If you have recently adopted a puppy, you may be surprised to realize the work and commitment that will be required to raise a healthy and well-behaved dog. For those that have recently acquired their first puppy, there are a handful of tips and tricks that can help them to avoid some of the issues that can lead to behavioral or health issues for the dog.
Take Your Puppy For A Checkup And Vaccinations
As soon as it is possible, you should take your puppy to a veterinarian so that a thorough examination can be performed. This will provide an opportunity for any developmental issues or illnesses to be diagnosed. Furthermore, your puppy will need to be vaccinated against some of the more commonly encountered health problems. Ensuring that your puppy is fully vaccinated will require these shots to be administered on a schedule as the puppy grows up. During this initial examination, the vaccination schedule for the puppy will be established so that you can ensure it receives these vaccines as soon as possible.
Start Training Your Puppy Immediately
When it comes to training a dog, some individuals will assume that they will have to wait until the animal is fully grown to effectively train it. However, it can actually be preferable for you to start training the puppy as soon as possible, but you should be patient so as to realize that the puppy may struggle to learn these lessons. For example, you should work to house train your puppy as soon as you adopt it, but it may struggle with avoiding having accidents until its muscles fully develop.
Take The Time To Puppy-Proof Your House And Yard
It is an unfortunate fact that your puppy may excel at getting into trouble. In addition to posing the risk of causing extensive damage to your possessions, this could also put the animal at risk of being injured, poisoned or otherwise harmed. Before you let the puppy roam your house or yard unsupervised, it can be wise to take a few moments to inspect the area for anything that the animal may chew on, play with or damage. By proactively moving these objects to an area where the animal can not reach, you can greatly reduce the risk of these problems arising. In instances where you find that your puppy has damaged or destroyed an item of yours, the first thing you should do is to check the puppy to ensure it did not injure itself. You may be tempted to berate or punish the puppy, but this is only effective if you are able to catch the dog in the act of destroying the item. Otherwise, it will not associate the punishment with the act.
Contact a vet office, like Cats Only Veterinary Hospital, for more help.
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