Puppy Advice & Products

Bozley is FOUR months old today! It's hard to believe how tiny he was and how fast he's growing! 

I feel like we won the lottery with this boy. He is SUCH a good dog. Just the right amount of playful and silly combined with calm and sweet. He is good around kids and groups of people. He has no problem being off-leash (and actually prefers it to the leash...walking on a leash is still a work in progress). The puppy biting is also something we're still working on. :P It's really nice that Boz doesn't bark at every single sound like the chihuahuas do. And when the chihuahuas start going crazy about something, he'll just sit and watch them. He's very inquisitive. And very smart! He learned sit, shake, and down right away and was potty-trained after the first week we brought him home. I would have a dozen dogs if they were just like Boz!

He sleeps with his tongue out a lot. ;)

I started doing some research when we started talking about getting a golden retriever. And then once we brought him home, I started looking online even more for advice, products, etc. So I thought I would share some of what I found. :) I will add to this list as I find new things as well. 
Please note: these reviews and suggestions were not compensated by the makers/sellers of any of these products. 

When we brought Bozley home, he was having some skin and coat problems. His fur felt dry and he had bald patches on the back of his front legs. He was itching a lot and had even developed scabs. One of our cats had the same type of scabs when she would eat the chihuahua's food. Upon my research, I found that chicken is a common allergy in dogs...so we decided to try removing chicken from his diet and see if that would help. We switched him to Purina Pro Plan Puppy Sensitive Skin and Stomach and he no longer has any scabs or thinning, dry, and dull fur. He has had the salmon and lamb varieties. 

Grain-free foods are not recommended by our veterinarian. There is an increase in canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) -- especially in Goldens -- who are fed these formulas. We also don't do raw diet...as it is really expensive in order to do it right and provide all the vitamins and minerals that the dogs need. I know some people who swear by grain-free or raw diets...but we can still provide adequate nutrition with grain-inclusive kibble. We also do not use raised bowls for feeding. They can contribute to bloat, especially in large dogs...and bloat can cause some pretty serious health issues. We also found this really cool slow-feeding bowl/puzzle toy that Bozley really loves. It solves the problem of eating too fast, keeps him busy while we're eating, and usually he takes a nap shortly after he's finished his meal.

We also found treats for Boz that didn't have any chicken in them...and there are a LOT of treats that have some form of chicken listed as an ingredient. I also wanted to find somewhat low calorie options because we use them frequently for training. I got many different flavors but since he does have food sensitivity, I started with only one type at a time to see if there were any reactions. Once he'd had all of these without any problems, I mixed them together in one treat jar. Here are the ones we have been using so far:  

- Zuke's Puppy Naturals Lamb and Chickpea which have 3.5 kcal per treat.
- Bocce's Bakery Quack Quack Quack Duck and Blueberry which have 4 kcal per treat.
- Blue Buffalo Blue Bits Savory Salmon Recipe which have 4 kcal per treat.
- Wellness CORE Petite Treats Lamb, Apples and Cinnamon which have 4 kcal per treat.
- Fruitables Skinny Minis Pumpkin and Berry which have 3 kcal per treat. 

Bozley also really likes these treats a lot that are one of the few available at our local Walmart that don't have chicken in them. It is also the most economical choice...there are a lot of treats for less than $7. 

We also feed him fresh fruits for treats...like sliced apples, frozen berries like strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries (his absolute favorite treat), and frozen bananas. He also likes carrots and sometimes green beans, but not as much as the fruits. We also got two of these things that are similar to Kong fillable products but cheaper. We've filled them with a variety of things: peanut butter (make sure there is no xylitol), Kong Easy Treat, fruit, even baby food (make sure the ingredients don't include onion or garlic). I put them in a quart-sized freezer bag, fill them with some goodies, then put them in the freezer so they'll last longer. 

There are a lot of "human" foods that dogs can eat...either that contain things that are actually good for them or foods that are a good "treat" in small amounts. There are also "human" foods that dogs absolutely should not have. I like this list from the AKC which gives some explanations about what is good, not that great, or very bad for dogs. 

We also got a water dispenser. With multiple dogs and cats, I was constantly refilling the water bowl throughout the day. We were actually Christmas shopping at Walmart and found a 1-gallon water dispenser kind of like the one pictured below. It was been working out great and now I just have to refill it once a day. 

We have been using the Pet Factory brand of chew bones to satisfy chewing since last year after we brought the chihuahuas home. They're basically the only brand I could find that is sourced and made in the USA. They have various sizes and flavors. Make sure to supervise any dogs with any kind of chew bones! 

As I said above, Boz isn't a fan of walking on the leash. If we have it attached to his collar, he just bites at it the whole time and refuses to walk at all. I found this fairly inexpensive Frisco Padded Nylon No Pull Dog Harness from Chewy and it has been amazing. It's easy to put on him, seems comfy, and I can attach the leash to his back which means he no longer bites at it.
UPDATE: At 6 months old, Bozley had outgrown the harness we'd bought. I really like the brand, though, and so I found this Frisco Big Dog Harness from Chewy that has been working even better than the first harness and it's even easier to put on, I think.

