New Year, New Dog! 7 New Puppy Essentials Every New Paw-rent Needs

If you’re lucky enough to have had a new puppy join your family over the holidays, let us be among the first welcome to the paw-renthood! Even in just these first few weeks, you surely have discovered how rewarding, joyous and amazing having a pet can be. The cozy companionship, the bonding moments, the adorable firsts – they are all priceless parts of an incomparable experience. However, you have probably also already learned how overwhelming, consuming and exhausting having a new pet can be, especially when the new pet is a puppy!

Not to worry! We are here to help make the transition a little easier with our top recommendations for must-have new puppy essentials. These seven products for new puppies will help set you – and your pup! – up for success, starting you both on the road to harmonious coexistence, a strong and mutually rewarding pet-human bond, and most importantly, a happy healthy pet.

One of the quickest ways to make a new puppy feel safe and included is to provide her with a cozy space to call her own – namely, a dog crate. It’s a big wide world out there with a lot of new encounters for a puppy to contend with. As den animals, dogs relish the security and safety of a small space they can retreat to and relax in. For a puppy, crates can also be helpful for potty training and establishing a bedtime routine. Making sure you choose a collapsible, portable crate will also make it easier to take your puppy on trips, letting him feel at home in new spaces. A Pawd pet crate from Kindtail makes a great option, available in multiple sizes and colors that work for human and canine décor!

A dog bed is another great gift for a new puppy. Not only can you put it in his new crate, you can place it anywhere your puppy might want to lie down and snuggle in for a snooze. It’s also a great place for chew time (see below) and putting his scent on to claim as his own. Opt for a washable bed or one with a removable washable cover, and choose the filling material and other features such as moisture-wicking based your climate and surroundings. Check out this uber-comfortable memory foam dog bed by 3 Dog Pet Supply, or this option with a cozy fleece headrest.  Both are available in three sizes and feature washable micro-velvet or fleece covers that work with any decor. 

Some puppies find comfort in and even get possessive of toys like plushies, balls or chew toys. But at some point, they all find comfort in chewing! Investing in puppy-safe dog chews or toys is a great way to provide distraction, purpose and even exercise for new puppies. Just be sure you choose toys and chews that are appropriate for their age and stage of oral development. The critical factor is whether or not the puppy still has her milk teeth since they are much more prone to breakage and damage from tough dog chews. Once their milk teeth are gone, split elk antler chews like ours make healthy and safe chews for puppies, with the exposed marrow providing delicious flavor in addition to nutritional benefits from protein and essential minerals. They are also odor-free and don’t melt into a slobbery mess! Just be sure to supervise your puppy when chewing and limit chew time so he doesn’t get too worn out from gnawing away without knowing his limits.

Licking is another calming behavior to puppies and dogs of any age. It’s also a healthy outlet for anxiety or pent up energy, providing many digestive and dental benefits as well as focus and a sense of accomplishment. A lick mat is one of the best puppy gifts you will find, designed with grooves to hold soft healthy dog treats like yogurt or natural peanut butter while providing a fun and delicious challenge for a pup’s licking prowess. You can even choose licking mats with suction cups to put in the bathtub or mats with fun designs for holidays, but we love SodaPup lick mats even more because they are dishwasher-safe!

You might be asking why a pet food topper is essential to your new puppy’s diet, but they can be excellent nutritional supplements for puppies. Puppies need more protein than adult dogs to help fuel all that lightning fast growing they are doing. Our healthy dog food toppers are made of pure protein – 2-3 times more than most others, in fact – and are available in three varieties dogs love that are easy to digest and safe for puppy tummies. Sprinkling chicken, turkey or antler powder dog food toppers on top of wet food or a lick mat treat adds a tasty punch of protein that helps puppies thrive.

Training is one of the best gifts you can give a dog. Dogs thrive with structure and routine, and they also take pleasure in pleasing us. Training provides all these benefits all while developing a well-behaved dog that everyone enjoys. You can refer to our blog article about helpful dog and puppy training tips for more details, but the most important thing with when training is consistency. Just like human parenting, the message must be clear, consistent and supported with positive reinforcement.

For real-time expert training programs, we can’t say enough about Baxter and Bella, whose innovative and force-free approach leverages experience in puppy raising, positive pet parenting, therapy and service dog training. Not only does their lifetime membership program offer countless online resources and an uber informative podcast, it also includes virtual one-on-one sessions and personal customer service support – and Farm to Pet customers receive 25% off with code FTP!

You knew it was coming, but mentioning healthy dog treats is more than a Farm to Pet plug! Treats are not only fun for puppies to eat (and fun for us to feed them!), they are also essential training tools. Plus, when they are made of pure meats dogs love like beef, chicken or turkey, they become high value training rewards that provide higher motivation for puppies to learn and retain desired behaviors. The key is to use them as treats, not meals, to keep them as special parts of your puppy’s balanced nutritious diet.

Equally essential is to only choose the healthiest puppy treats possible (plug alert!) – namely, ours. Batch-made of high-quality cuts of human-grade poultry breast or beef round, our Chicken Chips, Turkey Chips and Beef Chips for dogs can be easily broken into mess-free small pieces to stretch through a training session. Plus, they are low in fat and calories yet high in protein, amino acids, vitamins and minerals that support healthy puppy development and overall pet wellness. And let’s face it – treats make pets happy, and that makes us happy. Choosing Farm to Pet’s healthy pet treats ensures everyone wins in the process.

Making your new puppy feel at home in yours is job one for raising a precious puppy into a happy healthy member of the family. Starting with a few new puppy essentials like nutritious dog treats and dog food toppers she loves; a crate, bed, lick mat and chew toys of his own; and an expert training resource you can rely on will start you both off on the right foot – or is it paw? – for many happy and rewarding years together! Share pics of your new (and not so new) pups with us on social @farmtopettreats with your favorite pet essentials!