For a long time I don’t think I could ever have imagined hearing myself saying this but we are getting a dog tomorrow. We finally decided on a show-type cocker spaniel (for those of you that have seen my other threads and might want to know).

Anyway, we have already bought a crate for the journey home, along with some puppy pads.

My wife is going to the shop this afternoon with our two little girls to buy all the other things we need such as:

Bed
Toys
Collar & Lead
Feeding bowls (non-tippable)

What other necessary purchases are there that I should be reminding her to get?

I can’t quite believe it but I am actually really excited (and am currently researching Bluetooth headphones so I can listen to music on our long morning walks – I will be chief dog walker).

🙂

Dog food?

Dog poo bags

Lol @ dog food

That’s all you need really. Some treats will aid with training.

Kitchen Roll and cleaner. I predict a great deal of plop and pish.

Insurance.

Personally I wouldn’t do puppy pads .. It just teaches them to wee on the floor. Just keep taking them outside .. They get the message eventually

Dog food?

Ahh yes – I did mention that to my wife this morning 🙂

The puppy pads are really just for the drive home.

Puppy pads, wtf? No need for headphones, you need to build a relationship with your puppy and that includes talking.

You will post pics won’t you. 🙂

+1 on no puppy pads, if they start chewing them the chemical stuff inside is not pleasant to a dog and what Stox says

Clicker – helps with training.

Training lead – to assist with recall and perhaps a whistle.

Baby toys, especially cuddly ones. Dog toys don’t have to meet any sort of guidelines so fall apart with aggressive play, baby ones are built to last and have to meet certain standards.

Intelligence toys/feeders – ones where they have to work for their food or treats. Makes them think and not just gulp their food down.

Treat bag for walkies.

Brushes for grooming.

Get a blanket (or 3) to put on any carpets/rugs/sofas that pup might sit on to stop said items getting filthy. John Lewis have some lovely fleece ones for £15.

a kitchen bin that locks.
&
a steely glare and a sense of self entitled smugess that you can use to poor effect when cyclists dare to ride anywhere near your little darling when he’s off the lead in a pubic park.

You will post pics won’t you.

Ohh yes 🙂

Not puppy pads. Take them out regularly, associate a phrase with doing the business (for us it’s ‘Be quick!’) and lots of praise / a treat when they do. They’ll soon be doing it for fun.

A tube of Savlon. Those little teeth are sharp.

Some new shoes.
A few of those all-in-one remote controls.
Start saving for a couple of new sofas.

our cocker had a fetish for gloves and socks.
You’ll also need a comb, hand brush, wire slicker brush, blunt ended scissors. We also use a coat king stripping comb so you don’t need the groomers as often.
I used an old car mat on a table for brushing sessions – start straight away, little and often to get them to enjoy the grooming. Also worth getting them used to the shower because they will roll in something nasty eventually!

Slip-on walking boots. aka Wellies
Nappy bags for poo bags

+1 for what cg said about headphones.

Long lead for recall training for the period of time that you are too scared to let it off the lead (for some people this lasts for the entire life of the dog so do the following).

Liver Cake Recipe – the most rancid smelling thing you can cook in a microwave, but dogs will do anything for a bit.

Go somewhere (tomorrow or the next day but very soon) which is a long way from roads and where you can see for quite a long way. The middle of a field or country park type place. Let the dog off the lead. Run away from it. When it comes running to you (it should because its young and it should feel safe with you) give it lots of fuss and a treat. Do it again, start doing it where there are things to hide behind like trees, get the whole family to do it. When you run off don’t shout its name.

This very quickly makes them realize that they need to keep an eye on you and know where you are, and look for you if they cannot see you. We did this with our dog and he’s really good at staying with me. My parents used to have a dog who would disappear down the Yorkshire coast cliffs for 30mins at a time, but my Mum would continuously call her – the dog knew where they were as she could hear my Mum so never bothered to go and look for them until she was ready.

cocker had dogs have a fetish for gloves and socks.

FTFY 😆

Baby gate possibly depending if you don’t want them roaming the house. Oh and puppies love carpet for weeing on, until trained otherwise, so kitchen roll, newspaper and cleaning product is handy.

Whatever you do, do not let your wife call going to the toilet ‘wees and poos’, because that stays forever!

In general, you need a lot less than you think

Go somewhere (tomorrow or the next day but very soon) which is a long way from roads and where you can see for quite a long way. The middle of a field or country park type place. Let the dog off the lead. Run away from it. When it comes running to you (it should because its young and it should feel safe with you) give it lots of fuss and a treat. Do it again, start doing it where there are things to hide behind like trees, get the whole family to do it. When you run off don’t shout its name.

But not tomorrow, once it’s had all it’s inoculations, etc.

Puppy socialisation and training classes of its not been done yet.

Training book, DVD or classes. Lldont forget you are being trained as much as the dog.

Spaniel water bowl to keep its ears out of the water

Some decent leads (nice thick rope, not too long so you keep the dog close and absolutely no extending leads)

You can use a lunge line if needed for training but see training advice above.

Food bowl (suggest stainless as eay to clean)

Collar and ID tag

Vet check up and microchip followed by insurance (more than or pet plan)

Decent bed

Some suitable toys and don’t go overboard. Training toys make sense.

