If you have recently brought a dog into your home, it’s always going to be crucial to make sure that you are taking good care of your pup. There are lots of things that can impact your dog’s health. Let’s look at some of the key issues that you need to be aware of.
Leaving Them Alone
First, you should make sure that you are not leaving your dog alone for long periods.
It’s important to recognize that dogs are highly sociable animals.
They like to be around people who they quickly begin to perceive as their ‘pack’ once they join a family.
If you are working for long periods, then a dog might not be the right choice for you.
You can solve this problem by getting two so that one can keep the other company and ensure that both are happy while you are out of the house.
It’s also worth trying to get home to them as much as possible so that they can get both exercise, play, and engagement. If you can’t do this, then you could have a very depressed pup before too long.
No Exercise
It’s important that you exercise your dog as regularly as they need. Some breeds are less active than others.
Due to this, it’s important that you research the needs of the specific breed that you have.
It doesn’t make sense to run a dog for hours when the breed that you have only needs a couple of miles.
Your vet should also be able to help you ascertain how much you should exercise your dog.
It’s important they get the right type of exercise too.
If it’s too strenuous, then it can lead to injury and this will mean weeks of inactivity that you will certainly want to avoid as much as you can.
The Wrong Food
Next, be careful with the food that you feed your dog. You need to make sure that you are not giving them the wrong type of food.
As a starting point, you should make sure that you are looking at the ingredients for the food that you give them from the vet.
This could be stuffed with filler ingredients that aren’t going to give your pet the long-term benefits that they need.
It can be worth paying a little more to ensure that you are giving your pet quality food each and every day.
You can also make your own food to feed your dog. However, you do need to be careful here because if you give them too much human food then it can be bad for them.
You also need to be wary of which ingredients you choose. However, you can learn how to make delicious dog treats by following some of the best guides online.
That way you can make sure that you do have everything that your pet needs to included in the treats that you choose to make at home.
Teeth Trouble
Dogs will put virtually anything that they find in their mouth.
When they’re out, they might pick up large pieces of wood or even stones.
You might not see anything wrong with this but you need to be aware that hard materials like this can cause massive problems for your fluffer’s teeth.
As such, you should make sure that you are giving them toys to chew instead that will have been carefully designed to provide the benefits without causing any pain or damage.
If you do notice issues with your pup’s teeth, make sure that you take them to a vet. That way, you can avoid things getting any worse.
Remember, dog teeth are just like humans.
You need to make sure that you are looking after them the right way and taking steps to ensure that there are not any issues here that might be lurking underneath the surface.
Dangerous Activities
Next, you need to think about dangerous activities.
Some dogs are completely oblivious to dangers. For instance, labs are highly playful and often won’t recognize the difference between a game and a dangerous scenario.
They can also widely underestimate situations and this will lead to serious problems in the future.
For instance, there have been stories where a lab has jumped into an empty canal to get to the mud at the bottom.
As such, you need to make sure that you are examining different situations carefully and ensuring that your dog is safe at all times.
If there is any doubt then it’s best to keep your dog on a lead while you are out to ensure that they don’t land in any trouble.
You might also want to think about spending more time training your pet to ensure that they come to you when called.
That can guarantee that you can get them out of a dangerous situation without any delays at all.
Unsafe Environment
Finally, you might need to think about the environment where you keep your pet.
It’s easy to forget things in your home environment that could be unsafe for your animal. For instance, if you have a young pup, then it’s important to recognize that they will chew on virtually anything.
This includes the wires behind your TV or that are connected to other pieces of tech.
As such, you should make sure that you are keeping these wires out of reach of your animal or watching them while they are in a room with these types of wires.
You need to be careful about the products that you use as well. For instance, insect sprays can be dangerous for dogs.
If you are using a product like this, then you need to make sure that you check it is safe for pets before putting it anywhere around your home.
We hope this helps you understand some of the key issues that can impact your dog’s health and how to handle them the right way.
If you take the right steps, then you can and will avoid a lot of trips to the vet.
Molli Taylor
Sunday 10th of April 2022
some of these were new to me so I really appreciate the advice