Hello everyone! Today, I wanted to share how I’ve approached spoiling my new dog with my need for minimalism.

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I always wanted to be the sort of dog mom that spoiled her dog rotten with the matching collar/harness/leash/waste bag holders, aesthetic dog bowls, and millions of toys. But since I’m working towards minimalism, well now it’s a different story! Here’s how I’m still spoiling my dog without going too crazy buying things.

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What I Bought For My New Dog – Minimal Edition

I have to be honest here at the start, a lot of the items I have for my dog came from the shelter or my sister. My sister has admitted she went crazy spoiling her little dog so she used my new dog as a way to declutter her dog’s stuff! I’m very grateful. Due to this I didn’t have to buy a lot. There’s a lot that I was gifted but would have bought anyway, and some stuff I wouldn’t have bought. Here’s a better breakdown of everything!

What I was given but would have bought anyway:

• A harness, leash, and collar – the shelter gave me all of these items when I adopted Fox. I wouldn’t have bought the items they actually gave me to be honest, as they are not fancy at all. But I would have bought these items anyway if they hadn’t given them to me as they are needed! My dog has health problems that require him to only use harnesses with his leash, but I would have opted for the harness anyway as my puppy niece uses them. Oh, I did HATE the leash he came with, which was like a cow print. But the shelter gifted me a bag of dog stuff from a sponsor they have, so that had a blue leash printed with the sponsor’s logo. I don’t love that one either but it’ll do for now!
• Dog treats – for obvious reasons! I actually already had some treats that my puppy niece loves, so I thought Fox would like them too. Turns out he doesn’t so I did use the ones the shelter sent with him until I went to the store to get other kinds.
• A car seat for the car – my sister gave me two, and while I probably would have only bought one, both are useful!
• Dog beds/toys – my sister gave me a few that she had for Arya, and Fox has been enjoying them! Arya’s favorite dog beds are off limits to Fox but the others and the toys are all his now! (Although he will need to share the toys eventually.) Besides these beds though, he uses cushions or blankets instead to sleep on rather than new beds.
• A dog sweater – my sister gave me one her dog didn’t need anymore and I love it!
• A thundershirt – my sister gifted Arya’s old thundershirt to Fox as Arya had gotten a new one recently! That was so nice!
• Doggie boots – my sister gave me some of those balloon like doggie boots for the winter so I don’t need to buy more! She has offered more sturdy ones too but hasn’t dropped them off.
• A rain coat – so… it’s pink… like bright pink. My sister had offered one from Arya which was a more neutral color but I forgot it so I grabbed a spare one from a “take what you need” bin. The plan is that when I see my sister next that I’ll grab the one she intended for Fox and then re-donate the pink one since Fox is a boy. I LOVE pink but I feel bad dressing my boy dog in pink LOL. Now, I know he doesn’t care, but still!
• Dog gate – my sister gifted me a spare one she had, which was great because I really needed one! I set it up in a corner of my bedroom to make him his own “room” where he sleeps and hangs out. I have considered getting another but usually I just close the door to whatever room I’m in so he can’t get out. He isn’t fully potty trained so he isn’t allowed to wanter around without me which is why I wanted to get him crate trained but he does so well with just the gate I haven’t thought of crate training anymore as it basically is his “crate”.
• Dog carrier – I still need to get him used to his carrier but my sister did gift me a spare one she had for Arya.

What I was given but probably would not have bought:

• Dog stairs – my sister had a few she gave me but Fox isn’t allowed on furniture so they aren’t too useful for him. My puppy niece just jumps up onto couches and beds, except mine which is super high off the floor. But instead of stairs, she jumps onto an ottoman that I push up against the bed and uses that as a stair.

What I bought that I needed:

• Toothbrush/toothpaste (for dogs, of course) – he didn’t have any that he came with so I went out and bought some! He reluctantly lets me brush his teeth, mostly because he wants to eat the toothpaste.
• More dog treats – so I have learned that Fox loves treats BUT he will get bored of them quickly. If I give him too many of the same types of treats in a row, he won’t be excited about them anymore. So now I have three bags of treats that I rotate around.
• Dog registration – so he was already registered but since he was registered in Chicago his tag said Cook County. I live in the neighboring Lake County so I called my local animal control to ask if that was okay until next year when his current tag expired or if I needed to get him registered in Lake County. Unfortunately, I did have to register him in Lake. It was only $10 (because he is an adult dog that is neutered it was cheaper) and I was able to pay over the phone to get the tag mailed to me so it was actually much easier than I thought! The website only gave the options to mail a check or pay in person so paying via phone was a surprise! All I had to do was email his rabies certificate to them and then call in the pay via phone with my credit card. Easy!

What I bought but probably didn’t need:

• Dog socks – so I did buy these with the intention of using them to get him used to stuff on his paws. I know that they’ll be easy to take off since they’re stretchy and soft but I want them to be easy to put on him too so I can continue to work with him and not break the rubber ones. I do kind of regret this purchase as I’m sure they won’t be used much but I felt like it was important to try them out at least.

What I didn’t buy:

• Dog food – he came with a bag of dog food they gave him at the shelter but I really wanted to get him on the same food as my puppy niece so I wouldn’t have to keep two separate brands of dog food. I already had a bag of her food anyway! Good news is that he likes my puppy niece’s food more anyway! We’re using up his old food still but he tends to push away those pieces of kibble for the new brand’s so I can see he prefers it. Phew!
• Dog bowls – so I already had one food and one water bowl from my puppy niece, but my sister sent a spare set. So I repurposed the set I’d previously used for my puppy niece (the set my sister sent is pink and says “princess” LOL) and didn’t buy a separate set.
• Blankets – I have a ton that wanted to donate or get rid of. Instead, I repurposed them for the dog! It’s been hot so far so he hasn’t used them much but I know he’ll get more use of them as the winter approaches.
• A costume/other dog clothes – so I already have doggie pjs for Fox and my sister did provide a costume but I didn’t buy any more so far. He does tolerate his dog sweater and before having a dog I totally expected to have a closet of doggie clothes for him but now that I have him, I don’t think it’s too useful since he’s not a huge fan. So I don’t plan to buy too much more but maybe I’ll do bow ties for him once I get him a collar that snaps (his collar from the shelter only slips on over his head).

What I need to buy:

• Dog sweaters/coat – he will need a thicker sweater than he has now and a winter coat. It gets cold here so I know he needs them!
• Harness – I do want to have a back up harness for him. Since he can’t use a collar with a leash at all, I want another harness for him to be able to have in case the first one breaks.
• Air purifier and humidifier – so with my dog’s health condition, I need to get him one or both of these I think. The shelter recommended a humidifier and the former family of Fox said they used an air purifier on their form when they surrendered Fox. I don’t know which one is better for his condition so I plan to ask him vet first to get more information and then make a decision from there. I’m not sure if either is actually useful though since none of my Google searches so far recommend either. Hopefully the vet can give me more information!

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So that’s everything for my dog! I plan to wait for him to use up the things he has now, or for those things to be broken (as a lot of stuff is a bit flimsy like his shelter provided leashes/collar/harness) before I get him more stuff. If you have any suggestions on what else he may need, let me know!

Thanks for reading!

Pamela

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