What It Takes to Raise a Healthy Dog
Owning a dog comes with lots of excitement. However, it also comes with a lot of responsibilities, including ensuring the wellbeing of the dog. Below are some of the main things that you should do to raise a healthy dog.
Ensure It Gets Proper Nutrition
Feeding your pet is the most apparent responsibility that you have as a dog owner. For that, you should ensure you provide the dog with the right type and amount of food. That will prevent your dog from getting malnutrition or obesity-related health conditions. In addition, different breeds of dogs have different nutritional needs. Ensure you talk to your vet to find out the right diet plan for your dog. You can also consider using supplements if need be.
Take Your Dog for Regular Checkups
Taking your dog for routine checkups is essential, irrespective of how healthy it may look. Doing so allows the vet to detect any health issue in its early stage, which helps to make treatment easier. Regular checkups should also include the removal of tartar and plaque buildup to help with dental health.
Groom Your Dog Regularly
Grooming your dog is essential to prev
ent parasites infestation, skin conditions, infections, and other health issues. It also makes your dog feel more comfortable. Grooming involves bathing the dog regularly, trimming its nails, and brushing its fur, among other things. Your vet can give you the most suitable grooming protocol for your dog as per its breed.
Ensure It Gets Enough Exercise
Exercising your dog is an excellent way to ensure it stays physically fit, which also helps prevent overweight health issues. It also gives the dog the proper mental stimulation. Some of the ways to exercise your dog include taking it for walks, swimming, and playing fetch. You can also give the dog a toy to play with, practise new tricks with it, build an obstacle course for it, or any other thing that will keep it active.
Keep Your Dog Safe and Comfortable
Keeping your dog safe and comfortable is also your responsibility. For that, ensure your dog has a good place to sleep. Also, ensure that you keep it from any dangerous areas or items. For example, ensure that all the toxic substances in your home are out of the dog’s reach. Finally, for enhanced safety, you should get your dog a collar with an identity tag and microchips to make it easy to find when it gets lost.