Having a dog is a great addition to the family. Dogs make loving and loyal pets. Not only do they give lots of love, they also enjoy going whereever their owner takes them. Dogs make for some great companions. This is why you must be a great companion to your dog and give them the care they deserve. These suggestions can help you.
It costs a lot to own a dog. Each dog needs quality food, medical care and general supplies. It can cost you around $1000 each year. One huge expense you might encounter is emergency vet care, so you may want to think about getting health insurance for your pet.
Make your home safe for your dog. You need to look for hazards around your home that your dog might run into. Make sure all of the medicine is put away and the cleaning supplies are up and safe. Some indoor plants are poisonous, so put them high up.
If you’re training your dog, don’t just use verbal commands. Try hand signals as well. These types of signals are sometimes easier for a dog to learn. Always associate the spoken command and the hand gesture at first and choose the system that works best later on.
Take your time to teach your dog what kind of behavior is right or wrong as soon as it occurs. If you let it fester it can only make the problem much worse and eventually the dog becomes extremely difficult to train. If you don’t get his behavior under control, your dog could end up biting someone.
Do not feed your dog “people food”. If you do, he will hang around you constantly wanting more every time you eat. Your dog may also stop eating his own food as much. Table scraps can negatively affect the dog’s health and cause digestive issues or obesity. Train your dog to remain in another room while the family eats so no one is tempted to slip something to him under the table.
If your dog behaves properly, be sure it is praised and given affection. By rewarding your pup when it does the right thing, you’ll be teaching it to do these behaviors more often. It also teaches your dog that when he does the things you want, he will get praised.
Some breeds have inherent health issues you need to watch for. If you don’t know the type of dog he is, research it so you will know the type of problems your dog could have. Talk to your vet about prevention, too.
What types of health problems are typical for your dog? Find out what your dog’s breed frequently suffers from and the symptoms. Also, ask your vet what you can do to help your canine beat the odds for his breed.
You should be an activist for your dog. Keep an eye on legislation that might regulate or restrict your rights as a dog owner. Many times new, overly-restrictive ordinances have incredibly broad impacts when they’re only intended to affect a tiny minority of pet owners. Be sure to voice your concerns in regards to dogs and dog owners by staying in touch with local officials.
Dogs are great companions. You will have a better relationship with them if you take the time to learn more. You have found out quite a bit of information from reading this article, and hopefully you now can put it to good use. The term “man’s best friend” will soon apply to your dog!