5 tips to keep your dog happy and healthy

For us, devoted dog parents, changes in our lives often include our dog companions. Moreover, the stuff we do to keep our furry friends happy and healthy also commonly influence us as well. We owe them for better life and they deserve to get the same from us. Here are several tips to keep your dog happy and healthy.

For us, devoted dog parents, changes in our lives often include our dog companions. Moreover, the stuff we do to keep our furry friends happy and healthy also commonly influence us as well. We owe them for better life and they deserve to get the same from us. Here are several tips to keep your dog happy and healthy.

1. Do enough exercise

I call any physical activity an exercise – starting from common walks to intensive sports or training. Every dog needs different amount of physical activity and while some routine activities such as walking only fulfil their purpose, the more difficult and demanding activities might also be exciting challenges for your dog. Swap activities, for example make a walk more interesting by occasional fetch to keep the activity attractive for your dog. And if the weather is not very good to spend a lot of time outside, don’t forget to think of some amusement at home.

2. Stimulate dog’s mind

Dogs are instinctive, interactive creatures and count on you, as the leader of their pack, to provide them with enough opportunities to test their abilities and you will set forth new stimuli to keep their mind busy. Don’t forget that old dogs also like to explore new things. A stimulus might for example be learning a new trick, meeting new people or dogs or visiting an unknown place. A new toy is also beneficial.

3. Don’t neglect routine care

This is one of the most important things you can do for your dogs. Because they can’t tell you about their biological needs themselves, we have to be responsible enough and provide them with quality care in the form of balanced food, enough physical activity and exercising, regular vet checkups and other types of care such as fur, paw or tooth care.

4. Meet your dog’s nutritional requirements

They differ for each dog according to its breed, size, age, health, activities and physical burden, weather, environment where it lives, etc. So, there is no universal advice. It is a sure thing that it’s necessary to pick quality food or to choose a special version or diet and also to add a suitable food supplement according to your dog’s needs.

5. Show it love and affection

We shouldn’t take any relationship for granted, that applies to the relationship with our dog as well. It gives our life some meaning. Your dog expects you to strengthen your relationship, be it by cuddling on a couch or simply spending time together. It is the same as for people, everyday little things are crucial for maintaining a positive relationship. Showing your mutual love shouldn’t be a duty, but a reward. Moreover, this love is a powerful tool which can influence your dog’s behaviour, for example its reactions to other people and animals.

What do you consider to be important in taking care of your buddy to make it happy and healthy? Of course, every dog needs something different with regard to its physical, mental or social needs. Therefore, it is upon you to be perceptive enough and notice its needs.

 

Related articles

How rescue dogs are trained

In the previous article, we wrote about what rescuing people entails and which dog breeds are suitable for searching for people in collapsed buildings. This topic is so interesting that we decided to focus even more on dog training itself, i.e. on the...

Cats are not vegetarians! What belongs to a cat bowl?

Let’s be clear, cats are carnivores by nature.  They love meat. It is completely natural for them. Meat must be the basis of their daily nutrition. A cat cannot live without meat! Cats instinctively prefer foods high in meat. Feeds with meat aroma and...

Dogs to the rescue - How are rescue dogs trained?

There are questions that run through a person’s mind upon seeing dogs searching for people lost in the woods, stuck under the rubble of a collapsed building or drowning in a reservoir. How difficult is it for a dog to find such people? Can I train my...

How to proceed when a dog runs astray?

It is an unenviable situation no four-legged companion´s owner would like to get into. When your dog runs astray during a walk, for example because it discovers a hole in the fence or senses another animal that catches its attention, many of us panic...

Physiotherapy-based defense training fundamentals

We, humans, do take care of our bodies and our health. If our knee hurts, we go to the orthopaedist, if our back hurts for a long time, we probably start considering physiotherapy. The need to go to inspections regularly increases with the level of...

Dogs at shows: What Does It Take?

At dog shows, many dog lovers meet to show off with their beloved pets of pure breed. However, such events are not only beauty pageants as they could seem. They are also important for breeding and for pure-bred dog to mate. What happens on such shows...

Christmas Dinner for Your Pets

One of the most important parts of Christmas is Christmas Eve’s dinner. For example in the Czech Republic, it usually includes fish soup, fried carp or schnitzel and potato salad. However, the most important thing is that all loved ones should be at...

Original Christmas Gifts for Cats

At Christmas, we want to make our loved ones, those who are our loyal companions throughout the whole year, happy. It also applies to our furry friends. If you have a cat at home and you are thinking about what to give it at Christmas, we have a...