Protect Your Dog From These Preventable Threats
August 18, 2008
Protect Your Dog From These Preventable Threats
by: Robert Benson
Owning a dog is one of the most rewarding experiences a person can have in their lifetime, but having a dog is much more than the occasional walk around the block or playing fetch in the yard. There are many other responsibilities that one must consider in order to be a good dog owner. Your dog’s health is a major concern to any good pet owner and in this article we will concentrate on some preventable threats to your pet.
As winter ends and spring starts, so do different types of threats to your dog. Obviously, as the weather starts getting nicer, your pet spends more time outdoors and is more susceptible to the these threats. It is important to be alert for ticks, mosquitoes and micro organisms that spread diseases that are harmful to your dog’s health. Ticks normally live in wooded areas or in tall brush and do not transmit bacteria through the air, but by biting the dog. Some other threats are summarized below:
Lyme disease- is a tick-borne bacterial disease and it can cause lameness, kidney damage and death.
Dog Training Collars and Harnesses — Making the Proper Selection is Essential to Training Success
August 17, 2008
Dog Training Collars and Harnesses — Making the Proper Selection is Essential to Training Success
by: Armen T. Ghazarians
Dog training is an art, and like any artist you must pick your tools carefully in order to properly train your dog. Each dog is different, and thus you must be able to decide which collar is most appropriate for your dog based on its temperament, pesonality, and strength. Below, you will find a description of all the major varieties of dog training collars that you might come across when deciding to purchase one for you pooch.
The metal choke collar is perhaps the most popular and widely used collar in the dog training world. It should be used in training larger, stronger dogs that tend to take YOU for a walk.
The metal toggle choke collar is basically the same as you regular choke collar with the major difference being that you can correct you dog easily by using the toggle while your dog is off-leash.
The pinch collar should be used RARELY and only in situations where the choke collar is ineffective in controlling your dog (i.e. in situations where your dog is very strong, where its highly aggressive, and when it repeatedly lunges at other dogs and people).
Bandaging Your Dog
August 17, 2008
Bandaging Your Dog
by: Peter Garant
Having a dog is a big responsibility. Some even compare taking care of a dog to that of a baby. The only advantage having dogs compared to having babies is that they won’t grow older and turn into stressful teenagers. Because dogs are like babies they sometimes also end up in harmful situations. They would sometimes get themselves trapped in a tight place or get hit by something that will injure one of their limbs. When that happens, we should learn how to bandage our dogs to prevent further damage. Here are some basic ways of how to bandage your injured dog.
1. When your pet has a bandage, it should always be clean and dry. So it’s pretty important to make sure your pet stays inside most of the time when it has a bandage. To prevent the bandage from getting wet when the pet goes to pee or poop, a trash bag or plastic covering should cover the bandaged leg. You may use empty bread bags. When your pet has wet or dirtied up the bandage, it would require changing. Make sure to check the bandage twice a day to see if it is clean and dry. Check also for foul odors or discharge and if there is any, call your veterinarian immediately.
The Best Toys for Your Dogs
August 15, 2008
The Best Toys for Your Dogs
by: Michael Fortomas
Dogs is a major status symbol in American pet-keeping. Every year, over 12 billion dollars have been spent on dog food and veterinary care alone. According to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association’s 2003-2004 Pet Owners’ Survey, more than half of dog owners purchase toys for their dogs.
Playing with toys is not the monopoly of little kids but also pets of different kind. Dogs have their own sets of toys to enjoy during their playing time.
Dogs benefit from these toys, health and training wise. There are dog toys that can strengthen their teeth or build their intelligence especially if they also attend a series of training classes with the experts. Like man, dogs are very sociable. Interaction with their companion or a sibling dog is very important in avoiding behavioral problems in the future.
When buying toys for your dog, you may want to match them with your dog’s needs, demands and even personality. Is your dog the type that enjoys chasing and retrieving games, or chewing, sitting and sprawling? You may want to try experimenting first to find out which toys make your dogs the happiest.
Puppy Housebreaking Does Not Have To Be All That Hard
August 14, 2008
Puppy Housebreaking Does Not Have To Be All That Hard
by: Debbie Ray
Puppy Housebreaking and Housetraining Procedures and Methods - Working Toward a Housebroken GSD
Puppy housebreaking should start just as soon as you bring your German Shepherd puppy home - and it is the best way to teach your GSD puppy to go outside when it has to relieve itself. How long does it take - puppy housetraining? The easiest answer is: as long as puppy housebreaking takes. I had one German Shepherd puppy that housetrained herself pretty much in just over 3 days, and I have had others that took closer to 2 weeks.
German Shepherd puppies are different and not all can be housetrained in the same amount of time. Time of GSD puppy housetraining can easily vary from puppy to puppy. Additionally, keep in mind that eventhough this article deals primarily with German Shepherd puppies (due to the focus of this web site) that many of these housetraining techniques can also be used with most other puppy breeds.
German Shepherd Ear Taping
August 13, 2008
German Shepherd Ear Taping
by: Debbie Ray
The German Shepherd ear taping process - helping those stubborn GSD puppy ears up.
