What do i need for my pup?

Hi everyone, just wanted some advice please, what essentials did you buy for your staffy puppy with regards to beds crates etc? have no idea what to get for our pup and would like to get organised for her arrival in october do you all reccomend crates? thanks

toys toy and more toys
a unchewable bed i use old sofa cushions
and a lot of patience

Cage deffo yes! Rope toys and a stag bar, if they go to chew something ya don't want them to chew then throw the dog toys or stag bar infront of them and let them know their toys are for chewing!! Get plenty of rest now because your in for a few good month of non stop playing and toilet patrol! don't let it put you off tho rise to the challenge ;-)

Crates are great and lots of toys. An adjustable collar or harness. You should also get something with her parents or littermates scent on it to bring home if possible to help her settle.

Crate is a great idea, especially while they are at the stage where they will chew anything, its somewhere safe for them at night and if you are out. A blanket over 3 sides helps them settle a bit better. Lots of chew toys and find out what the breeder has been feeding the pups so that you can get some in

Agree with all of the above! I bought a crate for the first time with Dempsey & never regretted it - saved me a lot of grey hairs & probably saved Dempsey chewing things he shouldn't!

But most of all, the things you need in abundance are.....

Love & patience.

yes to crate, and nice soft blanket in it
chewy toys
nice treats (and you'll want them for training too)
I am a fan of harness + collar

and a sense of humor...?

agree as above , crate being the most important for you , think ideally you need to decide quite early on for the money whether you want to use a crate long term or whether its just for the first few months until pup is settled as this will dictate the size you buy. For us its a short term thing so we went down a little on the crate size , but lots of people use them permanently.
Have a think about what puppy food you are going to use , plenty of toys is a must , maybe a boomer ball , a kong , we have one of them wobble kong treat dispensers and tommy loves that, we can feed him from it.
A long training line is useful when you start to walk him, and a nice comfy bed unless he is always going to use his crate (Tommy uses the crate at night though we are weaning him off it now and through the day when we go out or its a little hectic, the rest of the time he sleeps in a big bed we got for hiom and Tilly)

Apart from everything mentioned above, a camera!! They grow so quickly so takes lots of pics

ooh yes we forgot the camera , probably in the top 5 important pup accessories , how silly of us, not very professional for the most photo friendly forum in the world

Thanks everyone for your advice, silly question i know! but how do you use the crate with regards to how much time they spend it in training etc? and what size should i buy? should i buy a bed to go inside the crate? any advice on toilet training as i've heard you need to have a seperate area out of the crate for puppy training pads?!! its all so confusing lol, just want to make it really nice for her

For a start you should divide up the crate half bed , half toilet area for accidents, as time progresses and the toileting gets better then you take out the toilet and fill it with bedding.
As I stated above you need to decide whether the crate will be a long term thing (buy the biggest you can affor keeping practical) or if itsd only to be for the first few months then a smaller one will do, but pup must be comfortable and be able to turn arond in it . Ours is a short term measure and its 78 x 54 x 60 high (cm) but I would have a bigger one if he was going to use it in later life.
You should use the crate so he is secure whilst you are out and at nightime, the rest og the time just leave the door open so he can come and go as he pleases, this just gets him used to it and he will feel safe

Are you a staffy virgin like us?
When is the stork coming??
We get our first 4 weeks today ( not that we're counting ) lol. See photos on "New puppy " by Reuben

Regarding toilet training we used the garden from day 1 as its enclosed and only Tilly used it so regarding the training it really depends how you plan to tackle it.
A tip I was told from my breeder regarding paper trainign was not to throw all the paper out and let the urine dry in, that way the pup will smell the urine and use the paper to go on again, the paper should be somewhere like the kitchen and gradually move it toward the door until then its just a small step to outside.
You will get to see the signs when the pup wants to go for a wee and you just have to be on the ball, when they do go outside a few treats and lots of encouragement

reuben wrote:Are you a staffy virgin like us?
When is the stork coming??
We get our first 4 weeks today ( not that we're counting ) lol. See photos on "New puppy " by Reuben

Yes we are! this will be our first staffy and we can't wait your puppy is lovely by the way

I second what the others have said, lots of toys..

remember to remove any collar before putting the pup in a crate.

I personally used the whole crate as a bed, never an area to be punished, just somewhere for her to sleep, rest.

I had 2 crates, one in the living room, so in the day she could be placed in there, and one in our bedroom at night (many have had issues with there pup whining at night and solved it by letting them sleep in the bedroom, but thats your decision)

As for toilet training, we had a few accidents obviously, had plenty of cleaning liquids designed to remove dog urine odours etc, and just picked up up mid wee if we could, or straight after every time, and put her outside.

Speak to the breeder about the diet he / she will be putting the dog on, and start reading up on that now, have plenty ready.

metal bowls for food and water cant be chewed up!

check the garden is puppy proof, no gaps in the fence, and get yourself some nappy bags, and something to "poop scoop"

treats for training as mentioned above too, and space of the sofa for lots of cuddles