Picture this: You’re planning on bringing a puppy home soon, so you go to a pet supply store ready to gear up. But then you walk out an hour later empty handed because your brain exploded. It’s not that they don’t have what you need. It’s that there are 4-5 full aisles of dog foods to choose from, 3 aisles of dog treats, 4 aisles of dog toys, etc. You walk out from decision fatigue, your brain a mush pile. This happened to me recently when I went in just to get training treats for the puppies. Way too many choices. What your puppy needs:
Food
Food dishes (won’t outgrow)
Bed (outgrows quickly if small sized)
Enclosure x 1-2
Toys
Collar and/or harness (outgrows quickly)
ID tag (never outgrows)
Leash (won’t outgrow)
Car travel ability
Grooming supplies
Tons of time, love, and training
There is a short list with links at the bottom of this blog.
I’ve gotten several requests for recommendations, so I’ll share my thoughts here! I may be too verbose here but there are always a few who want all of the explanations. This is for you.
Food: I feed all of our dogs Nutro Ultra. I like it because unlike all of the main dog food brands and the typically used by Breeder brands, Nutro Ultra is non-GMO. I personally feel strongly against GMO foods, and believe they contribute to human and dog health problems. It has a good Calcium:Phosphorous ratio, and they add taurine to the Large Breed formula. Please have a bag of Nutro Ultra Large Breed Puppy at home before your puppy comes home! It’s available through Chewy & Amazon (& probably other places too) for delivery to your door.
If you want to use a different dog food, please start with Nutro Ultra Large Breed Puppy and transition slowly to your other choice.
The amount of dog food choices out there is absolutely dizzying. Nutro Ultra is what I choose. I am very wary of dog foods that have Wheat, corn, and/or soy, foods that are labeled as fully grain free, & any kibble that does not have a calcium: phosphorous ratio between 1.0-1.2:1.0, which is a ratio Golden’s need. I’m also wary of extremely high protein foods, as a high protein diet in humans is hard on the kidneys, and I would expect that to be likely in dogs as well. Ask your vet about their recommendation on puppy vs all life stage foods and if they recommend foods labeled specifically for large breed for your Golden. Talk with multiple experts and you’ll likely get different answers. AAFCO recommends large breed labeled foods for dogs expected to be over 70 pounds. Some vets and other experts say over 50 pounds. Our females are expected to weigh 55-65 pounds and males 65-75.
Supplements:
General supplement: Our non-breeding dogs have not needed general supplements. I’ve been giving Maya “Dogzymes Complete“ during this litter and it has kept her coat dark and supple. A little goes a long ways. So if you are wanting to give a supplement, I’ve been pleased with it. It’s organic. It has live probiotics and digestive enzymes plus more.
Fish oil: Wild caught fish oil is Great for developing brains, and has benefits for all life stages. Ask your vet.
Probiotics: I ocassionslly give our dogs homemade yogurt that cultures 24 hours to be lactose free. They get it because it’s always available in our home for the humans. I recommend giving probiotics any time you are knowingly wiping out good gut flora (ie deworming or on antibiotics) and any time their poop is just getting loose/off. (Obviously if it’s really off you should consult your vet). Probiotics just bulk up the good flora in their gut. Some people like to give probiotics daily. You decide.
Food Dishes:
I like stainless bowls that I can throw in the dishwasher to clean in the sanitize cycle, so that is what I use. Puppies like to play in the water dishes and foul the water. Raised dishes can dissuade this and make it harder, but I’ve found no fail safe solution. Training treats:
My favorite high value training treats are simple freeze dried liver treats. I break them into tiny pieces. Hopefully the puppies will advance to these, but they are currently too much work for the puppies and they spit them out. The ideal treat in my mind is able to be broken very small, dry in my hand, but soft so puppy has minimal chewing and a quick and easy swallow, and ideally nutritious. You can chop tiny cubes of cheese, hot dogs, or other meats; I just don’t like the gooyness of meats in my hand. If puppy is not too frenetic before eating meals, very small kibble works fine as a training treat. If puppy is teachable, a 3-5 minute lesson using kibble just before his lunch and dinner meal can work well. I wouldn’t do it before breakfast when it’s been so long since his dinner meal. Gear:
In general, puppies are like babies and you can easily go nuts buying oodles of equipment. And like babies, they grow (and outgrow some things) quickly. Please keep in mind that some things can be outgrown in a month or two, and other things can last for years or maybe even their lifetime. At pickup your puppy will likely be 10-15 pounds. And then they will grow about 10 pounds a month until they reach adult size & weight which can be as early as 6 months old. It’s like my teenager who was over 6 feet tall at 15-16 years old. He’s not fully grown or mature, but he won’t likely get much taller.
Bed:
Make sure you get a bed, sleep pad or blanket/throw that is easily washable. You will need to wash it. Many times. If you get a cute nest bed like the ones I use in our whelping box, they will outgrow it in a month or two. If you get a dog bed with a washable, removable cover, it’s wise to cover/seal the inner bed/pad with something waterproof because if they pee, poo, or barf on it and it seeps into the inner bedding even once, it becomes a target for more of the same. If you buy any kind of bonafide dog bed, you may want a chew proof bed because many puppies/dogs will decide the dog bed is their favorite chew toy. They see it as an oversized stuffed animal to be de-stuffed. I personally use microfiber/fleece washable throws until they are fully housebroken, sleeping through the night with no night accidents for two months, and then we celebrate with a nice adult dog bed with washable cover (ideally still with inner pad waterproofed). This usually takes us three to four months, and by then the dog is almost full size. Costco usually carries nice, affordable dog beds, but you can get them many places.
