About to add a new member to the family...

[aanderson81]

...of the 4 legged kind.

In a couple of weeks we will be picking up our Newfoundland puppy. I grew up with a chocolate lab and this will be my wife's first dog. So it should be an interesting experience.

I've started gathering what we need but I figured I would see if anyone has any recommendations as to anything for a new puppy. Already got a 48" crate with a divider and a recommended T handle grooming brush. But any suggestions for toys that will survive more than 10 minutes or food recommendations would be appreciated. Also can you buy Bitter Apple in gallon jugs

 

[flyingron]

That's going to be one big dog eventually. One of my neighbors had a newfie. Sweet dog but intimidating to a lot of people just because of his sheer size.

 

[aanderson81]

That's going to be one big dog eventually. One of my neighbors had a newfie. Sweet dog but intimidating to a lot of people just because of his sheer size.

We are getting a female (considering naming it Minnie). We are expecting it to be around 130lbs fully grown. But you are right, they can be quite intimidating. They also tend to have a very serious look on their face as they walk towards you that if you dont know the breed would have you questioning if you should be be leaving. However they are amazing animals, gentle giants for sure.

 

[Seanaldinho]

Buddy of mine growing up had a newfie named Tiny (go figure) probably weighed 140 or 150 and was an absolute lap dog. The best toy for him was a football and us kids. He'd pluck the ball out of the air and then it'd take 3 or 4 of us to drag him down and get the ball back.

 

[aanderson81]

I also decided to pick up a few hundred feet of nylon rope and have decided to make a few toys. This is my first attempt.

 

[Skyscraper]

Mine is almost 6 months and is a mix between Border Collie and Louisiana Catahoula on the mom side and Red-bone Coonhound on dads side. So while not expected to be as big as yours we still expect him to be around 75 lbs and consider him to have some large breed needs.

First thing is find a high quality food and stay with it, changing brands or foods is really not good for a pup. We started with a high quality food but very quickly found problems with him knuckling over. If you're not familiar it's a common thing with large breeds where they don't accumulate muscle mass at the same rate as fat and other weight and their legs start to bow outward and shake very badly from not being properly supported.

If left unchecked it can become permanent and is very debilitating. We switched him over to Precise Holistic complete large and giant breed puppy food. Within maybe four or five days his legs got strong enough and they straightened out with a little wrapping to help, also, he goes nuts for it, I highly recommend it for large breed pups.

Also, take lots of pictures and video to document the growth. Have fun!

 

[Skyscraper]

I also decided to pick up a few hundred feet of nylon rope and have decided to make a few toys. This is my first attempt.

Rope is great, mine loves it. Also, beef knuckles (or other beef bone) when teething starts, they really seem to love the feeling of biting through something.

 

[aanderson81]

Mine is almost 6 months and is a mix between Border Collie and Louisiana Catahoula on the mom side and Red-bone Coonhound on dads side. So while not expected to be as big as yours we still expect him to be around 75 lbs and consider him to have some large breed needs.

First thing is find a high quality food and stay with it, changing brands or foods is really not good for a pup. We started with a high quality food but very quickly found problems with him knuckling over. If you're not familiar it's a common thing with large breeds where they don't accumulate muscle mass at the same rate as fat and other weight and their legs start to bow outward and shake very badly from not being properly supported.

If left unchecked it can become permanent and is very debilitating. We switched him over to Precise Holistic complete large and giant breed puppy food. Within maybe four or five days his legs got strong enough and they straightened out with a little wrapping to help, also, he goes nuts for it, I highly recommend it for large breed pups.

Also, take lots of pictures and video to document the growth. Have fun!

The puppies are currently on Eukanuba puppy food. But I've heard good things about the Kirkland Signature dog food at Costco. I was thinking about transitioning from the Eukanuba to that after its time to move off of the puppy food, partly for cost, but mostly because its convenient to pickup while at costco.

 

[NJP_MAN]

Since I have giant breed experience (st bernard) I will chime in. Many don't recommend puppy food for big dogs. Don't know why, don't really care to research. Get comfortable with the brush and be ready for the drool. Otherwise newfies seem to be a great breed.

Edit : for reference my dude eats 10-12 cups of food a day. And he eats Nutro Large breed

 

[Skyscraper]

The puppies are currently on Eukanuba puppy food. But I've heard good things about the Kirkland Signature dog food at Costco. I was thinking about transitioning from the Eukanuba to that after its time to move off of the puppy food, partly for cost, but mostly because its convenient to pickup while at costco.

We couldn't find our brand anywhere, but luckily Amazon sells it. Just do the research and be sure it's got what you want in it so you switch as few times as possible. As you probably know, large breeds very often have joint issues later in life and it's easier to never let it happen than correct it.

I believe puppy food isn't normally recommended for large breeds because of too many nutrients causing uneven growth and the knuckling I mentioned earlier.

 

[NJP_MAN]

I believe puppy food isn't normally recommended for large breeds because of too many nutrients causing uneven growth and the knuckling I mentioned earlier.

I knew it was something like this. I just try not to say stuff unless I am pretty sure! Thanks for the info. We're not really talking about a large breed here. The newfie falls into the giant breed category.

 

[Skyscraper]

I knew it was something like this. I just try not to say stuff unless I am pretty sure! Thanks for the info. We're not really talking about a large breed here. The newfie falls into the giant breed category.

I'm no expert, but that's the conclusion we came to after having that problem while feeding our pup regular pup food and doing lots of research.

The stuff we buy now is formulated specifically for large/giant breed puppies and it has worked wonders.