Prepare, I have done

This past week has been a lot of prep work. Deep cleaning my older kennel and cleaning and organizing  Kovu’s stuff was extremely important to get done before Kylo gets here. I also spent time getting some last minute items that would help me in the long run. I hit the jackpot at Ross with one ingredient treats for both animals. They had multiple brands and types - so far Kovu loves hers!

(Kovu got a little excited, as you can see) 

One of the first items I ordered was slow feeders for both of them. I noticed when I went to strictly canned food, that Kovu was scarfing down her food and would have trouble keeping it down later because of her impatience. I feed her Weruva cat food, chicken and salmon pate style ones I get from Petsmart. I had already been planning on buying one for Kylo and found both on Amazon. I also nabbed a new carrier for Kovu so I could make vet appointments easier but also take her outside occasionally. It’s a backpack style and compared to the old duffle bag one I have, this is much more manageable. 

The focus was on making sure I was prepared to mentally stimulate his as well as make him comfortable. I didn’t want to focus too heavily on toys, which was why I wound up grabbing a Woof bully stick holder and pupsicle (for both Kovu and Kylo), a Kong rubber tug (I prefer rubber because rope flakes off, which he could choke on) and rough chew toy (my mom picked out a brachiosaurus!). I got some other basic essentials like a leash and tag, but I held off on the collar since I wasn’t sure how big he was going to be when he arrives.

(Mom was very proud of her Brachiosaurus) 

I have a few last minute things I need to order, but I have a lot of the things I need already. Getting his food will be one of the last things I do before picking him up since I don’t want it to go bad. He eats Blue Buffalo puppy now, which is a good food for the price and being a dry kibble, but I will be transitioning him to Open Farm RawMix Ancient Grains Puppy Recipe. Open Farm has high-quality ingredients and their foods include freeze dried raw meat pieces. 

In regards to training, the first week will be focused on getting him comfortable and learning to respond to his name. I will also start working on getting him comfortable with the bath, which is a larger portion of his later training. Acclimating to the water in general is something very important to me as I love being out on the water. I bought a kayak that will fit both of us and plan on spending a lot of time enjoying different activities with him. 

Socialization is the most important part of training, especially when he is this young, so I will be spending a lot of time after week one to make sure he can be neutral in public. Getting him used to the sound of Pet Corrector will be essential to keep him calm if I need to use it to keep another dog away. While he currently can’t walk around in stores where he could catch something before he is fully vaccinated, he can still sit in a cart and look around while I shop. This will also be a good time to teach him the command “eyes” which will help when I need to break his attention from something. I plan on using German for his commands, I took 2 years in high school, and it’s used by professionals in the dog training community. This will help with keeping other people from confusing him with other commands. 

I am really excited for Kylo’s arrival and I know Kovu will be very excited to have a friend.