shopping for new puppy - help

[lisa]

so the time has come to start to prepare for our new addition:) i guess the first main thing needed - a crate! i was looking at midwest i crate, double door with divider.  main question -  what size should i get?  we are expecting a mini labradoodle.  any ideas where to go for the best prices?  what else did you get fro the immediate arrival? 

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Lisa, I got the Midwest Life Stages crate that comes with a divider. I have ordered all my crates off of Amazon.com and it is free shipping. I thought they had great prices. As for size, what is your pups expected adult weight? If you get the crate with the divider, you can adjust that as he grows. I also invested in a Snuggle Puppy for both my dogs and for my daughter's dog. I got this also through Amazon. It is a stuffed dog that has a beating heart inside and I put it in the crate every night with our puppy. I like bully sticks for chewing or elk antlers. Lots of chew toys, training treats, leash, collar, name tag, food and water dish, poop bags, and food. I can't think of anything else right now. Good luck!!

[Dee O'Neill]

You have received WONDERFUL advice on items to purchase. The one item not to be overlooked is the SNUGGLE PUPPY - a true LIFESAVER. Gracie never woke us up, from day 1. We put it in her crate only with the heat pack/rice only until we were sure she no longer need the heat. However, we did let her sleep with just the puppy until she started teething and killed it. ;) Good luck with your new furry addition!!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Blanket or towel for the crate, bowls for food and water and perhaps something to set them on to catch the drips or slosh. If your doodle decides to play in the water dish (mine did) you can get a travel water bowl that "prevents" spills and little paws can't dance in the water. Depending upon your floor situation, be ready with clean up items and don't forget something to completely clear the pee odor residue so that doesn't become a permanent potty place. Oh yes, name and your info. tag for the collar.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I have a mini - we got the 30" midwest I crate and it is perfect now (Peri is about 25ish pounds at 1 year). However, if your pup is supposed to be a bit bigger, you could probably go with the 36" crate. Peri's brother that stayed with my breeder is almost 40# - they have the 36" and that would definitely be more appropriate for his size. My breeder recommended that we buy initial supplies at www.petstreetmall.com and I found they had really good prices.
Tons of chew toys like others say, other things not mentioned: bitter apple spray (to deter chewing on your fabric, furniture), old towels (to put in crate while potty training - don't get a nice, fluffy bed for in there!), steel comb for early grooming (you will need to see how coat turns out before buying a brush, in my opinion), SOUND MACHINE for the crate (trust me, this saved our life - Peri slept through most nights because of this - put it on heartbeat or white noise). Those are the big things beside collar, leash, etc....
Do you have any photos of your puppy? Good luck!!!

[lisa]

is the sound machine something you would find at bed, bath and beyond or something just for dogs? thanks.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Lisa, I am not sure about the sound machine, but we have bought a floor fan (long and thin) at Target and run that on high at night and when we leave. It works for us and without it Fudge tends to bark at every little noise.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Sorry - just saw this. I got our sound machine at Target - it was in the baby section. It is for babies!!! It has about 10 different sound settings - river, ocean, heartbeat, white noise (the best in my opinion). About $20 - totally, totally worth it. We placed it on top of her crate, with a blanket over it. Very, very soothing place for her. She loved her crate from Day 1.
The fan would probably be the same sort of thing also...

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I am going to check this out too. Good idea.

[Karen Klempel]

you can buy the sound machines in several stores. Bed, Bath and Beyond or Target are options. You can probably find them online too. We all use them in my house. They are great for dogs, babies - I even used one in my college dorm to drown out background noise.

[Gina and Finn]

I would suggest Nature's Miracle for clean up. Actually I would like to buy shares in it!! We didn't need it much thank goodness but it worked "miracles" when we did! I did find for us when buying a crate that our labradoodle is so much lighter than he looks and is taller so I made a mistake by buying a crate for a 50 lb dog (we have a standard size and so this probably won't be an issue for you). Most other dogs are denser so a smaller crate still allows them to stretch out. Finn needed more room for those long legs and like many doodle pics I see here he sleeps sprawled on his back stretched out in every direction most nights! Good luck and have fun.

[lisa]

thanks for all the feedback! off shopping i go:)

[Karen Klempel]

the divider is a wonderful thing. We used that with our puppy and were able to avoid any accidents in the crate. She was only in the crate at night, but the divider helped keep the crate to the proper size for her growing body.

Be careful with towels in the crate. They are great and easy to wash, but just keep an eye out to make sure the puppy isn't chewing off any hunks of the towel. You don't want her to swallow an pieces of towel.