How to Care for a Puppy

    From the first days of communication with a puppy, all family members must remember that all communications should be based on love and discipline. Remember – small animals have susceptible systems. The balance and hierarchy of relationships must be respected in everything related to the daily routine, nutrition, and hygiene of your friend from the very beginning.

    Frequent Dog Walking

    Walking is an essential part of the puppy’s life to react correctly to various events in the world. Puppies living in apartment conditions should be taken for walks as often as possible. It would be best if you started introducing the puppy to the street from the first day of life.

    Choose a quiet, calm place, but gradually move to noisier areas, accustoming puppy to unfamiliar irritants (to the appearance of strangers, animals, birds). If the puppy is frightened of someone or something and reacts incorrectly, you need to calm and distract him by continuing the walk. The puppy must not be allowed to come to stray dogs, protecting it from contagious diseases. At the same time, playing with his peers is very good for your pet. But before letting him play with other puppies, the owner must make sure that they are healthy.

    Remember Basic Precautions

    When buying a puppy, you should remember that it is necessary to be very careful and patient in dealing with him. The puppy should be fed on time. You can play with him only with his toys (ball, rubber stick, etc.). During the game, you’d better not squeeze your pet, wallow, pick it up high, make it angry, etc. The puppy’s toys should be so big that they cannot be swallowed. Please do not give him sticks, as it can make wounds in his tender mouth. Besides, if a puppy gets used to gnawing sticks, he will also chew your furniture. Do not give the puppy old rags – he will begin to tear your clothes later.

    Do not allow children to pick up the puppy in their arms, pat it on the head and ears – the animal may develop an undesirable habit of laying up ears. Do not take the puppy to your chair, to the sofa or the bed – it will be difficult to wean it, which will lead to unsanitary conditions in the apartment. When taking the puppy out for a walk (aged 1 to 2 months), raise it with both hands under the chest and pelvis and carefully lower it. Do not lift it by the forelimbs, as you may damage them.

    To spoil the puppy’s teeth, do not tear out a stick, a rag, etc., but gently and calmly take it away without using force and giving a tasty treat in exchange. 

    Leaving Puppy Alone

    If possible, do not leave the puppy in the apartment for a long time alone. It will get boring, whine and even howl, which may cause dissatisfaction with your neighbors. Before leaving home, please take a pleasant walk with him and leave particular large bones so your pet will have something to do.

    Puppy Care Rules

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    The growth and development of puppies are relatively fast. The better the conditions of keeping, caring, and feeding the puppies, the more likely we can expect from them the manifestation of the parents’ genotypes best qualities. 

    Stages of Growth and Their Features

    The growth of puppies and their development at certain stages have their characteristics. Owners of puppies need to know where their positive qualities most actively develop and how to direct their growth in the desired direction. For example, it is known that in puppies up to 3 months of age, body weight increases significantly, from 3 to 6 months the skeleton grows in length, and from 7 months – in height. Knowing this, you can substantially increase or decrease the level of feeding, improve the conditions of care and maintenance to achieve the required parameters of the constitution.

    Staying in the air under the influence of sunlight, in movement, in a game with peers, and in the cold tempers the young body, improves appetite, enhances metabolism, promotes the development of internal organs, and strengthens health and constitution. 

    However, all these measures of influence on the development and growth of puppies must be applied, taking into account their physiological characteristics. For example, you can’t walk the monthly puppies in wet rainy weather – they can catch a cold and get pneumonia. Puppies of large breeds aged 1 to 1.5 months can move continuously for no more than 10 minutes.

    A place for a puppy in the apartment should be arranged depending on the owners’ living conditions, but it should be permanent, should not be in the aisle or in the corridor where a draft is possible. The puppy’s place should not be near heaters, in the bathroom, or in the kitchen. The chosen area should be clean, bright, and free. It would help if you did not forget that an adult dog will soon grow out of the puppy. A thick doormat in a cover is put on the chosen place – the cover can be washed as needed. 

    The puppy’s hair needs to be combed daily with a massage brush or comb and then wiped with a clean, soft cloth. After walking, the paws and stomach are wiped with a damp cloth. On hot summer days, puppies from 3-4 months and older can be bathed in clean running water. By teaching the puppy to swim, gradually increase the time they spend in the water, make sure that they do not get too cold, and do not overwork. After swimming, allow the puppy to run and dry. 

    Young puppies are often infected with worms, which very seriously affects their growth and development. In this regard, it is recommended to take your puppy for analysis to a veterinary clinic. If worm eggs are detected, then, on the advice of a veterinarian, the puppy is given anthelmintic drugs.

    Feeding Of The Puppy

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    Proper feeding of the puppy accelerates its growth, increases weight, and improves shape. Nutrition should provide the body with the necessary nutrients in a particular combination. The diet needs to be diversified so that later the puppy is adapted to various foods. It must be remembered that the older the puppy, the harder it will be to give him a new food.

    You have to add fresh greens, vitamins A, B, D, and calcium glycerophosphate to the feed. It is also recommended to put pieces of chalk and charcoal near the puppy’s bowl. The age from 1 to 2 months is considered primarily responsible since the average daily weight of large breed puppies is overgrowing.

    The feed amount at each feeding depends on the breed of the puppy, age, appetite, mobility, and conditions. The puppy should eat the food given to it completely. If it does not eat the food completely, then its quantity needs to be reduced. If it diligently licks an empty bowl with its tongue, it increases the amount of food. A bowl of leftover food should be removed. It is not recommended to teach a puppy to feed by hand, with persuasion, etc. You can’t also tease and distract him.

    The puppy should always have clean drinking water.  Puppies living in yards or nurseries in the cold season require more high-calorie foods and in large quantities. Also, referring to advice from ThePets food should be warm. It is unacceptable to feed a puppy with frozen or raw food. Cooked foods should be refrigerated to prevent spoilage. Fresh food can cause gastrointestinal illnesses. 

    Physical Education

    Proper physical education and development of the puppy hardens the body, strengthens the muscles, skeletal and nervous system, improves the functioning of the heart and lungs, increases appetite, promotes rapid growth, etc. Puppies grown under conditions of low physical activity are, as a rule, physically underdeveloped, have weak muscles and skeleton, loose constitution, quickly get tired. At the same time, puppies with feasible loads grow strong, hardy, well-developed muscles, and a healthy skeleton.

    Conclusion

    The main signs of a puppy’s healthy development are its playful state, interest in the environment, average growth and weight, a healthy musculoskeletal system, and timely tooth change. The puppy’s skin should be elastic, the skeleton should be without signs of rickets, and the coat should be shiny.

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    • Joselin Estevez

      Social Media Director

      Social Media Director at X Factor Media

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