Welcome to our Food, Treats, Toys & Chews recommendations!
Although everyone likes something a little different, we thought we would put this page together as a starting spot for you! Some of these are things we feel very strongly about, and some of them are just to get you thinking on the right track of things that will be helpful to have with your new puppy! Hopefully this can help you get an idea of size and types of things to purchase for use in your own home!
As you scroll through the selections on this page——please be sure and take note of a couple of things:
1. NO RAWHIDE products are included. This is intentional, and we do not use or recommend any rawhide toys.
2. The “treats” we recommend are not traditional treats. This is intentional. There are so many excellent and delicious options that are a treat, while providing nutrition benefits that we do not feel traditional treats are necessary. Trust us, when beef liver and cage free turkey are on the treat menu, your pup won’t mind at all that they are missing out on the flour, sugar, and food colorings in “normal” dog treats!
3. As far as bones and treats are concerned—these things can get expensive! So we encourage families to think outside the box. For example, bits of cheese, cooked chicken, and even diced carrots, apples, and green beans make wonderful training treats, and a local butcher shop can be an inexpensive source for healthy bones for your pup to chew on :)
for feeding
NuVet Labs Products
This is our only ABSOLUTE MUST HAVE on this page (and also the only product that doesn’t link you to Amazon). EVERY dog that lives here absolutely received a tablet (or 1/2 tablet for Cockapoo puppies) EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. No exceptions! We researched many, many vitamins to help make sure our dogs were getting all they needed and NONE of them meet the standards of NuVet…..in fact all the others we reviewed are (in our opinion) a waste of money.
NuVet provides holistic, natural supplements to help with general health, filling immune gaps, and specific formulas for hip and joint health. All of their products are made with high quality, human grade components, in the USA, in a FDA registered human pharmaceutical facility, and are cold pressed to maintain the nutrients available from their impressive list of ingredients.
When you visit the NuVet link below, there are two products we recommend.
1. NuVet Plus K9 Wafers
2. NuJoint Plus OR NuJoint DS
If you want our opinions and what we use, check out this page.
One more thing, be sure you are not confused by any similarly named products! This is NOT the same as NutriVet! One look at the ingredients should tip you off, but also know that NuVet is not available anywhere but through the company’s website with a referral code from a pet professional (ours is 52720). If you find it available anywhere else, it isn't NuVet!
Puppy Food
DUE TO ONGOING ISSUES WITH AVAILABILITY, WE ARE LOOKING FOR AN ALTERNATIVE TO OUR LONG TIME FAVORITE PUPPY FOOD. WE WILL UPDATE WHEN WE HAVE FOUND THAT. IF YOU ARE ON ELLIE’S 7/12/21 LITTER, PLEASE WAIT TO PURCHASE FOOD UNTIL WE LET YOU KNOW WHAT PUPPIES WILL BE ON HERE!!
Our recommended puppy food is Diamond Naturals Small Breed Puppy: Chicken and Rice. Yes.....even our Great Pyrenees get the small breed to start :) Although there are several very good foods out there, we choose this one specifically because of the kibble size. It is very small and easy to eat for puppies just beginning. For that reason, it is what we use to wean them off of mama.
We strongly suggest that every puppy we send with his or her new family has at least one bag of this waiting at home. If you decide to switch after that, our feelings aren't hurt at all :) We just recommend that you select a food that at minimum:
1. Has meat as the first ingredient
2. Doesn't contain corn, wheat, or soy
We are able to provide a 40 lb bag of this food to our families who are driving to pick puppy up for an added $45 if that works better for you. However, this is not an option for those flying, so if you are bringing home one of our puppies, please have a bag of this ready.
If/when you do choose to switch foods, make sure you switch over slowly, mixing this food and the new food together for several days before switching totally.
DUE TO ONGOING ISSUES WITH AVAILABILITY, WE ARE LOOKING FOR AN ALTERNATIVE TO OUR LONG TIME FAVORITE PUPPY FOOD. WE WILL UPDATE WHEN WE HAVE FOUND THAT. IF YOU ARE ON ELLIE’S 7/12/21 LITTER, PLEASE WAIT TO PURCHASE FOOD UNTIL WE LET YOU KNOW WHAT PUPPIES WILL BE ON HERE!!
Food and Water Bowls
Again, lots of options out there, but we recommend something like this: stainless steel for sanitation, flared bottom to prevent tipping, and rubber bottom to prevent sliding!
for treating
Stella & Chewy’s Meal Mixers
While the intended purpose for these little bit’s of freeze dried yumminess is to add nutrients to, or increase appeal of kibble—they are also perfect to use as a delicious training treat!
Crumps’ Naturals Mini Trainers
This is the training treat we use with our puppies——they are perfect for tiny mouths, and are 100% freeze dried beef liver, so they are good for your pup, too! These are perfect for training!
for chewing
Bones
These guys beat the pants off of rawhide! The links below are for three different bones from three different companies.....just to show you that these are not hard to get! In our opinion, there is no reason to be using anything other than real bone for your dogs chewing needs. As bones are what every bone-like toy is made to mimic, why not have the real thing? They are great for your dogs teeth, and actually have nutrition to them as well. Don't spend your money on bone imitations-----get the real thing! Do be careful, though, to make sure the bones you select haven't been soaked in or treated with something your dog shouldn't have. The bones in the links provided meet our criteria at the time of posting!
Bully Sticks
Another great, natural chew option for your dog! Bully Sticks are made by many, many different companies. Make sure you watch for ones that are NOT treated with chemicals —— and we like to watch for ones from free-range, grass fed cattle!
Nylabone
This is just one example of one of Nylabone’s many, many choices in high quality toys. As you look at these toys (or the toys of any brand) make sure you pay attention to the size dog the toy is made for. Having a toy that is too big can be okay——but having a toy that is too little can become a choking hazard!
Benebone
Another example of toy from a brand we really like! Pay attention to the size the toy is intended for, and purchase accordingly.
for playing
Rope Toys
These rope toys can often be seen in our videos, and our puppies big and small love them :) I don’t know what it is that makes them so fun…..but they sure are!
Un-Stuffed Animals
These un-stuffed animals are a favorite of our with young puppies, and can often be seen in our videos. We like them over most stuffed animals as, when they do eventually get torn, your house isn't covered in stuffing! And, there is no chance of puppy eating the stuffing and having a blockage of any sort.
Fair warning: They do squeak :)