Getting a new puppy is an exciting occasion! But in just a few short weeks, you might find yourself overwhelmed with all the feeding, cleaning, training, and grooming (did we mention the cleaning?) that takes up your time. You’ll find yourself desperately searching for simple tips for dog owners that are useful to streamline life with a new puppy.
A “life hack” is a simple solution or action that makes life with a puppy easier and more enjoyable. We all want as much time as possible to spend playing and snuggling with our puppy. Some of the life hacks we will present are free via items you already own, and some do require you to reach for your wallet. However, they’re all designed to help you find more time with your new four-legged best friend.
Here are 55 life hacks for dog owners to make living with your puppy a breeze!
55 Useful Dog Owner Life Hacks
By the time you spend your money on regular vet care and preventative medicine, high-quality food, toys, and accessories, owning a puppy can be quite a priceless endeavor. With prices constantly rising, puppy owner life hacks can be a great way to save money.
For other life choices, you may decide the product or service fits your needs so perfectly that money is a secondary consideration. When you find a hack to improve your life by allowing you to spend more time with your puppy, that is also priceless.
Eating, chewing, & teething
1. Use a pet-safe, non-toxic anti-chew spray to deter your puppy from chewing on anything she’s not supposed to. Puppies hate the taste, so hopefully, your things will be safe from those razor-sharp teeth!
2. Taking a walnut and rubbing it on chewed-up spots dramatically reduces the appearance of scratches on wood. Walnuts contain an odorless oil that moisturizes and nourishes the wood.
3. Frozen chopped baby carrots make excellent, healthy cool treats for teething puppies with sore gums.
4. Puppies can have difficulty taking pills by themselves. Put your puppy’s medication in a specially designed edible pill pocket dog treat for easy administration of medicine.
5. If your dog is having a hard time chewing dry food, sprinkle a little bit of warm broth or water to soften it. Always check with your vet before feeding your puppy new foods.
6. Use a muffin tin to put treats in each well for a fun, simple puzzle or to slow down your gobbling puppy.
7. Keep food safe and secure from moisture, insects, critters, pets, and children with a dog food storage container with a lid. Like human food, dog food left in an open bag can go stale or spoil, not to mention how it attracts unwanted visitors. Buying a container on wheels helps you move around a heavy bin for convenience.
Bathing & grooming
8. Smear a bit of peanut butter on the bathtub edge to keep your puppy occupied while you bathe her. Don’t forget to clean up the peanut butter!
9. Sprinkling cornstarch on your puppy’s hair coat can be used as dry shampoo to absorb oils and help detangle hair during brushing.
10. Don’t have time for a full bath? Use waterless dog bath wipes in between full baths.
11. Installing a hand-held spray nozzle is way more effective than using a cup in a bathtub to rinse your puppy.
12. Prevent dog hair from clogging your drains with hair-catching drain covers.
13. Let your wet puppy roll around in a towel or sheet after a bath to dry them off. Let her think it’s a game. The bigger the sheet, the more surface drying area!
14. Make tooth brushing, nail clipping, or brushing fun for your puppy instead of an uncomfortable, scary experience. Give high-value tasty treats and lots of praise when your puppy sniffs and gets used to the instruments. Work your way up until your puppy associates grooming as a positive experience rather than a negative one.
Training
15. Switch up treats to keep a puppy interested in training sessions. You can even use a quick game of tug as a reward. Your puppy will be excited to see what’s next.
16. Put a bell on your door. Train your puppy to ring the bell when she needs to go outside. (You may regret it later if she grows up to ring the bell as if you are her personal butler when she wants something)!
17. If you hadn’t considered which dog breed is best for you before you got your puppy, it’s not too late to do some research on how easy or challenging the breed is to train. Some breeds are eager to please and easy to train, while other breeds may need extra training because they have their own idea of how to do things.
18. Design your own agility course at home to keep things exciting for your puppy. Some household and garage items you may use in your course layout are brooms, kitchen chairs, soup cans, blankets, cinder blocks, plywood scraps, laundry baskets, hula hoops, sports practice cones, and pool noodles.
Repurpose or use what you already have
19. Puppies love chasing bubbles! Either use the ones from your kids or purchase a variety of flavored bubbles for dogs to keep things exciting.
20. Rub some coconut oil on paws and noses to restore moisture and soothe & soften chapped or rough areas.
21. Search remnant bins or buy “fat quarters” of woven cotton material to make cute dog bandanas for every occasion.
22. Make a tugging toy with old clothes or towels. Cut them into strips and braid, securing both ends with tight knots.
23. Cut off the collar and one button of an old dress shirt. Congrats – you’ve now made a cute collar for a larger dog!
24. Did you know making your own DIY dog treats with ingredients you may already have on hand can save you quite a bit of money over store-bought treats? You could spruce them up by buying some dog-themed cookie cutters or silicone molds for baked or frozen treats. Some homemade treats for puppies are even no-bake!
25. Use 18-inch doll clothes to dress up your small dog. Can you imagine the possibilities? Your dog could have an outfit for every occasion!
No-sew DIY dog sweater from Sarah of Must Have Mom
26. Create a dog sweater from an old knit sweater. This dog sweater sewing pattern from See Kate Sew comes in 3 sizes with easy-to-follow instructions. If you don’t have sewing skills, how about a no-sew version? Sarah of Must Have Mom features a no-sew DIY dog sweater tutorial using only scissors and the arm of a sweatshirt.
