How to Keep Your New Dog Healthy and Happy

Perhaps you, like so many other people, got a new furry friend this year. You’ve welcomed your pup into your family, but there’s so much more to pet ownership than just treats, cuddles, and Two Tails dog tags. Keeping your dog healthy is your most important responsibility. 

Here are some of the best ways to enrich your pet’s life each and every day: 

Provide Them With Healthy Food

Too many pet owners are buying sub-par dog food and they don’t even know it. That’s because these owners are unaware of what separates the good stuff from the bad, and they don’t have a strong understanding of their pup’s nutritional requirements. Every dog is different, of course, which means that every dog will have different nutrition needs. Even more confusing, there are so many brands and formulas on the shelf, all of which claim to be the best food for your pet. 

So what’s the solution? It’s actually a lot easier than you may think. Ask your veterinarian what your dog requires for proper nutrition and read the labels on those bags of dog food when you go shopping. Avoid anything with lots of bad fillers like melamine, propylene glycol, and meat meals. 

Give Them Lots of Exercise

We all need exercise to stay strong, fight against weight gain, and promote greater heart health. Guess what, so does your pooch! The good news is that you can both exercise together. Go for a stroll or jog around the neighborhood, throw the ball around at a field, or let your pup loose at the local dog park. 

Just be sure to keep it creative or else you’re both going to get bored. Play fetch on a Monday, hike your favorite trail on Wednesday, and fling the frisbee on a Friday. How you do it all is up to you, just as long as it’s an activity that puts the muscles to work, gets the respiratory system engaged, and keeps the blood pumping throughout your pup’s body. 

Mentally Challenge Them

Dogs need routine physical exercise but they also crave a good mental challenge as well. Your pup is smart, really smart. It’s up to you to give them the proper stimuli to exercise their brain muscles and you can do that in a whole variety of interesting ways. 

Teach your pup a new trick, introduce them to new places and new people, take a new hiking trail that neither of you have ventured down before. You’ve no doubt realized that your dog is curious and inquisitive. A strange smell has them searching instantly. This is a dog’s way of learning about the world. No matter how old your pooch may be, young and old pups need to flex their mental endurance. Encourage this behavior as often as you can! 

Provide them with a comfortable environment

Like humans, dogs would seek out the most comfortable places in the house to stay. The couch, for example, is always a dog’s first choice. Pet owners, of course, love snuggling with their furry friends on the couch until their dogs start marking or experiencing urinary incontinence due to heat cycles or any other reason. Can pet parents do something about it? You can teach dogs to stay at certain places if you provide them with comfortable beds, pads, or blankets. Beds and pads might be the best choice if you don’t have enough indoor space or if you want your dog to stay only at certain spots. It is also possible to get a more versatile option, a portable waterproof dog blanket, which can train your dog to stay anywhere, as well as prevent any mess.

Protect Your Pooch

All that time spent outdoors could put your pup in harm’s way if they break loose from you for whatever reason. Always keep your dog on a leash whenever you’re walking outside and when you’re letting them off the leash to go play, you must be sure they are easily identified should you and your pup become separated. Dog tags with your contact information are THE best way to protect your pup and get them home safe and sound as soon as possible.