Hello, friends. Just a little life blog for today. I am preparing in the hopes of adopting a dog. I've wanted a dog for years, so I've decided to go for it. I have gotten a few supplies so far:
bowls, with some credit I had at PetSmart
a slow feeder bowl, a Kong Wubba toy, a 6 ft leash (a 15ft leash that I ordered at the same time came shipped separately), and a curry brush that is both for bath and dry brushing. However, upon opening it, I was like ... this feels like real rubber, and I double checked the listing. Because I could have sworn it said does not contain latex (I'm allergic). It did say that, but it also said it was made of rubber. 😩 So I contacted Chewy about it and they gave me a refund on that one. My guess is whoever answered the "does this contain latex" question didn't know that rubber = latex.
the 15 ft leash is pretty much the length of my living room
Then a friend sent me a belated Yule gift of an Amazon gift card, so I ordered a bed, a SILICONE curry brush, and a poop bag holder that you can attach to the leash. 😄
So I'm getting there on supplies! I want to get everything I can in advance. Of courseI can't get some things like a harness or collar because I didn't know what size of doggo I might adopt, and I don't want to get perishable food until I know I am adopting soon. I have a few things left on my wishlist, but the big one is a Porch Potty.
This is of course the expensive purchase, but I think it will be worth it. Basically it's fake grass that channels pee down into a catch bucket underneath. You clean it by rinsing the grass with water (I would use a watering can; people with outside water spigots could use a hose), and dumping the bucket in the toilet.
I looked at cheaper versions of similar things, and while they had some good reviews, they also had a lot of bad ones, like it was difficult to clean, it stank after a couple of weeks no matter how much they cleaned it, the grass fell apart fast, etc. The Porch Potty has good reviews, and it is supposed to last for life. So I figure, I'm not going to drop $75 on one that doesn't work and needs replacing, I'd rather save up and get the good one that works.
Of course I would be taking my dog for walks - but let's be real, in the middle of the night, or when it's freezing cold or pouring rain or something, I want to have a setup on the balcony where they can just pop out as needed to do the doo (you would pick up any poop with a baggie just like on the regular grass). I know some of my neighbors walk their dogs only twice per day with no other options for them to potty (because they've told me), and I thought, I certainly need to go more than twice a day! But my chronically ill butt probably won't have the energy to go on a walk more often than that, either. So, the Porch Potty.
I had these travel bowls already in emergency supplies in case there was ever a disaster and me and the kitties needed to evacuate; I figure they will be good when we go for walks. I can put training treats in the one with a drawstring, and if we're going to be gone long, the other one attaches with a zipper (it's attached here), so I can bring it and a water bottle that I can pour some into the bowl for them too).
I've been reading Zak George's books and watching his YouTube videos, because I want to properly train them. In a city, we'll need good leash manners. I grew up with dogs, but my parents never really trained them, so I am learning how to do it right.
So those are my preparations so far. Any suggestions? 😃🐶
Thanks for reading and have a great day!