No one likes the idea of their pets being unhealthy. Whether you have a dog, cat, fish, bird, or reptile, it makes sense to put a lot of time into making sure that they are healthy. It can take an awful lot of work to achieve a goal like this, but the work will be worth it to make sure that your animal is on top form all the time. To help you out, this post will be exploring some of the work which can be done to ensure that your puppy is as healthy as possible as they grow up, giving you the chance to give them the very best start in life.
Monitoring
As you will be seeing your dog each day, you will be one of the first people to notice when something is wrong with your dog. By checking over their body on a regular basis, you can ensure that they aren’t developing anything you don’t want, and this is a great way to keep them healthy. Some people will take this further, snapping pictures of their pooch to have something to compare to. This is a good idea, as it can give you something to post online or send to your vet, getting advice without having to put the animal through the trauma of going to see a vet.
Vets
You might be able to to see an issue with your dog, but it can be incredibly difficult to figure out what is wrong without the right help. For example, your dog may have adopted a strange posture, and you will need to figure out how to tell if it’s knuckling or something completely normal. A vet will be able to help you with this. It’s worth taking a puppy to the vet every few months, ensuring that they are developing healthily, while also giving you the opportunity to talk about anything you’ve noticed which could be a cause for concern.
Exercise
Along with keeping your dog medical fit, it also makes sense to give them a little bit of exercise every day. Most dogs need to have at least a couple of walks each day when they are young, and this should be supplemented with other kinds of play. It takes a lot of work to keep a dog, and this accounts for a very large part of it, making it worth putting some time into getting your dog out and about. You can talk to your vet to figure out exactly how much time they need, but this should be nice and easy to understand once you’ve had a chat with them.
Diet
If you’ve ever taken on a complex diet for yourself, you will have a good idea of what it takes to maintain something like this. You can work as hard as you want, but it will always be hard for you to maintain something which keeps you healthy. This can be even harder with a dog, with their age, breed, size, and many other factors contributing to the amount and type of food they should be eating. It’s worth putting plenty of time into learning about puppy nutrition, and this can get even more important as your dog gets older, as their body won’t be as good at dealing with unhealthy options once they’ve aged for a while.
Mental Health
Given that they aren’t as intelligent as humans, it can be easy to fall into the trap of assuming that dogs have simple brains. In reality, though, these animals are far more complicated than you might think, and this can lead to mental health issues if it isn’t recognised. Your dog needs play, along with comfort and support from its pack. Of course, though, this is something which you will need to work hard to provide to them. A lot of people ignore this side of their dog’s development, finding it hard to put time into making their dog happier. It’s well worth learning the signs for things like stress and depression in your dog, as this can have a huge impact on their quality of life if it goes ignored.
With all of this in mind, you should be feeling ready to take on the challenge of helping your dog to develop healthily. Most people struggle with this, as it takes a lot of work, but this doesn’t mean that you can avoid putting in the time for your pooch, as this will be crucial to their comfort, happiness, and overall quality of life.
