This is our list that we have compiled of our favorites for our girls! We know that bringing a new family member into your home can be a little bit overwhelming, and just like babies, these four pawed family members need lots of love and care, and a bit of spoiling too! We have some families whose friends have even thrown them a Puppy Shower and showered them with gifts and celebrated with cake!
We do our best to update this list every litter, making sure the links still work. So if you come across a link that has expired or directs you to a different item, please send us an email at aboyandhisdogdoodles@gmailcom and let us know!
Many of our doodle families recommended a Snuggle Puppy for when families bring their sweet one home, it makes heart beat noises and it has a warm pack, so it mimics having a litter mate, this may be helpful to soothe your new pup to sleep! We have used this for our sweet pup, Maple, and it is still her favorite stuffed animal.
When you come to our house on your puppy pick out date, you will see our play/sleep time set up for the pups. (or you may see it in some of our pictures too!) Many families have asked about our playpen fencing. We really like this playpen as it comes apart easily and is sturdy. Underneath (to protect the floor from accidents) we picked up a cheap piece of 6×8 linoleum flooring for $25 at Ollie’s Bargain store ( a local discount store). This has worked very well for the early stages of puppy life.
- Food
We currently feed our girls Canidae All Stages Dog Food. This is the kibble your puppy will be eating when they go home with you, but of course, do check with your personal vet on what they recommend and ultimately choose whatever you feel is best for your puppy!
- Food & Water Containers
Needless to say, you’ll need a food + water container for your puppy and thus far, these bowls are great, We use them for our food and water. I like that they have rubber on the bottom and that they are stainless steel, but they are kind of plain looking.
If you are looking for something a little more patterned, this one is nice, but it does not have the rubber gripper.
And if your puppy ends up being a bowl tipper, these are great!
- Bed / Crate
If you do decide to crate train, which we do absolutely recommend at least for the first 6-months to 1-year of life mostly for training purposes, then these crates (or similar) is what I recommend! Collapsible, easy to clean, and has open visibility for your puppy, has 2 different doors to fit any area of your home, and it has the divider to make the crate smaller when your puppy is smaller. (*the 36-inch should be a great size for your doodle as well) .
And these pads/crate inserts are really cozy + easy to clean, too! Honestly our girls tend to find one of the boys blankets to snuggle up on, but if you are looking for a big fluffy bed, Costco usually has a great price on dog beds.
We also use a crate cover, and leave it on the crate during the day, with one side open, it made our girls feel safe and secure during naps, and then we cover it completely at night, to help them sleep and make it really dark for them, We also currently have one on the crate for the puppies, to help them with their sleep times!
- Grooming
This shampoo has been our favorite as of late.
Along with this one as a close second.
As far as grooming tools go, this brush does well for our straighter hair girl.
But Sugar tends to mat, and needs to be brushed with this slicker daily, it is on the expensive side, but it has been ABSOLUTELY worth it. This also works great for Maple’s long curly coat!
We also use this de-matting comb .
And a Steel comb on her too!
These nail clippers are great because they have a guard on them!
And finally, if you are daring enough to learn how to groom your own doodle, then this is the clipper for you
Along with these combs/attachments! Or, you can just simply go to the groomer every 1-2 months depending on your doodle’s coat. We have clippers and groom our girls often, but it is alot of work, so we also splurge sometimes and take them to the groomer 🙂
- Collar, Leash, ID Tag
Picking out a collar + lease can be very personal depending on what you’re looking for in both style and practicality, but our family really likes the Max and Neo brand collar.
And this style of leash , of course from Max and Neo is best.
When our girls were puppies we used this harness for them.
And a lot of our past doodle families really like this lead to help train them in walking next to you!
We also use a Gentle Leader, which many of our families love, but honestly Maple always tries to take it off her nose! And don’t forget to make + put on an ID tag on for your puppy just in case he/she ever gets lost or wanders off… but we hope that never happens! Personally, we have had our girls micro chipped as they mean so very much to us.
- Training Help
Whether you choose to get a trainer for your puppy, (which is highly recommended if you have never trained a puppy) or you are familiar with puppy training, this book has a lot of great information on training! If you’re looking for more bullet-point tips, then this article is a short but solid read on basic training as well as this one on housetraining your puppy!
These are charcoal potty pads we use for emergencies.
And we like to hang these bells on the door to help in potty training.
If there is a reputable puppy training class near you, then we do recommend looking into that, too. If you put in the hard work early on with your puppy then you’ll have a great dog for life! If you are in Wilmington, I have heard AMAZING things about Diane at www.dogtraininc.com, and I have also personally reached out to Jenny at www.aviddogtraining.com and she is very helpful. And if you are towards the Myrtle Beach area, Bridget Wolf with BWolf’s Fine Paw. in Calabash, NC, comes highly recommended from other families, here is her facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063490602875&sk=about
- Chew Toys!
Yes, chew toys are essential 🙂 These are the beloved puppy animal rope toys we put in your goody bag, almost every family asks me where I got them, as they are a favorite. This time I was able to get them on this Amazon site here, but it does change often with these ropes specifically, then I have to do another amazon search to find them from a different provider.
Our girls/puppies really seem to like these rope toys.
And they really love the Kong Knots Toys, they are a little expensive, but have proved to make our girls happy, they like any of the Knots toys!
Our girls really liked the Kong Braidz – the pig was their favorite! I can’t find them anymore, but they also really like any of the Knots, wubba, or Squiggle toys as well!
And of course the classic Kong
And this Floss Spearmint Rope .
And these Dental Chews recommended by our vet. Just stock up on chew toys! You’ll need them 🙂 I don’t think that you can ever have enough toys!
- Pet Insurance
Pet insurance is becoming more and more popular these days and for good reasons! If you’re interested in finding out more about pet insurance/what all it covers, a friend of mine recommends Pet’s Best. and says that they are a great company to work with!
We hope that this has been helpful and this is basically all the info we put into our email that we send out to our families about our favs and a basic puppy essentials guide!
Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have!
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A Boy and His Dog Doodles, LLC