I also purchased these car seat belts on Amazon to secure him while we're traveling in the car. 

We purchased this kennel for the chihuahua puppies earlier this year. We trained them by saying "kennel" while walking to the kennel and then giving them a treat while inside. The size of the particular crate that we got is 36L x 23W x 25H. When we first brought Boz home, we used it to crate train him. We would feed him in there and leave the door open for him to go in and out. All the advice I've read says that you should make it a nice, safe place for them where they have "good reasons" to go in there (like to eat) rather than just being put in there to sleep away from their family. Then at night, we would close the door and he would sleep in there. He never had any accidents at all in the kennel. 

However, at the beginning of September Boz started whining after about an hour in the kennel at night...and then started whining immediately. After three sleepless nights in a row, we gave in and let him sleep with us. Since he was already completely potty-trained, the kennel seemed less necessary than before. Since our bed is tall, we did get some pet steps so that he can get up and down from the bed more easily and not stress his joints...which is an important thing to be aware of with large breed dogs so they don't suffer pain and problems later on as they get bigger. This particular one we got will hold up to 150lbs, but they have smaller ones for dogs that won't get that big. It was pretty easy to put together and so far they've been working well! We used treats to encourage him to go up and down the stairs the day we got them and he has used them voluntarily ever since. 

At 6 months old, Bozley had really outgrown the kennel. We'd only actually used it once since September when we went to dinner at my grandparents' house. He still fits in it, but doesn't have enough room to stretch out. We still have the kennel and will probably get a bigger one at some point. But we ended up taking the Kennel down in December to get it out of the living room and put his new dog bed in the same spot. The "jumbo" size is plenty big enough for Bozley at 50lbs and he will have room to grow. We have it in the living room during the day but then take it to the bedroom at night. I think Bozley gets hot on the bed...so at night he tends to go back and forth between our bed, his bed, and the floor. 

One thing that was great through the summer was Boz's puppy pool! He loves playing in the water and it was also a convenient place to give him a bath when it was still warm enough out (especially if he'd gotten dirty while he was in the backyard). But it's so funny to watch his "zoomies" after he jumps out of the pool. I like that this puppy pool folds up easily to be stored in the garage during the winter months. 

The shampoo we bought shortly after bringing Bozley home is Healthy Breeds Oatmeal and Aloe. The oatmeal and aloe are supposed to be good for sensitive skin. I think it has been working really well! His fur is so incredibly soft after his baths and brushing. And it has a nice Pina Colada scent. :) We don't bathe him very often (just a couple times a month and/or when he gets muddy beyond his paws), and we still have plenty left after 7 months.  

As Bozley has gotten bigger, it's gotten a little more difficult to bathe him. We had been spending a lot of time and energy during the bath just trying to keep him in the bathtub. There are a few products we've found that work really well to keep him in relatively the same spot and to keep him busy. This suction cup and this grooming loop have been working great. We also got this to attach to the side of the tub that we put peanut butter on...which keeps him busy. He'll voluntarily get into the tub after we put the peanut butter in there.

We have several different kinds of brushes and combs for the cats and dogs. The first one is a comb that is supposed to be good for shedding and the second is just a regular slicker brush.

Since Bozley goes outside to do his business, there are a lot of times when he gets muddy in the backyard. I was trying to just wipe his paws when he came in, but it didn't work very well. Then I found this thing and it works so much better! Boz doesn't really love it, but he's getting used to it...and doesn't seem to mind it as much as when I was just wiping his paws off with the towel. You just fill it with water and put their feet in there. It's simple and works pretty good! 

One of Bozley's favorite toys to play with are the no-stuffing animals. He and the chihuahuas will chase it and play tug of war together. He loves the squeaker in it too (and luckily doesn't try to tear it out). We have yet to find a toy that he prefers to chew on instead of our arms though. :P We have a LOT of chew toys...just none so far that has curbed the biting. So we're still working on that! But he loves to play with toys likes these: 

Bozley also has a lot of rope toys. But, I've found from my online reading that you do need to be careful and don't let them play with them unsupervised. If there are any snags or lose threads, the dog can swallow it and it can potentially cause some major problems in his bowels. So make sure to discard them if they start falling apart. 

His newest favorite toy is one that is filled with an empty water bottle that has a squeaker cap. When the water bottle is crushed so much that it no longer squeaks, you can just replace the water bottle! Bozley loves it!  

With Johnny working from home right now, we needed a way to keep Bozley from going back there and bothering Johnny. We already had this gate that we put at the top of the stairs, but we also added one in the hallway. They work really well and I like being able to just lift the lever and walk through the gate instead of putting it up and taking it down all the time, or stepping over it. The only bad thing is that sometimes we're not paying attention and stub our toe on the bottom rail that sticks up about two inches or so. But other than that, it works out great! 

I think that's about all that I can think of at the moment. :)