27. Keep your puppy mentally stimulated using cardboard boxes and treats. Place treats in various states of a closed box. Start with an open box, and keep tucking in sides to encourage your puppy to use her nose and paws to get to the treat.
28. Repurpose an old or unused piece of furniture as a DIY refurbished dog bed. You can refinish a piece to match your decor and store toys in the drawers.
29. We all have socks with missing partners. Let’s put it to use! Take the single sock, stick a capless plastic water bottle in it, tie a topknot, and you’ve got a crinkly puppy toy.
30. Make a no-sew dog blanket, bed, or sleeping bag using less than a yard of fleece. Cut 4-5 inch slits all around the edges every few inches apart of 2 pieces of the material. Place the 2 cut pieces on top of each other and tie the fringe together all the way around. You can even stuff it with stuffing or old blankets to make a bed, or leave one side open for a doggie sleeping bag.
Get high-tech
31. Schedule reminders for everything, from administering flea, tick, and heartworm prevention to proactively scheduling vet appointments.
32. Placing an air purifier with a HEPA filter in the room your pet spends the most time in can help filter out pet dander, odors, and even help kill bacteria, viruses, airborne germs, and mold spores.
33. Before you take a trip to the store, see if anyone in your neighborhood or social media circle has what you need for a discounted price or even for free! You may score an expensive item for way less than the retail price. Some examples of common items you might find are outgrown dog crates and harnesses, barely used bags of food, or extra puppy potty training supplies.
34. Is your puppy’s food running low? Did you forget to refill her flea, tick, and heartworm medicine? Use online auto-refill options so you’ll never have to remember another order. Various apps will help you stay organized and complete tasks for your puppy with a few simple swipes.
35. If you have a dog that sheds, especially a double-coated puppy, investing in a high-quality robot vacuum will help stay on top of dehairing your habitat.
36. Keep forgetting to fill up that water bowl, or tired of filling it multiple times a day? Spring for a clean, filtered, flowing fresh water fountain dog bowl. These can hold over a gallon of water and only run on a few watts of electricity, providing a quiet, tidy, and efficient way to always have clean water available.
Command central
37. Choose one place (or a few designated places) where all your puppy supplies live close to where you need them. You can put cleaning products, a dog first aid kit, an information notebook, shampoo, grooming brushes and tools, puppy pads, baking soda, and even extra vacuum bags.
38. Assemble your own first aid kit with contents specifically to treat dog ailments like scrapes, surface cuts, or other minor medical mishaps. Here is a list of items to put in a DIY dog first aid kit if you are unsure what makes a dog first aid kit different from a first aid kit meant for people.
39. Put together an “All About My Puppy” information notebook. Include health information, emergency numbers for vets and people, and a care manual noting any particular routines, training, feeding information, and special names. This notebook is great to have for any pet sitter or emergency situation.
40. Keep toxic foods secure and away from curious puppies. Alcohol and foods containing chocolate, xylitol sweetener, grapes and raisins, avocado, onions, macadamia, and apple seeds should be placed up high.
41. A shelf with hooks can serve as a walking center holding harnesses, leashes, waste bag refills, clean scoopers, paw balm, or flashlights – anything you need for a walk.
42. Outsource tasks you do not have time for or enjoy doing with a person or service advertising they handle that specific task. For example, you may see a post on the local social media page with kids offering to do some yard cleaning as a fundraiser. Everybody wins!
Cleaning & fur removal
43. If you’re wondering how to clean stinky puppy odor, use baking soda to freshen carpets and furniture and then vacuum. Baking soda helps absorb any wetness and pet odors.
44. Rubbing a baby wipe over drool spots will help lift any stains.
45. Did you know dryer sheets pick up hair really well? They’re especially great at cleaning hair off your baseboards.
46. Tired of finding a quick and easy way to clean muddy paws? Use a portable dog paw cleaner for a solution. Put your puppy’s muddy paw in the water-filled cup and twist. Take out her paw and use a towel to pat dry.
47. Grab a window squeegee and drag it over the upholstery and carpet. Marvel at the giant hairball before you throw it away!
48. An obvious way to protect furniture is to use a stylish slipcover on a couch or chair. Then you can remove it, shake off pet hair, wash and dry it, and put the cover back on in one afternoon to keep your furniture in great condition.
49. A splash of white vinegar in the wash helps loosen hair from clothing.
50. Running a slightly damp rubber glove over items helps hair lift from surfaces.
On the go
51. Choose the right size doggy backpack so your dog can carry some of her own items on hiking trips. Make sure you follow the weight recommendation to not overburden your puppy.
52. Make a kit to keep in your car in case of accidents. Include disposable gloves, plastic bags for trash, paper towels, and non-toxic, pet-safe upholstery cleaner for accidents on the go.
53. Bring space-saving collapsible water bowls for dogs and bottles of water for when you’re on adventures and are unsure where the water sources may be.
54. You can never have enough lint rollers around when you have a shedding puppy! Stash small lint rollers in the places you spend most of your time in your home, and put one in your bag, office, and car. Packing taps is also a quick, effective way to pick up hair.
55. Protect your car seats with a water-resistant quilted bench cover, and secure your pup with an adjustable seatbelt tether meant for car travel.
Pawrade Streamlines the Puppy Buying Process
In order to put life hacks for puppy owners into practice, you have to buy a puppy first! At Pawrade, we have experienced dog owners that can help you find the perfect puppy for sale from quality, trustworthy breeders via an easy, secure process. We can even pass along some tips to make your life easier when adjusting to a new puppy and beyond.
*Paid partnership with our friends at Chewy
