We're getting a dog!

February 3, 2009 1:05 PM

Looking for your advice/tips/etc for new dog owners. How to save time, save money, what's worth it, what's a waste, what/how to DIY?

If all goes as planned, boyfriend and I will be the proud parents of a 5-year-old Corgi at the end of this month. Both of us have lots of experience with dogs, grew up with dogs...I house-sit a bit and also interned at an animal shelter, etc. However, for both of us this the first pet that will be our *own*!

Sunny is coming with a crate and presumably a collar, a leash, and a few toys and some food. Other than that, we have to stock up our place with doggie supplies. I want to make sure I have everything necessary to make all of us comfortable and happy, but I want to be smart about spending money. Here's where I need the Hive Mind's advice:

What do you recommend we buy? What can we buy or where should we shop to save money? What's a waste of money? What's an absolute must-have? Any products that your dog loves? Hates? Wish you had? Any DIY tips/tricks?

And, as a semi-bonus question, if you have any advice/tips for new dog owners in general, I'll take that too.

If it's relevant, we live in New Orleans, LA, US. We have most big brick-and-mortar chain retailers and also a smattering of boutique pet stores.

posted by radioamy to pets & animals (40 comments total)

I am not a vet. Ask your vet about these before you use them. But you'll want to get a parasite control regimen down right off the bat. If your vet approves it, I can't recommend Advantage highly enough for flea control. It seems expensive, at ten bucks an application last I checked, but it beats the hell out of flea collars and such.

Also: heartworm medication of some sort is a must for subtropical climes. Your vet will know about relatively easy-to-administer heartwork meds in once-a-month treat form. You HAVE to see the vet before getting these: if Sunny has heartworm already, the meds will kill them in a manner that may cause heart damage. If Sunny does have heartworm, the vets can cure him/her safely and then you start on the regular prophylactic meds.

Most importantly, though: enjoy every minute you have with Sunny, even the cleaning-up-messes times. Have fun.
posted by Coyote Crossing at 1:20 PM on February 3

Almost forgot a photo!
posted by radioamy at 1:21 PM on February 3

After having looked at pet insurance options and policies a few months ago, I would suggest passing on it.

Take the money you would have spent on a policy (between $20-$50/month, depending on fanciness), and squirrel it away in a money market account if you're really concerned about big bills down the road.

Better to have the $$$ to use, than to wind up having to pay/claim for not-the-whole amount if something happens.

That would give you approx. $2-3000 to spend on dog emergencies, if need be.

Good luck with your Corgi -- personally, my favorite breed (grew up with one). Way less crazy than my current Border Collie. :-)

PS -- Crate Train Your Dog. This was the single biggest mistake we made with ours. I love her, but I'd love it if she didn't prowl the hardwood floors all night (click click click click), and take up half the bed.
posted by liquado at 1:22 PM on February 3 [1 favorite has favorites]

Aaaand that didn't work. Here's my little short-legged girl.
posted by radioamy at 1:22 PM on February 3

Congratulations!

Your dog isn't my dog or anyone else's -- they're all different. So I can only speak from our experience. Neither of our dogs are into toys but love rawhide chews we get from the grocery store. Smoked pig ears are also a big hit.

You're going to get a deluge of advice so I'll stop there. Two books I'd recommend, though, are Stanley Coren's "How Dogs Think" and "The Well Adjusted Dog," which has some great tips on raising healthy, happy dogs. Coren's a good writer but there's a fair amount of repetition in his books. "How Dogs Think" was my favorite of the ones I read.
posted by Atom12 at 1:25 PM on February 3

Coyote Crossing - yes absolutely she will be on Flea and Heartwork prevention meds!

liquado, thanks for the insurance tip. I think we'll maybe start a little savings account for her. I also agree with crate training.
posted by radioamy at 1:26 PM on February 3

Don't waste your money with expensive dog toys. Go to the thrift store and pick up a bunch of stuffed animals so the dog can enjoy ripping the stuffing out without you gritting your teeth thinking, "I spent $7 on that thing!" Last time I did this, I bought five big stuffed animals for $1.25 and my dog still loves playing with at least three surviving toys. Look for ones that have arms and legs for tug of war games.

Just make sure that you remove any dangerous things like plastic buttons or discs (used as eyes or noses on stuffed animals) that your dog could possibly swallow.

