Dog! That’s right. I have adopted a gorgeous 16-month-old male rottweiler who may or may not be obsessed with food and cuddles. Here is a photo of my new baby:
Isn’t he beautiful? I’ve always been in love with all animals but dogs especially. – I’ve been bursting at the seams to tell everyone about my new baby but of course, I had to wait until it was official. He’s home now and has nicely slotted into our previously sedentary lives. I’m in love!
Along with my insanity challenge (click here to read all about it), I’m also going to do a few doggie updates and be writing some blog posts about what life is like with a growing Rottweiler.
This was a very unexpected adoption (even though I had plenty of warning ahead of time). When it came time to adopt (in like.. a year or so haha) I was going to head down to the SPCA (local animal shelter) and pick up a mutt or mixed breed. The opportunity to adopt a pure-breed rottweiler was a surprise, but a very welcome one. I grew up with dogs, and I’ve known this dog since he was a puppy – I was one of the people helping to train and socialise him from a young age. He is super smart, food motivated and highly engaged with me. One of the reasons I wanted a dog in the first place was companionship. My partner goes away a lot for work, for months at a time, and it can be a little lonely. So having a dog, for me, is about having that company even when my partner is away for any stretch of time. Also as I said above, I love all animals – especially dogs- and it made a lot of sense to me to welcome this wonderful doggo into my life.
For this series, I thought it would make sense to start with what I bought in advance of adopting this fantastic new friend. The first thing I bought was a massive dog bowl. He’s a big boy and is likely to eat a lot heh… Stainless steel, so it’s easy to clean. It isn’t very heavy, so I made sure it has non-slip silicone edging for him. Other options are heavy ceramic bowls- but those can break if you aren’t careful so I opted out of that.
Next item was a big bucket for his water. I just got one of those cheap ones and it’s working out wonderfully thus far.
Next on the list was his collar and leash. His current collar was too small and the leash was quite flimsy. So I bought a new, thick and adjustable collar and a 1.2m red leash. The colour of the leash is important (so my trainer friend tells me). It sends a nonverbal cue to other owners that says please don’t approach to pat my dog without asking first. Because he has lived with other people for the first chunk of his life, I don’t know his habits or what he has been exposed to for certain. The last thing I want is him being aggressive and being labelled a dangerous dog. So, with my red leash (and the fact that he is a giant rottweiler) I’m hoping that when we’re out on a walk, people who want to approach and pat him will ask first.
Speaking of walks, you NEED to pick up after your buddy so poop bags are a must. They’re cheap and important if you don’t want to be a dick when out on a walk.
Oh, I also have a head halter (this came with him courtesy of the previous owner) to go with training and control during walks as he is a puller. Head halters are a gentle way for dogs to self-correct pulling behaviours. Because the halter goes around his nose if he pulls it naturally pulls his nose back to me causing him to look back and pull back to where he is meant to be- by my side in the heel position.
Other important items are his bed – giant of course. He’s never slept on a bed of his own before so this will be a transition period while I train him to have his own place in my home. Along with a travel/on a walk water bottle. He will be travelling with us when we visit my partner’s parents, so we need something to give him water as we travel over the summer. And a brush to groom him. He’s never been brushed or groomed before so I am going to be introducing him to this experience which will be a great bonding moment for us (I hope).
Next up is the fun stuff: toys! I went a liiiitle overboard with the toys I purchased… heh… I know my boy LOVES tug of war so I have a large selection of rope toys for him to play with us with. Along with rope toys, I got a couple of large balls, a few treat dispensers and a few chew toys. These toys will be divided up into two categories: toys for my dog to play with, with my partner and I, and toys that he can enjoy on his own. This is so he doesn’t have a massive over selection of toys, and that there are some high-value toys that we can use for training, rewards and super-fun play times.
That is all we got in the beginning, I’ll update you all when we buy new things and as we go along.
What do you think? Did I forget anything?
Join me in welcoming my new baby in the comments down below.
As always, go write something!
x
H
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