German Shepherd ear taping is something that many GSD puppy owners do not take seriously until it is much too late. German Shepherd puppy ears can come up on their own anytime between 8 weeks and 6 months. Puppy ear taping is often an important procedure in the development of the GSD puppy ear set.
If the GSD puppy ears are not up by 4 months I tell my puppy customers to get very interested in their German Shepherd pups ears and the whole German Shepherd ear taping process. One suggestion: help stimulate your GSD puppy to use their ear muscles to help bring their ears up faster naturally, not through touch of that tender ear tissue but by making interesting noises, etc. to your GSD puppy that cause the puppy to use those maturing ears.
It is not yet time to panic, however, it is time to sit up and take notice. When the German Shepherd puppy ears are taped after 7 or 8 months old it has very little chance of working. German Shepherd ear taping is an important process that does not need to be done with all German Shepherd puppies, but some GSD puppies do need the extra help.
What You Need To Know About Doggie First Aid
August 12, 2008
What You Need To Know About Doggie First Aid
by: John Rivers
Knowing first aid can save the life of your dog. Just like people, dogs have accidents and need medical attention sometimes. And the thing is that sometimes there is just not time to get to the vet, that is when doggie first aid is so handy to know. Knowing what should go into your animal first aid kit is the key to keeping your dog alive and well no matter what happens. If you do a lot of hiking and walking in places like parks or on trails then you should also have a kit in your car for emergencies out of the home.
Most of the items in your doggie first aid kit are similar to those you have in your regular one for the family. There are however some things that need to be specialized for the animal of your life.
Here are some of the basics that your first aid kit cannot do without:
Hydrogen peroxide
Sterile eyewash solution made specifically for pets
Roll of absorbent cotton
Some cotton balls
Clean, white cotton sock (to cover wounded paws)
The Diverse Dachshund Breed
August 11, 2008
The Diverse Dachshund Breed
by: Mike Mathews
The Dachshund is an extremely popular dog breed which has ranked in the top ten most popular dog breeds for many years. Dachshunds were ranked 6th out of 154 dog breeds registered by the American Kennel Club (AKC) in both 2004 and 2005. When most people think of a Dachshund, they think of a small dog with a smooth and shiny coat, long body, floppy ears and short crooked legs. However when you consider buying a Dachshund and start to research the dog breed, you find there are a diverse and wide range of sizes, coat varieties, colors and patterns.
The original Standard Dachshund was developed to hunt badgers. The breed had to be: built low to the ground, agile and muscular enough to pursue the badger through a maze of underground tunnels, and brave enough to tackle its formidable adversary. Many people poke fun at this “sausage dog”, but they don’t know how he was bred to be low, long, muscular and athletic. Dachshunds are scent hounds and track their prey by scent and not by sight. This breed is courageous and single minded in its work. Once the Dachshund had cornered its prey in a tunnel, he barked to let the hunter know where he was located under ground. Today the Dachshund still retains its hunting instinct and, if off leash, will follow a scent ignoring any previously learned commands.
Hummingbird Feeders: Sheltering Nature’s Lovely Creatures
August 11, 2008
Hummingbird Feeders: Sheltering Nature’s Lovely Creatures
by: Robert Thatcher
Even before manufacturers took advantage of the growing popularity of feeding hummingbirds, the first hummingbird feeders were typically constructed out of laboratory apparatuses. These were constructed primarily to attract the birds that would normally fly around a garden. To these, the response of the manufacturers is to market and create sugar-water feeders. Many of which are uniquely created thus giving logic to the high cost of each feeder. But most are mass-produced to provide such equipments to the larger public.
Like with most things in the market, hummingbird feeders come in literally all forms of shapes, sizes and designs. The ideal feeders are those that can be cleaned easily and hangs readily. These must also be sturdy and must have limited number of parts that can be separated or broken. Majority of hummingbird feeders comes with both glass and plastic reservoirs.
Glasses have longer lifespan and may be cleansed easily but may shatter when dropped. Plastics on the other hand are relatively cheaper than that of the glass reservoirs but discoloration is notable.
The Best Toys for Your Dogs
August 10, 2008
The Best Toys for Your Dogs
by: Michael Fortomas
Dogs is a major status symbol in American pet-keeping. Every year, over 12 billion dollars have been spent on dog food and veterinary care alone. According to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association’s 2003-2004 Pet Owners’ Survey, more than half of dog owners purchase toys for their dogs.
Playing with toys is not the monopoly of little kids but also pets of different kind. Dogs have their own sets of toys to enjoy during their playing time.
Dogs benefit from these toys, health and training wise. There are dog toys that can strengthen their teeth or build their intelligence especially if they also attend a series of training classes with the experts. Like man, dogs are very sociable. Interaction with their companion or a sibling dog is very important in avoiding behavioral problems in the future.
When buying toys for your dog, you may want to match them with your dog’s needs, demands and even personality. Is your dog the type that enjoys chasing and retrieving games, or chewing, sitting and sprawling? You may want to try experimenting first to find out which toys make your dogs the happiest.
