Start with a small plastic crate that your puppy can stand up, turn around, and lie down in—but not much more. Plastic crates are easy to move around the house so your puppy stays close to you. Wire crates with dividers are better long-term because they grow with your puppy, but plastic is fine for the beginning.
At a glance
Length
12 min
Channel
BAXTER & Bella - The Online Puppy School
Video from
Dec 2024
Rating
⭐⭐ Great video · 2/2
Best for
First-time puppy owners preparing to bring a new dog home.
What this video answers
What type of crate is best for a new puppy?
Do I really need a long line, or is a regular leash enough?
How should I choose a harness for my puppy?
What chew toys are safe for puppies?
Is a raised bed better than a flat dog bed for puppies?
Reads the guide aloud in your browser — free, no account.
Summary of the 10 Essential Puppy Supplies Every New Owner Needs
Bringing a new puppy home is exciting, but success depends on having the right gear beforehand. This guide covers the ten items that make the transition smoother for both you and your pup, from basic safety equipment to training tools and toys. Each item serves a specific purpose in your puppy's early weeks, whether that's helping with potty training, keeping them safe, or giving them appropriate outlets for their natural behaviors like chewing and play.
The video walks through practical reasons for each item rather than just listing them. For example, a crate isn't punishment—it's a bedroom where good things happen, like meals and chews. Similarly, a puppy training approach often relies on equipment like long lines and exercise pens to manage the puppy safely while they learn house rules. Understanding why each item matters helps you choose the right versions for your specific puppy's size and temperament.
Key Moments
Key Essentials for Setting Up Your New Puppy's Home
Collars, harnesses, and ID tags—start with a basic flat collar and a harness with both front and back clip options so your puppy gets used to wearing them early
Leashes and long lines—a 6-foot leash serves as both training tool and house line, while a 15–30-foot long line lets you practice recalls safely at the park once your puppy is fully vaccinated
Crates (plastic or wire)—essential for potty training and creating a safe space; wire crates with dividers grow with your puppy, while plastic ones are portable
Exercise pens—create a confined "zone" for your new puppy; wire pens are durable and portable, plastic pens suit smaller puppies, and toddler play pens prevent climbing
Dog bed and food/water bowls—raised beds like Coranda beds define a training space, while stainless-steel bowls are durable; puzzle toys like Kong wobblers make feeding interactive
Chew toys and play toys—offer variety (hard textures, soft teething toys, stuffable Kongs, bully stick holders) and interactive toys with movement to engage your puppy during training
Grooming supplies—metal combs, brushes suited to your breed, nail clippers, a Dremel for smoothing nails, and puppy shampoo round out basic care
Why Preparing Before Your Puppy Arrives Matters
Having these items ready before your puppy comes home sets you up to manage the early weeks confidently. A stressed new puppy needs structure and safety, which proper equipment provides. A crate gives you a place where your puppy is safe and contained so you can cook dinner or answer emails without constant supervision. A harness and long line let you take your puppy outdoors safely before they're old enough to roam freely. Appropriate chew toys protect your furniture while satisfying your puppy's natural urge to chew, especially during teething. Without these tools, you're more likely to rely on punishment or become frustrated, whereas with them, you can focus on positive training and bonding. Early preparation also teaches your puppy that good things (meals, chews, playtime) happen in the right places, making house training and behavior management far easier.
Frequently Asked Questions About New Puppy Gear
What type of crate is best for a new puppy?
Start with a small plastic crate that your puppy can stand up, turn around, and lie down in—but not much more. Plastic crates are easy to move around the house so your puppy stays close to you. Wire crates with dividers are better long-term because they grow with your puppy, but plastic is fine for the beginning. Whichever you choose, make the crate a positive space by feeding meals there and playing games in and out of it.
Do I really need a long line, or is a regular leash enough?
A 6-foot leash handles daily training and serves as a house line indoors. A long line (15–30 feet) becomes valuable once your puppy is fully vaccinated and you visit parks or open spaces. It lets your puppy feel semi-free while you maintain control for safety and recall practice. If your budget is tight, start with the regular leash and add a long line later.
How should I choose a harness for my puppy?
