The Ultimate New Puppy Essentials Checklist

So you are getting a new puppy? Congrats! Enjoy the cute the puppy kisses, sweet little yawns, and adorable sleeping positions while you can–they grow up way too fast! There are so many to-dos when prepping for your new puppy’s arrival, and it can get pretty stressful. From making vet appointments to puppy proofing your home, it is easy to keep loading your cart with what puppy supplies you think you’ll need. We helped make things a bit easier for you with a checklist of things you can consider when bringing a new puppy home.

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Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. That means if you click and/or make a purchase through certain links on this site, we may make a small commission (aka treat funds for Navy and Duke) from that click and/or purchase. Thank you for all of your love and support!

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Read on for our recommendations to add to your new puppy checklist and scroll to the end to see our puppy essentials shopping list!

FOOD

Ah, the most important category right? Puppy kibble is different than adult dog kibble, so be careful what you buy. With Navy we made the mistake of getting her a huge bag of the wrong food. I also recommend buying a smaller bag of puppy food, just in case your pup doesn’t like what you brought home. We’ve used Taste of the Wild Puppy Kibble and Wellness Core Puppy kibble. It also might be a good idea to pick up a can or two of wet food. Both Navy and Duke were still weaning off wet food when we brought them home. Luckily our breeder gave us a can to take home.

We also recommend getting treats, and lots of them. When training your puppy you want a variety of small treats your pup will love. We absolutely love Vital Essentials Mini Nibs, Ziwi Peak dog food, and Wellness soft puppy bites. Also, having a few bully sticks or chews around are always helpful, especially for teething puppies. We subscribe to Real Dog Box for monthly chews Duke and Navy love. Finally, we recommend grabbing a can of organic pumpkin. Pumpkin will really help your pup’s digestion!

SUPPLIES

The second most important category–puppy supplies! I recommend getting the basics since your puppy will grow out of these items in time: soft adjustable collar or harness, a 4 foot and 6 foot leash, dog tags, food and water bowls, dog bed, crate, play pen, baby gate, car seat cover, and a travel carrier. We list recommendations for these products are on our Amazon Store page. The most important thing to remember is that your puppy will grow out of some of these items, so do not invest too heavily in the top of the line brands. I can’t tell you how much we spent on collars, leashes, harnesses, etc. that Navy grew out of in a few weeks…

GROOMING

Is there anything cuter than a puppy in a bath? No. No there is not. We love bath time in our house, but not all puppies do. That is why we recommend having a few wipes on hand for those in-between bath time messy moments. Speaking of bath time, we are in love with Barking Muse Organic Dog Shampoo, heck we even reviewed it. I’ve also grown to love Oxyfresh ear cleaner. This is the easiest, most gentle way to clean Navy and Duke’s dirty ears.

Getting your new puppy used to having their paws touched and nails trimmed is so incredibly important. Having a good set of nail clippers and/or a dremel is definitely a necessity. For puppies you’ll also need a small brush and a toothbrush and toothpaste to complete their grooming needs.

TOYS

Toys toys toys! You can never have enough toys. We generally have two baskets full of toys for Navy and Duke. They tend to get bored of toys quickly, so we keep these baskets on rotation so the pups think they are getting new toys. We have a slight obsession with Zippy Paws burrow toys and Pet P.L.A.Y. plush toys. You should also purchase several safe chew toys for your puppy. This will be incredibly important as your puppy starts teething. Nylabones and kong dog toys have been absolute lifesavers in our house. Having a few puzzles and interactive toys are also important to have on hand. The only way we could get Navy to eat kibble as a puppy was to put it in a treat ball.

CLEAN-UP

I wasn’t really sure how to title this category, but we are calling it clean-up. You can never have too many poop bags. Trust us, don’t go for the cheapest option… If an accident happens (and believe me, it will) you’ll obviously need paper towels on hand and a good stain and odor remover. We keep Duke confined in the kitchen on our hardwood so we recently purchased a hard surface stain and odor remover as well.

If you want to train your puppy to use puppy pads, you can find them for relatively cheap on Amazon or Chewy.com. We chose to not use puppy pads to potty train either Duke or Navy, but I’ll explain why in a later post.

HEALTH & CARE

The MOST important thing you need to do when you plan to bring a new puppy home is make him a vet appointment. Your vet will be able to provide you with flea & tick preventatives and heart worm medications. Our vet has a puppy program that gave us our first month of preventatives for free. After the first month we can either purchase from the vet or purchase our preventatives from an outside pharmacy like Chewy.com.

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