Health is of the utmost importance, both for humans and for animals, especially dogs. In order to lengthen the life expectancy of a dog, you need to take care of your pet, its health, and foster good habits over time. Indeed, the domestic animal is not able to take care of itself. It is therefore up to its owner, who is responsible for it, to ensure its daily well-being. But how do you feed it well and keep it in shape? How to avoid health problems for him? And why is it better to have him sterilized? Here is a reminder and many tips to optimize the quality of life of your dear four-legged friend.
To support its growth and promote its proper development, it is imperative that you provide optimal diet to your animal. You will therefore need to feed it daily, via a balanced diet, both in terms of quantity and quality. There are three types of dog food: industrial food in the form of croquettes or pâtés, homemade food, or mixed food, such as bi-nutrition balanced which is perfect for optimal hydration.
Although it is up to you to determine which type of food will best suit your 4-legged companion, depending on various factors (his breed, age, morphology, sensitivity, possible pathologies, etc.), he must give priority to industrial food grain free which is best suited to your dog’s nutritional needs. Zoomalia particularly recommends the mash and the croquettes enriched with animal proteins, to which you can, if necessary, add vitamins, minerals, or food supplements. In addition, to make your croquettes even more attractive, you can also sprinkle them with a tablespoon of salmon oil.
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Finally, note that whatever type of food you give him, it is strongly advised not to leave it available all day. Better to feed your dog once a day, or split his ration into two or three meals.
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2. Practice daily physical activity
If you own an animal, you will certainly have already seen it for yourself: it is certainly waiting with great impatience for the time of its daily release. Much more than allowing him to defecate outside, this walk has many physical and psychological benefits on your canine starting with the relationship it has with you.
Indeed, practicing physical exercise such as dog sports on a regular basis will allow your dog to strengthen his muscles and his skeleton, to develop well, to improve his blood circulation and to improve his proprioception. Not to mention that some breeds need a lot of exercise to channel their energy, feel good about their head, and improve character, stamina and socialization.
Be careful though to wait until your puppy’s growth is complete before starting a sport such as agility, canicross, dumbbells or discdog.
3. Adopt the principles of positive education
Positive training methods are currently the most commonly used and have proven to be the most effective in terms of results. Positive education consists in favoring soft methods, and rewarding good behavior, rather than reacting negatively to bad ones; punishments, cries, power struggles and submission are therefore totally excluded from this education. By acting as such with your dog, you will allow him to to feel safe with you and will get much more obedience from it than with any other training method.
the positive reinforcement is the key to your pet’s youth. In short, the latter will be happier, more fulfilled, and less stressed, which will inevitably contribute to his vital well-being.
4. Watch your dog’s weight
To keep your healthy dog, it is important to ensure the stability of its weight. Too high a weight can lead to many health concerns such as joint pain, digestive problems or a drop in its immune defenses. It is therefore strongly recommended to have it weighed regularly in order to prevent certain chronic diseases, such as diabetes, or obesity from setting in and causing more serious pathologies in the long term.
To maintain the healthy weight of your animal, it is advisable, whatever its age, to provide it with a suitable diet and to make it exercise on a regular basis.
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5. Regular vet appointments
The consultations with the veterinarian must take place at least once a year. During this annual visit, this professional will be able to check if all the vaccines and vaccine reminders of your animal are up to date, and in particular those intended to protect it from serious diseases such as rabies, distemper and hepatitis. by Rubarth.
This visit will also be an opportunity for him to make a balance sheet of health status of your animal, by checking, among other things, its ears, abdomen and weight, and detecting any possible lump in order to treat it and prevent it from developing and progressing into a more serious disease.
Likewise, at the end of the consultation, the veterinarian will be able to take stock of your companion’s meals and his daily life, but also give you a lot of advice allowing you to best meet his nutritional needs.
6. Actively fight against internal and external parasites
Many external parasites (fleas, ticks, chiggers, etc.) and internal (hookworms, protozoa, etc.) can affect your dog’s quality of life, but also compromise his health. It is therefore advisable to inspect its coat and hair after each walk to check if parasites are there or if your dog has been the subject of possible insect bites.
By doing so, you will prevent him from diseases such as piroplasmosis or leishmaniasis. As a preventive measure, do not hesitate to put a pest control collar, to use pest control products in spray or powder and to deworm regularly. If your pet is nevertheless infested, don’t forget to treat its personal effects, its environment and your habitat in addition to its coat.
7. Do not hesitate to sterilize or have your animal spayed.
Choose to sterilize or castrate your animal ibenefits their health, and therefore its lifespan. In females, sterilization reduces the risk of developing many diseases such as mammary tumors, uterine cancer, or even ovarian cancer. In males, castration decreases cancerous pathologies, testicular tumors, prostate problems or avoids suffering from a perineal hernia.
In fact, once sterilized, your pet will have a lot less desire to run away, and will therefore be less likely to be accidentally run over. Sterilization and castration can take place at any age, although it is recommended to do it as soon as possible to limit certain side effects such as too much weight gain, for example.
Although the life expectancy of a dog depends in part on the breed to which it belongs and its origins, the fact remains that its quality of life is just as important. Pets are a big part of families, and most of us naturally want them to live as long as possible. Whether you own a puppy or an adult dog, there is no never too late to act and apply all of our expert advice to allow your dog to age in good health and stay with you for long, long years.