New Puppy Checklist: What You Actually Need

As someone who’s raised several puppies and works as a behaviourist, I get asked all the time what you really need before a puppy comes home. So here it is - my honest list.

There are so many cleverly marketed gadgets out there that it can be genuinely overwhelming for a new puppy guardian. Do I need this? Do I need it right now? With so much “stuff” available and so much conflicting advice, it’s easy to feel swamped - even if you’ve had dogs before.

This isn’t one of those buy-everything-under-the-sun checklists. It’s what I actually get ready, and a few things I wouldn’t bother with. (And if you’re still choosing where your puppy comes from, start here: Choosing a Breeder - it matters more than almost anything else.)

What I get ready before a puppy comes home

🐾 A puppy playpen - so I can set up a safe area downstairs, in the room where we’ll spend the most time.

🐾 Two crates - I like one downstairs for daytime naps and one upstairs for nighttime, right next to my bed. If the puppy wakes in the night, they’re next to me and I can settle them straight away.

🐾 A light collar.

🐾 A harness - my favourites are Perfect Fit and TTouch. I buy this as close to the coming-home date as possible and ask the breeder for guidance on sizing.

🐾 A lead - a flat (non-extendable) lead, at least 2 metres long. Most leads sold in pet shops are far too short.

🐾 Food and water bowls - several water bowls, in fact.

🐾 A few toys - different textures and sizes. A couple of long toys are a must for redirecting puppy biting away from your hands. (More on not going overboard below.)

🐾 Baby gates - especially handy if you’ve got a room where small children’s toys and stray Lego live.

🐾 A couple of training books - I’d suggest Easy Peasy Puppy Squeezy and Perfect Puppy to get you started.

🐾 Food - a good breeder will send you home with whatever your puppy’s been eating, so you can keep them on it at first. All About Dog Food is a great resource for finding food with the best nutritional value for your budget.

🐾 Puppy classes - book sooner rather than later. Good classes get booked up weeks, sometimes months, in advance. You can book your puppy class with us here: Dogs Be Dogs Puppy Classes. If group classes don’t fit your diary, or you’d like more individual attention while your puppy settles in, we also run Puppy 1-2-1 Training.

🐾 A vet - register with your vet of choice before your puppy arrives. Asking friends or family with dogs for a recommendation is a good starting point, as some of the best local vets aren’t always taking on new clients.

And a few things I wouldn’t bother with

Half the fun of a new puppy is buying stuff - and half the money gets wasted. So here’s what I skip.

🐾 Puppy pads. I know they seem sensible, but all they really do is give your puppy an indoor toilet option. It’s fine in summer - then autumn arrives, it’s cold and wet outside, and your puppy quite reasonably decides, “Why would I go out there when there’s a perfectly good toilet in the kitchen?” You’ve accidentally taught them the opposite of what you wanted.

🐾 Toilet doorbells. The ones you hang on the door for your puppy to ring when they need to go out. Two problems. One, you’ve just signed up to be your dog’s personal doorman. Two, clever puppies quickly work out that ringing the bell gets the door opened - so they ring it to go and play, not to toilet. I’d rather teach a puppy to toilet on my schedule than have them run rings around me. (More on how I actually do toilet training in a future post.)

🐾 A great big fluffy bed. It looks lovely in the photos. Your puppy will eat it. Save the plush bed for when they’re past the chewing-everything stage - a simpler, washable one is far more use in the early days.

🐾 A cupboard full of toys. You don’t yet know what your puppy actually likes, so buying twenty toys up front is a gamble. Get a few different textures to start, see what they gravitate to, and go from there. One of the all-time favourites in my house costs nothing: an empty plastic bottle stuffed inside an old sock. Endless entertainment.

Please feel free to share your own essentials, or ask any questions - I’m always happy to help.