Dog Lover Community

An essential to your dog’s health is his/her regular annual checkup with the vet. The vaccinations* which are given to your dog each year ensure your dog’s immunity to some common infectious diseases. And when the vet gives the vaccinations*, it’s also an excellent opportunity for a thorough physical examination to be carried out, and a time to discuss any minor problems or issues which you feel may be affecting your dog’s health or wellbeing. This is a time when your vet may pick up inherited diseases and the like (when your dog is young) so they can be treated early, or just kept an eye on. And as your dog gets older, the vet may find the early signs of more sinister illnesses.

I recently took my dogs for their annual checkup, and for the first time alarms were raised about matters of significant concern - it was thought that Kara might have early stages of lymphoma (cancer) - which, fortunately, tests then proved to be not the case. And Jet apparently has something akin to the early stages of cataracts in humans in her eyes, and according to the vet, Jet is likely to go progressively blind over the next several years. At least knowing this in advance gives me the opportunity to watch for any developing signs and, if and when necessary, adapt her outings and home environment to take into account any sight loss, and most importantly, it has made me realise that vitamin and mineral supplementation in dogs is actually a very wise idea.

Worming and “de-flea-ing” your dog are the commonest forms of health measures which you probably undertake yourself for your dog. Fleas infest almost every dog at some time. Sometimes a lot of the time. Dogs which socialise with other dogs outside the home tend to become infested the most often. Fleas can carry disease and parasites, including tapeworm.

But fleas are extremely irritating for your dog. They often cause intense itching, which in turn can cause your dog to damage his/her skin by vigorous scratching. Some dogs are allergic to flea bites. Even after the fleas have been doused with flea poison and killed, the cycle of itch, scratch, itch, scratch, can remain.

My Rottweiler has been terribly affected two or three times now by this self-perpetuating cycle caused by her allergy to flea bites. Most of the skin damage has been caused by Kara incessantly scratching and injuring herself.

A dog with an infestation of fleas is neither a healthy nor a happy dog. So at the first sign of a flea, it’s important to treat your dog for this very common problem. And those pesky fleas don’t always readily show themselves. So if your dog is scratching more than usual, the first thing to do is a thorough search through your dog’s coat. If you sight even one flea, treat your dog immediately. Some people treat routinely just because it’s flea season, and still others actually treat throughout the year. And of course, it goes without saying that if you have more than one animal, you must treat them all at the same time.

This way, you’ll ensure that your dog is as healthy and happy as can be!

* There are natural alternatives to vaccinations. For further information, subscribe to the Healthy Happy Dogs newsletter.

(c) 2004, Brigitte Smith, Healthy Happy Dogs

Brigitte Smith is a dog lover with a special interest in natural health for dogs. For your free special report, as well as weekly tips, information, strategies and resources for a healthier happier dog, go to http://www.HealthyHappyDogs.com and submit your name and email address. Take a look around the site - http://www.HealthyHappyDogs.com - while you’re there - you’ll find lots of useful information.

Tags: dog, dog diet, dog grooming, dog health, dog health info, dog health information, dog training, dogsdog, dog diet, dog grooming, dog health, dog health info, dog health information, dog training, dogs

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Dog grooming is absolutely essential in maintaining your dog’s health. Grooming includes regular brushing and combing to remove dead hair, skin and general debris, bathing and nail trimming as necessary, as well as looking after your dog’s ears, eyes and mouth.

Regular dog grooming will provide your dog with not only a shinier coat but also a healthier lifestyle, plus it gives you the opportunity of spending some ‘one on one’ time with your dog. It is essential that you train your pet by dog grooming him in his earlier years with a gentle approach, as this way he will not worry when you continue to groom him as he gets older - he will know what to expect. Often dogs can look on the grooming routine as another way of you petting him. Combing and brushing will care for your dog’s coat but it is equally important that you attend to his other body parts, like the ears, toes, eyes and the mouth.

Dog grooming will have to be applied in a different way, depending on the breed of dog that you have, so you need to make sure that you research the right way for your dog. We have listed below the general dog grooming methods used, but you need to make sure if your dog has special grooming needs, then you abide by them.

Bathing

Bathing is a very large part of dog grooming. It is wise to bathe your pet once every two months or so, or as frequently as needed. Brush you pet’s coat well before each bathe so that you elimate dead skin, hair and knots from his coat.

