Acquiring and taking care of a new puppy is always exciting and challenging at the same time whether you are experienced dog owner or a newbie puppy owner. However, as the owner of a puppy, you definitely, want the best for your new puppy. An unhappy puppy may end up having social issues such as scratching the doors, carpet, relieving themselves in the house, jumping to visitors and chewing on non-toy objects for example shoes are the most targets. It is, therefore, important to make sure the puppy is always happy. This is not an obvious task and there are very many puppy owners who fail at it and end up with an anti-social puppy.
In order to be able to keep a puppy happy, it is important for the owner to understand what would make the puppy happy, what would make it unhappy and the rationale behind the two concepts. Like people puppies have feelings and depending on what is done to them they can be sad, angry and happy. The social environment where the puppy grow in should be full of care, happiness and love. Puppies copy our feelings and if we are stressed, they are likely to be stressed as well.
These are the happy puppy to do points
Feed your puppy regularly with quality food
You need to feed your puppy roughly 3-4 times a day, especially when it is very young, so that it never feels hungry. Hungry puppy will not be happy and may be restless and bark endlessly in an attempt to ask for food. Puppies need a lot of food since they grow very quickly, and they are also very active. Puppies spend most of their time playing and this takes up a lot of energy. Because of this, it is imperative to give them enough food to enable them grow and play. It is also important to give puppies food which is rich in nutrients which help the puppy to grow and remain healthy. Food which is not rich in nutrients will make the puppy malnourished and the puppy may end up sick due to poor immune system. Food items may include home cooked diets-meat, rice, oats, dilute milk- or commercial feeds sold at your local pet shop. Ensure to give the puppy a lot of water to drink since water is needed to keep the puppy healthy and hydrated. A timetable for feeding your puppy is a good guideline to help in keeping time as to when to feed the puppy. Clean and specific bowls for feeding the puppy must be used. This may also act as a conditioning tool to the puppy. This will allow the puppy to know to stay away from food that is not meant for it and when it’s time for feeding. Feeding homemade diets may be a challenge in terms of giving a balanced diet. The tricky to alternate feedstuff, as a result you will likely provide the puppy with all the necessary nutrients which may lack in one feedstuff but found in another.
Grooming the puppy
Grooming the puppy may include bathing, clipping its nails, brushing its fur or even just petting it. This will make the puppy very happy. Be careful to introduce the grooming activities gradually, a sudden introduction to grooming will make the puppy to dislike some of the activities. When the puppy is used to being groomed, then it will start to enjoy the activity a lot more. The puppy feels good when you groom it because the brush feels like a massage on the skin of the dog and this makes the puppy feel comfortable. Grooming also makes the puppy clean enough to spend time with you and other family members. This ensures that you don’t neglect the puppy in order to keep your clothes and house clean; if the puppy is dirty and not groomed, you might be forced to keep it outside and away from you which will make it feel very neglected and lonely. Grooming stimulates healthy fur coat for the developing puppy. Therefore, are well groomed puppy will be beneficial to the puppy wellbeing and the hygiene of the owner.
Bathing is very key when it comes to puppy hygiene. However, many puppy owners may be confused on whether to bath the puppy or not. For sure the puppy is supposed to be bathed using quality puppy shampoo. Bathing may be done every fortnight, as frequent bathing may dry the puppy skin which may predispose it to skin problems.
Spend time with your puppy
Although many people may not know this, puppies may feel lonely especially when they are alone with no partner puppy or another nurturing dog. One way to make your puppy happy is by spending time with it and providing companionship so that the puppy will start to create the natural bond of affection towards the owner. There are very many activities you can carry out with a puppy. These may include tug of war purposely target to train your puppy emotional control by introducing commands such as drop it. Playing frisbee can also give your puppy a great exercise. Make sure the distances are shorter first and then increase as your puppy grows. You may also introduce your puppy to a simple agility course by use of obstacles to mentally stimulate your puppy. Puppies love to be cuddled and this make them feel loved and very happy. You can cuddle with the puppy while watching your favorite tv show or if you are just using social media.
