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How To Raise A Healthy Puppy

  • 02/04/2020
healthy-puppy.jpgRaising a healthy puppy from birth through to adulthood requires a lot of work for any K9 owner. This is especially true when you’ve only had an adopted adult rescue dog before and no experience of puppies.

There are different stages to a puppy’s development and things you need to know as you go along. Accordingly, we have developed this guide for how to raise a healthy puppy. Along the way, we will fill in some of the answers to questions that are commonly asked.

How Hard Is It to Raise a Puppy on Your Own?

Raising a puppy on your own means you’re taking it on single-handedly. It’s a brave thing to do because a new puppy will keep you hopping for sure.

Because your puppy is going to be so small, you’ll need to be healthy and fit enough to bend down to pick them up from time to time. They won’t be tall enough to jump up on the sofa to cuddle up with you, for instance, and will need a helping hand to get up and down unless you add a freestanding dog ramp they can figure out how to use with a little encouragement.

It’s also necessary to be present frequently throughout the day. Your puppy will need to be fed four times a day when only a few weeks old and eating solid food. Not in one single meal or two, one at the start of the day and the other after work. Therefore, it’s necessary to be present in the home to take care of them.

Being a stay-at-home parent or working from home are both suitable roles for bringing a puppy into the household for the first time.

Is It Easier to Raise a Pup as a Couple or As a Family?

When you’re a couple, try to arrange your schedule so that one or other of you is available every day.

A puppy needs a lot of time and attention. They won’t do well being left on their own. They will whine and be destructive. Long periods of being left alone can lead to anxiety and separation issues in some dogs. Consider hiring a pet-sitter or sending your pup to doggy daycare if you work full-time.

Is it any easier as a single parent or as a couple with one or more children?

While it’s very common for kids to want a puppy because they’re small, lively, cuddly and all fluffy, young children aren’t great at taking care of them. Therefore, it’s down to the parent(s) to do so. Trying to keep up with one or more children and a puppy certainly demands more in time and energy from you. Can you handle that? Plenty of families and single-parent households can, but it’s something to bear in mind.

Prepare a Space That’s Their Own Where They Can Be Contained

It’s not a good idea to have a puppy that’s allowed to run wild. For one thing, they’re not going to be potty trained yet, so you’ll be cleaning up messes all over the home. This will get old pretty fast.

Prepare a space for your puppy to hang out. If they’re very small, and perhaps naturally a smaller breed, then an enlarged box or crate is going to provide a safe puppy kennel for them. Alternatively, start with a box and then move to a contained room that is theirs.

One important thing to do when preparing a comfortable sleeping area for them is to include soft bedding and something with your smell on it. This will prevent them from feeling isolated and ignored because they still have a sense that you’re somewhere nearby. This is very important if you want to keep them calm when they’re in their box or room trying to fall asleep; an anxious puppy won’t get enough sleep. Remember, sleep is necessary for their growth. 

Establish Regular Routines That Your Puppy Can Get Accustomed To

A puppy needs consistency. It’s rather like raising children. For example, whenever parents travel anywhere, young children will insist on knowing where they’re going, how they’re getting there and what time they’ll arrive. It’s similar with a puppy. They need assurance, and a routine gives them a sense of that.

Puppies mealtimes should be at a regular time each day (more on their eating plan later in this guide). Also, when teaching them to go for a walk, it should again be built into the day at a predictable time for them, so they learn to expect it. Similarly, encouraging them to go to bed for the night and leaving them alone at that point should be done at the same time too.

Consistency is critical with puppies, otherwise, they’ll struggle to learn to accept things as an older dog.

House Training a Puppy and Having a Plan for Accidents

Puppies take different amounts of time to become house trained. They will learn to communicate with you when they need to go. However, this won’t happen right away.

It’s true that pups have small bladders and so cannot hold on for more than three hours before needing to go. If you’re going to be out for longer than this and cannot check up on them regularly, then consider adding some puppy pads for them to do their business. Once they get used to it, cleanup will be much easier. However, it’s important to only use puppy pads occasionally because you need to train them to go outside and not to always use the pads.

Puppy Feeding Guide

As a puppy feeding guide, some basics are important to understand. What your puppy eats and how often it eats is a huge factor in its development and healthy growth. Without high-quality nutrient-rich food, their bodies won’t have the energy they need, and their continued development will be stunted. This is why many puppy owners turn to the website of Dr Gary Richter for supplements that will boost the health of their puppy. Alongside a healthy diet, these supplements will ensure the puppy is getting all of the nutrients it requires.

Best dog food for puppies

New puppy owners often wonder what diet is best for a pup that’s full of life and is a growing girl or boy. We’d suggest that raw dog food for puppies is the best for your pooch as regular puppy food, which is high in carbohydrates, may lead to a nutritional imbalance and unwanted weight gain.

Raw puppy food offers many benefits worth mentioning. These include a lack of emphasis on carbohydrates, plenty of protein to help them grow big and strong with healthier bones and joints, and valuable macronutrients too. From a developmental perspective, raw food is good for their digestive system and because it does not include processed pet food, it’s significantly healthier for their bodies.

How to Get a Puppy to Accept Raw Dog Food?

You don’t need to prepare raw food for your puppy. Top-quality raw food can be bought online from a quality brand like Bella and Duke. Select the food that’s suitable for your puppy and have it shipped to your door. This makes it nice and easy to introduce your puppy to raw dog food. If they are currently eating processed food, make the switch gradually, to avoid any stomach upsets.

Puppy Feeding Frequency

If you’re wondering how often to feed a puppy, the answer is: it depends.

  • When they’re between 8 weeks and 16 weeks old, they’ll need to eat four times every day.
  • As they get older and are between 16 weeks and 12 months, reducing down to three times each day is fine.
  • Between 12-18 months, two mealtimes a day is plenty.

To understand more about puppy care in the early stages, this article is a must-read as it will help to fill in any gaps in your knowledge that still exist. It explains the health benefits of raw dog food diets and why it’s so much better for a pup’s health.

Raising a healthy, happy puppy is all about taking the right steps to ensure they grow up into a lively, well-fed, and loved little ball of activity! They give back more love than they receive but watch out. The innocence in their eyes will melt even the strongest of hearts.

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