A healthy dog is a happy one but dogs rely on their owners to ensure they stay fit and healthy throughout their lifetime. The more you can look after your dog, the longer life they’ll likely live and that’s something that you’ll want them to have, especially when they bring you so much joy, love, and attention. Here are some tips to keep your dog healthy throughout its life.
Take Them For A Daily Walk Or Two
Walking can be different for various breeds and depending on the breed of dog you have, will depend on how often you take them out. Just like humans, there will be times where they don’t want to go outside but it’s important for their health to maintain daily exercise. Your dog might only need a brief 15-minute walk whilst other dogs may need up to an hour and a half. Some dogs may have just the one walk a day whereas others may have two or three. It’s really down to the breed and the activeness of your dog’s behavior towards exercise too.
If you can, try to take them out for at least one walk per day, and if you get bored easily of the same route, try to mix it up every now and then.
Avoid Overfeeding
Overfeeding is something that’s easily done, especially as some dog food can often look a little on the small side in relation to human food. However, it’s important to try and stick to the recommended amounts that your dog should have every day. Going beyond this can lead to your dog putting on more weight than is advised and that could cause further health problems. It’s not something that you want to put your dog through, especially as losing the fat can be a lot harder when it comes to the exercise needed.
Try to avoid overfeeding and to do so, try weighing everything out instead of guessing. If you guess, then it’s likely going to be the wrong amount and that’s not something that you want happening every time you feed your dog.
Be Cautious With Human Food
As humans, we don’t really think about human food being particularly dangerous unless we have allergies. However, some foods that humans eat are deadly to dogs and so it’s important to become clued up on what they can and can’t eat. It’s normal for most owners to give scraps of meat or vegetables that are leftover but it’s important that what you feed them is going to be good for their stomach and not dangerous.
Chocolate is obviously one of the big no-nos but there are things like onions and grapes that you shouldn’t feed to your dog. Being aware of what you can’t give is also going to make you more cautious when cooking too. Dogs are notorious for being your personal hoover but you don’t want them picking up anything that you’ve dropped and that could be harmful to them.
For the most part, give them treats that you can find here and stick to dog food where possible.
Get Them To The Vets Annually For Check-Ups
Checkups are definitely important when it comes to attending the vets and dogs are like humans, they need an annual check-up. If you’re not registered with a local vet already then now is the time to sign up. It’s quick and easy and taking them to the vets is going to help bring anything to light that you perhaps weren’t even aware of. They’re a great thing to have if you have any concerns about their health and wellbeing too.
When looking for a vet, make sure it’s somewhere that’s close by, especially when it comes to emergencies and that will be able to cater for your appointments. Some may be more popular than others and therefore the booking availability might differ from place to place. Try to get them in at least once a year and book it out in the calendar so that you remember. It can be the difference between catching something that prolongs their life to getting something that limits their life. You want to have as much time with them as possible.
Make Sure They’re Well Groomed
Just like humans, dogs need grooming. The health of their coat is important, as is their nails and paw pads. If there’s any neglect to the grooming, then there is a danger of the dog picking up harmful bacteria and diseases that could make the dog ill over time. It’s important that depending on the type of breed, you’re taking them to get their coat cut and groomed properly every so often. Some owners prefer to do it themselves but to save on the fuss, it might be something that you want to treat your dog to and for an opportunity to leave them with someone else for a bit.
Make sure that your dog is healthy by grooming them regularly at home. This can be just brushing through their coat every now and then just so they can get used to being groomed by others.
Keep On Top Of Preventative Medications
Preventative medication is essential because it’s going to help your dog from getting ill and catching anything that they don’t want to catch. Things like worming tablets and flea spot-on treatments are just two preventative medications that are going to keep your dog from any additional dangers. As they’re roaming about when walking, you never know what they could potentially be bringing in. By having these preventative measures, it makes sure that it kills anything that attaches itself to your dog and will help them continue to live a happy and healthy life.
You want your dog to live as long as possible and that is mainly down to how active you are in your efforts to keep them healthy. Use these tips to stay on top of things and to make sure that your dog is fit and healthy for a long, long time!
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