The only real advice I have for you is... be patient. I'm an experienced dog owner myself, but the last puppy I rescued was quite a handful. A month after I got him, I was seriously considering returning him to the adoption agency. But I hung in there, and five years later, I'm the proud owner of a well-behaved little guy who adores me.

Your new "baby" is, at 5 years old, considered full-grown, so he'll have different issues than a puppy, but just hang in there, go to dog classes, have him socialized and be patient.
posted by HeyAllie at 1:29 PM on February 3

I'm a big fan of Patricia McConnell's books on training. Also, there's been lots of threads about dog food- go check those out. The one place I would encourage spending money is on high-quality dog food. It's better for them- no fillers, so they don't need to eat as much, it's more digestible, so there's less for you to pick up on the other end. (yay!) As an easy rule of thumb, any pet food you can get at your regular grocery is crap. I learned the hard way after our dog inflicted room-clearing gas on us.
posted by ambrosia at 1:32 PM on February 3

The Other End of the Leash by Patricia O'Connell is also well worth reading - more about known canine (and primate) behaviors and the potential for misunderstandings than directly about training, but quite interesting.
posted by canine epigram at 1:34 PM on February 3

Agreeing with HeyAllie re: dog toys. Most dogs are just as happy with a tube sock stuffed with a bunch of other old tube socks (as Mr. Adams' socks got holier, they became new chew toys or tug-o-war toys). My main advice is to show your new girl (who is gorgeous, by the way) lots and lots of love and attention when you get her home. She'll be understandably nervous and a bit disoriented, so do your best to make her feel secure and loved. Just don't let her know that Queen Elizabeth II personally scoops food for all nine of her Corgis every morning into sterling silver dishes, or else she might get uppity and demand similar royal treatment. ;>
posted by Oriole Adams at 1:49 PM on February 3

Things You Should Get For Doglet:

(1) Veterinarian. As in, find a vet that you expect to use. Take NewDog to the vet for a checkup, even though you don't expect anything to be wrong. Expect to take the dog back every now and again for checkups.

(2) Good dog food. There are many varieties of hyper-mega-premium dog foods out there, but mostly not sold in even PetCo and PetSmart. The prices will make you choke when you see them, but remember that, first, almost all the ingredients are actual food instead of 10% food and 90% filler. So you feed substantially less HyperMegaDogFood than you would Dog Chow or SupermarketBrandSnouts'n'Stuff. Anyway, the point is that the cost per ounce of actual food isn't that much higher for the superpremium stuff, it just seems that way because they don't mix the food with sawdust and ashes. As a bonus, less input to the dog means less output from the dog's butt. This is accentuated because more of the input gets converted into dog or energy than with supermarket stuff.

(3) Some manner of training class. Maybe start with just basic obedience stuff, move from there to whatever interests you. But having something to do with the dog keeps the dog active and interested and happy.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:57 PM on February 3

congrats! i'm excited for you.

just always remember your dog doesn't know whats expensive or not. I was buying her all the toys I thought were cool and she liked them okay. then my sister gave her this adorable little $3 toy and she just LOVED it. now it's the only toy i buy (i just replace them when they get too ratty- ick!)

i also bought her fancy eukanuba food- but one month I was strapped and got her a $4 jug of mini kibbles and bits from walmart. when i bought her another bag of eukanuba she wouldn't even eat it! she's apparently a die-hard fan of kibbles and bits. fine with me.

wow- and i just went to petsmart.com to look up that link above and it appears they have a bunch of halloween toys on clearance for $.01! i dont know about your dog, but i'm pretty sure mine wouldn't know it's not halloween . . .
posted by lblair at 2:01 PM on February 3

Check with your local humane society for vaccination clinics. Mine offers them fairly regularly, and I can get all of my dog's vaccination boosters for about 1/3 the cost of doing so at the veterinarian (and without the office visit fee). I recommend going to a good vet for your first checkup, if the rescue group hasn't already had Sunny go through a full checkup before turning her over to you. But after that, for boosters and renewals of heartworm meds, the humane society may be able to save you a *huge* amount of cash.

Also, start asking your dog-owning friends about good boarders and, if you're into it, doggy day care places. Great boarders are hard to find, and book up fast for popular travel times, so advanced research will definitely pay off.
posted by amelioration at 2:29 PM on February 3

I'm a big fan of dog training classes. You can take cheap ones at PetsMart, which I've used, but I also highly recommend something more formal. You'll be surprised at what you learn and a lot of it is teaching you. The place I go to also offers agility, tricks, and other fun stuff.