To bathe your dog:

Tags: bathing your dog, dog grooming, dog health, grooming your dog, regular dog groomingbathing your dog, dog grooming, dog health, grooming your dog, regular dog grooming

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It’s the usual thing every Parent goes through from time to time I guess.

“Daaaad, why can’t we get a dog?”

“Well son it’s like this, they take a lot of caring, they’re a big responsibility, they need feeding (this is starting to sound like a job description for Parenthood in general I know), and they need someone to walk them on cold dark winter nights.” Hit them hard with the triple mantra of “Dog Health, Dog Grooming and Dog Training” I thought, that will do the trick..

So four weeks later there I was heading with my sister in law to the nearest branch of the Dogs Trust to check out some abandoned puppies from a litter that had been taken in before Christmas and were coming up to eleven weeks old and it was crunch time.

“What sort of dog were you looking for sir and what sort of experience have you had with dogs? We will need to take out references and check out where the dog is going to live, whether it is safe.” Heck, this was starting to sound like a job interview with the local bank not some search for an abandoned pooch.

It would possibly have been easier to pack a suitcase full of cash and hop on the next plane to some third world country and come home with a baby - a contentious view point I know but says more about the shoddy approach to most Intercountry Adoptions but I digress.

Five minutes later there I was walking round the inner courtyard of what sounded like canine hell. There is something deeply tragic about the way we treat our pets in this world (marginally better then we treat our fellow humans I know) and unless we stop treating pets and dogs especially with the same disposable mentality that we use when buying our next cheeseburger it is only going to get worse.

Trying to take a reasoned and rational approach to what can only be best described as a display of truly pathetic (in the truest of senses) wretchedness is extremely difficult. The Dogs Trust is wonderful organisation that copes, alongside numerous others, in a much challenged environment, with a miniscule budget and essentially damaged goods. It is a hard task to manage in a situation whereby the credo of the organisation is “we do not destroy any dogs” means that there is an ever increasing strain on budgets. The upshot of all of this is that you find yourself in a canine equivalent of a used car showroom but without the shiny cars, heating and cheap aftershave to keep you company.

It is a very functional environment whereby the dogs are well cared for, fed, kept warm, safe, dry and medically cared for but the Ritz Carlton it is not. The dogs are kept in pens with wire partitions and once one starts barking the rest join in for what seems to be the fun of it. The inhabitants of this canine community seem to recognise what is going on and pathetically struggle to out muscle, out do, and generally create as much interest in them as possible. Of course there is always the compete opposite, the really damaged ones who seem to have lost all interest in human contact remembering not too fondly the lack of humanity or brutality that led them to be here in the first place.

Interesting choice, I thought, feeling rather guilty at the fact that no matter what choice I made there were going to be at least forty or fifty of these frantic barking creatures that would be left here waiting for a better draw from the “lottery of fate” on another day.

I was very aware of the fact that the main driving force behind this choice was the fact that I had a seven year old son who was probably going to be the dogs main companion over the course of it’s life and therefore it would be an idea to find a dog that got on well with humans (not as easy as you think) and kids especially.

Yes, you got it; we ended up with a puppy, a cross between a Black Labrador and a Border collie (we think). It was one of those tragically funny situations when I looked at the paperwork and there it was in front of me, “Mother - Black Labrador, Father - unknown”. Apparently, the litter had been taken in before Christmas and though the mother was acquired at the same time and therefore known, the “likeliest suspect” for the Father apparently was a working dog at the nearest farm thereby giving rise to the “Border Collie, we think” routine.

As most dog owners will testify, despite feeling as if I had accomplished a great deal, it was only the beginning.

Steve Morgan is a freelance journalist who writes in many subject areas. He is a father to seven year old Sam and the family have recently acquired Elmo, a Black Labrador Border Collie Cross bred. 50 lbs of Fun, Fur and Destruction. Information about the goings on with Elmo can be found at http://www.nutsaboutpets.info and http://www.dogtrainingonline.ws plus regular Blog updates can be found at http://dogtraininguk.blogspot.com/

Tags: dog grooming, dog health, dog training, pets, puppiesdog grooming, dog health, dog training, pets, puppies

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