What you need for your new puppy / Kitten
You can click on the Underlined link to get to the recommended product page!
Amazon links are my affiliated links, and I appreciate it if you can use these links to purchase!
Puppies are litter box trained starting from 4 weeks old (pine pellets & shallow litter pan.) They also have no problem on puppy pads. They are easily trained to go potty outside once crate training is introduced. I usually start crate training once a puppy reaches 4 to 5 months old.
FOR PUPPY
For those who are new to having a Chihuahua puppy, I came up with a list of some recommendations of what to get when you are bringing a puppy home.
Dry Food: Currently I am feeding varieties of food throughout the week and some of them are dry food. I use Get Joy Dog Food or Rawabble Freeze Dried Dog Food, Yumwoof Superfood, and Royal Canin Mother and Baby Dog Kibbles. I also home cook my own dog food a few days a week as well.
Wet Food: This is optional (Or depends on the puppies) but I use Royal Canin Starter Mother and Baby Dog wet cans, home cooked mush or raw. I will let the individual owner know if your puppies need this cans at the time of the departure.
I also recommend pet food like Cooked food like Farmer’s dog, Raw Dog Food like: Viva Raw, Darwin’s, Maev, We Feed Raw, Small Batch (You can purchase this one at Pet Food Express) eventually.
Litter & Litter Box or Puppy Pads & Holder - I started to incorporate litter box training into my kennel recently and I really like it. I start training puppies around 4 weeks old after they are on solid food. It is way more cost effective and also low maintenance compared to puppy pads and holder combo. I use Pine Pellets from Tractor Supply and a rabbit dropping pan, or a plant saucer, or shallow cat litter pan, or dog litter pan.
Playpen - my favorite pen seem like no longer manufactured, but I see aclyric play pen on Amazon that looks very ideal for the puppies!
Chihuahua puppies are VERY SMALL! You will be surprised by how small they are. So be careful! You need a small playpen to keep the puppy in. Also in order to continue potty training, you need a pen so that puppy will know where to go. Puppy will have a lot of accidents if they are given too big of spaces. I also recommend putting them in the crate (the smallest one is sufficient) at night. This will help them to be potty trained faster. They will hold pee inside the crate, so you can take them outside for 1st thing in the morning. If you are not home, keep the puppy inside of the playpen or crate for their safety. You can also train them to eat inside of the crate. Playpen from Wayfair is very easy to clean and my favorite so far.
Crate - Enclosed Dog Crate/Carrier, crate bumper bed, crate food bowls as I mentioned above, I highly recommend getting a crate, the smallest size are fine for Chihuahuas. I highly recommend Mutts and Mittens’s bumper bed! Chihuahuas love to rest his head on bumper to sleep.
Dog Bed - anything that is comfortable!
Bully Stick / Pig ear/dental stick - healthy option for them to chew - a lot of good deals on Amazon. AVOID Greenies!!! They are toxic to dogs!
Puppy pad - for potty training - I use both fabric reusable pads as well as disposable one. For fabric one, I like the one that I linked - you can try various sizes, but I like bigger size since I have a lot of Chihuahuas. For disposable, I like one from Costco or from Target.
Dog Diaper - For girls (buy SSS size) and for boys (buy extra small size) or Clothes Diapers (buy XS or XSS) with a pad (buy petite) option
Chihuahuas have a tendency to pee everywhere when they visit someone else’s house! But if you have a diaper on them, you can take them to your friends or family’s house without worrying about their potty issues. I highly recommend bringing your chihuahuas to meet many people so that they can be socialized and not be afraid of strangers or people other than family while they are young. I have tried so many different diapers over the years and I have a few recommendations. I also use clothes diapers with a pad - this is a very secure and also a more economical options.
Nail Clipper - I trim the fur on their paws and clip their nails. Since chihuahuas tend to stay indoors, their nails grow too long if not trimmed. You can take them to a trimmer (about 15 dollars) or you can do it yourself at home. If you train them to do their nail from a young, often it is easier to get them to cooperate (though a lot of them still wiggle or try to get away to get their nails trimmed) I have a recommended nail clipper on the link.
Shampoo and Conditioner - you can use anything you like, but I use Chris Christensen Spectrum One Shampoo and you can dilute this up to 8x so this last a long time for a pet home. I also use Artero Leave in Protein Vital Conditioner or Chris Christenten Spectrum One Conditioner. These are the brands that professional groomer uses, so you don’t have to, but they smell so good and hair feels nicer compared to cheaper ones.
Dog hair Clipper - Often longcoat Chihuahuas have lots of hair on the back of their paws, and they can lose the ability to grip the floor with their pads if the hair overgrows. You want to shave them if you are not taking them to the groomer to do it. Wahl Professional Animal Clipper is easy to use.
Recommended items for the future/emergency
You don’t need these items at first but you may need to try some of the products in the future when your dog gets older!
I highly highly recommend Amber Naturalz products, especially, Kochi Free, PaxAid, Vibactra Plus, Life Cell Support (for liver). If your puppy or adult dogs came down with any GI issues including any parasites, I highly recommend Kochi Free. It removes parasites even those which are resistant to the chemical dewormers. It also helps to have health gut flora. Vibactra Plus helps with immune systems.