I agree on the expensive toys. My guy is tough chewer and cute stuffed toys last 10 minutes. His first two stuffed toys lasted the longest but everything after was destroyed almost immediately. Fleecy tug toys are good. I like the hard round balls more than tennis balls but like I said I have a tough chewer, which you probably won't have with a Corgi. I love the round Kong stuff-a-treat balls. I put all different kinds of treats in my dog's, some that fall out easily and some that take lots of shakes and tosses. My dog loves it. I also use the regular kong and I smear peanut butter and put small dog biscuits inside. I'm not a fan of the Kong brand treats.

I wish I had gotten pet insurance. My puppy is 11-months old and I've spent a small fortune on vet bills. The earlier advice about a money market account is nice but you never know when your dog will need it. And god forbid you have to go to an emergency vet in the middle of the night. I've heard that if you ensure your car with Progressive, it includes pet insurance. It's a tough call and most people can get away with just the annual checkup. I've had one problem after another, insect sting (supposed) that swelled his face and eye shut at 1 AM, kennel cough even though he's never been to a kennel but he does go to the dog park, attack by a pit bull on Thanksgiving, sever diarrhea and vomiting. Ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching.

I also advise regular exercise, not just letting him run around the back yard. And my dog loves going places in the car. I take food for him when I go to restaurants that have outdoor seating. Socialization with other dogs and people makes for a balanced dog.
posted by shoesietart at 2:37 PM on February 3

We had Doberman's (Dobermen??) for twenty years and I wish we'd had Cesar Millan then. We did plenty right but could have been better. He isn't for training the dog but the owner.

Can't speak to his products but we've gotten a lot from watching the show even though we don't have dogs anymore. One day, perhaps.
posted by trinity8-director at 2:54 PM on February 3

I have discovered that my dog's favorite toys are old socks and a towel that we play tug of war with that flops around in a very satisfying way when he shakes it. I read a thread here that talked about what makes a good dog food. Armed with that knowledge, I looked at pretty much every bag of dry dog food sold in my town. The best were an obscure health food store brand that was more expensive per pound than whole chicken breasts and, surprise, Costco super-premium store brand. I'll let you guess which one I buy.
posted by Foam Pants at 3:05 PM on February 3

Make the dog sleep in its own bed. It'll be happy/fine and you'll sleep better.
posted by atm at 3:36 PM on February 3

I have a tough chewer, which you probably won't have with a Corgi

Oh ho ho. I have a 1 year old corgi and while his jaw isn't freakishly strong, he is incredibly determined and has the patience of a thousand buddhists to get through an item milimeter by milimeter.

Get a dog toothbrush and toothpaste. I've heard a lot of horror stories (I think on other AskMes) about not taking care of their dog's teeth and it leading to worse problems.

Sturdy hand or kitchen towels mentioned above are great. When it's muddy or wet, you will want to rub down her belly because it's a mud magnet.

I also have this combination comb and this pin brush.
posted by spec80 at 3:40 PM on February 3

-Frontline (or Advantix, not Advantage) for flea and ticks.
-Only hard food and treats (for dental health).
-NylaBones for chewing. Also good for their teeth.
-Cheap stuffed animals for playing, but my rule is "nothing from China". There's no telling what chemicals those have in them.
-Learn to clip toenails. Long toenails hurt their feet. Only use good sharp clippers and buy some styptic powder in case you go too far (happened to me once and I didn't have the powder so it bled several minutes). If the nails are black, cut only until you see a little black spot in the center of the clipped nail.
-Buy the $12 ear solution from the vet to put into their ears every so often to keep the ears clean.
-A recent and great discovery. Instead of taking ours out without a leash and relying on training and obedience to keep them near us and out of the road, we started using leashes and it is a new world. They go only where we take them. No more yelling and coaxing to get them to mind; just a tug. And they go to the bathroom fine. Major stress reduction, and the neighbors don't have to hear us yelling at our dogs.
-Regimented feeding pattern; we do once in the morning, and strictly measured. It ensures they eat only the recommended amount (for dogs that overeat) and gets them on a convenient bathroom schedule.
Hope this helps.
posted by atm at 3:59 PM on February 3

if you have any advice/tips for new dog owners in general, I'll take that too.

Keep some plastic grocery bags or newspaper bags on hand. Stick a couple in your back pocket when you go out for a walk and use them to pick up after your dog. I do this every day, with mine. The newspaper bags are really nice for this purpose, long and narrow, sort of like "evening gown formal" gloves; they minimize mess on your hands and are less likely to spill out than the grocery bags.

