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A dog truly is man's best friend. They can give you love and happiness. You both will be happier if you have a greater knowledge of their needs. To become a truly responsible master to your dog, take a look at the savvy advice presented below.

Having a dog at your home is a big financial commitment. High quality dog food, medical care, toys and treats can easily run close to $1,000 in a year. Pet insurance can be a good investment because your pet may require emergency care for illness or injury.

Make your home dog-proof. Make sure any area your dog will be in is safe. Do not have any pills out in the open and put all supplies in cabinets. Many common types of house plants can be toxic, so it pays to eliminate or move them.

Get your dog spayed or neutered. Research shows that doing this can make your animal live longer and reduce their cancer risks. Also, dogs that are fixed lose their desire to stray from the home, lessening the chance of them getting lost or hurt.

Because non-verbal communication is vital to dogs, you should devote yourself to learning how to read your dog's signals. If when meeting a new dog or person you find your dog is filled with dread, remove him from the situation. This could cause the dog to bite. You need to keep your eyes open for these signs.

Don't give in to the urge to feed your dog food meant for humans. This will make him beg more often, and he may gain a preference for human food. You might be wrecking your dog's health by giving him table scraps. Train your dog to sit far away from your dining room so that you and your family won't be tempted to feed it table scraps.

Talk to your vet about which foods you should be feeding your dog. Puppies can't eat adult food and vice versa. Err on the side of caution when feeding food to your dog.

If you have a dog that does something right, like sitting when you're getting out the leash, you should give the animal lots of praise and affection. Make your dog understand you are pleased with the behavior and expect to see it again. This will teach your dog that praise comes from good behavior.

Instead of feeding your dog meat bones, give him rawhide. Real bones can splinter and can get caught in your dog's mouth or digestive tract. Rawhide is completely healthy and improves the teeth, and therefore is preferable to animal bones.

After all is said and done, dogs are going to give their owner a form of love that just can't be found elsewhere. But, to really get the most of the relationship you have with your dog, you need to know as much as possible about them. This article provided you some information about how you can be an expert with dogs. Utilize this advice, and continue to research on new advice to ensure you are the best possible dog owner.