How to Take Care of A Puppy
- 1). Take your puppy to your veterinarian for a complete physical examination, initial vaccinations and deworming. The core vaccines typically include inoculations against rabies, parvovirus, canine distemper and infectious hepatitis -- and will need to be repeated in 2 and 6 weeks after the first appointment. Your vet microscopically examines your puppy's feces for signs of hookworms, roundworms and whipworms and looks for other parasitic diseases, including Giardia and coccidia, that need medications to cure.
- 2). Allow the vet to microchip your dog as a safety precaution, in case it gets lost or stolen.
- 3). Allow it to explore and quietly meet both human and animal inhabitants. If you have other animals, you may want to crate the puppy in the same room as your other pets until they can smell each other and get used to having a new dog in the house. Children of all ages need to be taught how to play gently with a puppy; young children, in particular, need to be under adult supervision until they understand that pulling on a puppy's tail or ears is not only painful, but can cause the puppy to bite.
- 4). Crate train your puppy to prevent elimination accidents in the house. Purchase a crate large enough for a bed and place the puppy in it when you are not at home, or when you can't watch it. Ask your veterinarian for literature on crate training or go online for instructions.
- 5). Provide your pet with adequate food and water. A puppy needs clean water daily to stay hydrated. Ask your veterinarian for advice on what kind of food is best for your particular breed, how much and how often to feed.
- 6). Begin leash training early by placing a collar or halter on your puppy when they first get to their new home and allowing them to get used to it. Make sure the collar or halter fits snugly, but not so tight as to be restrictive, and use treats to coax the puppy into following you as you walk holding the leash.
- 7). Teach your puppy basic commands, such as "sit," "stay", "come" and "down" to reinforce your leadership as the "alpha" dog. Gentle training like this sets boundaries, instructs the dog how to behave properly in your home, and works as a safety measure should your pet ever get loose from its lead.
- 8). Supply your puppy with plenty of soft, chewable toys to keep its mind occupied, encourage it to exercise and provide something besides your shoes or furniture for it to chew on. Puppies naturally explore with their mouths and a teething puppy needs gum stimulation for the adult teeth to emerge.
- 9). Exercise your young dog on a regular basis -- taking it for walks, playing fetch, tugging on an old rope. Giving your puppy ample room to move around and play allows it to burn off excess energy and sleep better at night. Working growing muscles and bones tones the animal's body and provides health benefits as it ages.
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Socialize your puppy with other dogs and people by walking it in your neighborhood, taking it to a dog park to play and allowing friends to bring their pets over for play dates. The more a puppy meets and mingles with strangers when it is young, the less likely it is to not be aggressive as it ages. - 11
Spay or neuter your puppy if you are not planning on breeding. Sterilization prevents testicular cancers in males and pyometra in aging females, and greatly reduces the risk of mammary tumors. It also eliminates the chance of unwanted puppies.
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