Pets at Home has always been my first point of call for Puppy items and way back when I got Chester's puppy things, it was one of the only places to go as I hadn't discovered some of the amazing online brands we now love. The brands we have since discovered were through Instagram which we started to use a couple of months after Chester came home.
A few of these items I also had for Chester, they survived his puppy days and I trust them to get our new little one through hers.
First off all we got her a Just For Puppy Bone Crate Mat Cream X Small for inside her crate. This fits perfectly inside the extra small Pets At Home crates. I am starting her off in a small crate and then will be moving up the sizes as she gets bigger we expect her to be around 8kg to 10kg when fully grown.
Next TOYS! Anyone who has raised a puppy will agree the teething stage can be brutal!
Chester's was intense he was clingy, would bite and attach to anything he could while crying in pain. But he was also a brilliant boy and always went for toys opposed to furniture (Which his Nanny was very grateful for). The toy that he loved the most in those times was the Just For Puppy Tough Bug Puppy Toy Small it has a great silicone wavy ribbed belly that must just hit the spot on those painful teeth!
Another toy/chew Chester particularly loved was the Just For Puppy Milk Bone Puppy Toy Small the only issue for Chester is he grew quicker than the size of the bone and it quickly became a hazard for him, which was a real shame as he really did love it. Definitely would recommend for puppies up to 8kg.
Comfort toys are in my opinion essential for puppies I did a lot of research on this topic before I brought Chester home. Comfort toys can help your puppy feel safe and calm, and can help with the bond between you both. I got Chester a soft toy from the Just puppy range in 2018 and started sleeping with it about 2 weeks before he came home. By sleeping with the toy I transferred my scent to it. Chester sleeps with his bear as we call him every night and has done since he came home on the 10th June 2018, now in 2022 he doesn't sleep anywhere overnight without him.
A comfort toy for a puppy could be a stuffed animal or a soft blanket that your dog keeps close by, for our new arrival I picked up the Just For Puppy Cord Elephant Dog Toy
However be careful with comfort toys, if you only give your puppy the toy before you leave the house, they may start associating their stuffed animal with anxiety caused by being alone. Chester only has his bear to sleep with and it stays in his basket, I find this a good way of creating a positive association.
For her arrival home I picked up three of the Just For Puppy Plush Donut Squeaky Dog Toy one for Maisy my parents dog, a blue one for Chester and of course a Pink one for our new puppy! I got three so all dogs have at least one of the same toy, this is mainly due to Maisy as she started out an only dog, she's been spoilt and isn't inclined to share. This created a bit of tension when we brought puppy Chester home and as a curious and inquiring puppy does he headed straight for her toy basket, she didn't hurt him but she let us know she wasn't happy and since then we have always tried to keep things fair for her.
Finally I got one of the Just For Puppy Bristle Brush as a cockapoo she is going to require a lot of grooming compared to Chester and she also will have different fur so this the perfect puppy brush to get her used to the grooming process.
Thanks for reading
Sarah, Chester and Puppy! xx