MUST HAVES for your HGT Puppy!
Written by Pam on June 28, 2016
Dog Bowls – (Necessities)
Should it be plastic, recycled materials, vinyl or stainless steel? Should it be small or large? Should it be shallow or deep? Well if we are talking about dog bowls – keep it simple and always – ALWAYS use stainless steel. (Try not to purchase the wrought iron decorative stands that hold the dual water + food bowls. The designs in the shelf that hold the bowls are beautiful but the puppies will get their paws caught up in the design – and we do not want this to happen.)
Remember the puppies are teething and they will chew through any other materials, so stainless steel is the best and it will last forever. For your pup’s water bowl make sure you skip all things puppy and get them a dog’s water bowl that is at least 4” tall – you don’t want the puppy to stand in his drinking water – nor do you want him to find pleasure in sinking his head in his water bowl ….just yet. You might also want to consider the bucket bowls that hang from the side of the kennel…Now for the food bowl…you will definitely need a SLOW FEED Stainless steel bowl. Our labs and our lab puppies love the food here at HGT so they will continue to love the food at your house too – the only problem, they eat the gruel/grub so fast that they can choke. So play it safe and teach them that the food is there only for their consumption, but they need to eat it from the slow-feed bowl. See a picture of ours – this is the larger litter size slow feeder so just ask for a large breed slow feed bowl in stainless steel.
Kissakee is showing you one of her water bowls.
This is a picture of the pups slow feed bowl – the stores carry slow feed bowls for dogs as well, the bowl has a lift in the center of the bowl to allow the dog to eat its food slower and for less food to enter the mouth.
PUPPY & DOG FOOD: ( A Must Have!)
Everyone here at HGT gets fed Life’s Abundance – All Stage – In the GREEN Bag offering. Life’s food is the best dog food available. They have never had any recalls, the food is gluten-free, you can schedule an auto-ship at your convenience and it is delivered to your door. I cannot think of another food that is just this good. Once the gruel grub was served to the pups starting at 3 weeks, we have never looked back and they have been on it ever since. We would like for all our puppies to continue eating Life’s Abundance – we will honor a longer health guarantee on your puppy if we are able to track your purchases through our website. You will need to order your bags through the Eat&BeWell tab of our website and select the Life’s Abundance All Stage (see more) and the link will connect you to Life’s website – our breeder code is contained within the link – so we will see the purchase.
Leashes, leads, harnesses, gentle-leaders – (OMGosh!)
Pam, what do we get – what do you recommend? Well we have tried everything on in the marketplace, I like – none – of them. I just love walking my dogs’ off-lead the most. When your dog is trained and you experience this, it is a feeling of mutual respect – a kinship, if you will – and you will love – love – love it. Remember to train your puppy and never – never – never break its spirit – always allow them the time to explore and give them some supervised freedom. You will soon realize that they will ‘get it’ on and off lead and they will walk confidently by your side.
But because there are rules, we need to abide by those society signs and if you are in an area where “the dog must be on its leash” sign is posted, then I would suggest a basic sturdy leash with a heavy-duty hook clasp or a gentle leader…OR because we could never find what I needed to train our dogs, while keeping my hands free, we designed our own HGT To Have & Not To Hold Dog Training leashes.
To Have and NOT To Hold ™– Hipster Hold Lead Systems and To Have and NOT To Hold ™ Collar Systems – either HGT product can be purchased under the Barkquette Market heading of our website, or we will have them available for you to try during the Pick Up schedule.
Our dogs learn quickly not to tug on the leash but should something distract them like a squirrel, another lab or even a leaf falling from the tree – you will be on the other end of the lead. Yes, we all know how our labs ‘sweep us off our feet” but we don’t want this to literally be the case – so you need to make sure you have control of this sudden change of direction. So you might want to consider a Hipster Hold Lead that will allow you to train your puppy inside the home – while keeping your hands free. It is made of sturdy construction, beautiful ribbon and bungee cording. (To read more about our leads/collars: visit the BLOG on To Have and NOT To Hold ™
More Stuff to tote for your HGT Puppy: (Preventative)
Make room in the back of the car to store more stuff for your puppy. Along with the extra water bottles, the Kongs, older towels, wet-ones and training snacks, you should keep a bottle of Remedy Recovery Liquid Bandage for Dogs – Available at PetCo. This is an invaluable product to have with you at the dog park, going for a walk or if you choose to clip your pup’s nails. There is always that time that they might cut a pad on their paw or get bitten (hopefully play bitten) at the dog park or if you cut the quick when you clip their nails too short. This liquid bandage gives you time to stop any bleeding and to get the puppy home to clean the wound or to the vet.
Another couple of items that I always take with me especially in the summer when we go running with the dogs – is Rubbing Alcohol and Gauze or a clean cloth. The only time that I will use rubbing alcohol on the pup or dog is if I feel that he/she is over heating. You will need to moisten the gauze with some rubbing alcohol and press the cloth onto his paw pads – this (to me) brings down his/her temperature. A ice pack works too, but rubbing alcohol seems to do the trick…
Books!
Yes, there is the internet, the library and oh yes, the book! We want to offer some suggestive reading of a few of our most treasured How-To understand your Puppy/Dog books that have helped us along the way and we want them to help you as well. We are always here to help you with your HGT puppy but in the mean time – pick up a must-read – you will be glad you did!
1) The Art of Raising a Puppy, by The Monks of New Skete
2) The Inside of a Dog, by Alexandra Horowitz
3) The Perfect Puppy – How to Raise a Well-Behaved Dog, by Gwen Bailey/Reader’s Digest
4) The Family Dog – A Simple and Time-Proven Method, by Richard A. Wolters
5) Dogs Never Lie About Love, by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
6) Stay, by Dave Burchett
7) Dog Training by Bash, Bashkim Dibra
We also want to include these two books by Ted Kerasote. Kerasote explains how certain dog dynamics should be examined more thoroughly when owning a puppy – possibly to deviate a little from the norm, keep an open mind, try to instill trust vs control and change the way we do things — all to preserve and increase the longevity among our dogs!
1) Pukka’s Promise – The Quest for Long-Lived Dogs, by Ted Kerasote
2) Merle’s Door – Lessons from a Freethinking Dog, by Ted Kerasote
You also might want to read my blog entitled :What’s Good for your Kokobo…Altering Our Dynamics is not about Control but About Trust… After reading this blog, I am sure you will pick up a copy of Kerasote’s book – You will be amazed and delighted that you did.
I look forward to seeing you all again next Saturday, 7/9/16! Please bring questions and a kennel for transport. If there is a balance due on your puppy, you will need to bring a cashier’s check from your bank :@)
I will be giving everyone a new piece of soft fleece with all our HGT dogs & puppies scent on it. This will help the pup remember us and find comfort in their new journey with you. Best, Pam