3 Basic Things to Remember for Puppy Care

Not a lot of people really think about the time and effort they need to give when taking care of a puppy. Puppies can be compared to human toddlers, they need careful nurturing, affection and discipline to grow up a healthy and well socialized dog. From 6-8 weeks to 6 months, your puppy will start to experience rapid growth spurts and will learn to develop their personalities. Below are a few caring advises for your puppy during their early months.

Feeding time

Puppies grow really fast, and they also eat a lot. Choosing the right food will help let them grow strong and avoid illnesses like DM in dogs in the future. Give them a good dog food brand or start with a starter kit to make it easier. Starter kits are a big help especially if your puppy was separated from its mother at a younger age. This contains all the vitamins and nutrients it needs to develop string bones and muscles. At first, puppies need to be fed three times per day. Once they get to about twelve to thirteen weeks old, reduce feeding time to twice a day. Give your dog's treats in between means and let them "free feed" which means they can have whatever they want to eat.

Training

Puppies are very easy to train, but you have to make sure that you place in the time to give them training sessions. Training your dog is important, and some might think that it's just a few tricks. But training them as puppies actually lets them learn habits that they use for the rest of their life. It can also be a form of exercise to avoid illnesses like DM in dogs. Start giving them lessons at five to seven weeks old. Teach them basic commands like sit, stay, lie down and then move on to more difficult things. Remember, patients is needed so don't lose your temper.

More praises and less punishment

When it comes to training dogs, it's better to have a reward-punishment system. However, punishment to most dog owners seems a bit too harsh, especially for puppies. So they try as much as they can to not punish the puppies when it does something wrong. Instead, concentrate on a reward based system. If the puppy makes a mistake, correct their behavior. When they do a trick or a command correctly, give them a treat. Punishing a puppy will only cause it to fear you and even becoming aggressive. A reward-based system works much better among animals and training.