What is the best piece of advice that you have received to ensure that you have a healthy dog?

My family has recently adopted a dog and I just wanted to know of any useful advice that anyone has to share. She's a boxer mix named Lucy and she is just a sweetheart.What is the best piece of advice that you have received to ensure that you have a healthy dog?
To understand exactly what a dog is, he is a pack animal and as so needs lots of social contact with the family to be emotionaly stable. Training and feeding is part of that. Pretty much anything and everything you do will effect your dog from leaving for work and how you go about it to crate training, to feeding time, to how you retire at night. IE.. about a half hour before bed I turn off the lights and just turn the tv down real low and tell mine it is ';quiet time'; he starts to settle and by the time I say ';ok, bed time I almost have to carry him to bed he is so relaxed. Consistancy goes a long way toward training made easy. Look up the below link for some great ideas. Thanks for saving one more of man's best friend! You have a great time with Luci! PS - if I may give one more piece of advice... never give any people food till you are done, then if she has been good and not begged all the way through dinner, when everyone is done give her the last bite, just one bite if she will sit and be calm. Tell her good girl, then show her your hands and say ';all gone';. I do not advocate people food for dogs, no greasy food like prime rib or any fried food, but I will give him the last piece of crust from pizza, a spoonful of macncheese, last bite of sandwich, etc. IF he has been a good boy. OK, one last little FYI... I know she is new and so cute now and if she is a puppy everything she does is adorable but do not allow her to do something she should not do as a full grown dog even once, it will confuse her for one. IF she has not been abused, if she has you will know it.. she will cower if you raise your hand above her head quickly or raise your voice may even pee... , if she has NOT been abused I myself have no problem being very stern with my voice so we are all clear what is a no no. Dogs are vocal animals and will bark to communicate so when I was training mine.. all, lord over forty at least that I have either fostered or adopted I would bark out ';NO'; the first time a paw was laid on a counter or a snout came close to my plate and I would slam my hand down on the counter/table as hard as I could (never! touching the dog, just making noise). Has always worked for me and mine had no ';emotional scaring';, we were just all very clear on what was not allowed. IF SHE HAS BEEN ABUSED consult a professional on techniques as this is a very different situation and requires special care.What is the best piece of advice that you have received to ensure that you have a healthy dog?
well it goes like this you can buy all the diets get all the treatments but a healthy dog is a healthy dog. its just in the dna just like humans some get sick more some get sick less its just the luck of the draw i guess
Take the dog to the vet for annual checkups and shots, and always be on the lookout for strange behavior--the first sign that something is wrong!
fence your yard
Regular vet checks are so important, along with vaccinations etc. Education and knowledge- there are many good books, check your library. It is so good to see someone being responsible and caring. Lucy is a lucky dog.
Vaccinate.


Use a leash.
diet. buy high quality dog food. better food = better health :) less chance of gum disease, bad breath, tooth decay, arthritis, cancers, gas (farts), and more. And higher quality food means the dog can eat less of it, and uses more of the nutrients out of it so there is less poop! lol. check out this website to find the best dog food you can for your new friend :) http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_…
Patience is the best piece of advice I can give to anyone who adopts a dog. All of my dogs have been rescues, and I know that sometimes it can be hard with them, but you have to remember their ';past life'; probably wasn't the greatest.


Other than that, don't be shy with the loving, and make sure that you follow the common sense rules of dog-owning (licenses, leashes, name tags, vet visits, etc)
PLEASE: Check out this web site listed below. It has been found that most 'grocery store' foods as well some of the foods pushed by veterinarians are bad bad bad. Most of the pet food industry has done a no no. They are advertising that their foods are 'completely balanced and nutritional' when in fact there have unbelievable ingredients in them. There are 25+ company's that are included in a class action law suit for this reason. Please just go to any search engine and type in 'pet food false advertising' and see what you find out. I learned this the hard way by loosing a dog and a horse. Trying to save money feeding them ended up with the loss of 2 precious 'family members' It may be a bit more expensive to feed holistic food but it saves in the long run. My doberman had TERRIBLE allergies and the vet suggested Iams, then Science Diet. Well, he got really sick and after 4 days of no food but also no prednisone, he got better. The result was that I realized it was the food. I began feeding him holistic human grade food and he no longer has any allergies. That speaks for itself. My golden retriever has more life than she's ever had and I don't have the huge vet bills. Good luck
get health insurance for your dog, it only cost about $30.00 a month but it can save you tons of money down the road. I got my dog insurance when she was a puppy a few years later she needed a $1500.00 operation to repair her leg the insurance paid for most of it. It has been a life saver %26amp; covers shots, annual checkups etc. I use VPI pet insurance
Thank you for adopting ! Feed her a high quality food ex. Canidae or Blue Buffalo. Also stay current on her vaccinations, heart guard, ect.. Good luck to you %26amp; your new dog !
keep up on their shots,exercise,%26amp; give them plenty of love!
Than you can never give a dog too much loving.