We are getting a Puppy!

Welcome Friends! Sharing with you all our puppy experience here on the blog. The entire family is so excited to welcome this little bundle of joy into our home. Her name is Riya and she is an F1B Golden Doodle from a local breeder here called Harmony Doodles. Rakesh and I have NEVER owned a dog before but we do have two kids and they are basically the same thing, right? We have a lot of reading to do, youtube videos to watch from Zac George and will do in-house professional training/group puppy lessons from a local dog training company, The Dog Wizard.

For those of you thinking about getting a new puppy/dog, I created a list of supplies by category to get your home “dog ready.” Amazon has been my go-to and the prices are similar to what you would normally get at a pet store.

Dog Crates/Playpen

We decided that crate training made the most sense for us and our home so that is the direction we are headed. Because our house has three floors (1st – living space, 2nd – bedroom, 3rd – eventually the kids space), we decided that getting two crates made the most sense. The bigger crate will stay downstairs and the smaller one will be in our bedroom. We are also getting a exercise playpen that can be attached directly to her crate. The cover for the crate will only go in our bedroom to help her sleep through the night.

Potty Training

Potty training is probably the hardest part in the beginning and our plan is to start right away so that she gets comfortable and we can avoid having too many accidents in the house. We’ve been hearing that consistency and treats work the best so we will likely take the same approach and see how it goes! More on this topic once we get her…but here are a few things we are getting to help with training and of course cleaning. She is a little tiny thing and will likely pee/poo all over our house so need to be prepared. 🙂

Play Toys, Leash, Harness

These are the items we are starting with and will likely get more as she gets a little bigger.

Food & Treats

We haven’t decided on a brand just yet and still doing our research on what puppy food to get her. Sounds like grain free is the right approach but will likely feed her the food recommended by the breeder and slowly mix in our choice. More to come on this topic. See below the doggy bowls and portable bowls we are getting along with some puppy treats.

We are blocking off certain areas in our home. The kids play area (which is currently our dining room) will be gated so that she doesn’t have access to get in and chew up their toys. We also have stair gates, one on the bottom and one on the top.

That’s all I have for you so far. Will continue to update you all once we get her. If you are a current dog owner and have any suggestions/tips, please share them with us! We can use all the help!