Today, dogs are one of the very well-liked pets. They became a part of the rescue agencies and law enforcement for their invaluable service and dedication to their best friend, the human beings.  Taking care of this so-called “best friends” is really important and vital because it involves big responsibility, accountability and commitment.  It also involves significant venture of both your time and your money. Here are some general tips that will help you take good care of your dogs:

FOOD

There is a need for you to provide nutritious food and water to meet the daily nutritional needs of your dog. On choosing the right food for your dog, you must pay much attention on the ingredients as well as the nutrients present on that dog food formula. Some inexpensive formula may seem to be light for your pocket but is not healthy for your dog and might precipitate illness due to its artificial ingredients. Many dogs are obese because of the high-corn and low-protein food formulas sold at many food stores.  Your veterinarian might recommend a dog food that is nutritious and the proper feeding schedule for your dogs. Usually, dogs are fed once or twice daily.
EXERCISE

Like human beings, regular exercise is important. Daily walks and other kinds of dog exercise provide numerous benefits for dog’s health like weight maintenance, behavioral issues, and muscle strength. It helps to promote loyalty, bonding and connection between the dog and the owner.

SAFE ENVIRONMENT

When owning a dog, it doesn’t mean that you should fence your backyard but it does help to maintain a safe environment for you dog.  They need a safe bathroom whether in a fenced yard or in a frequent leashed walks. They also need a safe porch or a dog house to go out to if the weather is fine. Proofing your house will help you minimize breakage of some breakable things and will also help prevent dogs be in a dangerous situation. Proper supervision is vital in owning a dog.

VETERINARY CARE

It is a must that you bring your dog for the routine veterinary care visits. This includes series of vaccinations plus booster doses and deworming. Most dogs, especially those who are pure breed have higher chance of developing serious health problems in their entire lifetime. It is important for you to bring your dog to a vet regularly for check-up. Owners might consider having a pet insurance to cover certain expensive medical procedures.

It is important to provide a proper dog care from the day your dog is born to the day you’ll part ways. There are many things that go with a proper dog care, but the plunder of a faithful and trustworthy family pet are vast.

This question often looks so simple but holds more meanings in that. During the examination of your dog, first you need to prepare the dog first psychologically for a better-restrained status.  For this, you need to take a leash and place the dog on table by the careful delivery of suitable command.

When the dog is trying to avoid the thorough examination by the veterinarian, just try to distract the dog by simple scratching of your dog behind the ears, etc. Hence, the dog’s attention is some what diverted from the examination procedures that are carried out often in a systematic manner.

However, there are obedient dogs, which will remain calm during an examination.  Such dogs need to be given some patting on the shoulder or the body and praises.  Perhaps, many owners may try to provide some treats that are liked so much by the concerned dogs.  However, it all depends on the trainings offered to the concerned dog earlier and the effective follow up procedures by the owner for the maintenance of such reflexes during the examination.

Muzzles are required for some dogs if they behave in a different manner by objecting the examination procedures by the frequent movements of the body or trying to bite the veterinarian doing the examination of the dog. Hence, the owner needs to observe the dog closely during the examination to rule out any abnormal activity by the dog.

Restraining activities in a proper manner during the clinical examination of the dog are of highly appreciable if they are successful with the concerned dogs. Such control will be of highly helpful for the effective examination of the patient by the concerned veterinarian in the pet clinic.
If the dog gets more distracted during examination by means of restlessness, then one may even use the electronic equipments which will make some sound that are audible to the dogs’ ear. Such things will be helpful in the proper distraction of the animal during the examination.

Bathing a dog needs to be given more emphasis. This is because of the fact that if you are careless in bathing, the animal may end up having some infections. For example, if you don’t close the ears with large cotton ball, the water may enter into ear canals and may cause some ear infections with signs like constant discharge from the ears and shaking of head.

Frequency of bathing actually depends on the breed of the dog. If the dog is of a hairy type like the cocker spaniel, then the bathing is to be carried out once in six to eight weeks. If these breeds are bathed too frequently, then the skin and coat loose the protective characters. However, when the dog has defecated on the skin due to the frequent digestive upsets leading to diarrhea, to avoid the bad smell, the dog may be subjected to frequent bathing some times by the owners.

Take more care in avoiding some irritant soaps or human soaps. The soap materials used for human beings are not suitable for dogs. Similarly, many human shampoo products are having some ingredients that are not suitable in the proportions that are to be used in case of dogs. Hence, always try to use the shampoo products that are mentioned mainly for use in dogs. Take more care in using any new product.

Always have good time and patience for products required for bathing in one place with availability of water source. Dogs love the sprinkling of water, river, and oceans. Even when you are using bathtub, have everything in one place and then start bathing of the dog. Try to have a leash, conditioner, towel, and shampoo in the bath place.

Conditioner is of helpful to make the combing activity easier later. Bathing should be a convenient activity to both the dog and the owner. This should not be a burden.

