Puppy care tips to help you keep your pup healthy.

Bringing home a new puppy is an exciting and usually pleasurable experience. However, many new puppy owners have questions about how to care for their new puppy to keep him healthy and happy.

Feed Your Puppy to Promote Healthy Growth and Development

Choose a balanced and complete puppy food for your pet. Puppies have very different nutritional needs than an adult dog and their food should be selected accordingly. Choosing a food appropriate for the life stage (i.e a puppy or growth formula) and for the breed will ensure that your puppy grows and develops in a healthy way.

Training for Your New Puppy: An Essential Part of Puppy Care

Training is a necessary experience for your puppy. All puppies should be trained, at a minimum, to sit, say and come when called. Training methods should be fun and interactive and should use rewards as positive reinforcement and avoid punishment for inappropriate behaviors. However, it is necessary to teach your dog behaviors designed to replace the inappropriate behaviors.

Housetraining is another essential for puppies and should begin as soon as you bring your puppy home. As with obedience training, housetraining should be accomplished through proper use of positive reward-based training methods. Do not punish your pet if he has accidents in the house.

Socialize Your Puppy at an Early Age

Early socialization is probably the single most important thing you can do for your puppy to encourage him to become confident and well-behaved as an adult. Introduce your new puppy to as many different experiences, people, places and pets as you are able. Socialization is most effective if done before 12-16 weeks of age.

Early socialization for puppies needs to be balanced with the potential for exposure to infectious diseases. Do not frequent dog parks and other areas that allow unrestricted access to dogs that may be infectious. Puppy play classes or puppy kindergarten classes are often the perfect answer to this dilemma. Your puppy will be allowed to interact only with other puppies that are healthy, vaccinated, parasite-free and well-protected.

Groom Your New Puppy to Promote Healthy Skin and Nails

Begin early getting by getting your puppy accustomed to having his hair combed/brushed and having his nails trimmed. Starting at an early age will teach your puppy to tolerate these procedures and not be frightened when they are performed.

Your New Puppy Needs a Veterinary Examination to Insure His Health

Take your new puppy to the veterinarian for a thorough physical examination. Your veterinarian will check for congenital defects that may affect your puppies health as well as for evidence of infectious diseases, parasites and other diseases that could prove to be dangerous for your puppy or for your family.

Your veterinarian will also discuss a vaccination schedule and a strategy to rid your puppy of any worms that may be present. Be certain to follow the schedule closely so that your puppy remains protected against diseases like parvovirus.

Start Your Puppy on Heartworm, Flea and Tick Preventive Medications to Keep Him Healthy

If heartworms are endemic in your area, as they are in almost all areas of the United States, your puppy should be started on an appropriate heartworm preventive medication early in his life. Most heartworm preventives need to be administered once monthly.

Flea and tick prevention should also be addressed for your puppy as fleas and ticks can cause disease and discomfort for your puppy. Preventing a flea infestation in much easier than battling an existing infection. Ticks can cause severe and even life-threatening disease for your pup.

Start Brushing Your Puppies Teeth Early to Promote Oral Health

Start introducing your puppy at an early age to tooth brushing. Introduce the pup first to canine toothpaste and then gradually introduce the tooth brush. Brushing your dog’s teeth can go a long way toward keeping his mouth healthy as he gets older.

Spay or Neuter Your Puppy to Take Advantage of the Health and Behavioral Benefits of These Procedures

Spaying or neutering has both health benefits and behavioral benefits for your puppy. Naturally, if you are planning to breed your puppy when he or she is older, this will not be an option for you. However, in most cases, spaying or neuter is advisable. Spaying should be performed before the first heat cycle occurs as the risk of breast (or mammary) cancers occurring are much lower.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 3:12 pm and is filed under Dog Care, Dogs, Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.