Bringing home our last puppy consisted of a 14 hour round trip excursion. He was puppy number 5, but he was the 3rd puppy we'd picked up in under 3 years. Sure there were things we weren't prepared for, but mostly we knew what we needed. Of course continuing in our careers since then we've only gotten better at prepping for puppy so I thought I'd compile a list from both personal and professional experiences. First thing: Are you crate training? Lucky for us all of our last 3 puppies started crate training before we brought them home. In fact Goji didn't relax in the car until I put him in the crate. But we did not use a crate exclusively. Rather we used a crate like this one combined with a puppy pen like this. In the pen we had both a constant supply of water and a potty pad. I was previously worried about using potty pads but I learned that if we give puppies an optional place to have an "accident" wouldn't we rather contain it and make clean up easier? We only reinforced pottying outside and Goji potty trained faster than any of our previous pups.
Secondly: How do you plan on strolling with your pup? We know that safety is key and HARNESSES are super important to use with our pups. Collars are good for ID tags and blinging out our pups but leashes shouldn't be attached to them unless your dog is an angel on leash and never pulls against their delicate trachea. Check our my suggestions for harnesses and leashes here: SHOP However I fully recognize my favorite leashes can be a bit bulky for the babies in which case a nice thin leash you can also use as an indoor drag leash would be a lupine like this.
