Decades of Doggos & Kitties: My Top Picks for Essential Pet Gear

by Jude Goodwin

I’ve been a pet owner since I was a 19 year old hippy girl in the 1960s, living in a communal house with 13 other counter culture revolutionaries. My first pet was a small black dog whom I named Margarine.

Six dogs and countless cats later I’m now 70 and I wanted to share some of my favourite pet gear and tips, gleaned from all those years. We’ll start with dogs.

PUPPIES & DOGGOS

House training

First bit of advice, your puppy won’t be entirely housetrained until they’re about a year old. Yes it seems like a long time. Yes it is a long time! There’s no magic method, no perfect system. It just takes time. There are a lot of people on YouTube happy to give you all sorts of advice but in a way this can be more depressing than anything else! Take all tips on this topic with a grain of salt. The best advice is that it takes time.

Having said that, I don’t advise using puppy pee pads if you can avoid it. I think this actually delays a dog’s training to go outdoors. But if you do have to use them, you can get a kind of plastic frame that will hold the pee pad in place - this was a big help with my puppy.

Folding Gates

Years ago, I lived with a family and we had two little dogs. Someone gave us a small white picket fence that folded, and we would sit that in a doorway and those little dogs would not go near it. Except to maybe stick their little noses out between the slats. It was a perfect solution to keeping dogs in a specific room.

When I adopted my current puppy, I found similar gates on Amazon. They are heavy, wooden, and fold in four. They don’t connect to anything, you can lift them and move them around to wherever you need them to be. I use them to keep her off the couch, or to keep her in the bedroom at night, or to keep her from running to the door when people come to visit. Those gates are the perfect Puppy Gear. Note: I also bought the ‘yard’ fencing and it’s pretty useless even with my little gal. The best use for that fencing I’ve seen is blocking off the TV and sound system wiring.

Carabiner

This might seem obvious but it’s a lifesaver so I’m going to include it. Have a carabiner on your dog leash, connect a doggy bag holder with a roll of bags, and add your door keys to it every night before bed.

I can’t tell you how many times I found myself out on the lawn at 3 am with no keys to get back into my apartment building. Well, it was once - but it was very traumatic. And many more times being stuck outside during the day. 

Now I put those keys on the leash as part of my bedtime routine and am very happy almost every dog walk to know I have the keys to get back in.

Kennels

In short, get one of these for your dog. She’ll love it - feel safe in it - and best of all, she will not poo or pee in it. 

Most experts explain that the reason your dog poos or pees in your livingroom, or your kitchen, or on your couch, or wherever, is because you allow it. Basically what this is saying is that every moment your young dog is outside its kennel, you need to be paying close attention to her. Or walking her. I started letting my puppy ‘free range’ far too early, and there were many accidents as a result. She’s 14 months now, and there aren’t many accidents anymore. However, when I’m in the bathtub, or swapping over the laundry, or eating my dinner, that puppy is in her kennel.

You can start with a small, solid walled version - it’s cozy and dark and she’ll like that. Then as she gets bigger, you can graduate to a foldable wire kennel - I often put a blanket around it to keep it dark when I’m away.

The wire kennels fold flat so are ideal for trips to friends or holiday getaways. Think of it as taking a cozy safe place with you for your doggie whenever you're not at home.

Carriers

And while we're talking about travel, I'd also like to add Pet Backpacks and Pet Carriers - these are a fun way to go about your life and not have to leave your pet in the car. I discovered that places like Walmart, which will not allow you to enter with a dog on a leash, will say nothing if your pet is in a backpack. When my puppy was little, I even snuck her into restaurants in the backpack.

A pet carrier also works - you can find soft carriers that have fold out 'wings' that can be very handy when you're going to a friend's place for dinner or have to take your new puppy to a meeting. Carriers have handles or a shoulder strap and rest flat on the ground.

Backpacks advice - be sure the sides are rigid, or wired so as not to collapse in on the dog when it’s on your back. As well, don’t get a backpack with a ‘wing’ (carriers are fine) - it’s a waste of money and your puppy will likely chew its way through the wall.  Also make sure the flooring is rigid. Otherwise, on you back, the pet will be unable to sit. And if you’re going to ‘stealth’ carry your pet, you probably don’t want the kind of carrier with the massive window. I’m not sure how much a pet will appreciate all the exposure anyhow. 

For my current puppy, I bought three carriers in total, to the tune of hundreds of dollars! One had an extension and the dog chewed through it quickly. The other had soft sides and I felt she was smothering in there! I haven’t been able to find a sample of the carrier I’m currently using, and love, with my 12 pound cava-poo. But the Apollo Walker looks close.

Pet Blanket

My little dog likes to pee on soft places - this started out with three different doggie beds - she doesn’t have a dog bed at the moment - and then on the couch. I was very happy to find these cozy soft - but waterproof - blankets and I now cover my couch with them. They come in different sizes, I have two small and two large. I fold one up on the floor and that’s her soft place. Best of all, they are totally washable.

Footwear

My puppy was adopted in October so I spent many a cold wet Western Canada night standing with my puppy in the yard outside our apartment building. “Good girl,” I’d plead. “Go peee.”

The hardest thing is finding something to put on your feet at 3am! Then I discovered fur lined waterproof crocs. These were the bomb - hugs for your feet in the middle of winter. No need for socks or laces! I  adore my fur-lined crocs for early morning or late night lawn time.

Plaid PJ bottoms

This is one of my best tips. Purchase yourself a pair of plaid PJ bottoms. Because you're going to be outside a lot and it won't always be when you've dressed. Finding yourself outside on a neighbourhood street in PJs covered in snowmen or Ninja Turtles can be embarrassing! But plaid PJs could just as easily be regular pants right? 

KITTY GEAR

Cats have many different personalities and quirks - way more than dogs. The items below may or may not be appreciated by your kitty but I thought I'd share.

Litter Boxes

First, if you have more than one cat, you're going to need more than one cat box. There's no argument, and the longer you postpone it the more troubles you're going to have.

If you have a dog, it will likely want to eat the poo out of your cat's litter box. The poo won't harm your dog but the litter will, especially if it's clumping litter. It will clump in your dog's intestine and that will not be good. Best thing, if you have a dog, is a  top-entry cat box. I bought one of these for my 15 year old cat and she adjusted easily.

And finally, if your cat is using somewhere in your house to do its business (like your bed, or a closet) I've heard that if you sprinkle some of their kibble over the area they will stop. I can't guarantee this will work, but it's worth a try.

Window lounges

This is absolutely the best cat-accessory I ever bought. They are basically hammocks for the cat that go in your window - allowing the cat to relax, sleep, and at the same time watch out the window. I had a set that worked when my window was open - my cat loved lounging there during the summer, listening to the world, basking in the sun. There were hooks that hooked into the window troughs. And I had a set that worked when my window was closed, using suckers that held the hammock in place. I would put a cloth napkin over the hammock to catch the cat hair and, like I say, best thing ever.

All these products are listed below with affiliate links to Amazon.ca - but you can probably pick them up anywhere.

Jude Goodwin is a queer artist and writer living in Vancouver, BC.

ALSO IN THE MAGAZINE

ALSO IN THE MAGAZINE