My next door neighbors have a pair of Corgis. They're lovable, and they love to play. Give them a lot of exercise, walks, playtime, etc. They seem to love to fetch, YMMV.

My own dogs, two Westies, love squeaky toys more than anything else. Unfortunately, they can "kill" them fairly quickly (kill the squeak, I mean) requiring replacement. If you can avoid getting your dog hooked on having new toys -- and that new rubber toy smell -- that would be a wonderful thing.
posted by Robert Angelo at 4:03 PM on February 3

Just start with the bare minimum - food, shelter, vet exam, inoculations, worming, lead, collar, dog tags. Add something like a chew toy. Go on from there - or if your dog is like our dog, stop there because nothing else is interesting to her except stealing your underpants.
posted by DarlingBri at 4:04 PM on February 3 [2 favorites has favorites]

I didn't preview; what atm just said: Leash. Always. No matter how well trained, no matter how much confidence you have, there may come a time when your dog is startled or when instinct kicks in or something happens, and you need control. Please never take your dog out without a leash.
posted by Robert Angelo at 4:05 PM on February 3

I recommend signing Sunny up for Home Again because you just never know if she'll get out. It's just $14.95 a year. Pay for the Home Again tag with her name and ID number on it. I guess there are several chip locator devices out there so if she's found by someone who has the wrong kind of reader they won't be able to read the chip to get her back to you. But if she has the Home Again tag they'll know how to look.

Dogs like to have a den where they can chill out and know they're safe. It sounds like Sunny likes her crate which is good so I'd be sure to outfit the crate with a new cushion and maybe even get her a blanket. I know it sounds corny, but baby blankets work great for this purpose. They can cuddle with them and burrow into them for warmth. It's all about feeling secure, especially for the first few weeks you have her. Sleep with the blanket for a few nights before you get her and then when she comes home and you leave she won't feel so alone because the blanket will have your smell on it.

As far as toys, our dogs really love raw bones to chew on. They have them at the big box pet stores. Get the plain ones. Don't get the ones filled with nasty stuff and especially don't get the ones coated in anything because they'll stain the carpet and your dog. They'll occupy your dogs attention for a long time.

One very important thing is to immediately take her to the spot where you want her to pee when you get her home. Don't waste one minute because if she pees in the house when you get her home, she'll likely keep revisiting that same spot. So first thing, outside potty and you'll have an easy time potty training her (hopefully).

And lastly, have fun! Congratulations!
posted by wherever, whatever at 4:12 PM on February 3

One other thing, don't skimp on the dog food. There's a reason some are more expensive than others. If you feed your dog good quality food she'll be happier and so will you when you're out cleaning up after her. Some of the best brands are Natural Balance, Blue and Solid Gold. I like Natural Balance and Blue because they smell good and they're not greasy. Solid Gold is high quality food, but it's oily and I think it smells nasty. These dog foods are manufactured in the US so hopefully they're held to higher standards and regulations. If you lived through the great dog food scare of 2006 you'd understand how important good quality dog food is for your furry friend.
posted by wherever, whatever at 4:25 PM on February 3

DarlingBri made me laugh. So true.

There is a lot of room in there for your dog's uniqueness, though, and believe me, each and every one is. A few tips:

- Food is important! Many of the commercial kibbles are either not all that great for dogs' teeth, or are not all that great for the dogs themselves. Some dogs do fine on low-end food. My bigger girl, Eowyn, does very well on Innova and sheds constantly on anything less. The rescue I took in with extensive whipworm damage to his guts last July can't eat anything besides Wellness Simple without either throwing up or having a hopelessly loose stool. Your vet will likely recommend Hill's Science Diet, but I don't like it much at all for a variety of reasons... mainly because the vets recommend it because that's who it's marketed to.

- Get your pup comfortable with you handling her. I have a friend whose dog will not allow you to touch her feet or rear -- you WILL get bitten, and she will draw blood. This isn't something that either you (or the vet, or another caretaker or friend) should have to deal with, and it can be trained out. Henry wouldn't let me handle his paws to trim them when I first got him. It took two months of conditioning, but now I can trim them at will.

- Kongs are the best toys ever. Why spend $50/mo on stuffed toys or other stuff when you can just smear some grocery-store peanut butter on the inside of a Kong and the dog will be happy to play with it for days?

