good quality food (and by this i mean what works for my dogs), flax/olive oil/yogurt/egg on nite-time feeding, raw meaty bone once a wk for teeth, clean water, regular exercise, i DON'T vax yrly--they get their puppy series/rabies then their booster at 1 yr and the 3 yr rabies yrly after that only b/c they have to by law (in case they bit someone [yeah, right] they're safe), i don't heartworm yr round and actually they only get it every 6 wks instead of monthly from June-Oct, and Advantix when i know we're going to be in a heavily infested area, regular grooming and bathes as needed only......have hardly ever had mine into the vet