Supplies You Will Need For Your Golden Retriever Part II
Food bowl
Your puppy will need at least two food bowls, one puppy-sized one, and another one should be purchased as your puppy grows into an adult. A puppy can eat out of an adult bowl, but your puppy will be much more comfortable eating out of a bowl it’s own size. We have tried plastic, ceramic, and stainless steel bowls, and have found steel to be our favorite. Plastic bowls are easily chewed, can get deep scratches in them where bacteria can breed, and wear out easily, yet they are inexpensive and easy to replace. Ceramic bowls are heavy enough to keep you dog from carrying, tipping, or chewing on the bowl, but are quite fragile and will break if dropped. Stainless steel bowls are more expensive, but well worth it because they are durable, easy to clean, and will out-live your dog (sadly). I have one stainless steel bowl that is over 25 years old and we still use it! It has a big dent in it from being backed over by a van, but it still serves its purpose! These are the only bowls that you can sterilize!
Water bowl
You will also need at least two water bowls (or buckets) for your puppy. It’s nice to have an inside water bowl, and another one outside for your dog. As your puppy grows up, a bucket for outside water will probably be more sufficient. Again, we recommend stainless steel.
Puppy Food
Your puppy will need to eat a high-quality puppy food for at least its first full year of life. You were provided a sample of the puppy food your puppy is currently eating. You can buy this brand of puppy food and continue to feed it, or you can buy your own brand. Please use the sample to help transition your puppy onto the new food. Sudden diet changes can hurt a puppy’s sensitive stomach and result in diarrhea. To switch foods, start by replacing a small portion of the old food with a little of the new food. Each day, increase the new food while decreasing the old food, until your puppy is completely on the new food. This transition should take place over five to seven days for best results.
Crate
A crate is essentially a cage, pen, kennel, or travel den. Crates are usually made out of metal wire or plastic but some come as collapsible cloth material. Many fold up, some do not. Many people can get away with not having a crate, but I think it is a vital piece of equipment that every puppy owner needs. They are essential to house breaking, whether you are training to go outside or paper training. They are a great place to put puppies when they can’t be supervised. Crates are also great for sick puppies and for traveling by car or plane. Your puppy’s crate should be big enough for your puppy to stand up, turn around, and lay down comfortably. It shouldn’t be too big, because during house breaking, the crate is used to confine the puppy to an area where they sleep so that they won’t soil their bedding. If the crate is too big, the puppy will be able to relieve itself on one side of the crate and sleep in the other side. Since your puppy will do a great deal of growing during its first year, your puppy will not be able to use the same size crate for its entire lifetime. You have one of two options to resolve this. You can purchase a large wire crate that will accustom your adult dog and purchase a divider to make the crate smaller. As your puppy grows, you slide the divider to make more room for the puppy. You only need one crate when using this method. Another option is to purchase several crates as your puppy grows, usually three or four crates total. You can save the out-grown crates for future puppies or other pets or you can usually re-sell them fairly easily. For an adult Golden, we recommend a crate with the dimensions of 48"Lx40"Wx33"H. Different crate manufacturers make different size crates, but as long as you get one close to this size, it will work. Be leery of crates that are 30" tall or less, as they do not provide enough head room for an adult Golden when standing or sitting in the crate. If your dog is only in the crate for sleeping at night, a 30" height won't be a problem.
Newspapers, puppy pads, or litter box (if you are paper-training)
If you will be paper training your puppy, start saving newspapers well ahead of the time you bring your puppy home. You may want to have friends and family save their newspaper too. Most people use puppy pads these days to paper train puppies. These are found in the pet section of your favorite discount or grocery store. They are cloth-like pads that are scented to attract your puppy, and will absorb a lot more moisture than newspaper. Another option is a litter box and litter. Which ever way you go all depends on your budget and situation.