Look for a harness with both a front and back clip. The front clip discourages pulling by turning your puppy toward you, while the back clip suits regular walking once they understand leash manners. A two-clip harness gives you flexibility as your puppy learns. Make sure it fits snugly enough that your puppy can't slip out, but you can fit two fingers under the straps.
What chew toys are safe for puppies?
Offer a variety: hard rubber toys, soft teething toys you can freeze, stuffable Kongs layered with food, simple dried hides, and bully stick holders (which prevent your puppy from swallowing the last dangerous bits). Rotate toys to keep them interesting. Avoid anything small enough to swallow whole, and always supervise until you know what your puppy will safely chew versus destroy.
Is a raised bed better than a flat dog bed for puppies?
Raised beds like Coranda beds have big advantages: they define a specific space, are easy to place anywhere in your home, and signal to your puppy where you want them to settle during dinner or when guests arrive. You can use them for training ("go to your bed"). Soft beds in the crate are nice for comfort, but raised beds are more versatile for managing your puppy's behavior throughout the day.
A short leash (usually 6 feet) attached to your puppy indoors to keep them close and under control while they learn household rules.
Exercise pen
A portable, usually modular barrier that creates a confined safe space for your puppy to play, sleep, or stay while you're busy.
Puppy zone
A small, defined area combining a crate and exercise pen where your new puppy stays when you cannot supervise them directly.
Long line
A lightweight 15–30-foot leash clipped to your puppy's harness for practicing recalls and near-freedom in open spaces while maintaining safety and control.
Puzzle toy
An interactive feeding toy that makes your puppy work or solve a problem to access their food, slowing down eating and providing mental stimulation.
This video is genuinely helpful because it explains not just what to buy but why each item matters and how to use it correctly. The trainer shows different versions of each item (plastic vs. wire crates, different exercise pen styles) so you can pick what suits your space and puppy size, rather than being told there's only one right answer.
I especially appreciated the emphasis on making the crate a bedroom where good things happen—meals, chews, play—rather than a punishment box. That mindset shift makes a real difference in how quickly puppies feel safe. If you're bringing home your first puppy and feel overwhelmed by choices, this is exactly what you need to watch. I'd wholeheartedly recommend it.
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🐶 **Top 10 Must-Haves for Bringing a New Puppy Home!** 🐾
Congratulations on your new dog! Bringing a puppy home is an exciting adventure, but are you prepared? In this video, we break down the **top 10 essential items** every new puppy owner needs to ensure a smooth transition for you and your pup. From beds to training tools, we've got you covered!
📌 **For Products Mentioned in the Video:**
https://www.baxterandbella.com/puppy-products
📣 **Question for You:** What’s one item YOU couldn’t live without when you brought your puppy home? Let us know in the comments below!
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Video transcript for “10 Things You'll Need for Your New Dog” Accessibility
A full written transcript of this video, provided for accessibility. Select any timestamp to jump the video to that moment.
today I'm going to walk you through 10 things that you absolutely need before you bring that puppy home first on the list are a color and a harness these are pieces of equipment that your puppy's going to need to get used to wearing so we recommend you start it right away and this is just a basic flat colar nothing
fancy to it um simple Buckle snap enclosure uh it holds their ID tags we recommend your puppy wears an ID tag so they don't get lost and then we start to put a harness on them just for awareness just so that they get used to wearing it and then we'll start leash walking here in a few weeks but when your puppy first
comes home it's more about let's just get them used to wearing this when you're shopping for a harness I like to find one that has a front clip and a back clip so you can change which point you are attaching the leash depending on which kind of activity that you're doing in the beginning your puppy might not
love wearing their collor or harness so get a toy out one that's fun squeaky it moves around they like to play with it and start to play with your dog play relaxes your puppy and they'll forget that they're wearing this thing so it'll take them a few days to adjust to having that on but pretty soon they forget
about it and it's no big deal also remember that we want to remove our dog's collar or harness before putting them in a crate or pen next on the list a leash and a long line so you'll need a basic 6t leash for all of your basic puppy training and then it also serves as a house line so
when I first bring my puppy home they don't know the rules of my house and I need to keep super close track of them so at times they're going to be on a tether or a house line which is just again a basic 6ft leash the other piece of equipment I recommend along with the leash is a long line so this is more a
of a 15 to 30t line again it's lightweight it's small this one happens to be waterproof again a small clip and this is going to hook to my dog's harness on the back so I'll put the harness on my dog clip this to the back of them and now when I go outside I have a longer leash to practice some recalls
