How To Raise A Puppy

Having a cute furball at home is therapeutic. These bundles of joy love to exchange hugs and cuddles with humans. When it comes to raising a puppy, many people find it challenging. It takes a lot of time, attention, and consistent efforts to teach new habits to a puppy. The training process may last a few months until your puppy has grown up to behave well.

The best part about raising a puppy is that they tend to sleep for very long hours throughout the day, giving you enough space to work according to your daily routine. However, once the pup wakes up from sleep, he may start barking excessively. It can indicate that your puppy needs your help.

Your puppy may start biting your furniture or decoration pieces in your living room or even your clothes, shoes, or bags in your bedroom once his teeth have started to grow into permanent teeth. While it gets difficult to raise a puppy, you need to have a lot of patience throughout its childhood. By the time he celebrates his first birthday, you will see a massive change in his behavior and personality which signals that he has approached adulthood.

Before getting a puppy, you need to get yourself prepared to take responsibility for raising him the right way. Making use of the appropriate tools, toys, and different training methods, your puppy will easily adapt to the new changes in life. However, to achieve quick results, you will have to sacrifice your rest of the hobbies and activities that require your time. It may include your work hours, your weekly hangouts with friends, your dating life, and your self-care routine as well. By doing so, you will allow sufficient time to spend at home with your dog while you keep an eye on his behaviors and daily habits.

Things you will need

Before diving deep into the process of puppy training, you need to arrange some puppy training pads that will help you clean the mess in case your puppy hasn’t learned potty training. Also, you need to get your hands on good quality food for your puppy as well as a few toys for him to play with. Other supplies that you may require include the following.

• A crate
• Blankets
• A dog bed
• A dog collar with ID
• A dog brush or comb
• A dog toothbrush and a toothpaste
• A dog shampoo
• A dog body wash
• Bags for a potty spot
• Pet-friendly household cleaner
• A dog body spray
• Dog nail trimmers

How to Raise a Puppy

To expedite the process of raising a puppy, we have curated a list of steps that you can follow. Here is your step-by-step guide on how to raise a puppy.

1. Protect your Belongings

There is a chance that your untrained puppy will break things lying around in your home. To prevent him from causing any damage, it is better to pack all the decoration pieces into cartons and store them away from your puppy’s sight.

Puppies tend to eat plants and shrubs which may prove to be detrimental to their health. Moreover, it may try to drink household cleaning solutions or insecticide sprays placed in a common area. By removing such harmful objects from his reach, you can avoid any sort of mishap that may occur.

2. Crate Training

As soon as your new puppy arrives at your home, you should start working on its training. To avoid any mess, you should start with crate training. Assemble a crate with a bed and some blankets to make it cozy for your pup. Be sure to provide an ample amount of space to your pet where he could stand up, lie on the bed, or turn around while staying in the crate. Next, you need to familiarize him with the crate so that he will find ways to check out his new comfort zone. In case it doesn’t arouse his curiosity, you should put some bits of food inside the crate as it will draw him in. Once he finds it comfortable enough to spend his day in the crate, he will allow you to have your space to continue with the day.

If your house is small or you can’t find any designated space where you could place the crate, you can choose to put it outside your kitchen or near the staircase of your home. It is recommended to place the crate in an area where the puppy will remain close to you while staying far from the rest of your pets or little kids at home. With a separate space for your puppy, you will let him have his own space at times when he feels exhausted or sleepy.

3. Feeding

Feeding the right food having sufficient nutritional values is very crucial for your puppy. Depending on its weight, height, age, and breed, you should buy food for your puppy. It is suggested that your puppy needs an intake of four meals a day if he is six to twelve weeks old. Similarly, he will require three meals per day at the age of three to six months and two meals a day when he completes six months or above. In case you are not sure about the correct nutritional requirements of your puppy, it is better to visit a vet who could recommend you the right dosage. Also, it is recommended to keep a check on how your puppy’s body responds to certain foods.

4. Training

Firstly, you need to create a potty routine for your puppy followed by a set of specific meal timings. Once he consumes the meal, you should wait for 15 to 20 minutes and then take him to a designated potty spot. By doing so, he will remember to urinate or defecate in an appropriate area.

Next, you should work on obedience training. Using words such as “down”, “lie”, “come”, and “walk” you can introduce him to your commands and how to respond accordingly.

5. Socializing

Taking the dog out for a walk every day is the best way to introduce new surroundings. A pet-friendly park is an ideal place to visit for your dog to socialize with other dogs. He will learn how to behave well by observing the behaviors of other dogs.

6. Hygienic practices

Be sure to brush your puppy’s teeth every morning and wash his face with mild soap. It is important to set a bathing schedule for him every time he enters the home from outside. Similarly, keep a check on his nails and clip them every week to avoid any risk of scratches or injuries on your dog.

Training a puppy is a fun way to spend quality time with your pet. Seeing him grow into an adult dog is calming on its own. With patience, you can achieve good results with a changed behavior of your puppy in a short time.

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by Maria A Davidson || You can’t buy love, but you can rescue it™ . 

Facts About Animal Homelessness:

1. Only 1 out of every 10 dogs born will find a permanent home.
2. The main reasons animals are in shelters: owners give them up, or animal control finds them on the street.
3. Each year, approximately 2.7 million dogs and cats are killed every year because shelters are too full and there aren’t enough adoptive homes. Act as a publicist for your local shelter so pets can find homes. Sign up for Shelter Pet PR.
4. Approximately 7.6 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year. Of those, approximately 3.9 million are dogs and 3.4 million are cats.
5. According to the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy (NCPPSP), less than 2% of cats and only 15 to 20% of dogs are returned to their owners.
6. 25% of dogs that enter local shelters are purebred.
7. About twice as many animals enter shelters as strays compared to the number that are relinquished by their owners.
8. It’s impossible to determine how many stray dogs and cats live in the United States. Estimates for cats alone range up to 70 million.
9. Only 10% of the animals received by shelters have been spayed or neutered. Overpopulation, due to owners letting their pets accidentally or intentionally reproduce, sees millions of these “excess” animals killed annually.
10. Many strays are lost pets that were not kept properly indoors or provided with identification.
11. According to The Humane Society, there are about 3,500 brick-and-mortar animal shelters in the US and 10,000 rescue groups and animal sanctuaries in North America.

Here are a some adoptions for consideration:  puccicafe.com/adoptions