- That being said, most of the stuff you can buy in a pet store is a waste of time. I use Amazon.com (and have Amazon Prime) for all of my toy, treat, and other dog-related needs. I save on average $2-5 on the price of each item.

- Test the dog's limits so that you know where they are, and then work on changing any that you're not satisfied with through training. Also, a dog park is not the way to test your dog's socialization skills -- far too uncontrolled of an environment with too many dog owners who don't know WTF they're doing.

- Regular training will make for a far happier dog, even if it's stupid stuff like just calling the dog over to you and giving it a treat. Henry had good basic living-with-humans levels of obedience when I got him, but absolutely no confidence whatsoever. We've been doing some formal obedience training and agility training and his confidence is up by *literally* LEAPS AND BOUNDS from where it was. Completely different dog.
posted by SpecialK at 4:27 PM on February 3

nthing liquado. Great solution, thanks.

Mine get scrubbed down in the tub, just like I do (but they get the doggie shampoo, better for their skin). Poof! No expensive grooming bills, and if she isn't already, get her used to the nails/teeth being cleaned -- good video on the pedipaws site if you need it. They hated baths, so I got a shower head with an extra long cord. Best investment ever. $20 or something like that.

Decide what rules she follows before she gets there (does she get to sleep on the bed? Lay on the sofa?) and follow them from day one. Cheaper/easier than possible re/training

Also agreeing with getting vet info ahead of time, as well as the info of a recommended 24 pet hospital, one never expects an emergency. Ditto with sitters/walkers/boarders.
posted by cestmoi15 at 4:38 PM on February 3

I'm going to Nth the suggestion for getting good dog food. This is the one thing that goes into your dog every single day and has the greatest impact on his health and longevity.

Secondly, socializing your dog continuously is one of the best things you can do for it mentally, along with proper obedience training. Let it come with you to dog friendly places, let it meet all kinds of people and animals, and let it hear different sounds and smell different smells. Although dogs need an established routine of feeding times, exercise, and bed time, they don't need to do the same thing day in and day out.

Other than what everyone else has mentioned just remember that you need to be training your dog, don't let it train you. Establish the rules up front (like not eating scraps or backing off something when you say "away") and make sure you and your honey agree on training the same way. You should both be using the same phrases, signals, and rewards. If you aren't consistent, Sunny may think she can get away with certain things if only one of you is around. (And although I enjoy Cesar Milan, I prefer Victoria Stillwell's approach to training.)
posted by CoralAmber at 4:39 PM on February 3

As far as toys, our dogs really love raw bones to chew on. They have them at the big box pet stores. Get the plain ones. Don't get the ones filled with nasty stuff and especially don't get the ones coated in anything because they'll stain the carpet and your dog. They'll occupy your dogs attention for a long time.

Be careful with raw bones. The ones you get in the pet store aren't really RAW -- they're boiled. Big difference. Boiled bones will chip kind of like obsidian, and the resulting chipped off parts will have the same on your dog's stomach as gulping down a handful of obsidian shards would. Not fun. If you do give them any bone, give them large raw beef bones obtained from a butcher or meat processor. Natural, UNCOOKED bone can be an excellent way to clean a dog's teeth on the cheap. ;)
posted by SpecialK at 4:42 PM on February 3

oh, and I have one of those "bags on board" bag dispensers on one of their leashes. A guilty pleasure is buying the roles of bags, but you can easily stuff other bags in there, and as it is on the leash, I'm reminded to make sure I have bags before I leave the house. YMMV.
posted by cestmoi15 at 4:50 PM on February 3

Keep some plastic grocery bags or newspaper bags on hand. Stick a couple in your back pocket when you go out for a walk and use them to pick up after your dog. I do this every day, with mine. The newspaper bags are really nice for this purpose, long and narrow, sort of like "evening gown formal" gloves; they minimize mess on your hands and are less likely to spill out than the grocery bags.

and

oh, and I have one of those "bags on board" bag dispensers on one of their leashes.

I try to do the first one (reuse grocery bags, etc for poo duty) but since I am an idiot and forget half the time, I have Bags on Board too for when I forget to bring a grocery bag :)
posted by lblair at 5:01 PM on February 3

Ambrosia: I totally agree, food is not something to skimp on

Everyone who said to get cheap toys: excellent idea. Except I may have to splurge on a Chewish toy or two but I know it's totally for my benefit not hers.

