New Puppy? Read This!
Life with a New Puppy is an Adventure
At Pure Earth Pets, we understand what it is like to be a new puppy owner. Our own dog Dover came home to us as a young puppy just three weeks before our wedding. That was pretty crazy timing, to be entirely honest. Fortunately, Dover was an exceptionally easy puppy to raise, but even an easy puppy takes a lot of time and dedication to raise to be a well-mannered, happy, healthy dog. In this blog, we are going to focus on the healthy part of raising your puppy, and how we help you set the stage for your dog’s health with our Pure Earth Pets Puppy Box.
Starting Your Puppy on a Lifestyle with Fewer Toxins
Your 8-week-old puppy is somewhat of a blank slate physically. At such a young age, your puppy’s cells are mostly untouched by toxins. Of course, this varies depending on the quality of life that your puppy had in those weeks before you brought him/her home. However, even if your puppy lived in unhealthy conditions, you have the opportunity start your puppy on a lifestyle with fewer toxins to help set the stage for good health later in life.
We talk about toxins a lot while writing about eco-friendly topics, but what exactly is a toxin? A toxin is a chemical that damages an organism or the organism’s individual cells. Toxins are all over our environment, from both synthetic items and things found in nature.
When a toxin invades your dog’s body, his or her immune system leaps into action to fight off the toxin and protect the dog. Unfortunately, the immune system can only do so much. According to Dog’s Naturally Magazine, “These toxins build up in the body and stress her immune system. While their harmful effects aren’t seen right away, sooner or later they’ll show up as common health problems including allergies, cancer, organ disease, digestive issues, and immune diseases.”
When you think about harmful toxins starting to accumulate in your puppy’s body at such an early age, it just makes sense to try to keep as many toxins away from your dog the moment you bring her/him home to you. One of benefits of buying eco-friendly dog treats and toys is that they are usually made with safer ingredients and materials. Organic products mean fewer pesticides and chemicals put into the earth but also into your body. Fewer chemicals and harmful substances means fewer toxins for the body to fight.
Making Healthy and Eco-Friendly Choices for Your Puppy
Pets absorb toxins through a variety of ways. According to Dog’s Naturally Magazine, these ways include absorption through the skin and inhalation. They also ingest chemicals when they eat treats and foods made with chemicals, and when they get into harmful substances because of their own curiosity. And while you cannot put your puppy in a protective bubble away from everything harmful, you can help by making good choices when you shop.
Look for Eco-Friendly Bedding, Blankets, and Collars for your Puppy
When shopping for your dog, look for non-toxic, eco-friendly fabrics and manufacturing processes. You can find safe options for all your pet needs, including bedding, blankets, bowls, and collars. These are all items that your dog touches daily.
If you have the budget, this is a wonderful time to make some eco-friendly changes to your own furnishings, like your bedding, mattress, and furniture. Few people can swap out everything they own for eco-friendly furnishings all at once. However, you can seek out safely made items with fewer chemicals and off-gassing issues as things wear out and you replace them.
Choose Treats and Food Made in the United States with Limited Ingredients
In 2007, 1,000 dogs became sick after eating dog treats that were imported from China that contained wheat tainted with Melamine. Nearly 100 dogs died from these treats. Melamine is a chemical used in the manufacturing of plastics and industrial coatings. It should not have been in or near anything edible. This incident prompted dog owners to become more aware of where their pet treats were manufactured as well as the ingredient list.
Today, you can find a wide variety of treats and dog food made in the United States with safely sourced ingredients. Even when buying American made dog treats and food, it is still recommended that you research the company and their practices. This way you can ensure that their ingredients are safely sourced, eco-friendly, and organic. You can review product recalls, consumer complaints, and how the company may have responded to any issues in their manufacturing process.
What Comes in the Pure Earth Pets Puppy Box?
The Puppy Box is designed to help your new puppy transition into their new home while providing you with eco-friendly and natural treats and toys. Our biodegradable box ships within 24 hours and arrives at your doorstep.
Poop Scooping Bags
Each Puppy Box has one of our reusable poop bag holders with 15 bags inside, and a box biodegradable poop bag refills. If you read our post, What to Do With Your Dog’s Poop, you are familiar with the sometimes-confusing matter of the best way to dispose of your dog’s poop. Our biodegradable bags from Houndscoop are compostable, so they will simply disintegrate instead of breaking down into harmful microplastics.
Healthy Dog Treats
You also receive one bag of Chippin Treats and one bag of training treats. Treats are helpful when training your puppy whether you are teaching your puppy his/her name or working on recall and basic manners. Using treats as a training reward helps your dog associate their behavior with something good, aka food. Puppy kindergarten is an excellent resource for new puppy owners. Most dog trainers today use positive reinforcement with treats as a reward.
Eco-Friendly Toys
It is usually around day two of your puppy’s new life in your home that you realize that your sweet furry baby has the teeth of a tiny velociraptor. Toys will help you redirect your puppy’s teeth off your favorite shoes and your most tender body parts (ankles, fingers, toes). Our puppy box includes one Himalayan Pet Company Felty Bone, which is perfect for games of fetch with your new puppy. It also includes a West Paw Tizzi toy, which is fabulous for teething puppies. You can also put training treats or a little bit of peanut butter inside, twist up the legs of the Tizzi, and it becomes a treat dispensing toy that will work your puppy’s brain.
If you have a new puppy of your own, or you have purchased the Pure Earth Pets Puppy Box as a gift for a new puppy owner, don’t forget to head over to Facebook to share photos of your new puppy. You can also tag us on Instagram at @pureearthpets.
