What do I need to buy for my puppy that is coming home Easter weekend??

[Jennifer & Fozzi Sutter Bear!]

I need your recommendations on best chew toys, collar/leash, crate for the home, bedroom, car, puppy pads, treats, mess cleaners, etc. Also cute male names, too!

[Julie Kudron]

A Bissel spot bot is a MUST for cleaning up those Ooops. We used that soft food in a tube an cut it into little bits to use as training treats. Sometimes puppies get excited for treats and swallow them whole, so soft is better for training. If he is a strong chewer, an antler is a good chew item. Kongs work well too.

Congrats on your new addition! I can't wait to see pictures of him!

[Tait & Finn]

My little boy pup is named Finn. I got a large metal crate with a divider, an extra small collar with his tag & a harness for walking on the leash (6 ft, not retractable). The harness makes it so much easier to keep him moving along without the feeling your are strangling him. And it's easy to pick him up when he lays down during the walk, which he will most definitely do. I also bought an elk antler for chewing along with other fun toys. It's one of very few things you can leave him alone with in his crate and not worry that he will chew it up and choke. They are kinda expensive but well worth it and they last a very long time. And great for his teeth. There are all different kinds, elk, deer, etc. check them out. Oh, and Natures Miracle for clean ups. Have fun and good luck.

[Vivian & Mojo]

A martingale/collar no slip collar plus another collar for the tags. Puppys and dogs can slip their collars. Regular 4 or 6 foot leash, no retractable at first until he learns to walk on leash.

Try to find toys made in the USA and as rugged as possible, those baby teeth can chew things up. Also rotate the toys so  they stay more exciting. I bought many from this site, my puppy loved the Green Alien. http://www.activedogtoys.com/collections/chew-toys

Wire create with devider so it grows with him.

I never used puppy pads because it means potty trainning twice. Take him out often, every 30 minutes if possible.

Seat belt for dogs for car and a towel for the seat worked for me.

Natures miricle is indeed a miricle for clean ups.

Ace, Ozzie, Jackson, Dex and Bently were names I concidered but my puppy worked his Mojo on me so thats his name.

Hint...catch up on sleep when puppy sleeps lol

Good luck and have fun and post photos :)

[kristine & Auggie]

Congrats on your new puppy.  We bought so much stuff, some of we use all the time some , some we never used like wee wee pads, he just chewed them up.  He has a thing for paper.  We bought too small a crate and had to buy another larger one within a few weeks so get the big one with a divider. We bought a soft sided crate for in the car and love it because in the car he is  so comfortable and just sleeps plus we can take him everywhere and he is really comfortable.

His favorite chew is the Bully stick, a soft cloth frisbee and a canvas squeeky monkey.  I like the no pull harness .

We also fenced off a portion of the backyard so he can safely be outside and not destroy all of the landscaping

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

I had a list of puppy names for a couple years. Anytime I heard one I liked, I would come home and add it to the list. I had names for boys and girls. This is my list of boy names:

 

Sawyer

Dreyfuss

Baxter

Benji

Tucker

Watson

Murray

Ozzy

Wilson

Winston

Dublin

[Star and Goldie]

Congrats on your puppy! I just saw Oz the Great and Powerful, the Wizards name is Oscar and he goes by Oz, I made a comment in the movie that if I got a boy dog that would have been a really cool name to go with.

Midwest crates are great. I got one with double doors which is great. They come with dividers so your puppy can grow into the size of crate they will need so that way you only have to buy the one they will need at full grown size.

Zuke Mini's are fantastic treats. They are tiny for little ones, they are soft(great for training) and they are made in the USA.  For any food or treats that you go with you just want to make sure that they are completely made in the USA. Check out the Food Group for more info on all of that kind of stuff.

Kongs are great (some pups take awhile to catch on to them while others like them right away). Nylabones are fantastic. The ones made specifically for puppies teething are lifesavers. Kong air balls are the perfect fetch toy for puppies because they have them in all different sizes so you can pick the best size for your pup.

I would steer clear of puppy pads. In my opinion they are just confusing for housebreaking because one minute you are rewarding for going in the house and the next you are correcting for it.

Several people love Natures Miracle for cleaning messes but I have found that Simple Solutions Advanced Stain & Odor Remover works great for us.

Good luck and happy shopping!!

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

I am going to see that movie tonight. Was it good? The reviews its getting are not so great.

[Star and Goldie]

It was good but it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be, honestly. Its much more kid friendly than the previews looked. I think they could have pushed it a little further to reach PG 13. James Franco's acting is less than stellar (especially in the beginning) but he grows on you. If I were basing on a 5 star rating I'd probably say a 3. But if you're taking kids then it will likely kick that to a 3.5 at least, maybe 4 since it is very kid friendly.

[BettyAnn, Holmes & Lucy]

Everyone has made such a good list already and the get sleep advice is so true! Only difference is I use Bac-Out for stain/odor remover. Also, I got a pack of raw bison bones that I freeze so he can teeth on them along with bully sticks all over the house. On a side note- I now smell like dog treats since I always have a few in my pocket. I'm trying to only put it in a specific, ratty hoodie that I always wear in the house so that not all my clothes smell! 

Took us 2 weeks to name our puppy. I made the mistake of opening up the discussion to the whole family when he's really my dog, or at least I think he's mine :) Ok, we all think that!

Here was our short list before we picked Holmes for his name (which most of the others I was glad to find were used here on DK too):

Stout

Porter

Guiness

Loki

Sherlock

Keeper

Trial Dog or TD

Congratulations on your new puppy! Can't wait to 'meet' him when y'all get him.

We've had so much fun with Holmes joining our family.

[Star and Goldie]

You must really like Sherlock Holmes, huh? I do love the name Holmes though. That is so cute. I never would have thought of making that a dogs name. I love it!

[BettyAnn, Holmes & Lucy]

Not really! -haha-  I did enjoy the movies w/ Robert Downey Jr. though. It was my kids that really pushed 'Sherlock' only because Holmes was chewing on his antler and it looked like he was smoking a pipe! Not sure how observant our Holmes will turn out.  I couldn't get  "No S**t, Sherlock"out of my head which is why that was veto-d, but my kids are too young to know that expression :)

[Teresa and George]

Whew, I won't even touch the "name" question!  We agonized for months and kept a list of possible names on the fridge, then we ended up keeping the name that the breeder's little boy gave our pup.  ("George Washington," because he was born on the 4th of July).  

Anyway, I have a Pinterest board that helped me keep track of puppy stuff that we needed.  I've also added some grooming info other articles that I thought were helpful.  You can see it here:  http://pinterest.com/teresa_/for-the-dog/

Good luck!  We'll be looking for the puppy pictures!