Making your dog comfortable : Part 1

Taking your new puppy home
Ideally, your puppy should be about ten weeks old when it is taken form the litter. Any younger, and important social skills, such as play and feeding, that it learns from its mother and the rest of the litter, will not be fully developed. This can lead to troublesome behavior as your puppy develops into a mature dog. Take your new puppy home in a special carry case or wrapped in a blanket on your knee. Always have some tissues in case the puppy is car sick.

House breaking your puppy
As soon as you arrive home, offer your puppy the chance to relieve itself outside. If the weather is cold and wet, stand your puppy on some newspapers indoors. Praise your pet when it uses the newspapers. Ignore it if it soils any other surface unless it is outside the home. The puppy will soon realize that it must only use the newspapers.
 

Going outside

Eventually, you can reduce the newspapers to one sheet at the back door and this can removed altogether when the dog learns to relieve itself outside. House breaking your pet could take up to four or five weeks depending on the breed of puppy and its age.

Understanding your dog : Part 2

Hearing

The ears of a dog vary in shape depending on the breed. Some are long and floppy, like the Cocker Spaniel's, while others are smaller and pricked, like a terrier's. Regardless of ear shape, a dog's hearing is much sharper than a human's. Your puppy or dog can detect high pitched sounds which you can't hear.

The dog's coat

A dog's coat acts as a protective layer. Some breeds have very fine hair while others have a wiry or coarse coat. There are also so-called “hairless” breeds that have a thick, protective skin rather than a coat of hair. Some breeds molt while others, such as many terriers, do not. This is worth taking into account when choosing the ideal breed for your family.

Teeth

A dog has 42 teeth. They are specially developed to allow dogs to tear and chew meat and gnaw bones Dogs have large fangs, called canines, at the front of their mouths. Wild dogs use these as weapon to attack their prey.

Claws

A dog's claws grow continually and can cause your pet discomfort if the are not kept to a reasonable length. If your dog walks regularly on concrete its claws may naturally wear down. Otherwise they will need regular trimming. Your vet will be able to advise you about this.

Understanding your dog : Part 1

The dog's skeleton

The dog's skeleton is made up of tow main type of bone; long bones that are located in the spine and flat bones which are found, for example, in the skull and pelvis. Although all dogs have the same basic skeleton, their bones do vary in size and shape form breed to breed.

Sight

The dog's eye has upper and lower eyelids with a duct to drain away fluid and a third eyelid which helps to keep the surface of the eye clean. The dog's eye has developed from the time when packs hunted at dusk and light was limited. In semidarkness the dog's eye reflects back light and this enhances any slight movements in the distance.

Sense of smell

A dog's sense of smell is much more developed than a human's “Sniffing” is a very important part of a dog's life. When dogs meet each other, smelling is part of there greeting. A dog also uses smell to mark out its territory. When your dog or puppy urinates it leaves its scent and, by doing so, marks its territory which other dogs can smell when they visit the same spot. A healthy dog has a wet nose. This helps it to detect smells.