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Your dog is your companion who will give you many years of love, friendship and loyalty in exchange for loving care, safe shelter, clean water and decent food. They also rely on you to provide them with health care when they are ill and regular exercise and grooming to help keep them fit and healthy. Listed below are 10 essentials for keeping your dog fit and healthy for many years to come:

1. make sure that you give your dog a collar and that it includes an identity tag with your name and telephone number on it, or even better have an electronic tag fitted just under your dogs skin, this makes it easy to track your dog should it get lost or stolen.

2. make sure you follow all the local laws and regulations regarding licensing for your dog and that they have the correct vaccinations when they should.

3. When on public property keep your dog on a lead, you should always keep your dog under strict control at all times when out and about. Never let your dog go wandering off alone and make sure they cannot get off your property without you. When you are walking keep your dog on its lead by your side until you come to an area away from cars, even then your dog should be well behaved and always do as its told the minute you tell it.

4. Make sure your dog has proper accommodation; if you keep your dog outside in a kennel make sure it’s the correct size for the breed of dog and that you spend a decent amount of time with it. Dogs crave companionship and don’t like to be left all day alone or tied up in a small pen, make sure you can devote the time needed to take care of a pet before you take on the responsibility.

5. take your dog to the vets regularly, makes sure that you take your dog to see the vet on a regular basis, this way illness can be caught before it shows and always make sure your dog has the necessary vaccinations when needed.

6. spay or neuter your dog, dogs that have this surgery are known to live longer, be healthier and have less behaviour problems.

7. give your dog a healthy balanced diet with plenty of clean fresh drinking water available at all times, if your dog puts on too much weight then seek the advice of your vet before restricting their diet.

8. take your dog to obedience classes, this not only makes your life a lot easier but also that of your dog, a well behaved dog who does as they are told will be welcome at a lot more places than ones which just please themselves.

9. Give your dog the exercise that they need without over doing it, two walks for roughly 15 minutes is adequate enough for most breeds providing they can get outside in the garden throughout the day. Smaller breeds may not even need this much exercise, care should of course be taken with very young puppy’s as their little legs may tire easily.

10. Be patient with your dog, sometimes your companion may not understand what is required of them and you may have to repeat or tell them in a different way what you want them to do. Dogs aren’t mind readers and cannot understand anything and everything you ask of them so a little patience on your part can go a long way.

A well behaved dog makes a perfect companion and pet and is a pleasure to have, however your dog isn’t born with this inbuilt good behaviour it is something which is taught to them preferably from an early age. The owner of the dog can take classes or read up on how to teach their pet obedience or the owner may prefer to take on the help and advice of a professional trainer instead.

Why is dog obedience a necessity?

Many times it is not just the dog who needs training it is the owner too, a dog is always willing to learn and eager to please its master and this doesn’t just apply to puppy’s it also applies to older dogs too. The old saying you can’t teach an old dog a new trick is so wrong, any dog regardless of their age can learn it just makes it easier if you start teaching your dog at a young age. Training is not only essential for safety reasons but it will also help to form a bond between dog and master.

What to look for in a trainer

The number one thing to look for in a trainer is that they teach obedience humanely, they should encourage your dog to respond by using techniques such as play, praise, food and attention on learning. Training techniques should never involve shaking the dog by the scruff of the neck, tugging on the lead, forcing the dog into submission or any other tactic that can frighten or inflict pain on your dog.

How do I find a suitable trainer?

It is always a good idea to ask around, you could ask friends, relatives or your local vet for advice on suitable trainers or classes for obedience training. Important questions you should ask a trainer are how long they have been training obedience for, where they learnt the techniques they use and what techniques they actually do use for training.

What kind of class gets the best results?

In a group class your dog will learn how to interact with other dogs as well as different handlers, self help training, private lessons and dog only lessons from which the owner is excluded miss out on this aspect. Another disadvantage to you not being involved is that your dog may perform well for the trainer but then not for you. Wherever possible all the members of the family should have a hand in the training of the dog as this will then help them to bond with their pet.

What to look for in a class group

* A class that is limited for individual attention.

* Separate classes for puppy’s and adult dogs.

* Different levels of training for example beginners, intermediate, advanced.

* Are the dogs and humans enjoying the training.

* Is praise given frequently.

* Is information given on handling your dog, grooming and problem solving.

Some dogs will naturally pick up housetraining more easily than others, some breeds just love to please and this shows by the quickness they pick up housetraining, other breeds such as the French bulldog can just be downright stubborn or lazy. There are however two basic aspects to housebreaking your puppy and these are:

* Confinement so that your puppy cant go to the bathroom in the wrong place.

* Regular or constant access to the right place for your puppy to go to the bathroom.

Follow these two simple rules and you can’t go far wrong, however that’s not to say that your puppy will see it this way. But what does confinement from the wrong places actually means, it simply means that you shouldn’t allow your dog to wander freely around the house until he is actually house broken.

By doing this you are ensuring that your puppy cannot “go” just anywhere he chooses to, unless you are playing, grooming, petting, walking, feeding or teaching him something then make sure he is confined. By doing this you can make sure that while you’re not watching him he isn’t going to the bathroom where he pleases, thus starting a bad habit.

Access to the right place means that you take your puppy to the place where you want him to “go”, this could be a litter box by the door or out in the garden, by doing this at regular times and times when your puppy is most likely to want to “go” will ensure good habits. Of course this doesn’t mean that your puppy will get the idea straight away, it could take months before they learn. Two good ideas are:

Confinement to a crate then taken outdoors

This is a common and effective way to housetrain your new puppy, whenever you aren’t with him confine him to a crate, then on a regular basis take the crate outside or to the designated bathroom area.

Confinement to a pen with newspaper

This method is a variation on the above and is more suitable if you are going to be out for a few hours at a time, your puppy will have a little more room to move about and newspaper or a litter box in which to use as their bathroom. However if you are going to use a cat litter box then make sure not to use regular cat litter, it can easily become digested and play havoc with the stomach. Also the dust from cat litter can make your frenchies breathing harder than it already is and will do nothing for the snuffles and sniffles.