There are few things in the world cuter than a puppy. People who want to be a dog parent usually prefer to get their dogs as puppies. People who have had puppies before can be experienced and informed about the issues that we will talk about below. However unlike adult dogs, some important issues should have known by people who will be a puppy parent for the first time. The Petship has explained the must-have needs of puppies:
1. Frequent Care: Puppies require care frequently, just like babies. From feeding to play, you need to take care of your puppy frequently. Therefore, it is likely that people who work very hard or cannot spare time during the day will not be able to meet these needs of puppies. You need to be together with your puppy at least 4 or 5 times a day and take care of them.
2. Frequent Feeding: It should be known that the digestive tract of puppies is short and they need to be fed frequently. 2 months+ old puppies need feeding 3-4 times a day. People who will be a puppy parent should pay attention to this order.
3. Limited Cognitive Perception: It should be known that the cognitive perception of puppies is limited, and puppy parents should adjust their expectation accordingly. It is wrong to expect from a puppy the mental perception, reaction and decisive behavior of an adult dog. since the cognitive perception develops over time, just like in children. That's why it's important to be tolerant and set expectations accordingly.
4. Frequent Playing: As with children, puppies are very fond of playing. That's why you should include playing games often in your relationship with them. If not, the dog will not be able to both learn new things and neutralize its energy. As with humans, puppies learn by exploring and experiencing. To help this, it is necessary to play the game 3 or 4 times a day.
5. Frequent Walks: Puppies need to travel a lot and experience the environment in order to realize the real world. Especially in city life, if we do not guide our puppy, we are likely to see undesirable behaviors. For this reason, it is important to make frequent itinerary and guide them to discover the world and daily life.
6. Frequent Toilet: Since puppies are fed frequently and they are like babies, they need to toilet frequently. A puppy will need defecation 3 to 4 times and urination 7 to 8 times a day on average. For this reason, you need to be tolerant about frequent toileting until your puppy gets a toilet habit.
7. The Need for Mental Manipulation: You can mentally manipulate dogs from time to time to ensure their mental development. For example, if your puppy brings the ball to you without force while playing the game, you can develop the concept of trust and guidance by loving them when they bring the ball and continuing the game, and you can show that the game will continue when they exhibit the right behavior. These directions are important to orient the puppies to the outside world.
8. Being Together Often: As with babies, you need to be with puppies often. Dogs do not like to be alone since they are herding animals and it is important that they want to be with you often, especially when they are puppies, as they will often have different needs.
9. Frequent Illness and Veterinary Visits: You should not forget that you need to go to veterinary checks frequently, as the puppy's immune system is just starting to form and there are many vaccinations that need to be done in puppyhood. Especially until the immune system is formed, you are likely to encounter situations such as diarrhea and vomiting frequently. In these moments, it is important that you can spare time for cleaning and making veterinary visits where necessary.
Considering all this, if you think that your lifestyle will not meet these needs of your puppy, it is strongly recommended that you adopt an adult dog.