Welcoming a new puppy into your home can be such an exciting and inspiring experience, as they can provide hours of entertainment and even a shoulder to cry on when you’re feeling low. It’s important to know some simple tips to bring a new puppy home the best experience ever!
There’s a reason that dogs are called man’s best friend, as it’s been proven that a quick cuddle session with your pup can boost your mental health and help you to destress at the same time. The thought of your new puppy getting sick can be incredibly stressful, so you must implement a few beneficial steps to ensure they stay healthy and happy.
Learning to look after your precious new puppy shouldn’t be difficult because there are several tried and tested tips and tricks that you can utilize to help your new puppy stay happy and healthy!
Diet Is Key
The diet that you feed your dog is absolutely key to their overall health, as you can either encourage them to thrive or do more harm than good. Figuring out what to feed your pup depends on a few different features, as their breed, age, and activity levels should be reflected in the kind of food and the portion sizes you give to them.
Simply purchasing the most affordable canned food that you can find is the worst mistake that you can make, as they’re filled to the brim with artificial ingredients like preservatives, as well as the lowest quality cuts of meat. You will want to find a reputable fresh pet food brand that offers fridge-suited meals made up of healthy, natural ingredients that you can actually recognize in their bowl!
A nutritious diet will help your precious pup have the energy they need to thrive while encouraging a beautiful shiny coat and overall positive well-being.
Puppy Vaccination Schedule
When you bring that soft, sweet-smelling little ball of puppy fuzz into your home, you know right away that she depends on you for, well, everything, and that includes proper veterinary care. The first appointments you’ll be scheduling are for vaccinations.
Going to the vet repeatedly over several months for vaccinations and then throughout your dog’s entire life may seem like an inconvenience. Still, the diseases that vaccinations shield our dogs from are highly infectious can be quite serious.
Your puppy’s vaccination schedule throughout the first year will most likely contain Canine Parainfluenza, Canine Hepatitis, Canine Distemper, Heartworm, Kennel Cough, Leptospirosis, Lyme Disease, Parvovirus, Rabies. Be sure to check with your vet about vaccination laws in your area.
Don’t Skip Walking
Though you may have had a tough day at work, missing out on your daily dog walk can actually have a very negative impact on your pup’s health. It would be best if you made an effort to take your furry friend outside for a walk at least once a day, as they need to gain the chance to stretch their legs and get a little fresh air whilst socializing with dogs, people, and other animals that you meet on your journey. Leaving them alone all day without exercise could cause them to become bored and destroy your furniture!
Worried about the rain?? You can easily get around this by investing in a dog-friendly waterproof coat! Make sure their coat has a hood to protect their ears, and choose a strong fabric that can stand up against wear and tear.
Don’t have enough time in your busy schedule? Hire some help! There are plenty of quality dog walkers that would be over the moon, excited to walk a brand new puppy!
Start Training ASAP
Possibly the most important thing is to know about raising a dog is to start training early!
Focusing on potty training, crate training, and manners are the top priorities for the first month of bringing home your puppy.
I got my first dog when I was a kid and attended the classes with my parents at Petco. At that time, the training method was all about the prong collar and a lot of tugging until your dog behaved. Dog training has come a long, long, long way, no longer the industry standard. Consistency, calm voices, and endless amounts of positive reinforcement are the training styles we used for Kenzo and VÃk, and we are so happy with their overall behavior. We do not use prong collars on either of our dogs.
If you are looking for some helpful guidance, Don’t Shoot the Dog is one of my favorite dog training books. Karen Pryor clearly explains the underlying principles of behavioral training. She explains how to train a dog without yelling, force, or punishment.
Provide Safe Puppy Toys
Giving your puppy safe toys is a must! Your puppy will also need teething toys like rings, bones, and freezable chews that will provide them relief for their teething pain and keep them entertained.
Pro Tip! Don’t buy toys that look like things in your home that you do not want your puppy chewing! For example, although that squeaky shoe looks cute, please don’t buy it. A puppy will not be able to differentiate their shoe toy from your shoes.
Be sure to keep watch on your puppy as they play and check their toys every-so-often to make sure there aren’t any huge chunks or loose fibers that could become a choking hazard. Our dogs are well into adulthood, and I still supervise them when they’re playing with their toys or chewing bones.
Isn’t this Frisco Hide and Seek Plush Chewy Box cute?
These handy health tips will help you to take great care of your precious pup! A dog appreciates everything you do for them, so don’t forget the small stuff like positive reinforcement and regular strokes and scratches to help them feel loved and wanted inside your home. Be sure to feed them a healthy natural diet, take them to all of their vet appointments, start training early, give them plenty of safe toys, and don’t forget the importance of daily exercise.