and things like that with this comes in super handy once your puppy is able to go out in public so they're fully vaccinated and you can head to the park this is a great way to play with them at the park where they feel like they're off leash but we have some Management in place next up we have crates this is a
necessary tool for potty training making sure that our puppy is has a nice safe place to sleep to relax to chew their toys this is the only place with this new puppy that's coming into my home that I can leave them unsupervised so this crate is going to allow you to get things done that you need to get done on
a daily basis and not always have to be watching your puppy I highly recommend starting out with just a simple small plastic crate again we want to size this appropriately that our puppy can stand up turn around lay down but that's about it we play lots of games with these we teach our puppy to go in and out and eat
their meals in here this is where all of the good stuff happens I like to call it my puppy's bedroom so this is where they get the good stuff this is where they get their bones and their chews and their Mills like we talked about this is not a go in there and be bored kind of them now there's different kinds of
crates plastic there's wire uh the wire ones grow with your puppy so there's a divider that comes with these so that you can section it off a small part of it and as your puppy grows we can move that divider back until it's their fulls size crate plastic ones don't have that Advantage but again this is nice in the
beginning just to move around really easily to keep keep that puppy close to me so if I'm in the kitchen cooking a mill my puppy's going to be in this crate next to me if I'm in my office doing emails guess what this crate is at my feet if I'm on the sofa watching a show I'm going to also put this crate up
next to me and just let my puppy get used to being inside of something with a barrier they can't get to me directly but they're safe because they can see me they can smell me I'm right next to them uh and they start to learn that hey I can relax in here I can fall asleep in here which is what we want so again I
love both options again for a full-size crate this is what I use for my dogs uh but I do like to start out with a nice movable plastic crate that's easy to maneuver another item you absolutely need is an exercise pen we want to create what we call a zenen when my puppy first comes home they're pretty
stressed and I want to make this area feel like home to them we're going to take their crate and attach an exercise pen to it or if you have that small plastic crate you can simply set that inside but we want to create a space that is familiar to them when we talk exercise pens there's lots of different
types on the market so let me give you a few examples and then you can decide what will work best for you and your puppy if you have a smaller puppy this is a good option for you it's simply a plastic pen there's a little door that your dog can go in and out of you can lock that so they can't go in and out of
that the only thing to be aware of with this one is that your puppy might climb out so if you have a puppy that's going to grow 10 plus lbs then this might not be the best option but if if you're getting a smaller dog it works really well this is a wire exercise pen it's one of my favorites I've used this for
so many puppies that I've trained it's 36 in high which is just high enough to really deter climbing if any and there is a Topper a lid that you can buy for this if you do happen to have a puppy that is a climber um but this one works really well it folds down really flat it's lightweight I can move it around my
home really easily and but it's sturdy enough to handle these puppies I me that some puppies love to climb so a good option that I found is this toddler play pen it has vertical slats you'll want to make sure that you have a bigger puppy obviously that can't fit through those slats if you have a smaller dog than the
other style might be better for you but the vertical slat is a great option that prevents climbing so notice that this exercise pen is wrapped around my staircase I can open this pen up and make it a room divider another item I recommend you get is a dog bed now there are a lot of different types on the
market and what bed you shoes will probably change as your puppy grows I might put something soft like this in my puppy zenen give them a nice soft place to take naps and rest but if they do start to bite at it or chew at it or play with it then I'm just going to remove it for the time being a bed that
I use for all of my dogs in training is a raised bed so this is a coranda bed I like it because it's up off the floor it gives my dog a very defined space as to where I want them to stay and so I can use this for a lot of different purposes uh because it's raised the puppy going to have to take a step off that really
defines the space as to where I want them to remain right if I'm sitting down to eat dinner I don't want my dog begging for my dinner so I send them to their bed they chill out here and they get rewarded for doing so if I go plot myself down on this Amy rewards me and we use this in a lot of different
circumstances whether it's somebody coming over like a guest ringing my doorbell or dinner time like I mentioned meal prep time and maybe I'm helping my kids with their homework and I need something for my puppy to do this is a great training tool every dog needs food and water bowls I recommend just a
