Remy's Gift Guide: The Best Dog Fleece Onsies, Freak Nasty Dog Bones, And More
Changing my handle to @RemyUpdates.
By popular demand … and kinda gift guide-y … Remy’s Favorite Things.
It was a natural birth: in May I became perhaps the first person to fly from a Beyoncé concert in Stockholm to Kansas City to become a dog mom. Remy, my 8-month old mini schnoodle. She’s made frequent appearances in this newsletter and even more frequent appearances on Instagram. (She’ll get her own account when she comes Of Age … monitoring her screentime and all that.)
Call it half gift ideas, half puppy survival guide: here are Remy’s essentials. I bought everything myself, and nothing is sponsored. (Little Beast did send some sweaters after I’d already bought two.)
Treat pouch, $7
I never leave home without this! I’ve attached a Wild One doggy bag dispenser to it, and it clips onto the waistband of everything.
Collapsible Dog Bowls (2), $7
Amazing for park days, hanging at someone else’s apartment, or traveling. Sometimes the water bottle (see below) is too big, but this just slips in a purse or attaches to a pocket.
Sling carrier, $20
Perfect for those first few months, pre-fully vaccinated, when you need to socialize your dog without actually putting paws on the ground. Also great for subway, shopping, coffee shops, whatever. Offers more control than a tote bag, but I think Remy felt more secure in it. Comes with a leash attachment so she won’t fall out!
Harness carrier, $22 - an alt! Remy was not so into this one, but it gave me more control when she was smaller and more wiggly.
Springer Dog Water Bottle, $24
There are other dog water bottles, but this is the best dog water bottle. The water pools into that top cup quickly, and it’s suctions the leftover back in quickly. Sometimes Remy is only in the mood to drink water via “bottle service.”
Adaptil Calming Collar, $25
Unclear if this did more to calm Remy or me. For the flight from Missouri (where she was born) and Remy’s first six weeks in Brooklyn, I kept that thang on her. I tried a few other brands when I was in Tulsa, but this one seemed to get her to settle fastest.
Kasa crate cam, $27
There are some dog cameras with a lot of bells and whistles, like distributing treats or broadcasting in-color night vision. But those cameras are $200+, and, frankly, there ain’t no damn way. This is a regular camera from a home security brand. It is small and easy to move around. The app is very simple. Sometimes the microphone lags but mostly it’s no fuss. My favorite part: if I happen to unplug the camera, when I plug it back in it automatically reconnects to wifi and picks up broadcasting like nothing even happened. That’s invaluable.
Fresh Patch, $34
A grass patch delivered to your door at the frequency you desire. This was major during potty training, and Remy still does her first and last pees of the day on the grass patch. My apartment has a patio, so we use it outside, but in the rain (if the grass patch is freshly delivered/not super soiled) I’ll bring it inside and the grass scent isn’t too bad. Most dogs hate wet grass!
Little Beast fleece onesie, $50
Until there are dog Jambys, there are the Little Beast fleece onesies. These are ultra-soft maximally cozy sweaters for chilly days. They have a lot of mobility; Remy can run and jump and play in them, or just sit in her patio chair chewing a bone. The parka is great too. *Little Beast gifted some sweaters but only after I’d bought some myself.
If It Barks custom collar + leash, $53
Dog tags often fall off and they can can be a choking/getting-caught-on-things hazard, especially for very small puppies. What’s more: that jingling drives me nuts! I knew I wanted a flat/engraved tag with an easy buckle closure. (Remy is in and out of her crate a lot, and belt buckle closures take forever.) If It Barks has a nice selection of colors (and offers matching collar and leash!) and the buckle has never failed us.
Staud Custom Pet Portrait Crewneck, $195
There is absolutely an Etsy dupe for this, I’m sure, but Etsy’s curation is nonexistent.
Perfect Puppy Package, $1150
We are a Hustle Pups family; Kelly Corson is Remy’s trainer. (Kelly also trained my god-dog-ter Fenty (pictured here) a couple years ago, and that’s when I met her.) This package is specifically for new dog owners: Kelly covers everything from how to decide on breeds/dogs, going through an Amazon wish list item by item so you have everything on hand, the first days of bringing a puppy home through six months-ish old, and she’s super available for those random mid-day “she’s crying in the crate but just pooped???” texts. Kelly has helped us so much. Remy also boards at Hustle Pups HQ when I’m traveling. Hustle Pups is best investment I’ve ever made. (The second best is spironolactone.)
Here are her essentials, which is probably TMI: Her food, and the only treats she has ever cared about. In this family crate training holds us downnn — here’s her crate. These are the poop bags that I prefer; the thinner poop bags freak me out. We went with the cheaper Amazon airplane carrier over the more expensive versions.
The various treat bones — which she never chews in the crate or unsupervised! Skinny duck chew sticks … big ole freak duck chew sticks … duck and rice chew sticks. Absolute freak nasty beef trachea chew bones. The puppy teething rings (you have to cut them, which is not just annoying but hard to do!) she liked when she was really little.
Remy is on a toy moratorium because someone likes to shop too much. She loves crinkle toys and the kind of puzzle toys that I can stuff with smaller toys and she has to fight to jailbreak. I do Bark Box because the idea of dog receiving mail is absolutely hilarious.
Here’s what didn’t work for me! Fable crate — very good looking but ultimately too big and bulky for my small apartment. (That said, if you’re shopping for one, there is a hundred percent chance you can find it cheaper on Craigslist, which is what I did!) Remy hated the Bodhi Dog Potty Training Spray. This playpen was a disaster that was repurposed as a gate so she didn’t wiggle under patio furniture. Our trainer is very anti-harness, so I tried the Wild One collar/leash combo. While I love their poop bag dispensers, the belt buckle collars are so fastidious and take forever to put on and take off. I wish they had regular buckle closure! Whoever made those Zuke’s training treats that every pet store shoves down your throat … when I catch you … the only thing they trained is me not to listen!
I read Kelly Corson as Kelly clarkson and I was like damn it Remy serves
I feel you on the patio pees. My Winky is trained to go on our balcony.