The idea of owning a dog can be exciting, but the reality can turn out more nerve-racking than you thought, by and large, if you’ve never owned one before. You will need to learn a lot, including how to do dog obedience training. There’s no manual for adapting to dog ownership; nevertheless, this article will offer some guidelines to make the experience less difficult.
Before its arrival
1. Do some research
The first thing you need to do is do thorough research on the dog breed you intend to get. Do not bring a dog home because its fur and blue eyes seem impressive enough. You need first to understand the physical, mental and emotional needs of the canine. Remember, the dog doesn’t talk and is wholly reliant on you, so prior research may save you a great deal of agony when the dog starts showing some odd behavioral changes.
You also need to know if dogs pet are legal in your area or neighborhood
2. Prepare a sleeping spot in advance
Like you would prepare for a new guest in your home, prepare a cozy sleeping space for your new arrival. Enough warmth gives these fur babies some sense of comfort and safety
3. Health
Just like for babies, health costs for puppies can be high. Vaccines, occasional vet visits, prescriptions, sterilization, among other health expenses, can add up to as much as $1100 in the first year of owning a pup.
You may have been mentally prepared to spend lots of money on the dog’s health; even so, you can never easily anticipate health costs.
After arrival
1. Travel
Traveling with a dog for a new owner may bring along unanticipated problems like the dog needing potty breaks now and then. It would be best if you looked for solutions to such issues before embarking on a journey with your new pet. Disposable dog diapers are a viable option.
If you don’t intend to carry your little pug with you, you could make arrangements for a trained overnight sitter. Dropping little doggie at your sister’s for the weekend may work too, as long as you leave directives for its meal plan and potty breaks.
2. Assume the dog hasn’t had any home training
One of the main problems with bringing a new dog home is the canine turning every corner of your house into a toilet. Firstly, you need to restrict their movement by confining them into an exercise pen.
An exercise pen is a small, confined space where they can move around but not out of. You can leave your dog here unsupervised with enough water and a litterbox. Take the pup out of that space at least once a day for exercises or a walk.
With time you can introduce the pet to other rooms in the house, but not all, and not at once. You don’t want to come home to your cute little husky chewing on your newest addition of sneakers!
The training should also be consistent. Dogs adapt more comfortably to daily routines than not. Letting the pup lose one day and locked up the next will confuse it, and it may start to exhibit behavioral changes.
Final Thoughts
You may not get everything right, but getting ready ahead of bringing a new canine home will spare you a lot of trouble. It only through prior preparation and after arrival training you will condition your new visitor to the well-behaved fur baby you wish to have.