If you hadn’t guessed already, or you don’t follow me absolutely anywhere (erm why don’t you?) then you might not know that WE’RE GETTING A PUPPY! Theodore comes home to live with us on Thursday and to say we’re excited would be the biggest understatement ever. We met him three weeks ago and he’s the sweetest little guy. I can’t wait for endless cuddles and lots of fun.
FYI there will be lots of puppy spam on all social media platforms and I’m pretty sure he’ll feature on here a lot, and I’m not sorry.
Theodore Teddy (as my five year old nephew likes to call him) is a seven-and-a-bit week old red and white Cockapoo. Ian and I are besotted with the little dude and we can’t wait to bring him home. Only three more sleeps!
Getting a dog was no rash decision for my boyfriend and I, and it shouldn’t be for you either. It took us a lot of discussions, hours of research and me mentioning it every day for five years.
There’s quite a few things we had to take into consideration before going forward with getting a pupper and I thought I’d share them for any other prospective dog lover wishing to add to their family.
- Breed – what breed of dog do you want? How big is it? How much exercise does it need? How often will it require grooming? Will it end up being expensive and out of your budget?
For example, my brother has two German Shepherds; big working dogs that need a lot of walking, a lot of food and take up quite a bit of space. As much as I adore Shadow and Titan, our one bedroom bungalow wouldn’t be big enough for a large dog.
- M/F – do you want a dog or a bitch? Most people have a preference and there’s positives and negatives to both, just like humans; we went with a male as I’ve always had dogs and feel more comfortable with them.
- Research – where are you getting the dog from? Are you rehoming? Are you getting a puppy? If you’re getting a puppy make sure to meet the pups parents and ask for health test results. Find out how many litters the mother has had. Is the pupper microchipped, vaccinated, wormed and fleaed?
- Children – never leave a child alone with a pup no matter how much you trust them both! We don’t have kids but if you do, make sure the children aren’t constantly picking the puppy up and give it plenty of time to rest. The child should respect the dog like the dog respects the child.
- Garden – I know plenty of people that live in flats and have doggos but for me, it’s not practical (hello, wheelchair life), having a garden means Teddy can easily go outside to play and I know he’s safe and secure. Plus, we won’t have to go out with him multiple times a day to take him to the toilet, like you would if you lived in a flat.
- Work – how long will your pup be left during the day? Can you come home at lunchtime? Can someone pop in? Will you need a pet-sitter? Luckily we’re home most of the time so this isn’t an issue for us.
- Supplies – what will your puppy need? How much will it all cost? Toys, leads, collars, food etc all adds up.
- Feeding – how often? What type of food? Where will the dog be fed? We’re keeping Teddy on the food the breeder has been feeding him for a while as a swift change won’t be good for his digestive system. He will also be fed in his crate as this makes him realise it is his den and he loves it in there.
- Sleeping – what will the sleeping situation be? Bed, crate? We intend on crate-training Teddy and he’ll be sleeping in his crate in the kitchen so we can deal with separation anxiety. As we’ll be home during the day, we don’t want an anxious, clingy dog. We’re expecting a few sleepless nights but it’ll be worth it in the long-run. If you are crate-training, never use the crate as a sin-bin or a form of punishment and always take pups collar off when they’re in there.
- House training – most new puppies leave the breeder paper-trained but work out a system as to how you’ll change that from going toilet indoors to outdoors. After playtime, after eating, first thing in the morning, after every nap, after a drink, last thing at night are recommended. It doesn’t happen overnight so prepare for accidents.
- Exercise – puppies don’t need a lot of on-lead exercise when they’re little as it can damage their joints. Five minutes for every month of their life is suggested; two months = ten minutes, three months = fifteen minutes etc. Ian will be primary Ted walker. Routine is very important.
- Worming and fleaing – there’s lots of online stores that sell these products way cheaper than what you’d spend at Pets at Home, so shop around. After twelve weeks worming should be every three months, and fleaing every two weeks until twelve weeks, and then every month until six months.
- Training – do you have time? Do you have patience? Is your breed of dog easier to train? There’s lots of effective ways to train puppies the basics, and I love this stage.
- Playtime – it’s really important to take some time to play with your pupper as they’re very energetic and desperate for attention.
- Toys – if you don’t want your furniture destroyed definitely make sure your pup knows early on that their toys are for chewing and not your things. Have different types of toys; we have cuddly toys, balls, ropes and chew toys for Teddy.
- Socialising – will you go to puppy school? Do your friends/family have dogs? How will you socialise your pup? Socialising with other dogs is vital for development.
- Grooming – will your pup need a lot of grooming? We’re introducing Teddy to his brush the day he comes home as Cockapoo’s require quite a bit of maintenance and we want him to find it an enjoyable experience.
- Consistency – it’s key.
- Praise – give your puppy lots of praise whenever it does anything it’s supposed to, no matter how small. You’ll probably need eyes in the back of your head but try to make sure you make a fuss when the little’un does good.
- Stay calm – we’re prepared for mistakes, frustration and nights of whining but the puppy months are so vital in raising a well-behaved, awesome dog.
- Extra fees – vet fees, insurance, destroyed furniture.
Such an insightful post! My partner and I want to get a dog in the future and even though we are no where near being in the financial situation to do so we've already started thinking about a few of these things. I will have to save this post so I can refer back to it because you've got things I hadn't even thought of! It will be extremely useful for when we are closer to getting out own!
Menna x | https://mennarachel.com
this list works pretty well for kitties as well, and we are planning to have one soon.
Pam xo/ Pam Scalfi♥
Ahh he’s adorable x