Owning a dog can bring a lot of happiness to your life, but that is not true of every dog. You need to learn a few things in order to properly care for your dog. This article will tell you all about dog ownership.

Owning a dog is quite a large financial commitment. Food, vet care and supplies can add up quickly. Health insurance for your pet can be a great idea to help you in emergency situations.

Neuter or spay your dog. This reduces the chances of cancer and helps keep the stray animal population down. Dogs that are neutered or spayed don’t have strong urges to leave their home, reducing their chances of getting hit by a vehicle or getting lost.

If you have medication for you or a family member, be certain your dog cannot reach it. Dogs can have very negative side effects from even small amounts of medications intended for humans. When your dog happens to get at your meds, call the vet ASAP.

When you begin training your pup, start in your yard or home. It is unwise to do it where there are many strangers around. Your dog may have trouble paying attention, and even the simplest commands could go right over their head.

Try hand signals in conjunction with verbal commands when training your dog. These signals will help you keep your dog under control in a noisy environment. Give both methods a try, and see for yourself which your dog responds best to.

Consult with your vet about the types of foods that are good for your dog. Keep in mind that a young puppy’s stomach is not ready for certain foods. Be cautious of what you feed your dog.

Instead of feeding your dog meat bones, give him rawhide. Bones can lodge in the mouth or throat, causing devastating injuries. Rawhide is completely healthy and improves the teeth, and therefore is preferable to animal bones.

A dog’s bad behavior should always be corrected whenever you see the first signs of it. If you ignore an unwanted behavior, it is as good as reinforcing it. It will become very difficult to correct the more time passes. If you don’t get his behavior under control, your dog could end up biting someone.

Daily brushing for your dog does more than simply prevent shedding. Brushing every day can also help your dog to have a shiny and beautiful coat. This is caused by the motions since brushing distributes oils that keep skin, soft, shiny and healthy.

If you think you want a dog, but are not sure if you are ready for the commitment involved, consider becoming a foster home. There are plenty of animals sitting in homeless shelters who desperately need a home due to over-crowding and limited shelter resources. Fostering is a good way to do a good deed and determine if you want a dog of your own.

If your vet prescribes medication, always carefully follow the provided instructions. They might not be fond of having a cone attached to their head, but your vet recommended it. The directions that you get from your vet are focused on the health of your pet and ignoring them can be detrimental to your pet.

Show your dog that you love him. As it usually happens, many times owners focus more on bad behavior rather than good ones. You might have a hard time later on. Rather, stroke, praise and pet your dog at least three to four times more than you scold or speak sternly to him. When you do this, you will probably end up with a better behaved dog.

Take care any time a female dog is in heat, as you likely do not want her to become pregnant. Males can detect the scent from miles away. There can be numerous problems, such as causing conflicts with neighbor’s dogs, and getting impregnated with puppies that you don’t know a lot about.

If you already have a dog and want to get another one, allow your existing dog to meet the new one before you make your final decision. Dogs are quite social, though not all get along well. If you can find compatible dogs, it will save you a lot of trouble and anguish.

When thinking about acquiring a dog, be sure to take your entire life (special events, weekends away, vacations) into account. It is very normal to desire a dog as a pet, but it is hard to be a responsible dog owner.

You need to be firm with your dog. Dog owners often feel that it is no big deal to sneak foods to their pets or allow them to destroy certain toys. This is particularly true when the dog is cute! But, if you stay firm, you can avoid accidents. Giving your dog the scraps after a meal might be okay to you, but if you let things slide you may find your pet eating your dinner from your own lap!

There are many different things needed to be the best dog owner you can be. You can’t just get a dog and expect it to be perfect. You must work at the relationship for it to work. Use what you learned here to make your time with your pet enjoyable.