1st Time Owner

Question
Hi, im going to be getting a Shitzu puppy in 2 weeks (The pup will be 8 weeks by then) and i was wondering if you can tell me what i should have ready for when i get it cause this is my 1st dog. Thnx.  

Answer
Congrats on your new puppy! your first dog you must be very excited! I will give you some idea of whats needed but have attached a link to the best dog site i haev ever found it contains training information/feeding/exercise/breed profiles /grooming and much much more.


You will need

Collar/leash(a harness is best suited for walking smaller breeds)

I.D tag with your phone number(home number and maybe a cell number as well) and address your puppies name is an added bonus if the tag is large enough

Crate suitable size for the dog when its full grown a standard 2 foot long crate will be fine

A doggy bed...its best not to buy the msot expensive at this age as it will likely be chewed on, you can put the bed in the pups crate and get another for the lviing room or kitchen.

Newspapeps or puppy pee pads for the first few weeks of potty training....I persoanly only leave these avalible to use when I am not home to watch the puppy.... I can offer great house training tips as I've succesfully potty trained three dogs from puppies so far one large and two small breeds...just let me know if you'd like more information.

Food bowls, stainless steel are best plastic bowls can spark allergies in dogs and are harder to clean if the puppy frays the bowlwls edges, another good choice is glass bowsl but buyer beware when they have puppy slober on them after a meal they are easily dropped! I have broken a good 6 in the past three year and finaly said I'm getting steel dishes lol.

A glass bowl would be better for outdoor use as metal ones get too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer.


TOYS! This is by far the most inportant thing to get a puppy! if you dont have lots of toys the puppy will eat your slippers/couch/mattress/bed spread/kitchen cupboards and baseboards....Trust me lol. I normaly reccomend Nyla bones but since my dogs are having allergic reactions to chewing on platic and friction of the frayed plastic on there chins is bothering them I no longer advise them. I can reccomend a puppy Kong now avalbiel in either blue or pink for maales and females, you can stuff these with soft treats/hard biscuts and dry kibble when your away to keep the puppy occupied. My dogs love the squeaky soft toys thou the two little ones tear the stuffing out of them, I highly reccomend at lest one plush toy with a easy to find squeaker inside, you can buy these toys with only stuffing in the head and feet and sometimes without stuffing at all this way a small puppy can find the squeaker much easier and will likely enjoy the toy more, Do not buy the latex or soft plastic squeaky toys these are easily chewed and all too offen swollowed by young puppies which can lead to internal blockages. Rope toys are great fun as well but I think there more fun with multiple dogs as they play tug together...I'm not sure how they work with single. You want toys for the puppy's crate(they can stay in there if you want) and extra toys for the home and possibly more for the yard which are allowed to get dirty....remember when looking at the toys in petshops that even thou they aren't that cheap....that a ten dollar toy has the potental to save your 500 dollar sofa!

Next isgrooming supplies I reccomend a metal comb and slicker brush for a shituz I cna think of nothing better for a lnog coated non shedding breed, you may also want a clipper set unless you want to keep teh hair at full lenth and perficly groomed at all tiems or are able to take the dog to the groomers a few times a year...ever the most well kept shituz should have a  hair trim in the hot summer months.


Food, treats and chews oh my!

First find out what the breeder is feeding if its up to par(doesnt contain by products and doesnt cotain an extrodaniy amount of corn and wheat and has chicken/lamb of fish in the first three ingredients you can stick with it) I can persoanly reccomend 'Authority' from petsmart(its made for petsmart and is of good quaility and fair price) I cna also reccoemnd 'Blue' this is a very high quaility brand. We have tryed Nutro products before and they are really good the dogs enjoyed them for a while and got sick of them. I can also reccomend Technical & Nutreance...with one small breed dog any of these food will be affordable whenn fed according to the package. Treats: gets something easily chewed asn swollowed fairly quickly old mother hubaord bones are perfect sized for puppies, also small soft treats like liver treats work great too...I  mention small easy and quick to eat treats because you will want these or training and its also better to not give the dog a huge milk bone as he will eat less of his good meal alter and it isnt advised. You can normaly get treats in the bands of the food your getting...Nutro sells an aray of biscuts.  Chews: Stay away from greenies treats someones dog swollowed a peice of one of the greenie treats and died from blockages thou they are said to be 100% degiestable patciulary with a small breed its best to stear clear of these and and mimic brand green hard mint bones. I reccomedn Rawhiee chip style chews for puppies get the ones that are around 2 inches square or more these are good for the puppies teeth and keep him occupied so you can take a short break from puppy duty. I dont reccoemdn the crushed rawhide that is pressed pack together same reason applies the puppy will eat thsi adn not want his emal later, a small puppy doesnt normaly do much damage to such a chew and isnt able to take chunks off. I dont reccomend the rawhie bones wiht the knots at teh ends the dogs get these off and try swollow tehm and offen hack them back up or start choking...one experiance itth my labrador rtereiver has larified that we offically never use these tpyed hides again. I dont reccoemnd PIG ears they cause alot of gas and can cause bloating of the puppies tummy. I am unsure about new lamb ear treats we havent tryed them yet. You will even see cow hoove on the market let me tell you the dogs just love them but your hosue smells like a barn after they've chewed them they right out stink once slobbered on. You cna also get marrow bones sometimes even filled with flavored pastes they are safe to give and have a bonus...they can be restuffed after use with moist food/biscut chunks ect ect.  The stick style rawhides are easy to choke on since the puppy or dog holds them between tehre paws and the stick is nearly down tehre throt while chewing...I reccomend these only when you are watching derectly.

you may also want some baby oil to remove tear stains from around the eyes, you will surely want puppy shampoo be sure its  a puppy shampoo not a dog shampoo and enver use a human shampoo because it drys teh skin and makes the dog flaky and very itchy and misrable.


THere are so many things you can get these days for your new puppy or dog the possiblitys are endless these are jsut some of the things avalibel to you that are mentioned above,


http://www.dogbreedinfo.org/care.htm

Best of luck with your new puppy and if you need any more info or advice/tips on training or jsut what your new puppy needs from you for the first little whiel feel free to email again at any time.