Anonymous wrote:Chew treats, must be supervised like bully sticks or antlers.

Anonymous wrote:Don’t get pee pads. You need to take the dog outside. Pee pads are so gross. Everyone who thinks their dog is small and it’s fine has a stinky house and an unhappy dog.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Congratulations, OP! Yes, puppies can be a LOT for a while (we’ve got a kitten right now — he’s either sound asleep or awake and terrorizing everyone), but having a dog will add so much joy to your family’s lives in the long run.

A few bits of my best advice — (1) teething puppies need to chew, and it goes on for months. If you provide them with approved choices from the start, they will be less likely to make their own, unapproved choices.

(2) If you will regularly walk the dog, we’ve had great success with giving puppy a cue word for going to the bathroom. We don’t try to control anything at first, just give a lot of excited praise (“good pee!!” “good poop!!” or whatever euphemism you choose) every time the process happens naturally. After a few months, a reasonably smart dog will understand whatever word you choose well enough to treat it as a Command if they’re physically ready. We trained my last 2 dogs this way, and it was an enormous improvement from all the hours of my life spent wandering around with my first dog waiting for her to decide on her own schedule!

Crates are both useful and comforting for the dog, unless they’re not. It can be a personality thing — our last dog looooved hers and our current dog wanted nothing to do with one. If it the wire kind, put a blanket or towel over the top to help it feel more like a safe and cozy den.

On pet insurance, I used to have it but found that the terms were set so that it never really covers anything useful. I am enormously pro-insurance for every other part of life and would have kept it for the pets too if not for the bad experiences. Instead, I take exactly the amount I would have spent on premiums and have it auto-deposited into a dedicated savings account. (Probably many banks offer the choice to have multiple dedicated sub-accounts, but I know Capitol One online savings accounts offer them.) That way, when expenses arise you already have the money waiting to cover the expense. We’ve had reasonably healthy pets and we aren’t the type to take heroic measures for seriously sick pets, but with those caveats, the savings approach has always come out ahead of what we would have spent with insurance.

Thank you so much for this. So far it’s been exhausting. I take her out pretty much every hour so we have minimized the accidents. She is not loving the treats I got her so she doesn’t take them most of the time. I do give her a lot of praise when she uses the bathroom. I did her a crate and she doesn’t love it but stays there all night at least. I got her a lot of chewing toys and that has been the hardest part so far. She chews everything in sight ALL THE TIME. I literally have to watch her the entire time we are awake. Any recommendations on how to leave her be for a little while without her destroying my house . She even chomped on the wheel of my office chair). How long did it take you to potty train your pups?

Anonymous wrote:Congratulations, OP! Yes, puppies can be a LOT for a while (we’ve got a kitten right now — he’s either sound asleep or awake and terrorizing everyone), but having a dog will add so much joy to your family’s lives in the long run.

A few bits of my best advice — (1) teething puppies need to chew, and it goes on for months. If you provide them with approved choices from the start, they will be less likely to make their own, unapproved choices.

(2) If you will regularly walk the dog, we’ve had great success with giving puppy a cue word for going to the bathroom. We don’t try to control anything at first, just give a lot of excited praise (“good pee!!” “good poop!!” or whatever euphemism you choose) every time the process happens naturally. After a few months, a reasonably smart dog will understand whatever word you choose well enough to treat it as a Command if they’re physically ready. We trained my last 2 dogs this way, and it was an enormous improvement from all the hours of my life spent wandering around with my first dog waiting for her to decide on her own schedule!

Crates are both useful and comforting for the dog, unless they’re not. It can be a personality thing — our last dog looooved hers and our current dog wanted nothing to do with one. If it the wire kind, put a blanket or towel over the top to help it feel more like a safe and cozy den.

On pet insurance, I used to have it but found that the terms were set so that it never really covers anything useful. I am enormously pro-insurance for every other part of life and would have kept it for the pets too if not for the bad experiences. Instead, I take exactly the amount I would have spent on premiums and have it auto-deposited into a dedicated savings account. (Probably many banks offer the choice to have multiple dedicated sub-accounts, but I know Capitol One online savings accounts offer them.) That way, when expenses arise you already have the money waiting to cover the expense. We’ve had reasonably healthy pets and we aren’t the type to take heroic measures for seriously sick pets, but with those caveats, the savings approach has always come out ahead of what we would have spent with insurance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you all. I am definitely going to pick up a leash, a crate, food, a pillow, some toys (for chewing), treats, pee pads, and enzyme cleaner.

Don’t use pee pee pads. They are worthless, and they set back house training. Employ a 100% no potty inside method, and you’ll be successful.

Trust me.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you all. I am definitely going to pick up a leash, a crate, food, a pillow, some toys (for chewing), treats, pee pads, and enzyme cleaner.

Anonymous wrote:Coffee.
Patience.
Liquor.

Anonymous wrote:Patience. A puppy can break you. They are annoying AF, they get into everything and often they don't sleep. No one would get a puppy if they weren't so cute.

Start with where you want them to sleep from day 1 -- a crate with a towel over it is a good start. Nature's miracle for sure. Our puppy was super easy to potty train but still had a few accidents. And save some of their food to give as treats instead.

Good luck. The first few months are hard but it gets easier.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Baby proof your house! Make sure they can't get into any medications or food. Secure your trash.. Make sure your plants aren't toxic. I like to confine them to at least one floor for a while.

Get pet insurance![/quote]

Wouldn't it better to save your money for big expenses rather than pay each month for something you most likely won't use in 10+ years?

It works basically like car insurance. Do you have car insurance?