Puppy shopping list

I would add a few toys, including things she can chew on. It's a good idea to keep on using the food the breeder was using, for now. If she is small an X-pen is *really* useful. This is a small folding fence like a playpen that keeps the puppy contained when you can't supervise her, but gives her more freedom than she would have in her crate.

[Escrito por Brianna Tracy em 14 de janeiro de 2006 para a lista Petdogs-L do Yahoo Groups]

You will need a lightweight [4' leash] for training classes. Flexi-leads are great for exercising, but don't use it for training, use the leash. You can use a cotton rope for a long lead instead of buying one - let the puppy drag it outdoors to assure a prompt recall. The only "long" lead that I have is one made for hunt training, it's about 40' long in bright orange and floats. The only time I use it is for retriever training, the rest of my training was either done on a short lead or with a piece of cotton clothes line used as a drag line (you can step on the rope to make sure you get your recalls).

Add an Enzymatic Cleaner to your shopping list, I buy it by the gallon at puppy stage - I prefer Nature's Miracle to the other brands on the market.

Easiest housebreaking is done [like this] - crate and never let them out of your sight. Get into a routine, that will make things easier too. Get a set of bells you can put on the door you use for outside - you can teach the puppy to ring the bells to go outside by luring him to them with a treat and when he hits them then magically exclaim "go outside" in a cheery voice and open the door immediately. This will greatly speed up your housebreaking process by giving the pup a tool he can use to let you know he needs to go out. This is a great source for bells... http://www.smuckersharness.com/pg57.html

Another helpful hint - especially [if] you plan on competing with this puppy - make sure you housebreak your puppy on-lead. A dog that won't potty on a leash is a nightmare if you're traveling. Also, while this pup is young, you need to expose him to as many things as possible - travel with him/her as much as possible - the first few months is when most socialization is learned. Try to make every experience a fun and positive one for the pup, including playing games during thunderstorms. If you ever want to do any field work with this pup (and even if you don't it's still a great idea), you'll want to get the pup steady to gun fire. The best way I have found to do this is to have the pup in it's crate in the car with the radio on. Drive to a shooting range in the area and drive up slowly. Stop a ways away from the range and sit, watch the pup and when he's comfortable with the sound drive a little closer. Proceed until your pup is sitting comfortably in the parking area. Then turn the radio down some, then off, then open doors, then take pup out of crate, then out of car and then slowly progress closer to the actual range until you are standing just behind the shooters. This all must be done very carefully and slowly - because if your dog becomes frightened, you may never reverse the damage. Read the dog, and most of all you must remain positive and confident, your dog will mirror your attitude - if you worry about him being frightened, you will create fear in your pup. I've done this successfully with all three of my dogs - the first never stepped foot in a hunting situation, but she was never afraid of thunderstorms or fireworks either! My current two actually do field work, they get very excited and happy when they hear gunfire, because they associate it with fun things like finding birds!

Here's what I got...

- Crate (the kind with the moveable separator so you only have to buy one)
- Collar
- Lead
- Head Collar for puppy training (I prefer the Comfort Trainer, www.miriamfields.com)
- Food/water dish
- Gal. of Nature's Miracle
- Package of shop rags from the local warehouse store (for clean ups)
- A few toys
- Some chewey bones of some sort
- Food (of course)
- Training treats (they need to be soft, dogs must drop their heads to chew crunch treats, and you want to encourage the pup to look up at you - attention will be important later on for competitive obedience)

Everything else is a luxury or convenience item pretty much. You may want to get a Flexi-lead, a dremmel for doing nails, grooming tools if you don't have them.

[Escrito por Denise Parsons em 15 de janeiro de 2006 para a lista Petdogs-L do Yahoo Groups]

If you are nervous about trimming nails, it's best to have someone else do it. You might want to try using the dremel instead of a clipper. Some do better with it. If you do decide to use the dremel it's best if you use pantyhose. Put the paw inside and have the nails poke out so that you will not catch any of the fur in the dremel.

[Escrito por Cher McCoy em 17 de janeiro de 2006 para a lista Petdogs-L do Yahoo Groups]