14 Items That You Must Buy for Your New Golden Retriever Puppy
1. Two Bowls
You will certainly need to feed and provide water to your new Golden Retriever puppy. Doing that from the floor is less than ideal. The best way to do that is using two separate bowls, one for food, and one for water. It's a good idea to buy stainless steel or ceramic bowls because they're non-absorbent.
2. Puppy Food
You can feed your puppy a raw diet, canned food, semi-moist, or kibble. When buying a Golden Retriever puppy from us, you'll need to get the specific food below for at least the first two weeks, while the puppy adjusts to their new home. Afterwards, you can change it to whatever food diet you like.
3. Dog Leash
A leash is very important when taking your Golden Retriever puppy for a walk or for training. Although, make sure not to walk your new puppy before it's vaccinated from rabies at about 3-4 months.
4. Dog Collar
A Golden Retriever puppy grows very quickly, so you’ll need various sizes or an adjustable collar. We recommend an adjustable collar so that you don't end up buying and throwing out multiple collars.
5. Poop Bags
You will need to clean up after your Golden Retriever puppy when they "do their business", so poop bags are essential. We recommend getting poop bags in bulk, so that it's much cheaper per bag.
6. Nail Clipper or Grinder
Your puppy's nails will grow and require regular trimming. You can choose to trim their nails yourself or go to a dog groomer for this service. Overgrown nails can cause injury, so nail trimming is needed.
7. Puppy teething Toys
Your puppy will be teething for the first 6 months or so. To help them with their teething, we strongly encourage you to get toys that they can chew on. Ideally, ones made from soft rubber. Otherwise, they will chew your shoes, cables and anything else they’ll find. Chewing is very important for dogs, so it's a good idea to redirect that need away from things you don't want to be destroyed around the house. You'll need at least 3 to 4 different shape quality rubber toys. Give them to the puppy one at a time and rotate them periodically, so that the puppy doesn't get bored from the same toy.
8. Enzyme Odour Cleaner
Your new Golden Retriever puppy will likely have a few pee and poop accidents at home in the beginning before being fully potty trained. Because of that, it’s always a good idea to have an enzyme stain and odour cleaner that would eliminate the stain and odour at the root. It should be a cleaner where the Enzymes get activated and clean up the organic stain and odour. If you do not clean the area properly, your puppy will pee or poo in that spot again due to the residue scent. An enzyme cleaner is versatile for all bio-based accidents, including regular stools, pee, diarrhea, vomit and others.
9. Grooming Brush
This may seem like it's an optional item, but because Golden Retrievers have long fur that sheds, regular brushing is needed to reduce shedding and fur clumps.
10. Comb
A comb is necessary for your dog as well because combing gets to the root of your Golden Retriever's coat, which leads to their skin, whereas just brushing does not.
11. Shampoo for Dogs
Regular bathing is needed for your Golden Retriever to keep their fur coat clean and free of odours. They need a shampoo that's different from human hair shampoo. Dog shampoo has a different pH balance. If you use human shampoo for dogs, it may lead to dryness, causing your dog to scratch excessively and have sores.
12. Playpen
Either a playpen or crate is necessary for your new Golden Retriever puppy. It provides a safe space for your puppy where they can rest, sleep, and play when you're busy around the house or not at home. It also contains any potential accidents and eliminates unwanted chewing on your personal belongings.
13. ID Tag
In case your Golden Retriever puppy ever gets lost, an ID tag on your puppy's collar will allow others to contact you. The tag should say your dog's name and your phone number, at a minimum. It can also include your address. Get a pet ID tag that engraves this information. Make sure the ID tag is always present on the collar that your dog is wearing.
14. Municipal Dog License
Each municipality has it's own pet licensing requirements. Generally, everywhere in Canada, you'll need to pay for a yearly pet license. The simplest way is to use a search engine and type "[city name] pet licensing". For example, if you are in Toronto, you can type "Toronto pet licensing". The first link will be the Pet Licensing section on www.toronto.ca.
22 Additional Items That Are Optional for Your New Golden Retriever Puppy
1. Dog Crate
If you're planning to crate train your dog for potty purposes, then a crate is needed. This is their personal space where they would sleep (and not potty). For Golden Retrievers, we recommend getting a 42 inch length crate with a divider panel. This way, you can adjust the placement of the divider to increase the size of the available crate space as the puppy grows.
2. Dog Bed
As a first owner of a dog, you may think that a dog bed should have been in the mandatory list above, but in reality, a dog can sleep almost anywhere. On a blanket, mat, their crate, or even just on the floor. That last one should not be your first choice though. Because dogs can sleep or rest anywhere, a dog bed is on the optional list instead of the must-have.
