Featured
Dogs are a lot of work, all the way from planning what dog to get, through training it from a pup, all the way to adulthood. Dogs are no easy task.
Despite most dog owners trying their hardest, there are always ways to improve. This guide will help teach you how to look after your dog correctly in 2023 and cover everything you should do to ensure your dog stays happy and healthy this year.
Read on and find out how you can improve as a dog owner.
Appropriate Feeding
Feeding is an essential part of a dog’s life at any age, and it’s important to know how much and what to feed them. As a brief guide:
- Puppies 8-12 weeks old need around 4 meals a day.
- Puppies 3-6 months old need around 3 meals a day.
- Puppies 6-12 months old need around two meals a day.
- For mature dogs, 1 large meal or 2 small meals a day will be sufficient.
Feeding your dog a healthy diet comes with many benefits:
- Nutrition: A balanced diet will give your dog all the essential nutrients to live a healthy and happy life.
- Energy: Quality food provides dogs with the energy they need to do their daily activities.
- Health: A healthy diet will help prevent various diseases, health problems and more.
- Body weight: The correct amount of specific foods will help maintain a healthy and optimal weight.
- Mental stimulation: Feeding times will help give the dog a routine and can help prevent boredom and destructive behaviour.
- Bonding: Most importantly, feeding your dog food they enjoy will help create a human-animal bond that is very much needed for a pet owner.
Feeding your dog premium-quality food in the right proportions makes for a perfectly balanced diet, and you will see it reflected in their overall mood, health, and energy. Feeding is top when it comes to treating your dog.
Frequent Exercise
Next in line is exercise. Exercise provides many health benefits for our four-legged friends, and it is one of the best things you can do for them. Dogs need exercise for many reasons; here are some:
- Physical health: Exercise helps your dog to maintain a healthy weight, improves muscle tone and joint health, and in turn, can help prevent any rising conditions like arthritis and heart disease.
- Mental Stimulation: Exercise is your dog’s time to let off all that built-up steam and run freely. The mental stimulation for them can relieve stress, calm anxiety, and prevent boredom.
- Bonding: Like feeding, taking your dog on frequent walks is a quick and easy way to develop a strong bond with them.
- Good behaviour: Similar to mental stimulation, exercise will help tame your dog’s behaviour around the house by providing them with an outlet for excess energy. This will help manage behavioural problems like biting, chewing, and barking.
Overall, exercise is vital for maintaining your dog’s overall health and will do you favours in keeping them calm around the house.
Regular Grooming
Grooming can often be forgotten about as a dog owner, it may only sometimes be top of the priority list, but grooming serves more benefits to you and your dog than you may realise. Reasons why you should regularly groom your dog include:
- Overall health: Grooming will maintain your dog’s skin and coat health by removing any dirt clumps, matting, and tangles, preventing skin infections and parasites from living on them.
- Bonding: Regular grooming will allow your dog to develop a routine, making it easier for you to inspect their body and check for any unusual lumps, bumps, ticks and more.
- Appearance: For obvious reasons, grooming will make your dog presentable, keep them shiny and healthy, and prevent them from shedding excessively.
- Hygiene: Grooming is important for encouraging good hygiene and preventing bad odours or skin irritations.
- Comfort: Grooming will give your dog a healthy level of comfort, making them happy and energetic. Grooming is more important than you may realise, so take the time to bond with your dog and get them all spruced up.
Contact Your Veterinarian If You’re Concerned
Part of looking after your dog is regularly taking them to the vet for checkups and vaccinations. Regular checkups will help you look out for potential dangers or problems your dog may have.
They will also help give you proper guidance and information on how to look after your dog better.
If you have any concerns about your dog, do not go to the internet. Go straight to your vet, and they will take care of the situation professionally.
In Summary
That wraps up this short guide on how to look after your dog correctly in 2023.
You may already religiously perform some of these points; if so, well done! If not, there is always room and time for improvement.
We hope you and your furry friends have an excellent 2023. Let’s start this year the right way!
