Need help with a puppy checklist

Absolute minimum doggie first aid kit:

     Syrup of Ipecac (induces vomiting)  -or-
               hydrogen peroxide (3% solution) - 2 tsp per 30 lbs every 15 min (up to 3 doses)
     activated charcoal
     feeding syringe
     clean cotton balls (real cotton) and something yummy to lubricate them with
     Benadryl (anti-histamine) - 1-2 mg/lb of body weight 2-4 times daily     [Yes, that dosage is right.]
     Kwik Stop (styptic powder) - stop nails from bleeding

Personally, I would add Safeguard Granules to that kit.  Worms and Giardia can both cause diarrhea which Safeguard can easily and safely take care of.

Dogs, especially puppies, are prone to eating the wrong things.  Examples are cooked bones and X-mas ornaments.  Cotton balls pad the sharp edges and help things pass through without too much trouble.  Soak the balls in half-and-half, cream, etc. or coat the balls with a meat spread.  The number of cotton balls depends on the size of the dog.   http://www.k911.biz/Petsafety/DogAteChickenBone.htm

Benadryl can save a dog's life if a sting or bite causes the muzzle to swell.  It doesn't necessarily replace a vet, but can give you time to get to a vet.  Tablets or liquid are OK, but do not use the "sugar free" liquid (contains an artificial sweetner). 

Syrup of Ipecac and activated charcoal (look for a children's kit at a pharmacy) can reduce the effects of toxins and give you time to get to a vet.

One newer toxin you might not be aware of is Xylitol, a sweetner in many sugar-free products.  This includes things like mints, candies, gum, mouthwash, toothpaste, cookies, etc.  One breath mint with Xylitol can kill a small pup very quickly.  If you even suspect that new pup got some Xylitol, make her vomit and get to the vet immediately.

ETA:  Be sure to periodically check the expiration dates of stuff in your first aid kits (doggie and human).

One or more medical books.  The ideas have links to Amazon:

Giffin & Carlson, Dog Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook, 4^th Edition, 8/2007
http://tinyurl.com/2jxo9t

Murray, Michael, The Pill Book Guide to Natural Medications, 3/2002
http://tinyurl.com/3vws3

Roby & Southam, Pill Book Guide to Medication for Your Dog and Cat (Dell Ref.), 10/1998
http://tinyurl.com/6zxoh

Shojai, Amy D., The First Aid Companion for Dogs & Cats (Prevention Pets), 3/15/2001
http://tinyurl.com/fxv7v

Gustafson, Sid, First Aid for the Active Dog, 7/2003
http://tinyurl.com/zma3v

I have no recommendations, but I'm very happy for you and your new puppy. Good luck corvus!

I didn't know you were getting a puppy! Where have I been???

Old towels for clean up
Chew items and kong

corvus

I want both dogs to be sleeping in our bedroom, but I don't think I'll use the crate straight away.

Just my opinion, but the sooner you start her on the crate, the easier it will be. If she gets used to something else, it may be more difficult to switch her over to the crate. It's better to start off with the situation you want than to change it later.

It's my experience that if you pull back your attention of Penny for a week in advance of the puppy's arrival, then you can lavish attention on her when the puppy arrives so she associates the puppy with good things. That's the best thing you can do for Penny is to make positive associations with the new pup.   

Well, congratulations!  

 An eight week old pup can't hold their bladder for more than 3 hours if they're awake, so  you may need the dog walker more than once per day:-))

Take your current dog to pick up the pup, and ride them both home together.  Shouldn't be a problem - most older dogs tolerate very young puppies quite well.  Do give both dogs a taste of cream cheese from your finger in each other's presence (being near the pup predicts good things for the older dog - and the fact that they lap from your finger means that nothing is falling to the ground for the older dog to snark at the puppy over).

Interactive toys that the pup can play with in her crate - Buster cube, Kong, etc.

Get her into class EARLY.  This is a breed that needs interaction with others early and often, and till they are adults. 

FourIsCompany

Chew items and kong

Yeah.  Go out and buy, oooh, about all the chew items you think the pup could use in say, er, 2 lifetimes.  That should do you to start of with.  Make sure you always have one to hand to gently redirect the pup on to when s/he goes to chew the wrong things.
 

FourIsCompany

corvus

I want both dogs to be sleeping in our bedroom, but I don't think I'll use the crate straight away.

Just my opinion, but the sooner you start her on the crate, the easier it will be. If she gets used to something else, it may be more difficult to switch her over to the crate. It's better to start off with the situation you want than to change it later.

Exactly what I was going to say.  Sounds like the toy box is really just an improvised version of the crate.  Why not start as you mean to go on?  Have the pup on eye level next to you if possible so they can see, hear and smell you.