Buy toys for your puppy
Puppies get bored quickly and the only to alleviate the boredom is by having quality toys for the puppy to play with. Puppy toys provide entertainment and more importantly they reduce discomfort during teething
A variety of puppy toys are available in the market and might be a challenge to select the correct one for your fur kid. The rule of the thumb is to buy toys based on the age of your puppy. Teething puppies will require soft toys to chew on and relieve the gum discomfort while older puppies will require chewable toys to clean their teeth and for more robust play exercises. Most importantly, your furniture and shoes will last long since they will be spared from being punched with those scissor sharp teeth.
Squeaky toys and fluffy toys can be very comforting for puppies who their owners left them for work or holiday. Such puppies will suffer from separation anxiety and it’s important to provide them with mind stimulating toys to keep them busy until their owners are back. Puzzle toys will always do a great job with those curious puppies as by solving the puzzle they get a treat from the toy. Note that it’s important to supervise your puppy as they play with the toys so that they don’t break and swallow them. Quality toys should be selected to avoid these accidents.
Take a walk with your puppy
We might be very busy going to work, a restaurant, church or school while the puppy stays inside the house the entire day; because of this the puppy gets very bored and needs a way to cheer up and do something new. Therefore, always try to take your puppy on a walk around the neighborhood this allows the puppy to see new things that are interesting. If you’re not capable to take your puppy for walks it’s advisable to have a puppy sitter, though its preferred to get bonding with your puppy though such walks. Puppy walks are only advised if your puppy is vaccinated against the 3rd dose of its normal vaccines. If this is done, its time to go around and meet other puppies or dogs to interact with. These interactions are very important to the development of a puppy. This can be a very nice experience for your puppy and for yourself as you may find yourself amused by some of the things that the puppy might do and end up having fun yourself. Another reason why such walks are important is because it trains your puppy how to behave around people other than you. It is important for your puppy to have all these experiences at a young age. It might also help you to understand some of the vices that the puppy might have for you to be able to train it and eliminate these vices as early as possible. Depending on age of your puppy you may start with 15 minutes of walk twice per day and increase the walk time as the puppy grows. So, buy a leash and take a walk with your puppy.
Provide a warm place for your puppy to sleep
The first day of having new puppy can be abit challenging as to where your puppy will sleep. Some people may opt to sleep with their puppy in their own bed. There is nothing wrong with this, but you need to be realistic whether you allow your puppy to sleep with until grown up or for the rest of its life. Prior to bringing you fur-baby home you should decide and identify a warm corner in the house. Most realistic its in the sitting room or in the kitchen. The place should be free from noise and easy to clean. Use of crate or just puppy beds require a cosy beddings with puppy paddings to avoid any accidents during the night for example food and pee spilling. Puppies like contained beddings as they provide sense of security and comfort. For the first few days to a week a sleep training may be required as the puppy gets used to the new environment. Therefore, sometimes in the first few days you may to wake up and check on your puppy. Most puppies learn their new environment quickly and they should be able to sleep alone in a couple of days without problems
Vaccinate and have health checkup done by your veterinarian
Vaccinations are very key to your fur-baby. They determine the how healthy your puppy grows and prevent most of the deadly viral and bacterial disease. You should be able to discuss with your veterinarian on the best vaccines for your puppy based on the locality your based on. Vaccines and health check ups provide a healthy background for a happy puppy in the development process. Some of the diseases which your puppy may need at different stages of its early life include; canine parvo virus, canine hepatitis, canine leptospirosis, canine corona virus and rabies among other which your veterinarian will advice based on the disease prevalence in the area
Conclusion:
Puppies are adorable and have feelings. To keep them entertained, mentally exercised and healthy, keep the puppy well fed, well groomed, exercised and make it feel like you are its family and master, after all, dogs are social animals so a puppy should grow up surrounded by love and care. The fur-babies are members of the family and they should always be happy just like all other family members Having talked about the dos for the happy puppy the following are the don’ts
- Don’t cane your puppy despite the mistake rather talk to your puppy
- Don’t keep your puppy on the crate throughout the day
- Don’t feed your puppy chocolates or family food leftovers with spices
- Don’t let puppies swallow their toys