Owning a pet, as with a marriage or raising a child, can be a skill that you get better at over time. Pet care, even if it is a skill that you learn through trial and error, doesn’t have to be as painstaking as it sounds. Read on for a few fun pointers that will help you make sure that your little furry friends will live a long and healthy life.
Buying a pet isn’t supposed to be a spontaneous decision any more than falling in love with someone is. Certainly, your child might look at that cute little puppy in the window at the pet store and refuse to walk one more step without the pooch safely in his arms. But pets have personalities; families have personalities too. You need to put a lot of careful consideration into whether these two can go together. You also have to see how well a pet will fit into your kind of lifestyle. For instance, a terrier may look scruffy and cute and may catch your fancy; but terriers are diggers. They have to have a garden or else they’re going to be very unhappy. A big part of successful pet care happens to be giving it the kind of environment it needs. Love isn’t the only thing it needs, obviously. You need to do quite a bit of research to see if the dog you have your heart set on would be a good fit for your home.
A pet that comes by a few bad habits isn’t going to be a good fit for your home. You mustn’t do anything like forgetting to sign your pet up for obedience training (for a puppy, eight weeks would be the ideal age). Without training in good behavior at the right age, your pet won’t be able to command the affections of everyone in your family. This will be a disaster for your pet and its health.
Socializing and exercise are two of the most basic pet care needs in the world. Pets need to be introduced to all kinds of people and all kinds of animals in your environment right at the time they are really young. Leave it off for too late, and they’ll be fearful of every new kind of social contact that they make. Not to mention, dogs need to be able to see other dogs from time to time to be able to feel normal. You can’t leave your pet home alone for too long either. In case you’ve never noticed, pets have a lot in common with children with ADHD. They have all this nervous energy. As a pet owner, you need to give the animal plenty of opportunity to let off some steam. Make sure that your pet is never bored – give him games to play. And make sure that he gets plenty of exercise. You happen to be your pet’s whole world. You do need to give your pet the kind of stimulation the whole world give it if it happened to be out in the wild.