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There is no greater joy than welcoming a dog into your home. For years I wanted to become a dog mom, but with college and a job that kept me away from the house for 12-14 hours at a time it was literally impossible for me to commit to give a fur baby the love and attention he/she deserved. I grew up with dogs in my family, but a family dog is very different than your “own” dog. The bond between you and your four legged family member is so different when you raise them, nurture them and are their pack leader.

As life would have it, after moving in with my fiance into our first apartment we decided we wanted to add to our little family and along came Lola, my 7 lb pint sized piece of love and affection. She was adorable, sweet, an only child and the apple of every single person in our family’s eye. Now that she is 4 years old I sometimes look back in retrospect and notice things I would have done differently, but unfortunately these are things we learn as we go and only lessons I can share with first time pet owners, or save in my back pocket if we decide to add to our pack.

Things I would have done differently as a first time dog mom:

1. Say no to people food. I would never give my dog people food if I would have known just what a terrible rabbit hole this would become. It’s important to never introduce your dog to a food that eventually over time you wouldn’t want them to continue to rely on.  As a puppy Lola was given natural dog foods and did well with it, but over time unfortunately I thought the people food would be better for her if I made it home made myself. That worked for a short while, but now if I ever want her to return her to dog food to make sure she’s getting everything she needs nutritionally she looks at the food with disgust and  walks away. Yorkies are finicky with food by nature, but it’s so important to start them on the diet you want them to stick to. A few scraps of meat here or there is okay, but keep in mind it’s like a human being introduced to a prime cut steak and then being given a hot dog the next day – we are always going to hold out for the steak!

2. Get them socialized early on. I would have introduced my dog to the concept of dog parks much earlier on so that the entire idea of it wouldn’t scare the poop out of her (literally this has happened, not fun). Now she has what I would call ‘single dog syndrome’ because she’s the only dog in the house which makes it hard for her to feel comfortable around a large area of other dogs. Don’t get me wrong, she loves people and kids, but dogs she could really care less about. I think a lot of that has to do with not putting her in environments with other dogs to get acclimated early on as a puppy.

3. Pet insurance, yes or no? If I could go back in time I don’t think I would have spent the money on pet insurance. I learned that most of the things you take your pet to the vet for her not even covered, like routine visits,shots and vaccines which is what you spend most of your money on yearly. The only time it really pays out is heaven for bid your dog has an accident, hence why they call it insurance, I know. The amount of times that that happens far outweighs the amount of the monthly payments which can be between $40-$80 per dog. I think at first I wanted to have insurance because I thought if I didn’t I was being a bad “mom”, but over time I have found that even if I had the rare instance she gets sick and I have to do an emergency visit I could easily just put that $50 aside in a savings account to cover those events. Each dog is different, so pet insurance might be smart for you and your pup, but after 3 years I found it was not helpful or cost effective for me.

 4. Introduce pet stairs from the get go. I have a small dog and it’s difficult for her to get up-and-down on furniture or a bed at night, plus it’s not good for their joints to jump down on the floor all the time from a pretty decent height. I would’ve introduced the concept of dog stairs early on for my small dog so she could get up-and-down on her own. Now, unfortunately, she looks at the stairs and walks completely around them and I’ve tried many times to buy different ones and she has no idea what to do with them.  I’ve tried three different styles but each gets the same treatment; a look and a walk around and a bark to have me pick her up to the bed/couch. This means multiple times throughout the day and night I have to be on call for when she needs to get picked which can sometimes keep us up an extra hour until she settles in to sleep.

 5. Quit with the treats. I have to admit I spoiled Lola quite a bit in the treat department. At first treats were used for training and teaching her tricks, then slowly every time I was in the store I would see something and couldn’t leave the store without bringing home something for her. Soon my dog started to associate plaster shopping bags with treats, digging her head into any bag that came in the house thinking something was in there for her. The issue now is sometimes she wants treats over food.

6. Don’t move things around. It’s important to give a dog a routine and that isn’t just when it comes to eating and going outside, but also where you put their bed and foot bowls. I have moved Lola’s puppy bed a few times but I have learned to set her up in the places she gravitates toward on her own and leave her things alone. Dogs like structure, so don’t move their sleep/rest and food areas too much.

7. Introduce them to children early on. It’s important that your dog, especially small dogs, are around children early on. Thankfully my dog love kids and babies, but we did not have any around when we first brought her home. As we consider starting a family it’s important that your dog is well adjusted to babies and children, even if it’s having your dog join you to visit a friend or family member with babies or small children.

8. Say no to guests giving your dog food/treats. There is nothing wrong with telling family or friends your “rules” when it comes to your pets. Let them know politely but firmly if you don’t want them to give your dog treats or table food. This happens often when you take your dog to people’s home and they say “oh but she likes this”, don’t shy away from saying “yes I know, but if she eats that she may become sick or she may not want to eat her dog food”. Once you let guests know the first time they usually won’t break your rules.

Overall when it comes to dogs if you don’t start things early on when they can pick them up as second nature and become part of their daily routine, it’s very tough to break those habits. All pets need love, attention and good health and those are all things we can give, but keep these things in mind if you plan to add a dog to your family any time soon.

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