Today, dogs are one of the very well-liked pets. They became a part of the rescue agencies and law enforcement for their invaluable service and dedication to their best friend, the human beings.  Taking care of this so-called “best friends” is really important and vital because it involves big responsibility, accountability and commitment.  It also involves significant venture of both your time and your money. Here are some general tips that will help you take good care of your dogs:

FOOD

There is a need for you to provide nutritious food and water to meet the daily nutritional needs of your dog. On choosing the right food for your dog, you must pay much attention on the ingredients as well as the nutrients present on that dog food formula. Some inexpensive formula may seem to be light for your pocket but is not healthy for your dog and might precipitate illness due to its artificial ingredients. Many dogs are obese because of the high-corn and low-protein food formulas sold at many food stores.  Your veterinarian might recommend a dog food that is nutritious and the proper feeding schedule for your dogs. Usually, dogs are fed once or twice daily.
EXERCISE

Like human beings, regular exercise is important. Daily walks and other kinds of dog exercise provide numerous benefits for dog’s health like weight maintenance, behavioral issues, and muscle strength. It helps to promote loyalty, bonding and connection between the dog and the owner.

SAFE ENVIRONMENT

When owning a dog, it doesn’t mean that you should fence your backyard but it does help to maintain a safe environment for you dog.  They need a safe bathroom whether in a fenced yard or in a frequent leashed walks. They also need a safe porch or a dog house to go out to if the weather is fine. Proofing your house will help you minimize breakage of some breakable things and will also help prevent dogs be in a dangerous situation. Proper supervision is vital in owning a dog.

VETERINARY CARE

It is a must that you bring your dog for the routine veterinary care visits. This includes series of vaccinations plus booster doses and deworming. Most dogs, especially those who are pure breed have higher chance of developing serious health problems in their entire lifetime. It is important for you to bring your dog to a vet regularly for check-up. Owners might consider having a pet insurance to cover certain expensive medical procedures.

It is important to provide a proper dog care from the day your dog is born to the day you’ll part ways. There are many things that go with a proper dog care, but the plunder of a faithful and trustworthy family pet are vast.

Contrary to its name, ringworms are not caused by worms but rather fungus called Dermatophytes which means “plants that live on skin”. Before, people thought that these round lesions are caused by worms hence, the term ringworm was given. It is actually a skin problem usually caused by a plant or skin contact to other dogs either direct or indirect contact. It can also be passed from dogs to cats and from cats to dogs and often from human beings to dogs and vise versa. The spore of the fungus usually lives in the environment for a long time. It can be found in carpets, clothes, beddings, etc and infects your dog when it comes into contact with their skin.

The fungus usually stays in hair follicles near the head, ears, tail and front paws which cause hair shafts to break off. This disease would appear as a circle on the dog’s skin with raised edges. It looks like the hair was removed with a pale spot at the center. Other symptoms would include itchiness, scaling and crusty skin with some redness. A patch that is irregular in shape would mean that two or more lesions joined together. It’s easier to see this disease to younger dogs than that of the adults.

The younger dogs and puppies are more susceptible for infection since their immune system has not fully developed yet. Healthy dogs typically develop resistance to ringworms. Some may be carriers but show no symptoms, then later on infect other animals or even human beings.

Treatment should be started as soon as ringworm is diagnosed through culture and microscopic studies. Usually the entire course of this disease is from two to four months but if left unattended it would later on spread and infect other body parts or even infect human beings.

Griseofulvin may be prescribed by the veterinarian for your dog. It is an anti-fungal drug that inhibits fungal reproduction. It is widely used and recommended by the vet because it is very effective and would also prevent reoccurance of the fungus. Keep in mind that this oral medication has side effects like abortion and birth defects if given to pregnant dogs, so be sure to consult a veterinarian first before giving the medication. Usually, topical medications are not advised because dogs will just lick them out before it takes effect.

Treatments don’t work over night. Veterinarian might also consider giving your dog a lime sulfur dip baths twice a week. It may be performed at home or at the clinic. Remember that this will stain clothing and jewelries and will cause temporary yellowing of the skin and of the coat of the dog. It is also advisable to bath your dog every other day using an anti-fungal shampoo. The lather of the shampoo should be left for at least 5 minutes to destroy and eliminate fungal spores.

