Oh my goodness can you believe Tofu is already 1 year old?! I haven’t written about him much here on the blog, but if you follow me on IG , you know we brought him home right at the beginning of COVID lockdown in March 2020.
A formal blog intro for Tofu is necessary! About “Toe”…
– He is an American Eskimo & Japanese Spitz mix
– Tofu has a growing Instagram following. Check him out at @not_your_average_tofu
– He has so much energy! He goes to daycare a couple times a week to strengthen his manners and tire him out.
– He loves to play with Belle (our 10yr old cat), but Belle doesn’t always love to play with him. They have a good understanding of each other, and Belle will definitely make it clear to him when she’s not in the mood to play 😉
– He just turned 1 on November 27th!
Our “Must-Have” products for the first year…
Chew Deterrent Spray:
Tofu’s worst problem was (and still kinda is) chewing on things he shouldn’t be. Socks, clothing, pillows, even the trim on the corners of our walls (tears shed)… he chewed EVERYTHING in the beginning. It made me so sad. He was so sneaky about it too. We never really left him unsupervised but he used to destroy a leg of a chair or a corner of a wall within seconds. Luckily he has stopped that for the most part! We ended up getting him tons and tons of his favorite chew toys, and sprayed chew deterrent in his frequent spots. There are a lot of chew deterrent spray options out there, but we just ended up using a mixture of water and apple cider vinegar in a spray bottle.
Raised Food/Water Bowls:
The first bowls we got Tofu had a paw print engraved in the bottom of the dish, so he would paw at his water trying to get that paw print design out (he thought it was a toy or something). This made a huge mess all the time. So, we tried out a taller set of bowls that sit in a stand, and that seemed to do the trick! These are the perfect height for Tofu (he is 23 lbs) and don’t have any designs on them so he’s not tempted to play with his food or water 🙂 They come in multiple sizes too!
Car Seat:
We try to keep him active and take him out of the house as much as we can, so this car seat is definitely needed. Before we had it, he would just roam around the back of my crossover vehicle (I used to keep all the back seats folded down). I love the seat we got because I can clip his harness into it; I don’t have to worry about him flying around in the back if I have to hit the brakes.
Crate:
We made an effort not to use his crate as a means of punishment. I’m glad we made that decision! He has grown to like his crate. We keep plenty of “crate-only” toys in there and award him a treat if he goes into his crate when we say “go to bed”. We started out with a small one from a local pet store, but then ordered this one once he outgrew his first one!
Bed:
High quality beds can be a great investment! It is very important for larger dogs who might be prone to bone/hip/joint problems as they age (my parents have a Bull Mastiff with this issue). For our smaller dog, we opted for higher quality because of his chewing. We originally bought a cheap, cuter bed from Homegoods, but he quickly destroyed that and left foam all over the house (I’m still picking up pieces weekly). After that, we purchased this bed by Carhartt and are very happy with it!
Potty Training:
We bought a pack of these puppy pads, and they work well! We didn’t get TOO much use out of them because Tofu chose a different spot in the house each time he had to go to the restroom. Luckily he was 90% potty trained within the first 2 weeks we had him!
I think he chose to go in a random spot every time because we used this spray to clean up after him in the house. It hides/neutralizes any odors so your pets cannot smell where they last used the restroom.
Brush:
Umm yeah. This was a definitive must-have for Tofu! Here’s why. We got him during the springtime so naturally he was shedding to a thinner coat for the warmer months. Also, he was shedding his fluffy puppy fur at the same time and growing into his adult fur. Double whammy! This brush works wonders! We even use it on Belle since she is a big fluff ball too.
Fur Cleaning/House Maintenance:
Speaking of shedding… we try our best to be proactive and keep him well-brushed, but inevitably, plenty of fur still ends up on our floors and couches. I use SO MANY Swiffer dry pads, these in particular. I just love them.
We also came across this cool gadget that helps keep our couch and other home textiles fur-free. You just swipe it across your couch and it collects all the fur. Once you put the wand in the holder, it collects all the fur so the wand stays clean to collect more and more fur.
Grooming/Bathing:
I wish I could recommend a shampoo, but I really haven’t tried many. To be honest, Tofu requires some high maintenance grooming and it can be really challenging to do it ourselves. We usually take him once every 3-4 weeks to Scrubbers (if you’re local, check ’em out!) for a monthly bath, blowout, nails, and ears cleaning. We really like it there, and he does too. However, we do keep this shampoo on hand at home for those rainy days when Tofu decides to spontaneously dig a hole in the flowerbed… yes, it has happened two too many times!
Greenies:
Not an ad, but it should be! Tofu would be the poster child for Greenies if they’d let him. He goes absolutely nuts. You can’t even say the word “green” around him without him perking up. Needless to say, they’re his favorite and we try to keep plenty on hand.
Phew! That’s it! I tried to include only the items that we actually find absolutely most valuable. There are so many products and options out there and every dog is a different story, but I hope this helps give you perspective on our experience!