As soon as we knew Daisy’s move-in date at the tender age of 10 weeks I headed to the Internet to order her “must haves”. This is not my first rodeo (puppy wrangler)!

• Simple Solution® puppy training pads: Daisy weighed 2 lbs when we brought her home. She easily fit through the spaces in our fence. Her dachshund legs were too short for her to easily maneuver through the grass. And I was afraid I would lose her to the neighborhood owl in the darkness of midnight potty trips. These training pads are the best: absorbent and the attractant has only a subtle smell. Best of all? They work! Potty training for Daisy has been a breeze.

• Kong® chew toys: I’m always shopping for “puppy-preferred” and by that I mean preferred instead of my fingers and toes. Kong extra small puppy size in pink has been and continues to be one of Daisy’s favorite chew toys. We have been protective about the food and treats we give her. I use the grain-free Greenies® pill pockets to make Daisy even happier about a session with her Kong®. I smear a little bit of “goo” inside the toy. She goes crazy for this Kong®/Greenies® combo!

• Amazon Basics kennel bedding: especially in the first couple of months Daisy had a few overnight accidents. Clean up was no problem because I had two of these reasonably-priced, snug kennel pads that I rotated. This particular pad withstood numerous trips through the washer and dryer and kept its shape and its cozy factor.

• Greenies™ Pill Pockets, also known as training treats at our house. Training a puppy is not rocket science. Keep the commands simple, be consistent, and reward with a special, safe, yummy (to the puppy) treat. Daisy’s vet showed us that life doesn’t get much better than a rolled up snack-size portion of a pill pocket!

• Toysopoly Child/Pet Playpen is my daytime go-to safe space and place for Daisy. I like to socialize my pets early on while still recognizing that babies cannot be left alone even for a minute. They are mischievous, curious, and don’t understand dangerous. For more reasons than I can reasonably list here we could not live without this puppy playpen.
  • better than the child gates that I almost broke my neck on while climbing over with Daisy bouncing up and down
  • a better view to make it easier for the puppy to see and explore what is going on in her new home
  • first several weeks of safe meet and greet sessions with our 10-year old cats
  • easily packed/unpacked for trips to the beach
  • bonus reason: during the post-op phase following Daisy’s spay, this playpen accommodated Daisy’s “lampshade” that she wore 24/7 for a week. We also discovered the zip doors in the sides of the playpen so that we didn’t have to bend over into the playpen to pick her up during her healing phase
  • still can’t believe what a bargain this “must have” is.