Dog care

Dogs, unlike cats, devote little or no time to grooming themselves and therefore need more attention from owners, especially the long haired breeds.
The average owner can attend the day to day grooming needs for their dog.
Dog hair, unlike human hair, does not continue to grow. In the dog, the follicle from which the hair grows and is nourished, eventually becomes dormant and the hair growth stops. After some months of dormancy, the hair falls out. The cycle is then repeated with the follicle producing a new hair.
Other factors which affect the growth, quality and loss of dog hair are:
*Genes (e.g. the old english sheepdog grows a long course coat, whereas the german shorthaired pointer grows a very short fine coat).
*Vitamins
*Hormones
*Parasites
*Diease
*Environment (coat development is stimulated by decreasing daylight hours, not by a drop in temperature).

A health checklist should at least include the following:

ACTIVITY.
Dogs range from being slow and languid to being very active and alert.Observe what is the norm for your dog. If it is usually very active and suddenly one day it is inert and lying around, indications are that something is wrong. If your dog is normally lethargic, it may be difficult to pinpoint its inactivity as indicating something is wrong.

Socialization

Proper socialization is essential to a happy dog. As a puppy, after all required vaccinations have been given, the dog should be introduced to as many new people, dogs and locations as possible. Doing this helps the dog be less afraid of new situations when they occur later in life. A socialized dog is more likely to have a lower level of aggression towards strangers (both human and canine).

Ask your veterinarian when it is safe for your puppy to interact with other dogs. It is safe for him to play with humans and probably kittens before his vaccinations are complete.

Ask your veterinarian about puppy classes, where multiple clients bring puppies and children to play together, learn simple commands, and be exposed to strange objects.

Regularly handling your puppies paws, rubbing his belly, trimming his nails (have your vet show you how to do this safely), and looking in his mouth will help your puppy be less fearful when he goes to the vet for a check-up. This applies to adult dogs adopted from shelters as well.

Training

The proper training of the canine companion is essential to the coexistence of human and dog. While the task of training a dog or any other pet can seem daunting, the processes for training both everyday behavior and tricks are well established. Many people unfamiliar with dog training believe that it must be difficult, since so few dogs have any modicum of training. In fact, training a dog to be a well-adjusted member of a family is well within the reach of most people. Dog owners normally train their dogs to beobedient and loving, to do tricks, and sometimes to compete in dog sports. There are multiple schools of thought on dog training, which run the gamut from training based on escape/avoidance to so-called \"positive reinforcement\" training in which no correction is used. While positive-only methods such as clicker training are currently in vogue, much if not most dog training is still accomplished using some sort of correction at some point in the training process. The single most important factor in dog training is that whatever method is applied is done so consistently.

Dogs can be trained by amateur enthusiasts to compete in obedience trials, various dog sports, for use in hunting, and to serve e.g on volunteer search and rescue teams or as therapy dogs.

Moving to the professional side, dogs are trained for personal protection, security, police patrol, drug and bomb detection, evidence identification, etc.