Fungus spores might spread throughout the house by the infected dog which might cause reinfection to dogs and might infect humans that live in the home. In order to prevent this, it is important to clean the house with bleach mixed with water at 1:10 ratio on all surface exposed. Vacuum and steam cleaning would eliminate a large number of spores and don’t forget to clean beddings and couches as well. It is also advisable to confine and isolate the dog in one room or area during the entire treatment course.

Why are regular check-ups important?  Every dog owner asks this type of question, often. If you failed to do the regular check-ups, then the dog may end up having some major diseases that you don’t know about.  Hence, you need to pay lot of money both to the veterinarians for consultancy and for the required drugs useful for the therapy of the clinical condition.

One may not be able to find out the very commonly occurring clinical conditions in case of their dogs because of less experience with dog diseases or dog rearing.  This is why check ups are important.   For example, if the dog has potbelly, the condition may not look abnormal many times. But if the dog is subjected to the regular check-up, then the veterinarian immediately finds it out and gives the appropriate therapy. If not, the animal may experience diarrhea and the dehydration.

If the dog has any signs of illness, then don’t wait for the regular check-up. Instead, you need to approach the veterinarian immediately. Check ups if done in a regular manner will help to give vaccinations against canine distemper, parvovirus, corona virus, rabies virus, hepatitis virus, and more.

Booster vaccinations will be carried out in such cases without any delay in the injections and this helps to improve the immunity level of the dog against such diseases in a remarkable degree. Regular check up is the essential one with proper stools examination.  Hence, the deworming may be carried out with drugs like fenbendazole, albendazole, etc.

Abnormalities like signs of pain may be ruled out during such  examinations.  If not, helminthiasis may affect the animal and diarrhea may occur in addition to the other types of digestive upsets and anemia. Regular examinations help to rule out the external parasitic conditions like lice or tick infestations.  Dental problems are also found out during the regular check ups in reputed veterinary hospitals.

Nursing a sick dog is one of the vital measures that a dog owner needs to understand.  Similarly, when a dog becomes sick, the dog is in need of more care and affection based activities by the dog owners. Nursing a sick animal is often considered as an art and this should not be taken as a causal measure.

Yes. You need to take extra care to the dog when it becomes sick. For example, the sick dog with high fever needs to be given only some bread pieces and bulky non-vegetarian items may be avoided.  Such dogs should be kept in some calm place after medications are taken and should not be disturbed.  During the nursing of the dog who has taken the drug, the animal needs coaxing and stroking by the owner.  Don’t raise the dog’s head too much to avoid the passing of drugs given by the mouth directly into the respiratory organs like lungs.  During the nursing measures, take care by giving warm fluids.

Safety is to be given more priority during the nursing activity in any dog. When the dog has severe diarrhea, the animal may start showing signs of dehydration. Hence, the nursing care for dehydration includes an addition of small doses of salt and glucose to water in a careful manner.
Similarly, the vomiting dog also needs proper nursing care.  Ice cubes may be given in such cases along with egg whites to smooth the esophageal passage.

Nowadays, a non-contact based infrared thermometer has come up in the market to obtain the temperature of the animal without much stress.  Place the dog in a shaded place if the temperature is so high and provide good ventilation to the suffering animal.   If the animal is suffering from hypothermia, provide warm blankets to given comfort to the animal.

Preventing dental disease is an important feature, which is to be paid more emphasis by the dog lovers or dog owners. Dental disease is given priority in the health schedule of the dog nowadays because of the association of the dental diseases with systemic diseases in the dogs.

Antibiotics need to be given in the initial stage of teeth infection itself and if not, this may cause specific infections and the organisms may spread to the other nearby regions like the oral mucous membrane and pharyngeal region etc.

More acidic or alkaline food materials need not be given to the dogs to avoid the possible teeth damage.  Antibiotics need to be given in the initial stage of teeth infection itself and if not, this may cause specific infections and the organisms may spread to the other nearby regions like the oral mucous membrane and pharyngeal region etc.  More acidic or alkaline food materials need not be given to the dogs to avoid the possible teeth damage.  If the dog is not given at its young age some bony material to bite on, the dog may develop some dental diseases later. The teething action often causes the animal to go for biting in an indiscriminate manner. Hence, the animal has to be given some biting materials to avoid the occurrence of dental diseases.

