We have been toying with the idea of getting a puppy for a long time. I am actually a bit embarrassed to admit that I applied for a rescue pup last year and after filling out the novel size application and taking pictures of where our new family member would sleep in our home, I had to explain to my kids that we did not make the cut. So we have been in contact with a dog breeder for a while now and finally the opportunity for a little guy came up. We travel a lot and were looking for a small dog who will hopefully be up for all our jaunts to Canada and beyond so if you follow along in the next few weeks you’ll get to know a little more about the new puppy that will be joining our family. And because we are getting this little guy while we are all stuck at home we are doing all of our new dog shopping online. And as usual, since I’m doing all this research I thought I might as well compile it in one place so if you are also trying to create a new puppy checklist of your own, maybe it will help you too.
How to choose a Veterinarian and do you need a dog license for your puppy?
Puppies get a few rounds of vaccines in their early days and I was told my puppy would have his first shots by the time we pick him up but we would need a veterinarian to give him more shots in a few weeks. We also were told to make sure to take him to our vet soon to make sure he was in good health. We use Checkbook when we need to make big spending decisions and it was also a helpful resource for finding a veterinarian near us that was well-rated and reasonably priced. Booking our first veterinarian appointment was one of the first things I did after saying yes to the new puppy.
I also remembered that that the puppy would probably need a license when I was booking the vet appointment and on the city website I found out that in Seattle dogs need a license within 30 days of being in the city. So as soon as I get our new puppy and his paperwork I’ll apply for his license.
Where is the dog going to sleep?
Because we are in a unique situation where the kids don’t have real school or traditional schedules we’ve decided to try letting the dog sleep in the boys’ room. It’s been a good excuse at least to help encourage our kids to clean their room. Our dog breeder recommended this soft-sided pet crate and then we noticed that the brand made soft sided pet play pens too so we bought a big one and a little one. We will put the little one in the boys’ room around the crate for the puppy to sleep in. And once I bought these things I realized that we will have to teach the puppy how to sleep and go to the bathroom.
So how are we going to train our new puppy?
Now isn’t this the million dollar question? I posted our puppy announcement on Instagram and immediately received some really good advice. A few people mentioned a bell method for training the dog to go outside that I’ve never heard of before. Thankfully the American Kennel Association talks about this method on its website so I ended up buying a couple bells so we can try the dog bell training method too.
I also bought this dog training book because the dog trainer has a youtube and instagram so it feels like maybe if I need to I can get help quickly. And of course our dog breeder is also a really great resource as well.
I also remembered seeing this FreshPatch idea on Shark Tank and because we don’t have any grass for our new puppy this product seems perfect. Every couple weeks a new grass patch will be shipped to our house. Maybe if it gets too expensive or doesn’t work out we’ll plant grass somewhere but at least in the meantime this seems like a good place to start.
And what else do we need?
Can you think of anything we’re forgetting? Because this is pretty much all we’ve got. I’ve started a new puppy Pinterest page to compile my readings and a new puppy things list on Amazon and I’ll try to add any resources we find invaluable to this post. Also, I’ve already ordered the food that our breeder told us to get. I bought a harness and leash. And I have bought a puppy outfit and a few toys like some puppy keys and a Kong. I’ve noticed that many puppy things on Amazon are hard to get right now because it seems like a lot of people in our area are adding new furry family members to their households.
Are you considering getting a dog for your family? And if you are already a dog parent, do you have any advice that we might need?
(PS. this post contains affiliate links)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
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