Care for our Canine Friends
Care for our Canine Friends
We all fall in love with cute baby animals, most often puppies and kittens. Often people give puppies or kittens as gifts. Whilst this may be a nice gesture it is certainly not ideal and in fact it can be fraught with difficulty.
Taking on a pet is a commitment for the life-time of that animal. Our furry friends love us unconditionally, we therefore, have a responsibility to ensure their well-being and protection.
Here are some things to remember when raising a puppy to be a well socialised and healthy dog:
- Your puppy needs a safe, clean, comfortable ‘den like’ space to call home. This space is their ‘safe’ place, their sleeping place. Contrary to what many people think, dogs like and need a ‘den like’ space just for them.
- Make sure your puppy has yearly vet checks all the way through its life so anything that might need attention can be seen to quickly and hopefully prevent anything serious from eventuating. Remember your pet’s vet is their medical professional.
- Dogs like to know their boundaries. If we establish boundaries with our puppy when they are young they will more than likely grow up to be stable adult dogs.
- The best way to ensure you are giving your puppy the right start is to find and attend a reputable Puppy Pre-School. The appropriate age for puppy pre-school is between 8 and 18 weeks. Once your puppy has passed 18 weeks it is no longer a puppy but is now an adolescent with a whole other set of behaviours.
- Adolescent / Young Adult Dogs, need reinforcing of the boundaries set as a puppy as well as behavioural training around the new behaviours that appear as the hormones associated with adolescence begin to come to the fore. Note there is a big difference between ‘obedience’ and ‘behavioural’ training. Some dogs can be very obedient and sit and stay on command for example but their general behaviour may be very anti-social.
- In our previous blog we talked about what to feed your dog. A balanced diet of a premium brand dry food and natural treats along with quality selected raw food diets, will always be better than most brands of dog food found on supermarket shelves. Remember, human food is not dog food. Refer to our previous blog for ideas. Please note, however, if you dog is on a specific diet prescribed by a Vet it must be followed as your dog’s vet is the primary health care provider.
- Enrichment activities such as puzzles, treasure hunts and toys for mental stimulation are equally important for your dog’s development. A good ‘mental workout’ can be as settling as a 5km walk
- Animal BowenCare may also play a part in helping your puppy or adult dog maintain wellness, recover from injury, even help to calm your dog, all with the very effective yet gentle body therapy that is Animal BowenCare.
Most of all the best thing you can do for your canine friend is to give it a loving, stable life with : clean water, a nutritious balanced diet for a dog, plenty of exercise and a den like shelter to feel safe and to sleep. In return your canine friend will offer you companionship and love, after all, that is their purpose!
Have a great day.
Katrina
With thanks and acknowledgment to Julie Tolliday – Barkers in Balance for her professional input when writing this article. www.barkersinbalance.com.au
Care for our Canine Friends
We all fall in love with cute baby animals, most often puppies and kittens. Often people give puppies or kittens as gifts. Whilst this may be a nice gesture it is certainly not ideal and in fact it can be fraught with difficulty.
Taking on a pet is a commitment for the life-time of that animal. Our furry friends love us unconditionally, we therefore, have a responsibility to ensure their well-being and protection.