1. Set up a safe home base

1. Arrange a veterinary visit and bring the adoption or breeder’s records. Write down the dog’s age, current food, medications, vaccinations, and the emergency clinic’s number.
2. Prepare a secure sleeping area, bowls, a well-fitting collar or harness, identification, and a leash. Supervise introductions to livestock and other pets.
3. Store feed additives, bait, fuel, antifreeze, human medicine, and discarded food where the dog cannot reach them. Chocolate, grapes/raisins, xylitol, and several human medicines can be dangerous. Call the vet promptly after a suspected poisoning; do not try a home antidote.

2. Make care an everyday habit

1. Provide fresh water and an age-appropriate complete diet. Measure the portion specified in the feeding plan so you can notice reduced appetite or changing body condition.
2. Give exercise, training, and companionship suited to the dog. Check feet, skin, ears, comfort, and normal toileting after outdoor work. Pick up yard waste daily and wash your hands.
3. Use a simple care log when something changes: when it started, what the dog ate, any exposure, and the symptoms. Difficulty breathing, collapse, repeated unsuccessful retching, or suspected poisoning warrants urgent veterinary advice.

3. Put the vet’s prevention plan on the calendar

1. Ask for year-round heartworm, intestinal-parasite, flea, and tick protection appropriate to this dog. Confirm the product’s species, weight range, age limits, and medical-history suitability.
2. CAPC recommends annual heartworm testing in dogs. Its fecal-testing guidance calls for at least four tests in the first year and at least two yearly in healthy adults, adjusted for exposure and health. Have the vet choose your actual dates.
3. A manure photograph is not a fecal test. Take a properly labeled sample to the clinic when requested. Enter prescribed preventive dates and any recheck dates individually in the care planner.

Keep a useful record

Give each animal or group a clear name. Record the date, what you observed, feed changes, test results, treatments actually given, and the next instruction. Let another caregiver see the current plan.

How to arrange testing and collect a manure sample

Source links checked September 14, 2026. This guide provides general education. Your veterinarian determines tests and treatment for your animals; product labels and the vet’s instructions determine safe use and food withdrawal periods.