
We recommend having a strong, suff-able toy (a KONG is fantastic) so that your puppy can be entertained in their kennel for a while should you have to go out, or just need a break! You can stuff with their regular food in leu of a meal. You can even give all their meals stuffed into a kong if you have a puppy that eats to quickly.
Collar
A collar is must, and really the style is completely up to you. There are so many cute designs its so hard to choose! Your puppy will come home with a small puppy size one, but our adult dogs usually wear a 18-20 inch collar once they are mature.
If you are looking for a leather collar, we find local equestrian/tack stores usually carry some very nice, yet inexpensive ones. We have had the odd puppy eat the clip off a buddy if it is plastic, so for that reason we do recommend metal finishing's, but it is not a necessity.
Leash
All you need in the leash department is a good, sturdy leash. Steer clear of retractable leashes- not only are they a training disaster and teach dogs to pull while being walked, they also pose major safety concerns and can injure dogs spines as well as cause burns to dogs and handlers easily. These leashes also give owners little control over their dogs. Many dogs have been lunged at by bigger dogs with no way to "reel in" the pup, or prevent puppy from running into traffic. For these reasons, and many many more, you will never find a professional dog trainer using or recommending a retractable leash
Dishes
Puppy will need dishes, and again this is something that is mainly preference. We have found, however, that while puppies are teething some(most) tend to chew their dishes and some have even broken pieces of ceramic off. while in the puppy faze we recommend inexpensive stainless steel dishes ( the dollar tree has some) so there are no hazards. Many stainless dishes have rubber grips on the bottom and these parts also get chewed off too.
After you puppy is out of the chewing age, you can go crazy and get all the cute dishes you Like! You can also keep cute dishes out of the crate during the puppy age, but if you are leaving for a few hours they will need to have a safe dish for water.
Ear Cleaner
Because Australian labradoodles have such oh-so-adorable floppy ears, they do need their ears cleaned regularly or they can become prone to infections (something we personally have never needed to worry about since we keep up on ear cleaning!) any veterinarian recommended cleaner will do and there are a plethora of options at the pet store so unless your dog has specific concern we have never found one product to be better then another, just grab whatever is on sale!
Puppy Shampoo
Puppies love to get themselves dirty and will need to be bathed. We love this one from burts bees, however any puppy shampoo will do! You can even use un-scented, tearless baby shampoo, just remember that whatever you gets needs to be either designed for puppies, or be tearless
*When bathing puppies we recommend putting 1/4 cup shampoo in a bottle with 1 cup water, and shaking until mixed. Watering down distributes the shampoo so much easier through the hair and you will use much less, and get a better "froth."
Puppy Food
What your puppy eats is probably your biggest decision as a dog owner, and one that can really change your dogs lifespan. We encourage you to speak DIRECTLY to your vet. Our advice is not the substitute for a veterinarian, ever. Anyone speaking about dog food who is not a vet or has a degree in animal nutrition is not a reliable resource, including ourselves. We do not encourage or follow "Fad" raw diets due to the resent surge in heart-related deaths in dogs following raw diets, and instead choose to feed a veterinarian and science based diet. Below are three recommendations from our vet. Remember, veterinarians do not get paid by dog food companies, and their recommendation is based on years of schooling and science, not of being paid off by the company (that's not legal!). Your puppy will come to you with a portion of our food, then you can transition them them to your desired choice! your booster shot appointment is a fantastic opportunity to discuss dietary requirements with your vet, and find what works for you!
