Pupdate + The Farmer’s Dog, PupBox & Rover Review & PetCo Discounts!
In early December, we got an English Creme Golden Retriever puppy and named him Finley. I can’t believe it’s only been 3.5 months…it seems like a year! But the lack of sleep is SO worth it and we are so obsessed with him! No really, I even made him his own Instagram.
This dog is growing insanely fast! We met him when he was just a week old and took him home at 6. At 13 weeks he was already 30 lbs and we upgraded his kennel from 36″ to 48″….I thought we had at least 6 months in the medium-sized kennel but this dog is huge! At 18 weeks he’s 50 lbs. His dad is 85 lbs and he was the biggest pupper in the litter, so we think he’s going to be 90-100 lbs. We got him this fur bed in the biggest size to match our house for both home and the cabin and I’m seriously thinking he will outgrow it in a couple months.
Training and Toys + PupBox Review
Crate & Potty Training:
Crate training was the key to potty training for us. Danny also has always used this trick with his dogs where he sits the pup down INSIDE the house in the door frame so the dog knows that he has to walk outside to pee. It really worked for us! He only had three accidents in the house. We are just trying to train him to go in specific parts of the yard now, that’s the hard part.
One thing that was an absolute life saver for us with the crate training thing was the Snuggle Puppy, which has a little battery-powered heart in it and a warming pack you can activate so that it simulates the puppy’s mother. We got it after a few days of zero sleep from him whining in the crate. When he would get up in the middle of the night to potty, we would put the heart on and put it with him in bed and he wouldn’t whine or cry at all, he just went right to sleep! We don’t use that feature anymore because he’s all crate trained, but now it’s his favorite toy and he doesn’t go to bed without it.
Commands and Chewing:
Consistency and repetition was what worked for us, and he was sitting, staying, and shaking at 8 weeks! We worked with him about 10 minutes a day every day and just did the same command over and over, then did them in a sequence. Now we’re trying to do them while he’s distracted so he listens when he’s out and about wanting to have fun. We use these training treats for that, only 1 calorie each and he loves them.
For chewing…puppies naturally love to chew and they think everything is theirs, so you have to let them know what they aren’t allowed to chew. They second he would chew something bad, we gave him a little tap on the nose, said a stern “NO”, sprayed this bitter spray on it in case he wants to chew it again, then most importantly replaced it with something that he can chew so he knows his boundaries. Works like a fricken charm!
We are also taking puppy training lessons at PetCo! You can get 15% off your purchase of $65 or more at PetCo with this link and by using code: SPRING15.
Toys:
As he’s gotten older, Finley rips through toys like no other. I was constantly buying toys on Amazon (which are actually more expensive than in stores!), so we decided to try PupBox. We’ve used it the last two months and it’s been great! You can get 50% off your first box with a 3, 6, or 12 month plan by clicking this link and using code “HappySpring” !
I also use the 5% buy online and pick up in store discount at PetCo for additional toys.
Diet + The Farmer’s Dog Review
So I have to confess…I am a psycho dog mom. I’ve been thinking about making all of Finley’s meals because I’ve heard it’s suuuper healthy for dogs. Our vet said the two dogs she’s seen that were fed all human food were very healthy, and I’ve read that big breed dogs can live until 22 years if they’re fed the perfect diet…what?! I’ve heard about the raw diet but ew no. Honestly it wouldn’t be that bad meal prepping some chicken, rice and veggies at the beginning of the week for him – but I know there are other nutrients pups need that would be missing out of his diet. I was thinking about going to a doggie dietician…anyone have any recommendations? OR just copying The Farmer’s Dog recipe that’s on the nutrition label, I’m not sure how much of each nutrient is in it, but regardless I would want to get it signed off by a doggie dietician anyway.
We tried The Farmer’s Dog for a few weeks. When introducing new food, they say to slowly incorporate it over a couple weeks until they’re fully on the new food. Since The Farmer’s Dog can get a bit pricey and is a bit messy (you can’t just close the can like wet food as it’s in a packet), we decided to just keep it 50/50 with dry kibble and Farmer’s Dog. Finley absolutely loved it! The taste, that is. However he didn’t really digest many of the vegetables (the carrots came out whole) and his stools were very very fatty (you can tell that they’re fatty if there is this gray-purple casing around it…I know, weird). So we decided to halt on the Farmer’s Dog for now and maybe try it when he’s full grown. I still want to try out a human food diet, though!
Puppy Care & Rover
If you follow along with Danny and I, you know that we love to adventure and travel. My parents are great with Finley and love dogs. Our family dog, Joey died last year and they have yet to get a new one, so having them watch him is a win/win scenario as they get their dog fix! However there are some weekends that they are just too busy to give a needy, dependable pup the amount of attention he needs, so we have to search elsewhere.
To be honest, boarding sounds traumatic and although many people do it…I think I would cry leaving him there! We thought about puppy hotels, but they were all super expensive. Then we found Rover! It’s real, verified and interviewed (for real, they only accept 20% of applicants) pet sitters and walkers that treat your pup like family. Each sitter has their own reviews and rates, so you can pick and choose! There are even couples that do it together so you KNOW your pup is getting extra love.
It’s cheaper than pet hotels, and much more one-on-one love and attention! Plus, it’s great to have someone watch your house at the same time. Your sitter sends you photo updates through the app, and everything is guaranteed and protected. It’s the next best thing to parents watching him! They also offer house sitting and drop-in visits, but we haven’t used those services yet. Check them out here.
Everything we’ve bought so far for Finley:
