[Music]
this video is all about you got your
back to the audience that's not
helpful hello everybody today I am going
to be making a video all about getting a
puppy which is something that I know a
little bit about considering I have one
of my own even though she's almost two I
wanted to make this video when I felt as
though I could impart a little bit of
wisdom and although I don't want you to
take everything I say as fact as I am
not a dog expert and I feel like with
animal and pets and things it is quite a
lot of a personal opinion um but I
wanted to shed light on some of the
things I've learn in order to help any
of you who are trying to make an
informed decision on getting a puppy or
any of you who have just got a puppy and
are going oh my goodness help me what
have I done so I asked you on Twitter if
you had any questions that you'd like me
to kind of talk through or address in
the video so I've got a big old list of
things to go through what did you
consider before having a puppy so the
things that you need to consider before
having a puppy are whether you want to
adopt or buy from a Casey registered
breeder I know that lots of people have
different opinions on this I think both
are great options and I think it
completely depends on what it is that
you want we wanted a puppy so we looked
for a Casey registered breeder you have
to make sure you're getting from
somebody who knows what they're doing
that is very important it's also very
important to look really hard don't just
go for the first puppy that you find
don't just go for the first breeder you
need to do a lot of research if you are
going down that route or you can adopt
again you need to do a lot of research
you need to make sure the dog that you
want to adopt is right for you etc etc
even though we didn't adopt this time
it's definitely something that I want to
do in the future at some point when the
time comes that we decide we want any
more animals um but again it's a
personal opinion and before deciding
which route you want to go down you have
to do a lot of research you also have to
consider the space and where you live if
you're living in a tiny flat is getting
a labrador the best thing for you or for
the dog no so you want to make sure you
have the right space and the right
living environment for a dog have you
got a big Garden have you got a small
garden things like that time time is
really important because if you are in a
full-time job from 8:00 a.m. until 8:00
p.m. is having a dog really fast
um unless of course you can arrange uh
for care for your dog throughout the day
n's just seen a butterfly I'm not sure
if she seen one of those before uh do
you have the money for a dog money is
also a big factor another question that
I got asked was does having a dog cost a
lot of money and the answer is yes of
course because a dog is essentially a
very large part of your family and they
require things all the time time they
require food they require toys they
require beds they require blankets they
require shampoos toothpaste toothbrushes
poo bags the list is endless and of
course depending on how much you want to
treat your dog and how much you want to
spend on your dog it also depends
largely on which dog you go for if you
get a Great Dane you are going to spend
a lot of money on food because that dog
needs to eat a lot more than a Chihuahua
let's say if you have a pug who are
known to have certain health issues the
insurance is going to be more when you
insure your dog so there's all these
different factors which when you look at
different breeds you can kind of take
into consideration where you can when it
comes to how much money you might have
to spend but yes getting a dog is costly
okay so the next thing that you need to
consider is which
breed this for me was the most important
part of getting a puppy because all
puppies are cute and all puppies are
adorable but you have to make sure that
you are going for a breed that is right
for you and your partner um and all
those other things that I've just told
you about to take into consideration so
money your house your garden all these
things are quite dependent on what breed
you want to go for there are so many
amazing places you can research
different breeds we spoke to friends who
had different breeds you could go to
crafts which I I think is a great place
to go because there are so many
different types of dog you can ask vets
you can ask dog behaviorists you can go
to puppy classes you can ask your
friends and your family and you can also
do a lot of research online another huge
factor to consider before getting a dog
is is it good timing you know have you
reached a point in your career where
you're happy are you and your have you
and your partner been together for a
substantial amount of time um you know
are you happy together um can you see a
dog fitting into your lifestyle you know
how busy are you um do you have children
already or are you thinking of having
children in a year um you have to think
about your life and whether or not it's
the it's a good time to bring another
member of the family in essentially that
again is a really really important one
what made you select a pug for us after
doing our research a pug seemed like the
perfect breed to fit in with our
lifestyle there are quite a lot of other
breeds but we liked that pugs had such
character but were also so loving and
needed and you know their main aim is to
please you and essentially they're a lap
dog you know they don't need too much
mental stimulation they don't need too
much exercise and because of the
lifestyle that Alfie and I have we
wanted to make sure we didn't have a dog
that required Ed 3 hours of walking a
day um just in case we couldn't give it
that you know we didn't want to have a
dog that we couldn't give it the best
that it could have that's not to say
that at some point in the future we
could get a husky or something that
requires a bit more walking but right
now um we wanted a dog that would fit
easily into our lifestyle and a Pug
seemed perfect Nala is so friendly so
funny in character they have like their
crazy moments and then they have their
like sleeping all day moments they're
small they don't shed too much hair um
she doesn't smell she doesn't draw there
were a lot of different things that um
were kind of plus sides for me so what
happens when you actually have your
puppy we brought Nala home one chilly
but very sunny November morning
and I don't think I quite knew at that
point how much of puppy would change my
life in 2 hours time our life is going
to change forever here she is hey
[Music]
Nala I was so excited and we had
everything ready we'd gone out we'd
bought her crate which we decided to do
crate training which I think personally
worked wonders for Nala she really took
to that very well um we bought her bed
we got her the puppy pads we basically
spent a small fortune in pets at home
and we felt like we had everything ready
for her when we got her here it was
almost like it didn't really sink in for
a good month it was um a real life
adjustment things that I found to be
essential when having a puppy
was a small collection of toys puppies
and dogs do get bored of toys quite
quickly depending on how many they have
Nala has a lot of toys and she'll
definitely only really play with certain
ones but it is important to keep
changing toys up so that you keep them
mentally quite stimulated a small dog
bed um you don't want anything to feel
too big and drowning you can grow a dog
bed with a dog so we kept like we had a
really small little round one to start
with and she used to curl up in it and
it was just the cutest thing ever other
Essentials
this this is The Simple Solution
Platinum urine
Blaster uh toilet training Nala was
really
hard I feel like she only really got it
down a year old if a dog pees on the
floor on the rug whether if you leave it
or you just kind of like mop it up with
a bit of tissue the smell stays and the
dog will forever think that is where it
should pee so you need to do everything
you can to remove the smell of pee from
anywhere they've been and this and
multiple others were an absolute
Lifesaver I feel like I could do a whole
video on like puppy Essentials so I'm
just going to leave it um to those bits
for now vet visits and puppy classes
this is something that I didn't really
know a lot about obviously I knew we
would have a vet I did not know the vet
offered uh puppy sessions so um you can
take your dog I think it was every 3
months then it became every 6 months for
checkups which I think is really
important we got Nala microchipped
straight away because uh it's just the
safest thing and I like to think that if
she ever got lost or if someone stole
her we can track her down and it's also
just the best source of information how
how much should you be feeding your dog
how much weight should your dog put on
from being a puppy to an adult what's
the best thing for your dog to eat
what's the best diet what's the best
thing they can have for their coat how
often should you brush their teeth how
often you know vets are the best people
to go to for all this information and I
learned so much from the regular vet
visits so I would highly recommend
looking into whether or not your vet has
a puppy program and signing up to it it
really wasn't that expensive and I found
it
so useful puppy classes I recommend
puppy classes to everyone I know who has
got a puppy or is who is getting a puppy
we learn how to train a dog basic tricks
your dog should know when is best to
train your dog you know how old they
should be um what is bad behavior and
what is good behavior how is it best to
react to bad behavior we did a lot of
positive reinforcements every time she
went to the toilet outside we cheered
and hooted like we'd won the lottery the
dog poo Lottery Dogs and pugs I found
are very food focused so we were
treating left right and Center whilst
also being very careful not to overt
treat her because pugs can put weight on
very very easily which is something that
I learned at the Vets so there you go
when you first got Nala did you feel
overwhelmed how did you deal with it as
I touched on a little bit before yes it
was very overwhelming I felt like
someone had handed me a toddler with no
happy because she was running around and
she was putting things in her mouth and
she was um you know peeing on the floor
poing on the floor like she wouldn't
leave our side it was like we couldn't
take our eyes off her for at least 3
weeks and it kind of put everything else
to a stop and it was like wo how I did
not expect it to be like this once she
kind of settled more into life and she
could do things like tackle the stairs
and we knew she could do the step and
she started going outside and when
things became a bit more more structured
and we kind of found the balance um it
became a lot easier but yes it's hard
work and it was quite overwhelming but I
honestly would not change it for the
world and I would do it again 100% what
has been the hardest thing to train Nala
to
do the hardest thing to train Nala to do
was toileting outside that honestly just
felt like a hdle we were never going to
jump over um and walking well on a lead
those are her two things that I mean
she's got the toileting down now but
walking on a lead she's
still it depends if she's having an
excited day she's useless if she is just
desperate to sniff everything find a dog
I mean I would if I accidentally dropped
the lead she would be gone and that like
terrifies me someone said what is your
biggest fear with Nala her running off
has she done any damage to your house
the one thing that she has done which
was very strange and and she hasn't ever
done it since but when she was about o 6
months old she started Goring on the
corner of our wall and I don't know
whether it's because it was cold or she
liked the plaster but we now have uh
little teeth marks on one corner of our
wall and you can see the metal of the
structure of our house where she used to
just chew it down and it was for like a
week and then after that she stopped it
was the weirdest thing best training
treats okay so tiny little bits of
cooked chicken work wonders obviously
making sure that you if you're using a
lot of cooked chicken you have to um
take out some of the kind of food that
you would be feeding at like meal times
because otherwise that's like food
overload Venison and liver just these
tiny little things we used those for
treats when she was smaller and you can
also get tiny little um chicken squares
I don't know the brand name but we've
given her those basically something
small but delicious which I think is why
chicken is just the best thing what
tricks does nala know okay so obviously
she can do sit she can do down which um
took a really long time to do she can do
high five uh she can do por I once
watched a video online where someone
trained their dog to ring a bell for a
treat and I was like I'm going to do
that I am for sure going to chain my dog
to ring a bell for a treat which is
completely unnecessary definitely isn't
needed for everyday life doesn't make my
life easier but it's something fun and I
wanted to give myself a challenge so she
can ring a bell for a treat which I
quite like ring the
bell good
girl we've also recently taught her to
wait for her food um I wanted to teach
her the word wait because um for things
like being near a road or or not running
through a door or um you know when she
gets a bit excited I want I wanted her
to wait for things any tips for bath
time okay so things I've learned um if
you're going to use an actual
bath which I think is probably better
for larger dogs you want to use a
non-slip bath mat definitely makes it
easier and an attachment a shower head
attachment I actually found that Nala
was a bit more scared in the bath I
think because the bath is quite big she
sort of used to kind of freeze up so we
actually use the kitchen sink now um
because it's quite an industrial sink
it's like metal it has one of those like
Hy attachments and uh you know it
regularly gets cleaned so we decided to
do it in that instead because it was
smaller and she much much prefers it how
do you get your dog to stop pulling on a
lead is a harness better 100%
get a harness for your dog they are much
more comfortable for your dog to wear
personally I think not that Nala can
actually tell me but um I just found
them to be a lot more effective so when
she was smaller she had this one another
one which is really good for if your dog
is pulling badly is this which is a
rough wear so you can stop them from
pulling on the front and on the top this
is the best thing for if you have a
really tuggy dog her kind of more
everyday harness at the moment is this
one which this just goes over her head
and this bit goes up either side and you
can select how tight or how loose you
want it which I think is really good and
you have that little bit of space before
the lead um and I just found that this
stopped her pulling as much too so and I
think I got this one in pets at home you
can get this one online and this one was
from our Vette what shampoo do you use
use on Nala at the moment I'm currently
using this one which is scruffy chops
and it's rhub barking mad natural
mineral shampoo for dogs with a yummy
whiff of rhab and custard it smells so
good what is Nala's favorite toy I would
say at the moment she is loving this
llama we got her this for Christmas I
feel like he may have had a Christmas
hat the Christmas hat has gone piggy
this was the original piggy um that
doesn't actually make a proper noise
anymore so I went online in a massive
search to find the same Pig and I
managed to find one although he is a
different shade of pink um and I still
think Nala knows the difference between
original Piggy and new piggy but she
still loves these pigs and I don't know
what it is this was her first toy this
is what we call Mingo um which is the
flamingo oh and this was her her first
toy that we ever got her and although
she doesn't really play with it as much
cuz I'm assuming she just got really
bored of it every now and then I do see
her with this so I think she does
secretly love it a type of toy that Nala
is obsessed with is flat crunchy toys so
this is Mr elf. that she got for
Christmas and this one has had its fair
share of love it's got little squeakers
no the squeakers are dead she also has
this Hedgehog which she really loves as
well don't you love lastly what is the
most rewarding thing about having a dog
it's just the best thing ever although
you have to really carefully consider
getting a dog or getting a
puppy it's honestly like I don't know
what I would do now if I didn't have
Nala like I don't really know what my
life would be like it's
like she's the missing puzzle piece that
I never knew was missing and she's just
become such a massive and important part
of like our house life our family life
and my life really she has all these
little characteristics that just make
her the best dog ever and I honestly
love her so so much and I would never
change her it's just the best thing ever
and you're just the best doggy and you
let me pick you up and we have cuddles
and you know even though your breaths
bad sometimes I can look past
that thank you thanks for the kiss she
is definitely one hell of a girl aren't
you and I feel like that is everything
that I have time for today I feel like I
could sit and answer your questions
about dogs and puppies for as long as I
could until we literally ran out of
questions but if you ever want me to do
another video like this or if you have
any more questions feel free to tweet me
or to leave them in the comments give
the video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it
and I will see you again very very soon
bye