DRY DOG FOOD : 

We recommend TLC Whole Life Dog Food : 

We highly recommend that you keep your new puppy on TLC Whole Life Puppy Food. It already has prebiotics and probiotics to assist in retaining a solid stool and gives a solid nutritional foundation for steady and healthy growth.

TLC Whole Life is what we feed our own family pets and our top show dogs. We support it so much, we have become a representative of the brand! 

More information about this food, and why we feed and recommend it, is available on the Articles and Information page under “Feeding and Things to Remember”.   

You can order by going to the website and remember that if you stay on TLC Whole Life on auto-ship (from our website) for one year we will also give you an additional year on your health guarantee!

FOOD TOPPERS AND EXTRAS : 

We recommend Evanger’s Canned Dog Food -:

We also mention Evanger’s Dog Food in our emails .

Their food is top of the line and we use this for our dogs for every feeding. Just a tablespoon on top, or mixed in, and our dogs LOVE us for it! They have great gift baskets!!!

Some of their products can be purchased at select stores, but we purchase through the website - https://evangersdogfood.com/

Powdered Goats Milk : We supplement our young puppies, just being introduced to mashed food, with powdered goats milk. Please remember that cows milk is not easily digestible for canines, but kids/goats milk is safe and provides additional nourishment during the weaning process. If you would like to occasionally feed goats milk to your new puppy we recommend :

Hoosier Hill Organic Goats Milk or Land O’Lakes Doe Match.

Mix according to directions for your puppy to enjoy. OR.. You can sprinkle a dry tablespoon of the powder on their morning meal for breakfast and save the tablespoon of canned food for dinner! This gives them a bit of variety while still providing full nutritional value.

TOYS AND CHEWS -

Rawhide Retriever Rolls : We normally purchase theAmerican Natural Rawhide Rolls from Sam’s Club. We provide our puppies the rolls. Never the ones with the knots. These rolls take quite a long time to chew and once they chew them down to a smaller size, and we are worried about it becoming a choking hazard, we take it away and give them another.

Antler and wood chews : If you have an aggressive chewer antler or wood chews may be the answer as they can stand up to lots of hard chewing action and last a very Very VERY long time. The issue is some dogs do not prefer these. The dogs that do LOVE them however. I purchase the Medium Dogwood Mesquite and the Medium Deer Horn chews. Just be careful, as with any toy or chew, to keep an eye on the puppy and chew size to be sure they are not splintering or have been chewed down to a size that would be a choking hazard.

Kong Toys :

The Kong Company has so many toys of various sizes and shapes. Some are even stuff-able with treats, dry dog food or special spray treats. Their texture is soft enough to not fracture teeth, but hard enough to provide a great chewing experience for your puppy!

Our puppies and adults love the Fun to Chew and Chase toys that are stuff-able! They also love the Puppy Teething Stick and the WUBBA toys are particularly popular with all of our dogs! There are so many to choose from though so go take a peek.

BALLS :

We only recommend balls that you know, for SURE, are large enough that your puppy will not swallow it and ones that are not made of thin rigid plastic. If chewed or cracked, plastic balls can be swallowed and do serious damage to the intestine of a dog. Tennis balls are soft and a great size but they get dirty fast with no great way to clean them and some dogs love to rip off the outer shell of the ball to chew and swallow. We recommend the Chew King Fetch Balls. They not only do not smell like rubber but they are the perfect softness and have a great bounce. This company also has other balls that float, whistle when thrown and have other cool specific specifications!

Soft, plush & squeaky or crinkle toys : 

Puppies love to hear a squeak and sink their teeth into a plush play toy. but some toys don’t last very long.

We prefer the crinkle sounding plush toys without any stuffing and the Nocciola Crinkle Dog Toy is a good choice. We also like the durability of a heavy duty corduroy toy and Spencer The Crinkle Monkey is popular here with our babies. Spencer does have a squeaker!

Water Bottles :

Puppies also LOVE to play with thin plastic drinking water bottles. The sound they make always gets them really excited. The plastic water bottles are safe with careful supervision, and after you remove the cap/plastic ring and label.

Light chewing is fine and be sure to remove it for recycling it after each play and chew session.

We prefer to put our water bottles in the Multi-pet Loofa Water Bottle Buddy for an extra enjoyable, and safer, experience for your puppy. There are SO many toys out there, that making a recommendation in this area is really difficult so we urge you to look at all of the options and a wide array of toys for yourself.

HOUSING AND CONTAINMENT - 

Crates :  As we state in our "House and Crate Training" email, crates are NOT cruel or used for punishment. Crates provide a safe place for your puppy to be while you are not able to watch it and is a valuable tool for house training and guards against destructive behavior. Please be sure to read the article we provide.

We recommend the 28” x 20.5” x 21.5” Aspen Traditional Plastic Crate or the 29.6”x 18.6”x 21.5" MidWest Double Door Folding Crate.

We DO NOT recommend any style of soft sided crate or playpen! Dogs can chew through these or roll them in any direction. They are not stable or safe in our opinion.

Exercise / Play Pen : 

If you are interested in a portable "playpen" type of enclosure we recommend the 42" MidWest Exercise Pen. This pen securely closes by using the provided spring clips and ground anchors.

We use these pens religiously for our puppies because they fold up for travel and can be placed outside, even on concrete, and puppies can be safely monitored from a distance as they play or potty.

Please be careful of flying predators, puppies learning to dig or climb and other larger dogs tipping the pen over.

Pen Cover : 

If flying predators are a concern in your area, you have a climbing puppy or you need sun shade, we recommend purchasing the MidWest Sunscreen Top for your exercise pen. It is a secure cover that provides some protection from the sun and full protection from sky predators.

You can use zip cable ties, which is what the company provides, but we recommend spending the extra money and purchasing small sized Stainless Steel SSAK Carabiner Clips.

PUPPY PADS, BEDS AND TOWELS -

Puppy Pads :

Disposable puppy pads are useful but there are downfalls. If you put them down on the floor some puppies seem to LOVE grabbing the pads and racing around the house with them (poo and all)! If used in a crate, some puppies like to chew the pads and occasionally ingest the plastic. It doesn't happen often, so disposable puppy pads can be used, but with caution.

If you like the idea of using disposable puppy pads we recommend purchasing the Premium 36’ x 36’ Absorbent Pads.

They are a much better value than the pads packaged just for puppy house training.

Beds :

Every dog loves a nice soft bed to lay on. If you would prefer to use an actual bed in their crate instead of the towel, mentioned above, that is super. Just be sure you have a few on hand just in case they have accidents. We recommend purchasing a few of the Hugglehounds Dog Beds or a product similar.

BOWLS AND BUCKETS - 

Hanging Buckets : To provide a source of water that your puppy can not easily tip over in the exercise pen, we recommend the 2 quart Advance Pet Stainless Steel Flat Sided Bucket. To secure the bucket to the exercise pen, or to the inside of the crate when your puppy is older, I would recommend purchasing more stainless steel clips from Ace Hardware, Tractor Supply or through Amazon. This is a great combo and very useful for traveling!