Make sure the breeder gives you a piece of bedding or something which has been in the "nest" with the dam and pups.  It will be a great comforter to the new puppy when s/he first arrive in your home and it's another way to help them quickly become comfortable in the crate - because from the outset, it smells familiar.  Some might give you this as a matter of course, but I would just check.  You could offer to SEND them a piece of bedding to be left in with them towards then end, so it's nice and smelly when you bring her home.

I have a friend who did this with her dog and the dog got so attached to this "blankie" that she didn't dare wash it.  To this day it's kept in a net bag to one side of the crate.  The bag is washed, but the blanket isn't.  The dog loves it and takes it to kennels with her and all sorts.  It still has that "comfort value".

Well, I've been a bit confused about the crate training deal. I've been reading about it, and on one hand they tell you it's important not to push the dog too far too soon, but on the other the dog has to go in the crate to sleep on the very first night. Isn't that a contradiction? Pyry transitioned from the toy box straight to the laundry with minimal fuss once he'd learnt he wasn't going to be left by himself forever. The transition I was planning was all of 1 metre to the crate that will be set up there from the start. I just don't want to shut him in the crate before he's quite comfortable with it.

Thanks for the first aid supplies. Don't know how many of those I can actually get in this country, but I'll have a look around.

Anne, I'm guessing it's pretty inevitable that pup is going to make a lot of potty mistakes with no one with him a lot of the time, regardless of how often someone visits. That's why I was thinking of penning him outside. Is that a no-no?

And Four, I hadn't made an official "I'm getting a puppy" announcement. I mean, he's not actually born yet, and for the last week or so we've been doing last minute budgets and sorting out the financing on the new house, so it's only just become somewhat of a reality. Finally.  

Yay! Puppy breath - congratulations! I saw a Swedish lapphund driving home tonight (well I think it was- it was quite dark!), and thought of you.

For what its worth, I didn't start crate training Pocket until she was at least 4mths old and never had an issue with it- she's always slept in my bed at night though . I don't think it really matters when you start shutting them in the crate, as long as they know it's a good place first.

 This might help your trainer search- I don't know if there are any in your area, but maybe they might know someone that is?

I second the Kong/buster cube idea... and toys. Lots of toys.

If there's even the teensiest possibility that you'll be showing the puppy in any venue, I'd recommend starting with the crate, at the beginning. It has been ridiculously helpful for Emma to be comfortable in her crate, since we started showing (and we didn't start til her fourth birthday, so  you never know!). She is comfortable in a crate, and feels safe in a crate. She settles in a crate. She wouldn't have slept in a hotel, if I hadn't crated her (she was too worried about the people moving around). It would be really hard to do walk throughs without crating her (since I'm not going to hand her off to somebody that's holding another dog... that's fine for dogs that won't start a fight, but she might). She couldn't have flown to KY with me, when I had a death in the family, if she hadn't been comfortable being crated. I feel like it's an important part of puppy socialization, and my next puppy will probably be started out in much the same way as Emma was.

You can use a play pen, and put the crate in it. Then, use a pee pee pad or litterbox on the OTHER side of the pen, and a water dish in the pen, as well. That's probably the setup my pup will have. Emma just has a BIG crate with a water dish bolted to the side.  

 I've done it 2 different ways in the daytime - I've gone very very slowly, made it a fantastic place to be, not started shutting the pup in till they were already going in on their own frequently and then only for very short times and building up....  And I have also just stuck them in their with a meal or a chewie and got on with something else for a short time as if it were the most natural thing in the world and it worked just as well!

At night, I just think it's safer for the pup and a little better from a house training POV if they are confined from the get go.  And if they are going to be confined, then why not in the crate?  After I've gone to all that effort to make it the bestest place in the world EVER, it just makes sense and it means no need to worry about transitioning the pup to something else later on. 
 

 To make sure you are ready for that new puppy, please do the following:

1)   Pour cold apple juice on the carpet in several places and walk around barefoot in the dark.

2)   Wear a sock to work that has had the toes shredded by a blender.

3)   Immediately upon waking, stand outside in the rain and dark saying, "Be a good puppy, go potty      now - hurry up - come on, lets go!"

4)   Cover all your best suits with dog hair. Dark suits must use white hair, and light suits must use dark hair. Also float some hair in your first cup of coffee in the morning.

5)    Play "catch" with a wet tennis ball for hours.

6)   Run out in the snow in your bare feet to close the gate.

7)   Tip over a basket of clean laundry, scatter clothing all over the floor.

8)   Leave your underwear on the living room floor, because that's where the dog will drag it anyway. (Especially when you have company.)

9)   Jump out of your chair shortly before the end of your favorite TV program and run to the door shouting, "No no! Do that OUTSIDE!" Miss the end of the program.

10)  Put chocolate pudding on the carpet in the morning, and don't try to clean it up until you return from work that evening.

11)  Gouge the leg of the dinning room table several times with a screwdriver - it's going to get chewed on anyway.

***Take a warm and cuddly blanket out of the dryer and immediately wrap it around yourself. This is the feeling you will get when your puppy falls asleep on your lap.