Pooches: New Dog Essentials

 It's funny thinking back about how clueless I was when I first adopted Miss M. The night before she came to live with me, I stopped by the pet store to get some things I thought she would like. Looking down the endless rows, I really had no idea what I should get. What I ended up with: A rope animal toy that would painfully whip me when she played with it. And the tennis ball head that was destroyed in a day. A little green stuffed frog that was destuffed that same day. And a dog bed that met the same fate.
As I've been meeting more people who have recently adopted dogs, they've been asking the short list of what I would recommend when they bring home their pooch. I'm definitely not an expert, but these are the top things that come to mind:

1)Kongs & Nylabones:

These are good toys that won't be destroyed instantly, and they are good to have on hand for misplaced chewing behavior. We live my our kongs and we love that they double as a mental stimulation 'puzzle' that will be sure to tire out your pooch. We still put peanut butter in our kongs, and freeze them, and the dogs actually look forward to us leaving. We also learned from Love & a Leash that you can put the pooches' food in the kong as an extra challenge, or a decoy if your dog is on a diet.

2) Pet Insurance:

 We don't work for the company, but I always feel an extra obligation to tell people about pet insurance. Both of our pooches have pet insurance, and we have literally saved thousands of dollars. The most important thing is to get the insurance almost immediately after getting your dog; this way your dog won't have any pre-existing conditions that the insurance won't cover. E has researched several of the companies, and the one we like the most is Trupanion. Most pet insurance, like the kind I irresponsibly got Miss M, won't cover breed-specific ailments. So things like allergies will never be covered. We like that Trupanion covers all of the ailments regardless of breed, plus they don't have a huge bump in premiums when your dog becomes an Elderbull. (Mr. B was on Embrace pet insurance and his premium increased 40% when he turned 7!)

3) Crate

Growing up we just used to have our new dogs in a gated portion of the house, though I think crating is the more accepted thing now (or at least for those of us who have smaller spaces). The good thing about the crate is the new dog will have their own private space. Plus, having a crate trained dog is a definite benefit so they have options of staying with friends if you have to go out of town.

4) Nature's Miracle:

This was the main thing I had forgotten, and even with our dogs now it's the first thing to go into their overnight bag. Even the most housetrained pooch is bound to have an accident when their schedule is disrupted.This is the short list, and once you get to know more about your pooch and their needs, you can start picking up some of the more specific things.
I'm sure there are several important things I left out. What does everyone else recommend?

Fun Fact: That top photo is of Mr. B when he was new to us. We had been corresponding for several weeks with his foster mom, and we went out to Michigan to meet him. That same night, we all went camping together before driving back to Chicago.