Flea treatment and wormer (vet not shop)

Dig out lots of old towels, they are now the dogs!

Puppy crate (decent size) and do crate training to start with and then eventually wean them off it. The crate should be seen as a safe place for the dog where it doesn’t get pestered and being locked in there is not felt as punishment. Make sure it has water in the crate when locked in there and a suitable washable bed. The crate is also useful when visiting family or used in an estate car until it’s bigger.

Think about car transport, we have a waterproof hammock thing in the back or a bed in the boot. I would suggest boot if you have kids.

Brushes – mikki ones are good but others out there.

Wellies for you

Biodegradable poop bags

NO puppy pads. Train it properly.

Floor cleaner and lots of kitchen roll for tthe above.

A name for the dog?
A high piched , twee voice to shout across the park as it legs it away?

For leads I would suggest a proper gun dog store as they are much nicer.

Worth getting both clip on and slip leads.

If you haven’t trained a dog before get the following book, especially for a spaniel. Also get an acme 11.5 dog whistle and a clicker. It will be the best money you spend on a dog if you follow it through.

As above let the dog off the lead when you are in a safe place as soon as you can. The puppy will not leave your side and not doing so is the biggest mistake new dog owners make.

Other thing I would look at is a crate as the dog loves a den and it becomes a safe place for them.

Finally being a spaniel they need mental stimulation (even the show type) and over the next year using this book to follow basic gundog training principles including heel work, stop whistle and retrieving. Only needs 5-10 mins a day on your morning walk. Its a very basic step by step guide from puppy to adult and you can choose what you want to train (quartering for spaniels with your kids can be entertaining when out on walks together)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gundog-Training-Made-Easy-Begbie/dp/1411670299

A crate (possibly controversial with some), but ours slept in it at night and when we were out. Possibly saved all our furniture and kitchen cupboards. Retired it after a few months when she’d matured a bit.

Good quality dog food, what goes in must come out! The breeder should give you a starter pack. We switched though as it had a high grain content and she was constantly scratching herself. Grain free now and no scratching.

Get a clicker, make a selection of treats (cheese, sausage, toast, ham cubes) and read up on clicker training, your local library should have books by Karen Pryor. It’s fantastic and a seriously good way to train and bond with your dog.

Don’t bother with headphones, listen to the dawn chorus play, train and talk to your dog.

Puppy socialisation classes, start as soon as you can after the last vaccination, but be prepared to quickly ditch classes that don’t work for you.

Puppy photos are in order.

Excellent advice and books monde. I read Total Recall, local library had it, very thorough.

I can’t quite believe it but I am actually really excited (and am currently researching Bluetooth headphones so I can listen to music on our long morning walks – I will be chief dog walker).

Long walks with dogs are ace – I often disappear on my own for hours on a Saturday afternoon.

You need to practice your ‘soft-as-muck dog voice’ too. Most dog owners talk to them like they are babies (but won’t admit it!). Just keep this voice for house-hold use only though!

Oh, I forgot, start thinking about the commands you want to use for the dog and try as much as possible to stick to them.
I.e For us, Down means “lie down”, Off is “get off whatever you’re on”, Close – walk to heel. Training these with a clicker is really really easy and a common fault we do is put the commands befit the dog knows what to do. With clicker training and shaping the dog works out what you want and starts thinking and offering you positive behaviours. Once they are reliable you put the cue/command to it.

Don’t bother with headphones, listen to the dawn chorus play, train and talk to your dog.

This is probably very good advice (I know others have also said this thank you). I guess it’s just that I like to walk and I normally have music, but then I have never had a dog to walk with me.

In the first week, spend every hour you have with the puppy using the crate to toilet train it (easy to research it)

A toilet trained puppy is worth its weight in gold. Then you can start other training.

We feed our cocker on Skinners. As its a working food it’s vat free.

Cocker spaniel are clever and very trainable. It also means they pick up bad habits very quickly.

You won’t physically tire a spaniel, but if you work it’s brain enough it will be a much easier ride.

When it’s a puppy, it WILL have a mad hour about 8PM where it goes “zoomy”. It does get better.

My cocker is now 1 1/2. One of us is home every day, but he’s content being alone for 4/5 hrs at a time. He gets a 1hr off-lead run every day. 5 miles for me, 10 for him!!!

Enjoy the cute puppy stage!!!!

A babygate to keep the puppy confined e.g. in the kitchen with hardfloors or otherwise a carpet cleaner like a Vax.
Industrial quantities of cleaning materials and air freshner.
Toys that the dog enjoys and you can fill with treats / pate / peanut butter or simply accept you’ll be regularly buying new shoes.
Once innoculated, letting the puppy offlead outdoors for short periods – at this age they’re really keen to stay with the pack and they can’t go fast enough to run away. Let it socialise with other dogs. Otherwise, keep the dog on the lead for 6 months and then when you finally let it go….be prepared to chase frantically

[/url]Untitled by Me, on Flickr[/img]

Aww

🙂

🙂 Just getting to grips with my new Flickr account – thanks for reposting 🙂