Foam Pants: my family Shih Tzu loved to play tug-of-war with a towel! Which was not so great when I was trying to dry him off!

Spec80: Oooh I never thought of the fact that their bellies are so low due to the short leggedness.

Robert Angelo: I know exactly what you mean about the newspaper bags. I don't subscribe but I will ask some friends to stock up for me. And I never take dogs off-leash, I just don't trust them.

wherever, whatever: yes microchipping! And the "den" is a great idea, we have a little nook that will be perfect for "her" space. I will make sure to take her out first thing when I get home, that's a good call.

SpecialK: buy on Amazon, check!

C'estmoi15: do you like the pedipaws? Is it worth it? Or is it more cost-effective to just get her nails trimmed at the vet or groomer? ... And I think Boyfriend and I will have a nice long chat/negotiation about rules before she comes, that is a great idea. ... So you can put your own bags in the bags on board? Genius

This is all great, Hive, keep it coming!
posted by radioamy at 7:01 PM on February 3

The pedipaws is about $20 (bed bath and beyond I think) and getting them done at the vet/groomer is (for me) about $15-20/per dog... I wrote that because I wish I had followed that advice from the start... right now one will let me do them and the other one, well, I'm still, um, working with her on it. So, it is still new and holding up very well, but I've also seen dremel brand recommended, I don't know how it holds up v. a more established brand, but it is new and I've already saved its cost, so I'm pleased.

And $20 is nothing compared to the cost of dental care, so I'll just say we're thinking of getting another dog/puppy soon and brushing is the first thing on my list it will get trained for.


And yeah, negotiating with the bf beforehand would have saved a ton of headaches:) Hint: put NOTHING on the floor until you are 3000% certain of housebreaking, even during storms/4th of July and the like.

Yup, you can stuff more than you'd think into those holders, used sammy bags you don't want to wash, plastic bags from socks/underwear, papertowel bags if you open them properly... I've found the dogbone style holders unscrew, which is easier than the firehygrent style which can be hard to pop off.
posted by cestmoi15 at 7:40 PM on February 3

First thing, get Sunny bathed with a flea shampoo (in your area, fleas are a problem all year round). Petsmart or PetCo are good places to get this done painlessly. Second thing, take her in for a vet checkup. Our vet said that a big problem in the warmer states (where our second dog came from) is that dogs pick up mites from being kept outside. These need treatment. So get her checked up and get her straight onto prescription heartworm medication, year-round (they will have to test that she is heartworm-free first - if she is not, it is not the end of the world, but she will need immediate treatment and rest while she recovers).

Your beautiful new girl will be very frightened in the first few months. She will need reassurance and a little patience. Give her somewhere to hide which is her "space." A bed under a table, or a covered crate out of the way is ideal. Dogs like to lie with their back to a wall or barrier and with a low "roof" overhead. If she is a shelter dog, she may need a house-training refresher. Because shelter dogs are kept in a contained space all day, they can't get out to go to the toilet. This confuses them when they get into a real house, so give her some time to get the rules straight in her mind again.

N-thing the Kong toy. When you first leave Sunny on her own, she will be really scared about whether you are going to come back for her. I have adopted three mature dogs and all showed exactly the same symptoms: they tried to stop us leaving every time we approached the front door. Then they chewed and shredded something, usually near to the door (which shows that they were lying there, waiting to see if we would come back and got freaked when they heard noises outside but it was not us). Try to spend some time with her, for the first few days at least, don't leave her alone too long. When you have to leave the house, a Kong toy, filled with dry dogfood and Kong liver paste squirted into the top (or peanut butter) will keep Sunny occupied and make her feel much better about your leaving. This totally cured the chewing, for each of our dogs. Our latest adoptee still tries to stop us approaching the front door in the morning ... but now it's because he's not going to let us leave until he gets his treat-stuffed Kong ...:-)

Try her with a variety of toys - a 5-year-old dog will know what she likes and may feel a lot better if she has a familiar toy. Our first adopted dog totally lit up the first time we gave him a ball - he became a different dog, confident and happy.

Seconding to get her used to having her teeth cleaned. Dogs love the liver or poultry flavored toothpaste - our two now line up to get their teeth cleaned! Buy an angled-top dog toothbrush, they are much easier to use. Don't be too ambitious at first - let her get used to having the toothbrush in her mouth, then work up to brushing her teeth. Keep this up (daily): Corgis are one of those breeds that are known for tooth problems.

eBay is a good place to get pickup bags (the latest that we bought are biodegradable, which makes me feel a lot better about using so many plastic bags). Always take more bags than you think you'll need, on any walk!

