Our Husky Puppy Check List

We're getting our puppy tomorrow! We've been busy getting ready for her, I thought I'd share a checklist of ours. Definitely not a complete check list, I'm sure we're missing something, but we'll pick those up as we go. Pretty much the list will consist mostly of essentials but other stuff we picked up from when we decided to get a pup to today. I'll try to post images of the products and links if I can find them to make it easier for anyone who stumbles across our blog looking for some advice. We also plan on doing individual product reviews (given we don't get too lazy!) , especially for ones we really liked, or really hate at later posts so watch out for those! Btw we won't list everything we got, we got little things like a cute Bandana and such, those are just cosmetic things, hehe.

Check out our check list after the jump! (By the way I included images, but browser ablock addons/extensions block the images -_- so if you want to see them just disable it for our blog. Not like we're going to bombard our friends and readers with ads :) )


Essentials:


Crate: At first we read a full grown female Siberian Husky can grow up to 23.5" in height, so we thought a Medium-Large crate (25" in height) with a divider will be good to start out with. So we bought the 700 series crate during a pretty big sale. On hindsight, we realized what we read was 23.5" in heigh at the WITHERS! which means at the shoulder blade/start of the neck bone area, oops! I could return the one we bought but the sale is long over, so we'd be paying a higher for the bigger crate. It's ok since I figure this size will be good for at least 6 months +, although not the most cost efficient, but can sell it later and buy a more appropriate size later. 


We got: PETCO Premium 2-Door Dog Crate



Collar: It was suggested to us to use a choker type collar to it simulates something biting the dogs jugular area to calm or alert the pup during training. I avoided the pronged chokers since it looks like it may harm during training, so we found this one, we'll give it a go, it might be too big for a little pup since it's med-large, but we can just stop by a pet store later and try on some smaller collars too. Well, we'll need regular collars anyway, don't always need a choker when not training ;) we'll see how this one goes with training & obedience. As for a Lead (leash) we just got a comfortable feeling one at a Petco that has a loop in the middle so it can become a shorter one.


We got: Rogz Reflective 3/4-Inch Fanbelt Dog Choker, Medium to Large, Blue



Shampoo: This was a bit of surprise to hear from the breeder to use Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo instead of advertised puppy/dog shampoos. She pointed out that on the instructions of those, it says to wash once a month or so, but with the baby shampoo, diluted half with water, we can wash the pup everyday! It not only calms them, but helps with the bonding process. Reason is the baby shampoo isn't as harsh on the fur and skin as the others, not even close, so it's ok to wash way more often. We opted for lavender scent because the breeder's employees suggested the scent calms the puppy down and they tend to like that scent from their own experiences. Also, the generic version sold at walmart is just as good, but it's hard to beat amazon's 2 pack price!

We got: Johnson's Baby Shampoo with Calming Lavender, 20-Ounce


Toothbrush: There's plenty of products out there that clean your pup/dogs teeth in the form of a treat or spray, but we wanted to get our pup used to teeth brushing process early on so she won't fight it later, and it keeps her breath nice! We just picked this one up to try out, read good reviews on the brand's website, and no bad reviews elsewhere, so why not. It comes with a toothbrush, a finger brush (like a thimble to brush teeth) and a bottle of toothpaste!


We got: Propet Dental Kit

Pet tags: Plenty of tags out there, especially at pet stores like Petco and PetSmart. However the ones near me, Petco uses fido tag that we got which is diamond tip engraved, while PetSmart has laser etched. Laser one seemed like it could rub off, and for some reason it was more expensive than Petco's fido tags. Also, there are lots of shops online that do pet tags with more variety and a lot cheaper! We got an additional one at Pet Tags 4 Less . It's a real value and it arrived to west coast in about 4 days. Quality isn't the best but it's cheap and can just replace it so why not!


Toys: So many out there that we want to get, haha everywhere we go we see one we want to buy it. But we were good and opted to buy from the most recommended brands (Kong & Nylabone). Toys are mainly for teething puppies and the 2 brands got the best reviews and most recommendations for us. We also got a couple of rope toys for tug play and training. Some rope toys say it acts as a floss of sorts for their teeth as well. Here's just a list of what we got, we'll do individual reviews as we let Kiba tear into them ;)

Seems like one of the most popular toys dog owners get. Can stick peanut butter inside and put it in the freezer so the pup can sooth their growing teeth, and the "Extreme" version is tougher than the classic I presume. Large seems actually a good size compare to the smaller ones, don't want our pup to choke on it!








