First time dog owner tips?

Does anyone have any first time dog owner tips? We are trying to rescue a puppy and are waiting approval for the adoption. I know this is a broad question but any advice is appreciated.

housebreaking tips? favorite brand of food, favorite products? This is a med- lg breed dog

TIA!

First time dog owner tips?

Congratulations!!! I hope everything works out well with the adoption. As far as housebreaking (and pretty much anything), just be patient. Try not to let any bad habits form- my dog has some pretty bad habits at 2 and we still haven't been able to break them! I wish we had been more strict with the training earlier on.

Re: First time dog owner tips?

Congrats! I always recommend crate training. It's great for puppies, especially for potty training. When we were housetraining our pup, we would feed him in the crate and take him right out from the crate for a walk. If he peed and pooped then he got lots of praise and didn't have to go back in the crate. If he didn't go, he'd go back in the crate for another 5 or 10 minutes and we'd take him out again. As long as your crate is a reasonable size for your dog (get the size you'll need for him when he's grown, you can always get a divider) and he's not left in there for too long, he won't go to the bathroom in the crate. But there will always be accidents, as a pp said, patience is the name of the game! Good luck!

First time dog owner tips?

Thanks! It seems we are on a list of people wanting this puppy. Crossing my fingers that we get her.