Getting your first puppy could be one of the happiest days of your life, especially if you’ve been waiting for it to happen for a long time.
As a new pet owner, you may want to ensure you provide your pet with the best and most comfortable life, allowing them to grow healthy and strong under your care.
While giving enough love and attention would help, you need to do plenty of things as a pet owner.
When getting your first puppy, you have to ensure you’re emotionally, physically, and financially ready for the responsibilities that come along with it.
While toilet training your puppy is one factor you should worry about, you should prepare for a lot more things. Listed below are some of the preparations you should do when getting your first puppy.
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1. Puppy-Proof Your Home
Before you bring home your new puppy, ensure your home is already puppy-proof. This would guarantee they won’t face any harm or dangers, which could put their lives at risk.
You can begin by removing all the toxic indoor plants you might have at home as your puppy won’t know which plants are harmful and which ones are safe.
Because of their young age, they’d like to chew around anything they can. If they accidentally play with a toxic plant, it could put their lives at risk.
Additionally, you could add a gate by the stairs to prevent your puppy from falling over high places or trying to climb up the stairs and failing to go down safely.
You should also keep electrical wirings and household cleaning supplies out of reach. In this way, you can guarantee their safety and prevent any dangers around your home.
2. Prepare A Puppy Corner
Even if you welcome your puppy inside your home with open arms, it’d be beneficial to provide a puppy corner where your pet can have a place where they could feel safe and secure.
As it’d be their first time to set foot in your home, they might feel scared about their new environment, making them feel uncomfortable and anxious.
To avoid overwhelming your new puppy, prepare a puppy corner where you can allow them to stay for as long as they want.
You can choose to add a puppy bed, dog bowls, and chew toys around the area. That way, they’d know it’s their place, which would allow them to adjust accordingly.
3. Look For A Vet
No matter how healthy your puppy is, you need to bring them to the vet for their regular shots. By doing this, you could prevent any possible illnesses or diseases that may lead to fatal situations.
There might also be instances when your puppy could fall in sick or meet an accident, requiring professional help. Therefore, looking for a reliable vet would be a great choice.
An ideal scenario would be to look for a vet near your area so you can quickly get to the clinic during pet emergencies. This would help prevent any complications that might occur during a long travel time.
You could also ask for recommendations from your neighbors, which could save you time trying out different veterinary clinics.
4. Research Well
While you may read plenty of good stories about pets and their owners, you should be aware of some setbacks that might come along with them.
Committing to a new puppy isn’t like bringing home a teddy bear you could quickly return if you find something wrong with it.
Before getting your new pet, research well about what types of responsibilities you’re required to fulfill as a new puppy owner.
Apart from the playful moments you’d get to spend with your pet, you need to prepare to walk them daily to give them the exercise they need. You’d also need to bring them to the vet for their regular vaccines.
You’d likewise need to look after them by picking up after their business and bathing them at least once a week.
With all these tasks, you should know that taking care of a puppy isn’t a walk in the park but a responsibility you need to commit to.
5. Get Support
If you’re living in your home with your family, you should encourage them to be responsible pet owners as well.
That way, you can all look after your new puppy’s health and affection, allowing them to be happy during their stay in your home.
In case you’re living alone, you may need to get proper support and help from people who can look after your puppy while you’re away.
If you’d need to be away from home for a couple of days, hiring a dog sitter would be helpful.
Hiring a dog walker would be beneficial, too, if you don’t have enough time to give your dog their daily walks from your busy schedule.
Conclusion
Getting a new puppy is a huge responsibility you should prepare for. Apart from having enough financial capability to care for your dog, you should still provide them enough love and time to make them feel happy while under your care.
A few short minutes of playing catch, along with quick cuddles, would surely lift your dog’s spirits.