Dog Care Guide

Written and reviewed by Hugo Mellado · Last updated August 2026

Dogs are the most demanding animals most families ever live with, and the most rewarding. They need food matched to their stage of life, movement matched to their build, and a routine they can predict. Get those three right and almost everything else becomes easier.

Nutrition

Choose a complete food whose label carries a statement of nutritional adequacy for your dog’s life stage — growth, adult maintenance, or all life stages. Puppies of large breeds need a formula controlled for calcium and calories so they grow steadily rather than quickly; growing too fast is a genuine orthopedic risk for a Labrador or a shepherd.

Feed measured meals rather than free-choice food. Two meals a day suits most adults, three or four for young puppies. The number printed on the bag is a starting point, not a prescription: adjust it every few weeks based on your dog’s waistline, not on how hungry he acts. Keep treats to roughly a tenth of daily calories, and use part of the meal ration for training so the extras do not add up.

Foods to keep out of reach

• Xylitol and other sugar alcohols, found in sugar-free gum, some peanut butters and baked goods.
• Grapes and raisins, which can trigger kidney failure at unpredictable doses.
• Onions, garlic, leeks and chives, raw or cooked.
• Chocolate, coffee and anything else with caffeine or theobromine.
• Macadamia nuts, alcohol, raw yeast dough and cooked bones that splinter.

Fresh water should be available all day and changed daily. If your dog swallows something on that list, call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center right away rather than waiting for symptoms.

Habits & Behavior

Dogs communicate constantly with posture. Loose, wiggly body lines and a soft mouth mean a relaxed dog. A closed mouth, a stiff tail held high, a hard stare or a whale-eye glance away are all requests for space. Yawning, lip licking and shaking off when nothing is wet are stress signals worth respecting, particularly around children.

The socialization window closes early — roughly three to fourteen weeks — so gentle, positive exposure to surfaces, sounds, people and handling during puppyhood pays dividends for a decade. After that window, confidence is built more slowly through repetition and choice, never through force.

Exercise needs vary enormously. A retired greyhound may be satisfied with two walks and a sprint; a border collie or a working-line spaniel needs a job. Under-exercised dogs invent work: digging, barking, chewing baseboards, patrolling windows. Before treating those as disobedience, add twenty minutes of purposeful activity and see what remains.

Sudden changes matter. A house-trained dog urinating indoors, a friendly dog growling when touched, or a settled dog pacing at night is usually telling you something hurts. Behavior is often the first symptom.

Care & Grooming

Match the routine to the coat. Short single coats need a rubber curry brush weekly. Double coats — huskies, shepherds, corgis — need an undercoat rake once or twice a week and daily during the two heavy sheds each year. Curly and wool coats such as poodles and doodles mat close to the skin and need brushing to the roots several times a week plus a professional trim every six to eight weeks. Never shave a double coat to keep a dog cool; the coat insulates against heat as well as cold.

• Bathing: every four to twelve weeks for most dogs, with a shampoo made for dogs. Human shampoo is the wrong pH.
• Nails: trim or grind every three to four weeks. If you hear clicking on a hard floor, they are too long.
• Ears: check weekly. Floppy or hairy ears and swimmers need cleaning more often; redness, odor or head shaking needs a vet, not more cleaning.
• Teeth: brush daily if you can, several times a week at minimum, with toothpaste made for dogs.
• Paws: after winter walks, rinse salt and de-icer off pads; in summer, test pavement with the back of your hand for ten seconds.

Games & Enrichment

A dog’s nose is the cheapest enrichment tool you own. Scatter a handful of kibble in the grass, hide treats around a room and release him to find them, or teach him to search for a specific toy by name. Ten minutes of sniffing tires a dog more thoroughly than a brisk mile on leash.

• Serve one meal a day in a puzzle feeder, snuffle mat or frozen stuffed toy.
• Rotate three or four chews rather than leaving everything out; novelty is most of the value.
• Train two five-minute sessions a day. Tricks count — learning is work.
• Play tug with clear rules: it starts when you invite it and pauses on a cue. It is cooperative, not a dominance contest.
• Add a flirt pole or short recall games for herding and terrier types who need to chase something legal.

Enrichment also means choice: a shaded spot outdoors, a quiet bed away from foot traffic, and permission to disengage from visitors.

Health & Veterinary Tips

Adult dogs benefit from a full physical exam once a year and twice a year from around age seven, when small changes in weight, kidney values or joints are worth catching early. Core vaccination against distemper, adenovirus, parvovirus and rabies is standard in the United States; leptospirosis, Lyme, Bordetella and canine influenza are recommended based on where you live and what your dog does.

• Year-round heartworm prevention, plus flea and tick control appropriate to your region.
• Annual fecal testing for intestinal parasites, more often for dogs that visit dog parks.
• Keep a lean body condition — you should feel ribs easily under a thin layer of fat and see a waist from above. Excess weight shortens lifespan and worsens arthritis.
• Discuss timing of spay or neuter with your veterinarian; for large breeds, waiting until growth plates close is often advised.
• Photograph and date any lump so you can show real change at the next visit.

Call for help immediately if you see

• Unproductive retching with a swollen, tight abdomen, especially in a large deep-chested dog — a possible bloat emergency.
• Difficulty breathing, blue or pale gums, or collapse.
• Repeated vomiting, bloody diarrhea, or no urine production.
• A seizure lasting more than a couple of minutes, or several in a row.
• Heatstroke signs after exertion: heavy panting, wobbliness, bright red gums. Begin cooling with tepid water and go to a clinic.

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Next: browse every article we have written about dogs, or compare the routine with our cat care guide.