When bringing home a new dog, a bright eyed and bushy tailed puppy or a rescue rearing for a new place to call home, you need to make sure that you are ready for the new roommate. Pet care includes puppy-proofing your house and yard, as well as putting yourself in a new mindset. If you haven’t had a dog before there are going to be quite a few changes that need to be made.
First let’s look at your house. See that small trinket your aunt/dad/sister/friend brought back from their trip to Aruba/Rome/Shanghai/Reno? Well it’s probably not in a good spot on the low coffee table because, while you’ve always hated that gift, it does not belong in your dogs mouth or caught in its throat. Until your dog is trained you need to make sure that your house is puppy-proofed. That being said, I have heard of stories of a dog swallowing entire tennis balls. Yup, more than one, full sized tennis balls. So just keep an eye on your dog to see what he enjoys “playing” with the most because sometimes your dog may surprise you, and not in a good way.
What happens if you have an entire room of fragile, indigestible, trinkets? You have two choices: Convert the entire room or sell the dog. KIDDING! Most likely there are rooms in your house where you do not want your dog wandering into, for his sake and yours. In these cases you can look into buying an indoor electric dog fence. You can travel from room to room without worry of tripping over any ugly toddler style fences between doorways, but your dog will stay safely out of specific areas.
Pet care also includes a place for your new rescue/puppy to sleep! You can’t let the newest member of the family to sleep on the cold ground, but I’m not saying you have to allow your dog to sleep at the foot of your bed. You should get a dog bed or a crate for the new pup. Just make sure the pillow, blanket or whatever bedding inside your dogs asylum is washed often. It needs to be a clean and dry spot for your new pet to come back to during hot, cold, rainy or snowy days.
Your dog is now part of the family so just remember that pet care is just as important as care for the humans in the household!
Check back for Part 2