Content
- proper nutrition
- dental hygiene
- Baths and hair maintenance
- Exercise
- Stimuli and Mind Games
- clean environment
- Deworming
- Vaccination protocol and regular visits to the veterinarian
- Castration
- How do I know my dog is happy and healthy?
Having a pet is no easy feat. Animals are family members and need to be cared for for life.
We love our pets so much that we don't want them to suffer or be unhappy, but sometimes we don't know what kind of care we should take with our dogs so they can live longer and better.
In this article by PeritoAnimal we will demonstrate how to make your dog live longer and better and unravel the care and tricks to succeed in this mission.
proper nutrition
Food is a fundamental part of your pet's health. Feeding your puppy a balanced and adequate diet prevents not only obesity, but also other serious problems associated with nutritional imbalances.
Is important adapt the food the animal's characteristics: breed, age, sex, lifestyle and disease history, so you can provide the daily calories you need.
Extra foods such as cookies should never exceed 10% of caloric requirements.[1] and the water must be fresh, clean and always available.
It should be noted that there are many foods, fruits and plants that do not harm humans, but for certain animals such as dogs they can be very toxic and lethal, such as chocolate, onions and grapes. Therefore, you cannot provide any kind of fruit or plant unless the doctor says there is no problem. Read our full article on prohibited dog foods.
dental hygiene
Puppies' teeth are not much different from ours when it comes to hygiene. The formation of tartar and gingivitis (inflammation of the gums) are very common in dogs and, if not treated or prevented, can lead to very serious dental diseases that can cause teeth to fall out, abscesses and infections in the jaw and maxilla.
The best form of prevention is through a regular dental hygiene regimen: brushing the animal's teeth with its own brush or even a small piece of gauze can result and prevent some diseases. You can always ask your veterinarian for information and advice about what oral care products are available and how best to apply them. See our article with tips to take care of your dog's teeth.
Baths and hair maintenance
Baths are essential to maintain the clean and healthy fur.
Long-haired dogs need to be brushed more to avoid dirt and retention of dust or insects on their coat, and many of them love to be brushed, if only for the attention that the tutor is giving them.
When the fur is too long and causing discomfort or if the weather is very hot, clipping is a good solution to improve the animal's well-being.
Exercise
For an animal to enjoy life, regular exercise is an essential tool. It brings many benefits so that the animal can live longer and better. It is important to understand the animal's limits and what stimuli make it regular and stable physical exercise, because uncontrolled intensive exercise can be just as harmful as the lack of it.
Swimming is synonymous with happiness and ifrom the beach and swim they are also great exercise and almost all dogs love them.
Walking is not only good for exercising, it's also good for the mind. Walking is an adventure and allows the animal to explore, sniff and interact with the environment, so it is recommended to walk an average of two to three times a day to feel good.
Stimuli and Mind Games
If you ask yourself how to do things that improve the dog's quality of life, this is one of them: mental stimulation.
THE mental health is as important as physical health, they are interconnected and if one is affected the other can be too.
Providing mental stimuli such as food puzzles, treasure hunts, toys and social interaction is very important to keep the dog healthy and to encourage him to be more active.
Take some time just for your pet, dogs are very social and they love positivity, if you give them a lot of love, care and attention, believe that it is making them very happy and preventing many medical and behavioral problems.
They also get bored, just like us, and buy a new toy, or walking in a different place than usual, may be enough to get the dog's attention and stimulate him again.
A good environmental enrichment can also be games set up by yourself, such as forts with tunnels or cloth tents so that the dogs can play and hide.
Training with new tricks and rules are always welcomed by dogs, increase concentration and encourage mental health. Try to use positive reinforcement to encourage them more.
clean environment
If you keep the house clean, you'll have fewer problems with mites, ectoparasites (fleas and ticks) and toxic chemicals and products, decreasing the likelihood of allergies or other problems associates.
Deworming
Internal and external deworming must be part of dog care. Endo or ectoparasites can cause serious illnesses and consequences that only prevention can prevent.
The veterinarian will select the best drug and how often to apply it to your dog. The choice of deworming frequency depends on the lifestyle and the animal.
Vaccination protocol and regular visits to the veterinarian
The vaccines included in the vaccine protocol make it possible to prevent many diseases that cannot be cured when contracted.
in addition to regular vaccination plan, visits to the veterinarian will allow the doctor to get to know the animal better, monitor it and diagnose early any changes or illnesses that arise.
You adult dogs should be reviewed at least once a year, young people every 4 months and the elderly every 2 years. Of course, if there are any symptoms or other changes, these periods must be adapted.[2].
Castration
Castration has many benefits. not only improves the quality of life of the animal, as well as helps prevent certain diseases, like breast cancer in bitches.
How do I know my dog is happy and healthy?
Better than describing when your pet is happy and healthy is to show symptoms that are suggestive that something is not right so you can be aware:
- Lack of energy and depression
- loss of appetite
- anorexia or obesity
- poor hair quality
- Runny nose or eyes
- pale mucous
- Cough and/or breathing difficulties
- Skin changes
- Foreign masses or lumps in the body
- lameness (limping)
- Behavior changes such as aggression or phobias
If these or other symptoms develop, you should consult and seek advice from your veterinarian.
It should be noted that if you are thinking of adopting a dog for the first time, we recommend that you look into the needs of that animal and consider whether you can provide them to ensure the pet's health[3].
And remember: the dog's health depends on you, a healthy and happy dog translates into a happy tutor.
If you want to read more articles similar to How to make your dog live longer and better, we recommend that you enter our Basic Care section.