3. Potty Training Pads
If crate training is not for you, an alternative can be potty training pads. You would essentially let your Golden Retriever puppy pee and poo on these training pads. Over time, you'd move the training pads closer and closer to the backyard door or the front entrance door.
4. Training Clicker
Depending on how serious you are about training your dog, you may consider a training clicker. It helps with positive reinforcement dog training. The clicker sound should be used when your puppy performs the desired behaviour. It must be used with impeccable timing.
5. Dog Training Treats
Every puppy and dog should be trained at least a little. What really helps with positive reinforcement are treats. Some dogs will do almost anything for delicious treats, especially if the action makes the owner happy. Golden Retrievers are generally a good example of a breed that's easy to train and treats sure do help with that.
6. Chewing Treats
Chewing treats can be used for training as well. But the real use-case for these types of treats is that they help your dog clean their teeth and gums due to chewing. In general, when dogs chew, it helps scrape away tartar and smooth their teeth. Your dog's chewing also promotes antibacterial saliva that cleanses their mouth.
7. Bully Sticks
Bully sticks are also treats used for training your puppy, as well as promote chewing.
8. Treat Pouch
You'll need somewhere to store those training treats, so a treat pouch may be needed as well.
9. Food Container
You can choose to store your dog's kibble or other food in its original packing. Or if you'd like it to be more organized and easily accessible, consider getting a food container for your dog's food.
10. Kong Puppy Toy
A kong puppy toy could help keep your puppy stimulated when they eat. While your puppy eats, they will entertain themselves by trying to get the food out of the kong toy.
11. Kong Dog Toy
Kong dog toys are amazing for meal time even for fully grown Golden Retriever dogs. These are a different size (they are bigger) than the kong puppy toys because your dog grows out of the smaller ones and will have a hard time getting the food out. They are made from harder rubber than the puppy kong toy, so your grown dog won't tear it as easy.
12. Other Toys
Other toys could be for chewing, chasing around, playing and other forms of entertainment. Your puppy needs to stay stimulated in order to avoid boredom. When puppies are bored they can do things that you would not appreciate, such as chew your shoes, couch, chairs, and anything else they find. They can also develop unwanted habits, such as digging dirt in the backyard, destroying your plants, and many other unpleasant things.
13. Furminator Deshedding Tool
A brush is sufficient for the purpose of deshedding your dog, but if you want better results, it's best to get a Furminator deshedding tool. It brushes the fur thoroughly and gets deeper into the dog's undercoat. With regular use, it reduces shedding of your Golden Retriever significantly more than a brush or comb.
14. Portable Dog Paw Cleaner
Whenever it's wet outside, you'll be happy that you bought a portable dog paw cleaner. It's almost essential in Canada because of the harsh weather we get. It sometimes takes some time to clean your dog's paws with this cleaner, but it's better than cleaning your home floor after they ran through it with dirty paws.
15. Poop Scooper
If you have a backyard, it will be helpful to have poop scooper to help you clean after your dog. We suggest a scooper that's long enough so you don't need to bend for every poop pile.
16. Poop Bag Dispenser
A poop bag dispenser or holder is useful when you're going on a walk with your Golden Retriever or any other dog. It keeps your poop bags organized and ready to use when needed.
17. Video Camera
A video camera can be helpful to watch over your puppy or dog when you're not around. You can set alerts when the camera senses an animal/pet moving.
18. Pet Food Mat
Many dogs, including Golden Retrievers, are messy eaters. It's helpful to have a pet food mat to put under your bowls, so that cleaning up after you dog eats is easier.
19. Pet Hair Force Dryer
A pet hair force dryer helps dry and de-shed after bathing the dog. The air force pushes the loose hair after the bath.
20. MICROFIBER Dog TOWEL
A separate microfiber towel for drying your English Cream Golden Retriever dog after bathing or rain.
21. Harness
A harness is useful when going for a walk with your dog. A harness avoids choking your dog compared to just using a leash and collar. When it comes to size, Golden Retrievers are medium sized, but you will need a large harness size.
22. Pet Insurance
When buying a puppy from us, you get 30 day free complimentary pet insurance from Trupanion. Whether you decide to buy other pet insurance, keep this one, or not have any pet insurance at all is a personal choice.
23. Puppy Book
This is a great book for new puppy owners. Despite the name, it wasn't only relevant during Covid-19. In general, it has a ton of valuable advise on raising and socializing your dog well.
24. Fetch Toy
We have other toys above as well, but "Chuckit!" deserves its own spot on the list. It's great for playing fetch and not having to touch the ball with your hands when picking it up.
Disclaimer: There are Amazon.ca links above. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.