Must-Have Essential Items for New Puppy Owners: The Ultimate Puppy Starter Kit

Are you about to bring home a new puppy? Wondering what on earth to put on your shopping list? With so many products available and so much conflicting advice out there, it is difficult to know what to buy for a new puppy.

As an experienced, award-winning specialist puppy trainer, I’ve put together the ultimate guide to help you get started with all the best puppy equipment and essential items that you’ll need to get you and your puppy off to the best start. Every item I’ve chosen is tried, tested and essential for raising a puppy. Plus, you can conveniently grab everything on Amazon through my affiliate links. Let’s get you and your pup fully prepared!

For The Home

Comfortable bed / bedding

Whilst all dogs have different preferences for where they like to sleep and, half the time, you’ll find your puppy probably hanging half out of the beds that you give them, offering your puppy a choice of beds can really help them feel at home as well as help promote more restful sleep (and that is essential when it comes to puppies!).  You don’t have to go quite as crazy as me and have a bed for your dog in every room, but a couple around the house is a nice idea.  You might find that your puppy wants to curl up in a cosy little space or that they are a larger breed and prefer the support of a memory foam bed. I usually find that most dogs prefer to have a bed that has at least one raised side to rest their little gorgeous heads on.  If you have a dog who likes to try and de-stuff their bed, you might opt for something with harder sides or more of a mattress-type bed.  Here’s a few of my favourites:

Puppy Crate & Pen

If you’ve read my puppy toilet training, puppy biting, puppy socialisation/management and puppy car travel guides, you’ll see that crate training and pen training your puppy can be extremely useful in the first few months to help with all of these things! Not only that, with the best will in the world, it isn’t possible to supervise your puppy 24 hours a day and an unsupervised puppy nearly always makes mistakes! So, whilst I think crate and pen training is very much a personal choice, there are some very real benefits to doing this and having these available for your puppy. It’ll save your house from destruction when you aren’t watching your puppy too! I find that young puppies tend to take better to material crates than the metal types, especially if you want to crate them to travel in the car. Here are my favourites:

Durable Puppy Chews/Chew Toys/Toys

Puppies LOVE to chew! Providing them with the right puppy chew toys will help save your shoes, furniture and sanity! Look for high-quality, safe chew toys that are designed specifically for puppies. Teething toys are also a must to help soothe their gums during the painful teething process. Anything you provide your puppy with is done so at your own risk, so please do supervise your puppy when leaving them with chews or giving them things for the first time. Top picks:

Soft toys

Puppy Bowls

It goes without saying that we all have our own taste, however I can’t help but love these:

Enrichment and Mental Stimulation Feeders & Toys

Puppies require a lot of mental stimulation and one way to give them this is to use enrichment feeders for one of their meals per day. They can help occupy, tire and mentally stimulate your puppy which is always a win! I love to give puppies their dinner in an enrichment feeder in the early evening, to keep them nice and occupied whilst I want to settle down. Try some of these:

Pet Safe (Kennel Grade) Household Cleaner

Your likely going to have to clean up after your puppy once or twice and using a kennel grade cleaner that fully clears the smell for your puppy (so that they don’t continue to toilet in the same area) is vital. Go for cleaners that are non-ammonia based. My favourite cleaner is:

Grooming

Getting your puppy used to the grooming process early on is essential, especially if you have a dog who needs regular brushing to maintain a healthy coat and skin. Because all dogs are different in their coat types, there’s no one-size fits all brush for all. Here are some of my favourites for various types:

For Outdoors

A comfortable, adjustable puppy collar and harness is an absolute must for walking and training your new puppy. Make sure you choose one that fits snugly but still has room for your puppy to grow. You want to be looking for y-shaped harnesses that don’t sit across the front of the chest and restrict your puppy’s natural shoulder movement. I find that really young puppies take better to soft material harnesses than ones with rigid chest plates. As your pup grows, however, I would move them over to a more sturdy harness (see below). Don’t forget a double ended lead to pair with your harness for training your puppy to walk nicely on lead (and for being able to adjust the length of the lead that you want it to be depending on where you are)! When it comes to wanting to give them more freedom outside, but still want to keep them safe until you’ve trained a brilliant recall, use a longline with your puppy outdoors (I recommend a minimum of a 10 metre line). Here are my favourites:

Harnesses

For baby pups:

For older pups:

Leads & Collars

Leads:

Collars

Car Travel

Most puppies and dogs want to feel secure in the car and I find that if you’re not using a crate for them to travel in, they find it much easier to travel in a bed with raised sides to keep them secure.

Beds/seats:

Crates:

Seat Belts:

Poo Bags

Water bottles

Drying coats/towels

Collar/Harness Tags (requirement under UK law)

GPS Dog Tracker

Books

For Essential Training

There are some skills that, for me, are absolute must-haves when it comes to training. Recall is my top priority and I love to whistle train a puppy’s recall. I always opt for a professional whistle and ACME is the best by far. The 211.5 pitch is ideal for recall outdoors.

A treat pouch is essential for training your puppy outdoors. Rummaging around in your pocket for treats always means you’re too late with rewarding your puppy, whereas an easy access treat pouch can make training so much more efficient!

Whistle

Treat pouches

Training toys that dogs adore for high value rewards

I’ve curated this list based on my expertise as a dog trainer and puppy specialist. Ready to shop? Click the links above and start your puppy journey today!

Need help with puppy training and want the support of a puppy specialist? Head to the Book Now button to get in touch with Jo.

 

I am not sponsored by any of the listed items and you can grab everything you need right now from Amazon using my links (may earn commission). Your purchase supports this page, and it won’t cost you any extra.