Nylabone gets great reviews, but there's always a risk of pieces of it coming off. The Regular size we got seem kinda small but for a 3 pack it's not bad at all. Hopefully Kiba will like it enough to make full use of them before we have to get a bigger version. They all come with a flavor and also some are edible. 


I've read horror stories of pieces coming out and the dog eating the pieces getting stuck in the intestines but if you keep a close eye on your pup it should be ok.










It's one of the top rated rope toys we found on Amazon.com, so I decided to get it. When it arrived the ball isn't too small it's a great size, the puppy version we saw in store were too small. The construction of it seems really well made and safe, so we'll see how Kiba likes it.


















Just a regular rope toy we decided to get. Differs from the Nylabone one, but we thought maybe just in case Kiba doesn't like one or the other we have a backup! Good size, the rope part feels stronger than the Nylabone, and it's a big longer. We'll see how it goes.




















Grooming (Combs, brushes, etc.): Tons of products are suggested and they all include more than one brush on the set. As many people will need to know is Huskies will "Blow" KABOOM their coat twice a year and they shed like crazy. It's was a huge turn off for us when we learned this, but we think we can tackle this obstacle, you readers will definite read about it on here, lol. Anyways, it's almost always suggested to have a slicker brush and also a de-shedding brush.  Well lucky for us our cat Mochi hates brushes and we already have a slicker brush and a furminator. Though smaller I think it'll tie us over for a while until Kiba grows up and we'll upgrade.


We got this one in store, similar to the slicker we got:Safari Self-Cleaning Large Small Slicker Brush for Dogs


This is the furminator we got from amazon, the smaller one:FURminator Large Yellow deShedding Tool with 4-Inch Edge the newer ones now have a button where it pushes out the fur so it's easier to clean.


Miscellaneous Accessories:


Bag Dispenser: This is definitely not an essential, but it seems like a good idea right now, somewhere to put baggies. I know you can use any old grocery bag or whatever, which we may end up doing, but we bought a dispenser and refills since they claim it's more biodegradable than the typical plastic bags. We'll see. The dispenser is pretty sturdy and easy to open and change the refill bags, plus it clips onto the lead! May seem helpful or just get in the way, I guess we'll find out! 


Dispenser: Bags on Board Bone Dispenser, 30 Bags

Refills: Bags on Board Rainbow Bag Refill Pack, 120 Bags



Food Scooper: We saw this food scooper from walmart that's less than $1 and had a built in measuring cup to help scoop the right portions. Definitely not essential but helpful nonetheless.


We got: Van Ness Food Scoop

Reading Materials: I decided to buy a couple of books before deciding to get a pup so we get more information on the breed. I know information is readily available on the net, but some reason I feel information is easier to take in and sticks longer if read from a book. We also found a training book to help us with a new pup and train Kiba! We'll see how that one goes.


Siberian Huskies (Complete Pet Owner's Manual)


Purely based on reader reviews we got this book, well an older print but same. It's a short book and we went through it quick, it has really good information on the history of the breed, the specifics and also some tips. It was a quick read with just enough information that helped us decide to get a Siberian Husky!














Siberian Huskies For Dummies


I was never a fan of the "for Dummies" series of books, but this one was recommended to us and also got good reviews. I personally haven't finished reading it, but on first glance it's similar to the one above, but a little more details on how to raise a puppy. They got topics like cleaning up urine and junk. I'll probably need to go through it after we get Kiba settled home.












101 Dog Tricks: Step by Step Activities to Engage, Challenge, and Bond with Your Dog


This one I got because it got numerous praise after perusing through numerous husky forums. Looking through it , it has detailed pictures and steps on how to train your dog from simple sit to bringing me a beer! haha. Further reading forums though, Siberian Huskies seem stubborn as hell and will do the more complicated "tricks" if they feel like it. Even a simple retrieval exercise :( They aren't retriever dogs so playing fetch may be a challenge. Part of the reason why we didn't include a ball or frisbee in the toy check list above. I'll most likely write a more detail review on the techniques used from this book and our experiences with it later on.