If there is an evidence of bleeding from the oral region, the dog needs to be examined thoroughly for any dental abnormality.  Mainly the puppies or some times, the adult dogs also may have teeth injuries. They need to be attended immediately as a preventive step. If not, the animal may end up in secondary bacterial infections.

Hunting dogs need additional care associated with the dental structures and such care is needed to avoid the future dental problems in such dogs.  Brushes are available to provide better dental care to dogs. However, one has to allot more time and should have patience to use such brushes in case of dogs.     This may lead into further problems. Centers for disease control and prevention are trying to put up guidelines to prevent the dental diseases in dogs in many nations.  However, the oral examination needs to be carried out frequently in dogs and such activities help to rule out the emerging problems pertaining to the dentine structures in the beginning itself.

Most of the times, the dogs are so intelligent to find out the drug mixed water or food materials offered to them by the dog owners. Hence, often it becomes a headache for the dog owners to give medicines to their dogs.  To the possible extent, the animal need not be forced for taking of the drug. If the medicine is to be given by mouth, first decide whether it is better to give it along with water or food.  Many times, the medicines are mixed with food materials and are kept in concealed position by proper mixing of the medicine with the food materials.

Before administering the medicine, just delay the feeding time in the particular dog. Hence, the dog may be hungry to some extent. At that time, give little quantity of normal food without medicine and the dog may eat it well without any suspicion and now provide the medicine mixed food and the dog may voluntarily eat it most of the times.  If the dog resists, first restraint the dog well and open the mouth. Place the tablet behind the fang teeth and almost behind the bulb of the tongue. However, take care that the medicine what you are administering in the dog should not enter directly into the respiratory organ like lungs.

If so, the dog will experience many bouts like activities and may end up in aspiration pneumonia with severe nasal discharge and panting like activities. In puppies, just swab the medicine around the upper lip. The puppy will lick automatically the drug by tongue. Hence, the administration becomes perfect in such cases.

If the medicine is in liquid form, don’t raise the head of dog too much and place medicine by a syringe. Just by using a dropper, fill the medicine in the lip pocket. The continuous rubbing at the throat side may stimulate the swallowing. Making the animal thirsty and then offering of medicine mixed water may many times help the intake of the medicine.

Veterinary dental treatments are more important. If the dental structures are not being looked carefully, there are more chances for the development of periodontal diseases in dogs.  Hence, the veterinary dental treatments need to be paid maximum importance during the life of your dogs.

There are many advanced systems that deal with dental treatments that have come up in the market.  Many systems are available with built in water spray systems, double filter systems, auto clavable clips, and more.

Many veterinarians use high speed fiber optic hand pieces with push button turbines, two hand piece water jet systems, soundless water compressors and more.  The diagnosis of a condition pertaining to the periodontal structure based diseases are more important before the treatment.

Periodontal diseases are graded into minimal and moderate and severe diseases.  Accordingly the therapy is carried out, it is impossible to check all teeth by basic oral examination in the dog patient.  Hence, general anesthesia is required before the examination of the teeth inside structures.  Surgical curettage is done in case of advanced periodontal diseases using flaps and the teeth extractions are also carried out using moderate force and more care is taken to avoid the continuous bleeding.

Oral surgeries are undertaken after obtaining of the dental radio graphs in the dogs and by comparing the tissue damage with normal teeth structures.  The concerned veterinarians assess the extent of damage in a systematic manner.

The periodontal diseases are controlled by administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics in an effective manner.  Along with the dental surgeries, the oral treatment is done with many products that are helpful to prevent the attachment of the tartar or plaque on the teeth. However, reputable products should be used in the veterinary practice and the dog owner’s satisfaction is given more priority during the veterinary dental therapy.

The importance of the physical examination need not be underestimated in case of dogs. Simple but systematic physical examination techniques may diagnose most of the disorders in dogs and hence, without physical examination of the dog, one should not resort to knowing the status of your dog’s health.

