How very exciting—you have a new dog! Congratulations! Whether you’ve bought a purebred puppy or adopted an older rescue dog, whether you have just started planning or have the critter in your lap right now, there are five things you should attend to right away to get started on the right paw.
1. Food
Raw food in Stainless Steel Bowls
I can’t say it often enough: Healthy dogs eat healthy food. Dog Momma definitely promotes a healthy diet prepared in your kitchen—based mostly on raw food. If you are just not ready to take this step yet, check out our recommendations for commercial dog foods.
Dogs are resilient and adaptive, so you can start with one food and change your mind as you learn more. Any improvement in a dog’s diet is generally easy on (and welcomed by) their digestive system.
2. Dog Place(s)
Walk your dog around the house and yard and show him where he is allowed and not allowed. Keep doing this a couple times a day until he gets the hang of it.
Designate a special safe spot—a bed, rug, or crate, for example, and teach your dog to go there when he needs a break or when you tell him to. Teach others to respect that area so it can truly be a safe haven for the dog. Pick a location with walls on one or two sides for good Feng Shui. Use treats and even meals to reinforce how special that spot is.
3. Water
This one is easy to do, but easy to forget if you’re not in the habit. Keep fresh water available in a clean dish—always. Sage has gotten us into the habit of washing the bowl every day because she will drink out of the toilet rather than share her brother’s saliva! She’s fine with drinking from the bowl if we keep our end of the deal up.
4. Housetraining
Housetraining isn’t the bear some people make it out to be. Follow the tips in Way to Go! How to Housetrain a Dog of Any Age, and you’ll have your dog toilet trained in no time. Following this book, we housetrained two puppies in a couple of weeks each, working up to full access to the house all day long by the time we’d had them four months.
5. Getting out
Dogs need lots and lots (and lots) of exercise. From day one, start teaching your dog to walk nicely on a loose lead—the key to happy walks for both dog and human. Happy walks—and other forms of exercise—are in turn key to dog health and good behavior.
If your dog is a puppy, you should have no trouble teaching loose-lead walking using Dog Momma’s technique. An older dog who has been allowed to pull all his life is—believe me, I know from experience—a bigger challenge. Our dog Logan clearly has the sled-dog gene, and we’ve sometimes thought of building him a sled on wheels. But with patience, even a natural-born puller with plenty of experience can be taught to keep the leash loose. Be sure to choose equipment that won’t hurt your dog.
If you take care of these five things early on with your new dog, the two of you will be on the road to a happy and healthy relationship. After that, explore Dog Momma’s other Health and Training tips to see how to make your relationship even better!