Finally, be prepared for her to be standoffish (not very affectionate) for the first few weeks -- even months. Adopted dogs go through many pairs of hands before they are adopted. For the first few weeks, at least, Sunny will not know if this is another stop along the way, or if this is home. Each dog is different: our first adopted dog took 11 months to adapt (the two more recent dogs settled down within a few weeks). Give her time to get used to you -- and remember that dogs bond closest with the person who feeds and/or walks them, so take turns!
posted by Susurration at 7:48 PM on February 3

SpecialK, I hear ya on the cooked bones, but we've never had a problem with the bones we buy from the pet store. We've given them to dogs as big as a husky-wolf hybrid with powerful jaws and as small as a puppy with baby teeth and they've all done fine with them, but it always pays to be cautious I guess. You can always buy fresh bones at the supermarket. They're usually next to stew meat and cost nothing. Sometimes the butcher will just give them to you if you ask because they're just going to throw them away anyway. The problem is they're kinda messy raw meat, marrow and all. The bones from the pet store are cleaned off.
posted by wherever, whatever at 10:40 PM on February 3

Decide what rules she follows before she gets there (does she get to sleep on the bed? Lay on the sofa?) and follow them from day one. Cheaper/easier than possible re/training

This is great advice. We decided before we got her that our girl would be allowed on the sofa with us, but not on the bed (she has her own pillow beside the bed), and this is perfectly cool with her. She "asks permission" before getting on the sofa, and has no interest in the bed. I'm no expert, but it seems to me that dogs are happiest when they know what is expected of them, and rules of everyday life are clear. They feel calm and content and very willing to go with the flow if they feel like someone's capable and in charge. (I might be speaking too broadly; let me say, instead, that this is our experience with our rescue pup.)

We have a spot in every room that is "her place": her pillow beside our bed, her pillow beside my computer space, her own rug in the living room, kitchen and office. I think these spots give her security, and they do something else, as well - they give her traction! We have mostly polished wood floors and tile that she slides on, and the rugs give her areas with firm footing. We don't force her to stay in her one specific place - that wasn't the point of creating these spots for her; we wanted her to feel like there was space that "belonged" to her, if she wanted that, and she does.

re, toys: I have a difficult time guessing what she will like... she often totally ignores cool, fancy toys created especially to appeal to dogs. Two gifts (from other Mefites!) that she is mad about are her classic Kong and this toy that she loved to shreds after some months (she had the bunny). Right now her precious is one of my husband's cast off sneakers. (Yes, I know, probably not the best idea if you don't want the dog eating all your shoes, but she eats the shoes anyway, if they're left out. She's quite the shoe molester.)

One mistake we made was not realizing that she might have abandonment issues, because this wasn't clear in the early days before she totally bonded with us - and so now we have to pay the consequence of this by trying to train her out of her separation anxiety problem. You might take this possibility into account from the beginning and try to prevent this kind of problem developing.

Congratulations; she looks totally adorable!
posted by taz at 1:56 AM on February 4

One more believer on the Kong. If you buy only one dog toy, buy a Kong. My corgi mix will ignore every other toy on the planet except for her kong. However, she will destroy one in the space of about a year to a year and a half, so I keep an eye on her while she's got it and snatch it up the minute she gets a large chunk of rubber loose.

I don't know how much this will apply to you, but find an old-school vet. Mine is a vet who trained on country farms, and will recommend cheaper alternatives for minor issues, i.e. specific drugstore vitamins over expensive pet-vitamins for dry skin. Eleven years on, he's saved me tons of cash with alternative cures.

And finally, here's story that's semi-relevant: When I got my dog from the pound, they had fed her immediately before I picked her up. I swear she managed to vomit up twice her weight in dog food before I got her home. So, when you go to get her, carry towels and upholstery cleaner and ask how long ago she was fed and how well she travels. This will make your first minutes together much more pleasant.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 10:37 AM on February 4

-Re: nail clipping, I would try Pedipaws or something similar. If you clip a dog's nails too far it can be very painful. Why take the chance?

