hi all, as you might know from previous posts in a couple of months one of my families dogs is moving in with my bf and i. this will be my first dog of my own that i'm responsible for and i am a little nervious (but the excited kind!)

anyway, in an effort to make everything go well i am trying to get organised now and am getting together all the stuff i need, can you guys advise if theres anything i've forgotten? theres so much to think about!

find vet (done!)
get insurance transfered to my name
bedding
toys
grooming stuff (brushes, nail clippers, shampoo, toothpaste)
halti (for improving his on lead behaviour)
bowls and stand for feeding (coming with him)
look into and set up for BARF feeding
collect millions of poo bags for garden
collar and lead (coming with him)
crate (coming with him)

i've probably forgotten something really obvious, any thoughts?

sounds to me like you are all sorted - have fun!   the only thing I can think of that I have that you havent mentioned is pet gates

Thoroughly check your garden to make sure that it is dog proof and that it has no hazards (poisonous plants?) for him.  Protect precious plants (?) from his attentions - dog pee is not good for plants :)

oh we intend to! its a shared garden and someone in the block broke a window in their flat weeks ago and its still not cleaned up. i will be gutting the garden before he arrives and having words with each of my neighbours about it. i figure if i keep the garden neat for everyone they really can;t complain.

aside from that its enclosed by an 8ft solid stone wall so we're all good.

we won't be putting up pet gates, he's going to be allowed everywhere. he's already trained not to go on the couch etc so won't be a problem

How about an 'at home ' first aid kit, and a travel one as well kept in the car with spare bowl, water, lead etc

ohh very good point! any suggestions about what to have in it? aloe vera for skin probs etc and i think i'll get some of this silver stuff you guys have mentioned before. bandages etc as well

alas no car to keep spare stuff in!

Hi Astarte,

remember the dog wont be used to "living" with you, even if its visited etc before and it can take a week or two for certain behaviours to surface when a dog is rehomed (although I appreciate this is a long standing family dog anyway so not as unpredictable as a rescue for eg).  Still worth giving thought to though :)

I find giving run of the house keeps my dogs calmer than being shut away but I appreciate that's probably a minority view or at least not always practical (my rooms all overlook parkland or the back garden so nothing too stimulating such as traffic or other dogs passing too close!).  Having said that, one of mine is better to be kept in the bedroom if for any reason being left without doggy chums and just dozes off while I'm out but would fret if totally alone and able to access every room.

For the first time in almost 20 years I've invested in a baby gate for my kitchen as we're currently having a lot of work done and tradesmen in and out and it's safer for the dogs to be restricted to there alone (puppy found surfing under hall floorboards on day one ) so I think I'd recommend you have one in a cupboard or under the bed for use if it turns out to be needed more than you imagine :)  I suspect mine will stay up now as with one of the girls being in season it's kept things much easier for me on the clearing up front and should also assist a bit when the monster man is s#xually mature and wants to get in with the ladies during similar spells (not unsupervised of course, methinks a baby gate wouldn't withstand the determined ardour for long!)

Good luck with things,  Teri

yeah i'll be on the look out for certain behaviours. i'm mostly concenred about him getting lonely without another dog about. however one of the reasons he's coming to us is because of his behaviour. my dads healtsh really gone down hill reacently and our boys gotten very defensive etc on walks. we hope that being with 2 young and relatively fit people will help him relax a bit and help him see he doesn't need to be looking after everyone.

our place is a flat, its decent sized but he;s used to a big house so i wouldn't want to restrict him in where he can go, plus he's totally house trained so should be ok. he does have his crate with him if he's feeling uncomfortable in a new place or if i'm worried about him being a bit off.

no doubt i'll be on here every night tearing my hair out lol!

I have a baby gate too to stop puppyboy going upstairs. We leave it open when we're in ( he has run of the downstairs) and shut when we're out (he has hall and living room )

(Never had a baby gate for any of my two-legged babies :) )

Astarte, i'm sure there was a thread recently with contents of first aid kit.... by DEARLADY Can't do the link :(

Paw-paw towels as they're known around here. I know your boy won't be quite the mud puppy my goldens are but you'll go through old towels drying off muddy dogs after walks. Small, dog specific handtowels are useful for cleaning up dogs with dire rear as well.
Spare collar and lead and at least a couple ID tags with your information (not necessary but I always like to be prepared if a collar or lead breaks or a tag gets lost)
How about a big kong? your house will be new to him even if you're not so for those first few times you leave him on his own a kong would keep him busy for a few mintues and make your leaving something nice.
I use a pet gate to keep dogs out of my office when I'm not there to supervise them as it's the only room with a plethora of electric cables. My dogs are good about not trying to bite them but I don't like to chance it.

How exciting for you!

I got one, Carpet stain remover for incase he feels the need to mark his new terroitory or if a girl has a few mistakes! :)
And a dog bed for him/her incase they dont like to share with other dogs, thats if your offering one in the first place.

slobber cloths??? (don't know if you need them for bullmastiffs??)

lol a massive kong is a definate!

and yes, just occured to me i need dribble towels as well. since bf and i are trying to get nice stuff for the house though we'll be getting new towls and boyo can have my old ones.

spare lead etc is coming with i think. must speak to mum and dad though and get a list... only about a month or so to go! i was talking to them about it the other day and mum got quite upset, poor thing. it's best for everyone though and especially Tio we think.

by first book on BARF arrived today so having a shifty at it later :)

definately need slobber cloths! he's a very mastiffy bully- dunno why as the rest of his line have very short mussels but he has a longer mastiff type one. weird!

he'll have his crate which he likes to sleep in but i'm going to get him a bed as well for in our room i think.

as to stain remover its going to be banana oil (really really brilliant and totally non toxic!)

can you guys suggest stugff for a first aid kit?

All mastiffs slobber, espicially English Mastiffs!!
Bullmastiffs tend to only do it when they are begging for food or watching you prepare food lol Nice way to put you off your food actully lol

Banana oil eh? How does that work?

i dunno, but my mum bought some off of a shopping channel. it smells like a detergent, really solventy but it's not at all. works brilliantly, especially on greasy stains. i figure i'd much rather have something in the house that cleans and can't really hurt anyone.

bully boys are terrible slobberers after drinking and if your cooking. the girls hardly slobber at all. however as Tio has a mastiffy face (dunno if you can see in my avatar) he's a super drooler.

My bro had an English Mastiff called Brutus and the slobber that used to come off him was actully scary!! lol
He would come through from the kitchen swinging his slobber and everyone would dive out the way lol was sooo funny!

hehe, my Odin was like that, another old english. he had a special towel on the radiator and whenever you'd hear him drinking you had to run for it, he's appear in the kitchen door, grin at you then charge ant you and shove his head into your lap. you had to have the towel in place or your be drenched in drool. ahh such a lovely houseproud and tidy breed!

Hi Astarte

This thread   Dog First Aid Kit ???  by DEARLADY has lots of suggestions

Sorry I can't do a link to it...I typed    first aid kit   in the search bar, with no posters name

Sounds exactly like Brutus :-P The slobby head between the legs brings back memories lol
I adore the breed and would be the only breed I would own other then a stafford, but my OH isnt quite ready for the slobber dogs yet lol

ta i'll look