Enclosures:
Crates: Puppies need a confined place to sleep, at least until they are potty trained and housebroken. If you want to buy the least amount of gear, buy a crate that is big enough for your full size dog with a crate length of 36-42”, with a divider. You can use the divider to adjust the footprint to the appropriate size of your growing puppy; This is key in potty training. Crates are an asset far beyond potty training though. They can be used to calm your puppy/ dog, encourage nap time, and to secure your dog when you leave the house. Many dogs see crates as their own little den and like their quiet space.
Exercise pen:
An exercise pen is a bunch of connected folding wire fence panels. It’s what we use for our indoor and outdoor puppy areas. One ex-pen allows you to set up a puppy apartment with a sleep area, potty area, and play area if you want your puppy to have their own mini room. It’s a portable playpen too.
Potty:
For those who are only outdoor potty training, you only need a leash at most, and clean up bags for public places. I will include a small packet of pine shavings or pellets as their potty target when they go home. If you are offering your dog an indoor potty area, you’ll need either pee pads or a litter box and filler. We use a litter box with pine pellets because we have 13 dogs going potty going pee & poo about 10x/day each. The pine pellets (hardware store- used for wood burning stoves) kill urine smell So they are necessary for us. Toys:
Golden Retrievers are a paradoxical mix of strong jaws and soft mouths. We give our dogs a mix of balls to retrieve, rope toys to chew, and a classic Kong. Classic rope toys (large rope diameter made from tons of tiny strands) are great for teething because they can control their chew to get the tiny ropes down exactly where their teeth are bothering them. They are also great for fetch and tug of war. Kong classic toys are fillable for treats and/or you can put them in the freezer to further help teething dogs. Kong toys are typically very durable and last well for our dogs, but our male dog has destroyed even Kongs with his chewing. The only one that has outlasted his jaws is the black Kong extreme for aggressive chewers. I’ve seen some of the puppies swipe and chew his toy, so don’t think it’s too early to start there. They’ll outgrow a puppy Kong in a couple of months. On things to throw for retrieve: tennis balls are the best.
A word on stuffed animals: expect them to get destroyed. I’m not aware of any chew proof stuffed animals. The only stuffed animal I would really consider is an All For Paws anxiety relief sleep aid or Snuggle Puppy. These are stuffed toys that have a removable heartbeat sound inside that you can turn off or on. I found this helpful the first few weeks of crate training. It helped settle our of each dogs when they began Sleeping alone for crate training. When first put in it was a chew target, but when I activated the heartbeat, they settled down and snuggled up to it, which helped puppy sleep better at night, which meant I slept better at night.
ID Tag:
This is so important! Most good citizens will call the phone number on the collar if your dog is ever lost. Yes your dog will be microchipped but your average person carries cell phones, not microchip scanners. We put our dog’s name on the front of the tag and our phone numbers on the back. Make it as simple or as extravagant as you want; they won’t outgrow it. Make sure the coil holding the ID to the collar is strong. If you dislike the jangle sound of a dog collar, get one that clips to the collar directly; if you go this route you may need to upsize along with collar size.
Collar:
Get a simple clip or buckle collar to hold your ID tag. Go fancy if you want to, but collars are something they‘ll outgrow. They’ll be outgrowing their current collars right about when they go home. Those will have had a 6 week life.
Harness:
Some people prefer harnesses to collars to clip the leash to. I have our dogs in harnesses in the car when we travel. Puppies standardly hate the feel of harnesses until they are acclimated to them. I will be acclimating the puppies to a very simple strap harnesses over the next couple of weeks so that those of you who want to use harnesses will have a simpler time of it. I also plan to send those simple harnesses home with you dogs along with a seatbelt tether so your puppy can travel safely home.
Leash:
I’d start out with a simple 4-6 foot leash and go from there.
Ability to car travel:
Your dog should not be loose in your car; It’s dangerous for the dog and it’s a danger to driving. Safer options include: crating your dog in the car, harnessing your dog with a seatbelt/headrest strap & harness, or some people buy hardware for their SUV/van to barricade the back of the vehicle from the front. I personally use a seatbelt clip that clips to their HARNESS. Regardless of pictures you see in advertisements showing seatbelt and/or headrest tethers clipped to neck collars, You CANNOT clip a seatbelt/headrest device to a collar, because if you stop fast or get into an accident, it can choke and/or break their neck. These tethers must clip to a harness that covers the breastbone. I wrote it above but I’ll state it again here in case people are skimming the info: I intend to send a simple harness home with you dog along with a seatbelt tether so your puppy can travel safely home. We recently did a road trip to Montana with all 3 dogs seatbelt clipped to harnesses in the back row of our van and the dogs did great. To protect your car seats from scratches and messes, you can place a towel, waterproof pad, or crate the dog.
Grooming Supplies:
You’ll need a slicker brush and deshedding tool. If you are doing all grooming yourself, you’ll also need baby shampoo to start, nail cutting supplies (clippers and/or dremel, and a styptic stick or powder). Puppy will also need to clean teeth, which rope toys will help do. If you use a toothbrush and toothpaste, make sure the toothpaste does not contain xylitol (added to most human toothpaste but is harmful to dogs).
Time, Love and Training
Of everything on this page, the most important things your dog needs are: food, water, time, love & training, and ID & leash.
Training:
Training is a whole other big subject, & I’ll work on a blog for it to share some thoughts. But my specialty is on the breeding side. There are as many dog training styles and philosophies as there are parenting philosophies and methods. Most all will get you results if you stick with them. More later.
If you are over whelmed on gear and getting ready for puppy, I understand. I would start here and add/upgrade items over time:
1) food
2) ID tag: Many pet supply stores have engraving machines that will cut you a personalized tag on the spot. Many people like these:
or Jangle free:
3) crate (we use the larger 42”, but many people recommend the 36” as large enough)
4) starter set
5) training treats
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