Grooming is one of the important activities to be known well by the dog owner. If the dog owner is not aware of the grooming, then the dog may encounter many types of diseases. First steps of grooming consists of activities like maintenance of coat, nails and ears. The maintenance of the coat mainly consists of enrichment measures like proper bathing, combing, drying of skin by dryers, and more.
The animal need not be bathed daily and this helps to protect the skin’s characteristics like insulation feature.

Use conditioners and shampoos that are meant for dogs. Combing needs to be carried out with a soft brush meant for use in case of dogs. There are varieties of brushes available and depending on the type of breeds, one can use the concerned brush. This grooming of the coat by a comb needs to be carried out daily and the fallen hair if any needs to be placed in dust bin always.

Otherwise, when the dog owners switch on the fan, the hair will fly and may enter the nostrils of persons. Always don’t clip too much because this may lead to injuries of nail always. Similarly, you need to carry all the materials required for the clipping with you before the start of the procedure.

Use a sharp clipper designed for use in case of dogs. It is better to have the dog on the raised place and hence, the control of the animal is easier. Ear canals are to be checked up frequently and sterile cotton may be used for cleaning purposes. Grooming associated guidelines need to be followed strictly by the dog owners.

Nail-maintenance is one of the first steps of grooming activities. Live nail areas can be easily clipped away and are always light colored than the reddish area of the nail in the higher position. During the holding of your dog’s feet by you, always have a firm grip. If not, the dog will take an upper hand during the clipping and some injury may occur.

Common questions about vaccinations are to be understood by the dog owners, as a priority. One of the common questions is whether the dog needs to be given vaccination on the first week of age or not. The dogs need not be vaccinated within five to six weeks of age. But, if they did not receive vaccinations, then the vaccination against the parvoviral infections used to kill viral vaccines and measles disease may be given.

Another common question is whether dog is to be given bordetella disease vaccine and lyme disease vaccine. No, these vaccines are only optional. Can the parvoviral vaccine can be used in first week of life? No. This will interfere with maternal antibody levels.

Can a pregnant animal be vaccinated? Yes. Two to three weeks earlier to pregnancy activity that is expected, the pregnant animal may be vaccinated against viral diseases. This helps to provide maternal antibodies to the young one to be given birth. Is there any need to give rabies vaccine to dogs? Yes. It is a must to go for the anti rabies vaccine for dogs.

When this anti-rabies vaccine is given to the dogs, what precaution does one need to undertake in this regard? Rabies vaccine is given at age of thirteen to fifteen weeks of age and should to be repeated in fifteen months and then once in three years. It is important that the dog is given this vaccine.

However, this depends on the risk area. Is there any need for canine distemper vaccination in case of dogs? Yes. There is a specific requirement in the case of dogs for the vaccination against the canine distemper. This disease is more prevalent in most of the countries.

Is there any vaccination against leptospirosis and at what age, the dog is to be vaccinated? This is to be given at age of at six to eight weeks of age, again at tenth to twelfth weeks, and again at thirteenth to sixteenth weeks of age.

Perhaps the first and most important thing any puppy owner wants to do is to housebreak their new puppy. This cannot only be a very positive learning experience for the puppy, but also for the owner, particularly for first time dog owners.

When preparing to train your puppy to do what comes naturally outside, rather than inside, it’s very important to understand that dog’s are habit animals. Everything they do as they grow older is born from habit, the choice the dog owner has is whether the puppy is going to create it’s own habits or if the habits are going to be taught.

Another important factor to keep in mind that until after three months of age a puppy cannot physically control the muscles needed to keep from going, it just happens. To overcome this in the early months, take the puppy out often or confine your puppy to an area of the house where it’s easy to clean up any messes. Be sure to keep the area the puppy stays in clean; it can be very difficult to train a puppy to go outside if he or she can smell the scent of urine inside.

Once the puppy is old enough to start the housebreaking process, it is vitally important to remember one of the major keys to training a puppy is promptness. When you display your disapproval for an action the puppy has taken, the puppy relates that disapproval to whatever it is doing at that exact moment.

For instance, if you come by a few minutes after the puppy has done it’s duty on the floor and do your scolding, the puppy will not relate the scolding to the duty but to either the mess itself or whatever he or she is doing when you come along. Thus, all that will happen is your puppy will become scared and not learn a thing about the housebreaking you are trying to teach.

The easiest way to handle this process is to actually catch the puppy in the act of going inside. Yes, the way is easy but doing it can be quite difficult because there is no set timing or pattern to when a puppy my have to go.

At the times you are able to catch your puppy in the act of relieving him or herself in a place you don’t want this to happen, scold the puppy appropriately and take him or her to where you would like them to go. Wait there with the puppy until nature takes hold again then be prompt and very passionate with your praise.

To housebreak a puppy will take time and patience on the part of the owner. With that being said, with proper timing of the scolding and the praising it will indeed happen.