What You Will Need At Home

There are a few supplies you will need to start off with:

• A crate - It will need to be 30" long. Don't worry about height and width dimensions as they all vary depending on the manufacturer. It is definately worth the extra few dollars to get a 'suitcase style' which means it sets up and folds easily all in one piece. It also takes up very little room if you are travelling. We train the puppies in wire crates but plastic crates are fine too. We usually have some crates here that we have purchased wholesale. If you are interested, ask if we have any available.
• A blanket for the crate - We prefer to use polar fleece blankets in our crates, especially during crate training. If placed in the crate folded in half or quarters, they provide cosy padding and wick wetness down to the bottom of the crate. If the puppy happens to have an accident, the top layer stays nice and dry. They also clean well and dry quickly. Some other materials tend to hold smells in, even after they are washed. An old blanket or small quilt will also work well. There is no need to go to great expense as some dogs will even move the blanket aside and prefer to sleep on the crate tray. Puppies love to pee on big paded dog beds so you might want to wait for one until the puppy is older.
• Food and water bowls - Some puppies like to carry their empty bowls so we suggest using ceramic or metal bowls. They can't pick up the ceramic style and the metal bowls are pretty indestructable. Plastic become scratched and they can make tooth marks in them. Once this happens, they are difficult to keep clean. Separate bowls instead of the 2-in-1 style work well at the beginning so you can remove the food earlier in the day for crating and also to be able to supply a bit of water later in the evening if needed.
• Nail clippers - there are many different styles available but for the nervous trimmer there are scissor-style clippers available with a cutting guard to ensure you don't cut off too much nail at one time.
• Styptic powder - this is a powder used to clot a bleeding nail if you cut a nail too short and catch the 'quick' (blood supply in the nail). If this does happen, it will bleed quite a lot but only hurts for a short period of time so don't have a heart attack! If you don't have styptic powder on hand at the moment, you can use flour as a backup. A small container lasts for a very long time. If you are going through it quite quickly, accept failure and take your dog to the vet or groomer for trimming instead! :)

That's about it to start out. Oh, and you might also want to pick up some poop bags. They don't care if their bowls match their bedding or if you live in a mansion or a trailer. The thing the puppy will need most is you.