What to Buy After You've Adopted a Rescue Dog
If you're planning on adopting a rescue dog, then you need to make sure you have the right supplies to make the first few weeks go smoothly. If you've never owned a dog before it can be quite difficult to figure out exactly what you need. Walking into a pet store will overwhelm you with the sheer amount of dog accessories.
To help you narrow down what you need, this article will list the important things you should get. Some of these items will help your new dog feel comfortable, while others will help you keep track of them or care for them.
Stainless Steel Water Bowl and Pet Dish
Don't try and feed your new dog out of an old ceramic dish that you have in the cupboard. These are two fragile and you risk the dog getting hurt. An over exuberant dog can break the ceramic dish and injure themselves. You can use a heavy plastic, but these can get icky and hard to clean (plus there is the issue of BPA in many dishes that you might want to avoid) so stick with a stainless steel set. Some pet stores will sell them with rubber bottoms. These rubber bottoms will help prevent the dishes from sliding around on your tiled floor.
Crate
Your rescue dog might want a safe and secure place to sleep when it shows up to your house. A doggy crate is a great way to give your new dog that sense of well being. You can find crates that double as carriers. This is a good idea since you might want to get a carrier when bringing your dog on airplanes, or taking them to the vet.
Training Pads
Training pads are most often needed for young dogs that are not housebroken, but you still might want to have them on hand if you are getting a rescue dog. You have no idea what mental stress your new dog is in, so you should be prepared for accidents. Training pads will help prevent your rescue dog from ruining the rug, and thereby causing you to get upset and causing a whole lot of unwanted tension during the first few weeks.
Custom Engraved Dog Tag
You can get your dog micro-chipped at the vet, but that won't be of much use if they run off down the street and into a persons yard. The person who finds them won't be able to read a microchip, but they could easily look at the name tag. So, get a custom name tag for your dog and have your telephone number engraved on the id as well. This way, should a civilian find your dog when it goes missing, they can contact you directly. To learn more, contact companies like Pet Novo.