Your dog needs a clean, comfortable, and safe living environment, plus regular food, exercise, socialization, and more to meet its physiological and behavioral needs. Making sure the area provides shelter from the heat, cold, rain, and wind is just one responsibility you have in parenting a pet. Read on for information on food, training, and socialization.
Provide high-quality commercial food suitable for your dog’s life stage and health status. You can also occasionally provide some natural foods to increase diversity. Natural foods include fresh raw meat, raw meaty bones, and vegetables.
Choose raw human-grade meat and raw bones because pet meat/pet ground meat/pet rolls and bone products may contain preservatives harmful to the dog’s health. Also, cooked bones can splinter into shards and cause choking and other damage. “Health is wealth,” they say, and that’s why it’s essential to safeguard your dog’s health and your pocket with puppy insurance that transitions into high-quality dog insurance NZ.
Raw meat bones include raw lamb chops, raw lamb skin flaps, raw beef bones, and more. Such foods help keep teeth and gums healthy. However, too many can cause constipation. Usually, 1-2 pieces of raw bone can safely be provided weekly, with a few days between each serving. The bone must be large enough that the dog cannot put the entire bone in its mouth or swallow it entirely.
When dogs eat raw bones, be sure to supervise them because there is always a risk they will choke on a broken-off or ground down piece. Another risk is that dogs like bones and sometimes become protective of them. Be careful to avoid having small children and others around the dog that is eating.
Confirm with your vet that raw meaty bones are suitable for your particular dog. They will likely tell you to avoid removing too much raw meat from the bones while the puppy is growing up. This is important to avoid certain nutritional deficiencies in dogs during growth.
The amount of food required will depend on the dog’s size, breed, age, and exercise level, but be careful not to overfeed or underfeed. Your veterinarian will weigh your dog, evaluate your dog’s physical condition score, and provide recommendations. Adult dogs should be fed at least twice a day to help avoid potentially fatal swelling. In addition, dogs should not exercise before or immediately after eating to avoid bloating, especially for dogs with deep chests. Clean, freshwater must be provided at all times.
Before there’s uncertainty in terms of the dog’s health, make sure you have cheap dog insurance locked in beforehand, to help keep your savings safe. There are many dog insurance NZ policies available online – take your time to research what will suit you.
Also, know that puppies and dogs need proper training and socializing. Puppies have a critical period of socialization between 3 and 17 weeks of age. An excellent way to provide social networking is to take your dog to a puppy school, which can sometimes be arranged through a veterinary clinic. You can also introduce your puppy to other puppies or dogs owned by a friend or family member, whether in your home or their home. First, of course, make sure the other dogs are friendly, healthy, and vaccinated with the latest vaccinations.
Training provides your dog with mental stimulation, actively strengthens the bond with the owner, expends energy, and helps prevent unnecessary behaviors. Exercise also offers opportunities to socialize with other dogs and humans, and dogs need opportunities to play regularly.
Be sure to supervise your dog when it is outside playing and keep him within calling distance. As the owner, you are responsible for controlling your dog with a leash or verbal commands if outside your property boundary.
Responsible pet parenting runs across so many more factors than the above, and these you will learn as time goes on. Hopefully, these tips have given you encouragement to further explore your responsibilities with confidence. And remember – your vet is always there to provide advice and guidance.
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