Simply observe the dog with scratching. Catch the dog and simply separate the hair material from the itching site. To the surprise you may come across a big wound in the scratched site. The wound might be the main reason for the scratching of the dog at that site. However, one has to rule out the occurrence of wound by severe itching itself.

Many times, when the scratching dog is examined physically, one can come across plenty of lice infestation or tick problem in the skin and coat. The parasitic condition might not be diagnosed at all if one has not carried out the physical examination. Similarly, the dog may reveal the signs of pain when the physical examination is carried out by deep palpation technique.  The dog show signs of pain when the dog is examined at the stomach or the back regions.

Even if it is possible that by pressure based palpation, one can detect the acute renal disorders in the affected dogs turn to the examined site at the region of kidney or at the back region. The dog affected by the Cystitis with severe retention of urine is often diagnosed by mere physical examination.

The filled bladder together with signs of pain during the examination at the site of urinary bladder indicates that the animal is affected by Cystitis.  Auscultation of the heart in both right and left sides helps to rule out the abnormal heart sounds and the pulmonary area based auscultation reveals the respiratory system disorder like pneumonia.

This question often looks so simple but holds more meanings in that. During the examination of your dog, first you need to prepare the dog first psychologically for a better-restrained status.  For this, you need to take a leash and place the dog on table by the careful delivery of suitable command.

When the dog is trying to avoid the thorough examination by the veterinarian, just try to distract the dog by simple scratching of your dog behind the ears, etc. Hence, the dog’s attention is some what diverted from the examination procedures that are carried out often in a systematic manner.

However, there are obedient dogs, which will remain calm during an examination.  Such dogs need to be given some patting on the shoulder or the body and praises.  Perhaps, many owners may try to provide some treats that are liked so much by the concerned dogs.  However, it all depends on the trainings offered to the concerned dog earlier and the effective follow up procedures by the owner for the maintenance of such reflexes during the examination.

Muzzles are required for some dogs if they behave in a different manner by objecting the examination procedures by the frequent movements of the body or trying to bite the veterinarian doing the examination of the dog. Hence, the owner needs to observe the dog closely during the examination to rule out any abnormal activity by the dog.

Restraining activities in a proper manner during the clinical examination of the dog are of highly appreciable if they are successful with the concerned dogs. Such control will be of highly helpful for the effective examination of the patient by the concerned veterinarian in the pet clinic.
If the dog gets more distracted during examination by means of restlessness, then one may even use the electronic equipments which will make some sound that are audible to the dogs’ ear. Such things will be helpful in the proper distraction of the animal during the examination.

Fleas and other parasites need to be given always a priority by the dog owners. The common incidences of flea bite allergy in case of dogs cause worries among the dog owners.  Flea bite induces allergic reactions in the concerned area bitten by the fleas. Hence, the affected area looks like hairless area and the animal starts scratching.

Fleas cause severe dermatitis in dogs with severe flea infestations. Many times, the flea bite causes allergic reactions in the dogs.  In many occasions, dogs experience severe discomforts due to these allergic reactions. Medicated collars are available to treat and prevent the infestation with external parasites like ticks or fleas.

Other parasites like ticks, lice in addition to the internal parasites like hook worms, round worms, whip worms etc. cause affections in the health status of the animal. For example, if hookworm affects the animal, most of the times, the dog has anemia. The anemic signs become more prominent depending on the degree of affection by the hookworm.

Hookworm larvae can pass directly through the skin and cause problems in the affected ones. Such dogs may reveal lesions pertaining to the dermatitis in the feet region and in the skin areas. Skin rashes may be seen frequently in such cases and the affected animal passes loose stool, which is of red tinged and mixed with blood material.

If the round worms are seen in more numbers, the affected puppies reveal a potbelly condition, which is easily recognized by the dog owners themselves. Piperazine salts are given by oral route for the treatment of this problem. However, broad-spectrum anthelmintics like pyrantel pamoate, fenbendazole etc. are given to treat these conditions.

Many drugs have come in market to treat the fleas and other parasites.  Nowadays, the medical agent called as ivermectin is highly preferred by many dog owners to treat the fleas and other parasites in dogs. This drug is available in injection form and oral form. Even the drug is available for the external application also.