Owning a dog earns you a true friend, companion, and playmate on your dull days. But this might feel different if your dog has a physical or mental disability. As such, it is your duty as a pet parent to create some form of normalcy in your dog’s life while demonstrating quality love and support.
Tips to Nurture Your Disabled Dog
Early symptoms of mental disability in dogs include:
- Reduced activity and movement
- Hiding and trembling
- Self-injuring and destructive behavior
- Vomiting and diarrhea
If done right, the process of nurturing your disabled dog becomes familiar and rewarding. Physical disabilities in dogs can range from deformation, paralyzed limbs, blindness, and deafness.
Using the following tips should help smooth our daily routine and provide insights into what you need to care for your disabled dog more effectively.
Establish a Friendly Routine
After settling on an ongoing treatment plan with your veterinarian, the next course of action should be creating a routine for bedtime, feeding, and training. Establishing a pattern gives both you and your pup an easy time to develop healthy habits, eventually making everything less strenuous.
As per the classical conditioning theory, dogs become more responsive to anticipated actions and events. Which is especially true for dogs with disabilities, as they are more sensitive. The last thing you want is to confuse them with new concepts or triggers every other day. Instead, focus on building slow habitual actions.
Maintain Hygiene and Proper Diet
A balanced diet and a clean environment could make life so much easier for your disabled dog. You would have to be more sensitive with hygiene, especially if your dog needs potty training or dog diapers. Again, establishing a routine for this would come in handy.
Besides, you should invest in fresh pet food for your dog. The ideal dog food diet ensures healthier skin, less waste, stronger bones, and high-quality life. Throughout the day, incorporate healthy treats and rewards, of course having first consulted your vet or credible online resources.
Invest in the Right Mobility Aids
Dogs with limb paralysis or amputations may never be able to walk by themselves, but thankfully, specialized dog wheelchairs and mobility aids have come to the rescue. Training your dog to use wheels can be one of the easiest or most frustrating tasks, but of course, this depends on your dog’s ability to learn.
Even so, the type of wheels and equipment could affect this learning curve. To be on the safe side, consult with your specialist to have an idea of the kind of wheels or harnesses your dog needs. If not addressed accordingly, this loss of motion could lead to frustration and depression for your dog.
But as long as you have everything set up, don’t get yourself worked up. Start practicing in an open space, encourage your dog to make slow strides, then give it time. Every dog is bound to learn new tricks, however old they are.
Taking care of a disabled dog could be exceedingly tiresome, and you have all the reasons to quit the job. But in the same manner, you could choose to appreciate the progress you have made so far and have some fun while at it. If anything, you are not alone in this.
The above tips should help you improve on quality care and convenience for your disabled dog. Further, they should expand your general knowledge base on walking the road less traveled. Your focus, however, should not be your comfort and ease of nurturing but the well-being of your furry friend.
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