Starting Off on the Right Paw
Bringing a dog into your home can be a wonderful experience. Whether you have children and want to teach them responsibility and give them a friend to play with or you’re just looking for a companion yourself, a dog is a wonderful addition to the family. It’s very important to start off on the right foot with your new dog so that they can live alongside you in harmony.
Dogs are incredible pets, but they require attention and discipline. If you are raising the dog from a young age, it is especially important to teach the puppy boundaries. The three main areas in which dogs require your attention early on include behavior, feeding, and house training.
Using the Bathroom
One of the first issues that people with new dogs face is house training them. It is crucial to establish a schedule for when and where they can relieve themselves, as a puppy will pee inside your house until you train him/her to do otherwise. Start with a pen and newspapers at first when you can’t be there, and then take them out for walks several times a day. Leaving the dog in the yard for some of the time is alright (provided that the yard is fenced in and the dog has access to a shelter, such as a doghouse, and ample water), but the lesson about not going to the bathroom in the house will still need to be reinforced. A steady schedule, once the puppy is old enough, will teach the dog bladder control and proper behavior can be rewarded with small, healthy treats in moderation.
Chow Time
Meal time is a responsibility that you share with your dog and the training we provide is helpful not only for your pet, but also for you as an owner. As with house training, feeding the dog on a schedule is ideal for their health and digestion. Aside from timing, however, it is important to understand your new family member’s nutritional needs. Knowing what you can and can’t feed your dog is vital to their health (as an overdose of chocolate, certain types and parts of an avocado, and live yeast can all be fatal). In addition, you should always find out how much to feed your dog in terms of portions and stick with it. This can vary greatly according to the breed, as well as how active the dog is. Reading a book on the breed will help, but bringing your dog in for instruction will accelerate the process considerably.
Behavioral Issues
You must be willing to devote time to raising your dog properly, especially at the beginning of your relationship and dog training in Baltimore MD will help you to do just that. Behavioral issues such as how the dog greets you, whether he/she jumps on people too much, and whether or not your pet can sit on command will all be addressed. It’s important to define the parameters of your relationship with your dog and establish dominance so that you can enjoy playing, walking, and living together without a hitch.
At the end of the day, dogs are man’s best friend – the best way to strengthen that friendship is by training them so that they will behave well around you and others, enriching the lives of everyone around them.