MAN’S BEST FRIENDS – TIPS FOR NEW DOG OWNERS

Dogs are probably the most lovable creatures you can ever pet. Before you realize, they will become your best friends – listening to your problems and waiting for you all day, just to play with you. Taking care of a pet is not easy. Since the day you bring them home, you have look after them, give them attention and take care of their needs. Most importantly, if you wish to have loving dog(s), you must love them first. They just reciprocate what they get. Here are some tips on how you can go about it from day 1.

INITIAL DAYS –

1. Puppy proofing your home:

Since the puppies are in a new environment, they want to explore. However, before you set them free around the house, there are some household things that you need to take care of.

•  Keep all your footwear in a closet or on a high platform. Like babies, puppies also start teething and try to chew everything they find. The first thing that you can find on the floors of your home is footwear. Puppies will try to chew it and you don’t want your expensive footwear to look like paper coming out of a shredder.
• Make sure no bits or pieces of aluminum foil, plastic bags or cling film are lying on the floor. They may think of it as food if they previously wrapped any food items.
• Keep all the garbage pails out of reach from the puppies. Also, make sure all caustic cleaners are kept safely inside the closets, preferably in overhead closets.

2. Start the training:

As soon as the puppies come home, they might want to take a leak. It would be a good idea to take them outside for that. When they are done, praise them.

3. Let them explore:

I know puppies are extremely hard to resist and you want to hold them all the time; but you have to let them explore the house and meet other family members.

4. Leave them alone:

Image courtesy aplacetolovedogs.com

For the 1^st night, let them sleep alone. No matter how much you love them and how much their puppy eyes make you feel bad for them, let them sleep alone. If they get used to sleeping in your presence, they will surely turn into a nightmare eventually. When they are being trained to sleep alone, they might cry in the beginning. To deal with that, get them some toys to play with. They will cuddle with the soft toy while sleeping and won’t feel scared after a while. If you’re still uncomfortable with letting them sleep alone, hide a small clock under the soft toy; the ticking sound of the seconds’ needle makes them feel that they are next to a living being and feel safe. By no means do I suggest that they should be devoid of your love. The bottom line remains that you have to learn when to leave them alone and when to pamper them. You’ll get the hang of it with time.

5. Formal introductions:

Before they can meet your friends, let them get familiar with your family members first. They get used to the idea that there are other people whom they’ll keep meeting every now and then. Once they start recognizing their family, you can introduce them to your friends.

1^st MONTH –

1. Vaccinations:

Take the dog to a veterinary doctor for all his vaccinations. They’ll do a thorough check up. In India, it’s preferable to take them to a government doctor instead of a private one.

2. Let them explore:

Since they are still new to the home environment, let them explore your home; but don’t leave them alone. You can do this by standing behind them, following them to the places they go and make sure that they don’t get stuck somewhere.

3. Hygiene:

From the very 1^st day, try to teach them the concept of hygiene. They should be trained to not poop or take a leak inside the house. When they do, tell them that it’s wrong with the help of a firm “NO”. They will continue doing the same initially but will soon understand the meaning of “NO”. As soon as they are done with their meal, take them outside (or whichever place is assigned for their bathroom activities). Praise them when they are done doing their business in the designated area/place.

4. Communication:

Keep talking to your dogs on regular basis. It helps them recognize their masters’ voices, which will eventually help them in understanding your commands better.

5. Training:

Every dog owner loves it when their dog obeys their commands. Teach them the basics like sit, stand, stay, eat and no. You may wish to teach them some other commands as well, as per your convenience.

6. Recognizing:

Dogs will automatically pick up the voices of the people with whom they spend the maximum amount of time. For example, if your kids are taking care of them most of the time, they will probably be seen in your children’s room(s) the most.

1^st SIX MONTHS:

This is the most crucial time for your dogs as they are growing and learning new things every day.

1. Be patient:

Dogs learn things everyday and just like us, they are also bound to make some mistakes. When they do that, scold them. You can even roll a newspaper and hit them softly on their nose. This won’t hurt them but will scare them a bit.

2. Take them for walks:

When they are about 2 months old, take them out for walks, but on a leash. Dogs love the outdoors. They start slobbering and wagging their tails when they realize that they are being taken out for a walk. It’s a fun activity for them as they see different things, different people and a different environment.

3. Play with them:

Take time out from your schedule to play with them for at least 30-45 minutes every day.  Make them run and teach them a few things if you want (a handshake, for example). It’s fun for them and even takes some time off your hectic schedule.

4. Make a diet plan:

Since this is the most important time of their growth, they need to have a proper diet. Initially, give them food every 3 to 4 hours; and when they are about 2 months old, change their diet plan. By the time they are six months old, reduce their meals to thrice a day.

6 MONTHS AND ONWARD:

By now, the dogs are quite familiar to their environment and have already started adapting to it. Like I said before, they will be most found in rooms of your family members who spend the maximum amount of time with them.

1. Gradually reduce their diet from 3 meals a day to 2. Feeding them in between will only add excess weight and cause problems as they grow old. Like humans, even dogs face problems when they become overweight.

2. There is a list of human food items that should not be given to dogs. These include:

• Onions
• Chocolates
• Grapes
• Raisins
• Macadamia Nuts
• Potato peelings, green potatoes and green tomatoes
• Rhubarb leaves
• Broccoli
• Coffee/Coffee grounds and Tea
• Yeast dough
• Human Vitamins
• Moldy or spoiled food (needless to say)
• Sugar-Free products
• Avocado
• Excessive fatty foods
• Raw eggs and fish
• Mushrooms
• Baking Soda/Baking Powder

Contrary to a popular tradition of giving leftover bones (especially chicken bones) to dogs, this should be avoided. When dogs chew the bones, they break it into splinters which can cause laceration of the digestive system or lodge in the throat and cause choking hazards.

MISCELLANEOUS TIPS

1. Give your dogs a bath at least once in every 2 weeks in the summers. However, in winters, you can restrict it to once a month.

2. Comb their hair ever alternate day. Dogs tend to be tick magnets. Combing their hair regularly will help in reducing the number of ticks that can be found on their body.

3. Make them run or jog every day. It is the best way to keep them healthy.

It’s difficult to implement all these tips immediately, and only you can figure out what really works for them as every breed behaves differently. Treat them well and you have just made a new best friend, who stays right by your side, and inside your home.

I hope this post helped you if you’re planning to get a dog sooner or later.

A big thank you to Tanya Anand for providing some great inputs, without your help, this article would've never been possible.

All images are the properties of their respective owners. Images have been used only for illustrative purposes and I do not claim ownership of the content of the images.