For the first few weeks, little equipment is necessary apart from feeding and water bowls, some kind of bedding, and a few grooming aids. The breeder will have detailed the sort of food the puppy is already eating, and a small stock can be laid in; a vast quantity can be a mistake when the puppy discovers there is no longer a need to dash to the trough. He may have to be persuaded before he adjusts to the new regime.
A dog must have his own food and water bowls, which should be kept apart from human utensils, even to the extent of using different washing-up bowls. Dogs are not unhygienic, but certain disease conditions (the zoonoses) can be passed from animals to man. Food and water bowls come in plastic, metal and heavy pottery. Large breeds have hearty appetites and need large bowls, and all types should be capable of withstanding proper sterilization by boiling; cheap plastic may warp into shapes unsuited for fluids. Metal bowls often attract the professional 'chewer', and plastic seems at times to hold fatal attractions; it has been known to disappear down the canine gullet, causing vomiting or uncomfortable impaction at the other end of the alimentary system.
Pottery bowls should be heavy and slippery so that they cannot be picked up and dropped; choose a shape which cannot be easily overturned.
A dog must have his own food and water bowls, which should be kept apart from human utensils, even to the extent of using different washing-up bowls. Dogs are not unhygienic, but certain disease conditions (the zoonoses) can be passed from animals to man. Food and water bowls come in plastic, metal and heavy pottery. Large breeds have hearty appetites and need large bowls, and all types should be capable of withstanding proper sterilization by boiling; cheap plastic may warp into shapes unsuited for fluids. Metal bowls often attract the professional 'chewer', and plastic seems at times to hold fatal attractions; it has been known to disappear down the canine gullet, causing vomiting or uncomfortable impaction at the other end of the alimentary system.
Pottery bowls should be heavy and slippery so that they cannot be picked up and dropped; choose a shape which cannot be easily overturned.