When you get a new puppy, it can be a little overwhelming, particularly if you’ve never owned a dog before. It’s a huge amount of responsibility – but it’s also going to provide you with a huge amount of love and joy! Here are some tips to help your new puppy settle in…
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Keep Your Pup Healthy
First of all, you need to learn how to keep your new puppy healthy. Make sure that you take him or her for all the necessary vaccinations, and talk to the vet about the best diet that you can feed him. When you’re buying food, make sure that you look at the label carefully to check out the ingredients – the top ones should be meat and vegetables, and nothing like starch or corn syrup, which is used to bulk out food and really doesn’t have much of a nutritional value. There are different foods suited to different breeds – for example Royal Canin bulldog puppy food is perfect if your new pup is a bulldog. Make sure that you keep your pup’s teeth healthy by getting him or her used to regular brushing, and if you notice any signs of tooth pain, take him or her to the vet immediately.
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Provide A Safe Home Environment
It’s crucially important that you provide a safe home environment for your puppy. Make sure that you’ve puppy proofed the place, and remember that puppies are naturally curious little creatures, so don’t leave anything small that’s potentially swallowable on the floor – and remember not to leave anything out that you don’t want to get chewed! It’s important that you lock up any toxic chemicals like cleaning fluids and that you check out which foods are toxic for dogs like avocados and chocolate – keep them out of your dog’s reach. Remember that puppies probably won’t be able to reach your worktop surfaces in the kitchen but as time goes on, larger dogs will be able to jump! You should make sure that you have tall, secure fencing in your back yard so that your pup can’t escape and get into any danger on the local roads.
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Take Your Pup To Obedience Classes
Finally, it’s important that you make sure that your pup is well trained. A lot of people do it themselves but if it’s your first dog, take it along to obedience classes – not only will they be socialised with other dogs there, but you’ll also learn some extremely valuable lessons about how to train your dog. Remember that consistency is key and that dogs often learn through rewards – make sure that your pocket is full of treats so that you can reward your pup when they behave well like coming back to you when you call his or her name, when they go to the bathroom outside, and when they’re walking well beside you. Remember that dogs don’t tend to learn well through punishment – you want to build a warm and loving relationship with your pup so it’s best to teach with kindness.