-Nthing crate training. It made it very easy to housebreak my dog because he had a crate that he treated like his own little house. In the morning, he went straight from the crate to outdoors to use the bathroom. Then I fed him, let him roam the house or play with a toy or whatever, then took him outside again right before I left for work. I fed my dog twice a day, so he also went out about a half-hour or so after dinner (and maybe before bed). Anyway, you will work out your own potty schedule, but definitely choose a spot for her to go--mine was right by the tree in our backyard. He always knew where to go, and as he got older he would stand by the back door when he needed to go out (even better if your little girl learns how to bark once or twice when it's time). Also, since the crate was like his room, my dog would freely go to his crate whenever he was ready to go to bed or take a nap.

-But please don't leave your dog in a crate for a long time. Maybe she's already mature enough to be out of a crate when you're not around. But if not, I think it's recommended that older dogs aren't left in a crate more than 5 hours at a stretch, less for puppies.

-Dogs need to be walked (on a leash, it's something to do with establishing your place as the leader of the pack I think. Plus it's more stimulating for a dog than always just playing in a backyard.

-Word-of-mouth recommendations for boarding are great, but also check a doggy daycare's policy (what happens if your dog is injured while in their care?). And also look them up on the Better Business Bureau website. Also, even if you're able to come home at lunchtime to see your dog, having her spend once or twice a week at a daycare can be great socialization if you don't have a dog park in your area.

-Don't leave your dog alone around kids. Definitely get her used to kids if you can, but always supervise when your dog is around children. Not all kids know how to treat dogs, not all dogs can tolerate the things kids do.

-Make sure your vet has up-to-date facilities. A friend of mine's dog had trouble peeing, and her regular vet had no X-ray machine and made some kind of lame diagnosis. My friend was susupicious but couldn't afford surgery (she suspected the dog needed it), so she went through some kind of service that would offset the cost of vet bills. Lo and behold, her poor miniature dog had some calcium deposit the size of an egg in her urinary tract. The service helped to pay for the surgery, and the dog was back to normal.

Good luck! I can't wait until I'm settled enough to become a dog owner again.
posted by luckyveronica at 12:49 PM on February 4

Lots of good advice here. Here's another vote for Patricia McConnell's books on behavior and training.

It's great that you are so thoughtful in getting ready for your puppy. I'm sure you will give him a great home. Corgis are so much fun.

I would encourage you to get your dog spayed or neutered. Since you worked at an animal shelter, you probably know how important this is.
posted by valannc at 5:22 PM on February 12

Follow-up, per my reminder email from mathowie:

I marked a lot of "best answers" because everyone had such great advice!

- Turns out she crate trained really easily, which is awesome.
- This is the only dog I've ever met that doesn't like toys. Not even Kongs. Weird.
- I gave in and bought a little clip-on poop-baggie dispenser. Definitely a good investment. I do plan on stuffing old grocery bags in there when the pre-rolled ones run out
- I started reading The Well Adjusted Dog and really like what Dr. Dodson has to say. He recommends a martingale collar, which I like because it's more secure than a regular collar but not as harsh as a choke chain.
- Looking forward to reading more Dodson books and also McConnell.
- Boyfriend and I had a good discussion about rules/boundaries before Sunny's arrival.
- I think we're going to get a showerhead extension thingy for baths. Oh man is her hair going to clog the drain!
- Nobody on here mentioned it, but a friend recommended the Furminator brush and it's awesome! Just wanted to put that out there in case anyone reads this later on.

All in all, Sunny is doing great! I think she is adjusting to her new situation really well. She is a little skittish outside sometimes because she's not used to a noisy city, but overall she's pretty calm. And everyone loves her, which of course makes her new mommy very happy!
posted by radioamy at 8:37 PM on March 6

yay!! Congratulations! I know you're happy, and Sunny is a lucky, lucky pup.

A story about toys... Sky mostly ignored her toys, too, and is still fairly indifferent to most of them (filling the kong with peanut butter was the beginning of that love affair), but I think that a big part of that is that she probably never had toys before... didn't really know what to do with 'em. We had a nylabone-like thingy that she completely ignored, for example, and then one day another dog came around with a visiting friend and he found the nylabone and started chewing... and she went nuts! She took it away from him and took it back to her favorite spot and guarded it. After that she went to town on that thing... I stopped getting them because I was afraid she was basically eating them up. Somehow she had to see another dog using it for its intended purpose before she got it. And then I also learned that female dogs tend to be possessive about their things, so I don't leave toys or her food out when other dogs come to visit.

If you have any trouble with baths, btw, MeMail me... we had an issue with that, now resolved.

Enjoy all the luuuurve!
posted by taz at 12:17 AM on March 7