Puppy Essentials Checklist

Welcome back to the blog! Though I grew up with dogs, getting a pet of your own for the first time that you’re 100% responsible for is a bit different. I’ve compiled a list of everything you need (or at least what I recommend so far) in a puppy essentials checklist with links to my favorite products so far!

Some background info:

We’ve had our puppy, Lucia, for two weeks. She’s around 15 weeks old and we’re unsure what breed she is. We were told a lab and beagle mix, but we think she has a good amount of Jack Russell in her. 

Collar and leash
This is a duh, but make sure you get the right size (we ended up getting one a little too big, so we’re waiting until she grows some more to put it on her) and a leash that’s durable. Ours is a twisted rope design and it seems to be holding up well so far. Time will tell!

Harness
These are great for teaching your dog how to walk so you don’t have to tug at their neck like you do when using just a collar. You guys got a kick out of Lucia’s tantrum over her harness that I shared on my Instagram 😂 — girlfriend HATES it! We’re going to keep it on her more often so she can get used to it and hopefully that will do the trick. Here is the one we have.

Ceramic food and water bowls
I HIGHLY recommend getting bowls that aren’t plastic or a lightweight metal because chances are they are going to get chewed on. I suggest ceramic heavier ones that can’t be as easily flipped over. Lucia hasn’t shown any interest in chewing hers or flipping them over, so we’re glad we went this route— plus, they come in a cute little wooden holder that flows seamlessly with our home decor. Here are the ones we have, which I believe come in white as well.

Food
I’m sure you guys know that as puppies, it’s hard on their stomachs to switch up the kind of food they eat, so stick with what the previous owner/breeder has been feeding them or slowly mix in a different kind to transition them.

Assorted toys
Every dog seems to like different types of toys, so I suggest picking up some kind of ball, rope and stuffed toy to help figure out what they like. There doesn’t seem to be any that Lucia dislikes yet, but she loves her rope with a tennis ball in the middle and a Kong Knot stuffed bear (not sure what size it is) the most! I’d say the bear is her all-time favorite so far since it’s stuffed with a knotted rope inside too.

Crate
Crate training is pretty popular and that’s what we decided to do with Lucia, which I’ll talk more about in a sec. I’m not sure where you can get these the cheapest, but we ended up getting ours at Petco on our way home from picking her up since we were in a time crunch (read all about that story here). You can research this, but basically, you want to get them one that is just big enough to sleep in to decrease any desire to go to the bathroom in there. We’ll upgrade to a bigger one later on if she needs it.

Bed
We put her bed in her crate with an old beach towel, which has worked great for her since she willingly wants to sleep in there. There are all kinds of styles you can get, but I’d get something durable for their crate or one that isn’t too expensive since it’s very likely that they’ll chew it up. When she’s not in her crate, we also have a couple floor cushions for her to nap on throughout the house.

Activity pin
We’ve chosen to keep Lucia in an activity pin (size medium I believe) inside while we’re away and it’s been great! Especially while she’s as little as she is (and we don’t even know how big she’ll get yet), we want to keep her inside when she’s unattended. She seems to like it, especially with her crate in there to sleep in. To help protect the floor, we put a shower curtain and a sheet underneath the pin. The shower curtain helps make sure nothing seeps through to the floor and the sheet is a nice comfy surface for her to lay on. It’s also easy to clean up since we can throw the sheet in the wash and start fresh every day!

Kong toys and peanut butter
Kongs are a major lifesaver and if you take away anything from this post, USE THESE! To get Lucia to want to go in her crate every night and not bark, we freeze peanut butter inside of Kong toys (maybe sure you buy a brand of PB that is okay for dogs). She gets so amped for these that she doesn’t even care that we close the cage and leave the room. She literally doesn’t even look up, it’s amazing. I think trying to lick the peanut butter out makes her tired because she always falls asleep after without a peep. These are great if you need to distract them at other times during the day too, but we mostly just do it at bedtime as a little treat. You can put other treats or a little bit of kibble inside to stick to the peanut butter as well.

Teething treats/toys
My mom got these pumpkin flavored teething ring treats for Lucia and they’ve been great! They’re great for when you need to keep your pup occupied and if they’re biting like crazy, this helps distract them while giving them something to chew on. She can’t get enough of them!

Bells
We ordered these from Amazon Prime to hang on our door and train Lucia to ring them when she needs to go to the bathroom. The one we got 2-pack, which is great if you have a couple of doors you’d like to put them on or if you’d like to give one to a family member that your dog frequently visits. It’s also just nice to have an extra one if yours gets destroyed by your puppy.

Car seat cover
My mom actually got this for us and recommended it since she has the same one — it’s amazing! Whether your seats are upholstered or leather, this prevents your dog from scratching at your seats and creates a hammock-like space that doesn’t allow them to fall to the floor. It’s waterproof, scratchproof and made of non-slip material. We put one of the velvet cushions back there with a toy or two when we go places and she’s quick to get comfy and fall asleep. This helps give her some independence in the car too so she’s not always in her laps, which is especially great if she ever gets to big to do that. I like that this cover is lowkey and since my car’s interior is also black, it blends in and looks nice.

Portable water/food bowl
We have a collapsible bowl that we bring with us when we’re out so we can make sure she’s hydrated no matter where we are. These take up hardly any space and are easy to dump and go when you’re done. Here are some similar ones.

__________

Those are all of my puppy essentials so far! Is there anything you recommend? Let me know in the comments! As always, thanks for stopping by my blog today and you can catch up on my other puppy posts below.

• We Got a Puppy!
• Pupdate: Lucia’s First Weekend With Us