simple stainless still Bowl I like this option because it's easy to clean it's less likely to Harbor bacteria and my puppy can't break it in addition to a regular food bowl I love puzzle toys so this is a Kong wobbler you simply unscrew the top you're going to put the puppy's kibble inside and then put the
top back on and now when I place this in my puppy's exercise pen they get to work for their food so sometimes I might feed my puppy out of their bowl but other times I'm going to put the rest of their k a after a training session into a puzzle toy or something interactive another option would be something like
this this is an outward Hound puzzle toy your puppy eating food out of here is going to take a lot longer than your puppy eating food out of here make sure your puppy always has access to fresh water again I recommend a stainless steel bowl and then I like to get the hook that goes to my crate so you'll
find a little accessory piece that you can buy that hooks onto the bowl and then you simply just attach it to your puppy's crate this is nice because puppy like water Bella here loves water and by raising this water bowl up she's less likely to make it a swimming pool another item you are absolutely going to
need when bringing home a new puppy is a chew toy now I like to get my puppy a variety of things I like to get them something that's a little harder this one has some textured Nubs on it that they get to sink their teeth into uh this little rubber one's softer so this one's nice it's a teething toy you can
fill it full of water put it in your freezer it's really cold on their gums because puppies are teething and so their gums are pretty sore uh there's Jews that you can stuff with things like food that there's your favorite you can put kibble in here you can layer it with applesauce natural peanut butter pumpkin
puree uh these two go together these are West paw topples and you can fit them together and put their kibble inside and it turns into a nice little interactive uh feeding toy lots of different options again this is a holder that will hold like a bully stick I like the holder because it prevents my puppy from
swallowing the last 2 Ines or so of that bone a simple hide uh this has no chemical preservatives in it at all it's just a simple hide that's been dried this is really good for cleaning your puppy's teeth a lot of different options again we want to make sure our puppy has a variety of things to chew on sometimes
it might be a puzzle feeder sometimes it might be something hard that they can settle down and relax with you'll want a variety of things for them to chew on next on our list toys I like to find toys that have different textures some that squeak some that have a crinkle puppies love sounds and they love of
movement we call them movement magnets so they're going to follow whatever Wiggles as you can see pella's willing to follow this movement I like this toy because it has these long dangly appendages that makes it easy for her to bite on the toy me to wiggle the toy and she's not getting my hand so you want a
toy that you can hold one end your puppy can bite the other end and you can wiggle it you can make it exciting we can hide it we can pop it back out we can even practice simple things like a sit to say please to get the toy another good toy option is this fleece rope you can make this just get a couple strips
of fleece and braid them together tie the ends and Knots and now your children have something to walk around with because this is more Wiggly than them your puppy will want to go for it and then they can simply move around the space together with your puppy biting onto this rope grooming supplies are a
must for any dog whether they have short hair or long hair the basic items you'll want to get for your dog are a metal comb and a brush that's appropriate for your dog's breed now with young puppies I start out with these metal Combs I like them because I can lay this pretty flat across them and just get them used
to the movement of this going across their bodies versus really digging in and combing the hair so again I like to start with just a metal comb another tool I absolutely love is this fine tooth comb this is great for getting out your dog's eye goobers every morning so you don't have to use your fingers I
have Doodles at my house they have longer hair and it grows down into their eyes pretty soon they can't even see so so I just have a little pair of bluntnose scissors that I can easily trim the hair that grows in front of their eyes just so that they can always have good Vision you'll also need a good
pair of nail clippers after I clip my dog's nails I like to take a Dremel and just file them down so that there's no rough edges but as far as basic grooming tools go I suggest every household has these items in addition to just a basic puppy shampoo and the last item on the list
training you're going to need a program to coach you through how to help your dog live in a household with humans they don't know how to do that but we're here to help you and we can coach you through every step of the way we offer do-it-yourself programs that you can do on your own time we have live classes
and courses that you can come to Via Zoom you take everything from the comfort of your own home so you're watching us on TV you're going through the program and practicing things with your dog just like we are on screen if you have questions you can email us you can also schedule one-on-one calls to
talk to our trainers we we do live group Q&A sessions three times a week really we have so many resources to help you train your dog whatever your goals may be we're here to help you if you like this video and want to see more you can check it out right over here
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