Marty Becker

Keeping your dog healthy and happy involves having the right supplies, toys, and medicine on hand, knowing when to take your dog to the vet, and practicing preventive care.Photo: Alvan Nee / UnsplashThings to Buy Before Bringing Your Puppy HomeIf you plan to get a new puppy (or just did), be sure to have the following essential items either before, or shortly after, you bring your puppy into its new home.

The advantages of getting a puppy are obvious: Puppies are adorable, sweet, and cuddly, plus you get to train them from the get-go. On the other hand, choosing an adult dog often brings you an already trained pet that doesn’t need expensive puppy shots and who is likely to be grateful for a second (or third!) chance with a caring human.

Rabies is caused by a viral infection of the nervous system. Most cases of rabies in the United States occur in wild animals. Because dogs share territory with wild animals, they're at risk of being bitten by a rabid wild animal. (Normally timid animals can become aggressive if rabid.) Most cases of rabies in dogs can be traced to skunks, foxes, raccoons, and bats, but any rabid mammal can transmit the disease.

There aren't many food items that some dog lover hasn't popped a pill into to try to get their dog to eat it. Peanut butter and hot dogs have always been popular, but cheese (including canned cheese), liverwurst, and cottage cheese all work well, too. Who knows, maybe your dog will even eat a pill-stuffed olive?

When people use the generic term worms in describing puppy parasites, they are usually talking about roundworms, or ascarids. That's because hardly a single puppy avoids being born infested with the pest. But puppies can also be plagued by other intestinal parasites such as hookworms, whipworms, tapeworms, and single-cell parasites such as coccidia and giardia.

Boarding kennels take some heat over kennel cough, an upper-respiratory infection that's as contagious as sniffles in a daycare center. In fact, some kennel operators even find the name a little pejorative, insisting that the ailment be called by its proper name, canine infectious tracheobronchitis, or even bordetella, after its most common causative agent.

Remember the saying: "You never get a second chance to make a first impression"? The idea works with dogs, too. No matter how happy you are to bring him home, no matter how much you want to make up for the shabby way he was treated before you got him, start him off right from the beginning. Decide what the house rules are and stick to them, for the first couple of months, at least.

Euthanasia, the technical term for putting a dog to sleep, is one of the hardest decisions you will ever make, and it doesn't get any easier, no matter how many times over the years you face it. Your veterinarian can offer you advice and your friends can offer you support, but no one can make the decision for you.

Excessive barking is one problem that often puts dogs on the road to the shelter. What's more, it also puts them at risk from the people in your neighborhood: The poisoning of a nuisance barker is all too common. Even if your neighbors aren't the kind to take things into their own hands, a barking dog can run you afoul of the law, and not dealing with the situation marks you as an irresponsible and inconsiderate dog owner.