Signs of ill Health
Signs of ill health are the most important signs of the health status in your dogs. For example, if the dog has continuous nasal discharge, it indicates the presence of nasal congestion and if the discharge is thick, most of the times, the dog may have pneumonia.
If the dog vomits one or two times occasionally, this may not be taken as a serious sign of ill health but if the dog continues this vomiting, then this is something significant to be looked into.
If the dog has continuous itching, then one needs to check up the dog first by closer observation and examination of skin by separating the hair material especially in case of long haired breeds. You may also come across a lot of ticks or lice on skin, which may look apparently normal at a distance.
If the dog passes loose stool for one or two times, this need not be given more emphasis but if there is continuous passing of loose stool, then the dog is understood to suffer from bowel disorders. If the dog does not pass stool for two to three days, the digestive upsets needs to be ruled out carefully.
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| | Health
Common Questions about Heartworms
The common questions about heart worm are often related to the species affected by heart worms in addition to the dogs. One should know that in addition to dogs, the cat, fox, wolf, horse, sea lion etc. are also affected.
Can heartworms be cured or treated?
Yes, heartworms can be treated. However, it is easier to prevent heartworms altogether than to treat them in your pet. So taking preventive or cautionary measures is preferable.
What medication is used for the prevention of heart worm in dogs?
Ivermectin is the medication used most often to heart worms in dogs. Dogs that have been affected by heartworms reveal symptoms of constant coughing, panting and dullness on many occasions.
What will be the size of the worms?
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Dogs Dental Care
Home dental care is to be given more emphasis nowadays because of the fact that the dental diseases are emerging in the case of pet animals like dogs to a greater extent. Though you are giving home dental care, if you suspect on the extension of the dental diseases, then immediately approach the veterinarian for intervention.
Try to provide bone materials without very sharp points to the dogs and they may love to chew them and then swallow the bitten products. Such activities help them to go for the development of strong teeth structures in a natural manner.
Mind that the breeds of dogs like Pekingese, etc. are more prone for the development of teeth diseases because the teeth are closely crowned in the oral cavity be to the small size of the these dogs. Hence, these dogs need to be checked up for the excessive plaque formation in the home itself.
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| | Dog Care, Health
Vaccinations
Vaccinations need to be undertaken always by the pet owners and the dogs need to be vaccinated at the appropriate time. This helps to improve the resistance of the animal against some specific diseases causing frequently problems in dogs. The dogs that are orphaned due to the death of the mother have lesser protection in their immune system.
Such animals are to be particularly protected against various diseases.
Vaccination is usually started at the age of five to six weeks and prior to this age, the maternal immunity will be helping the animal to have natural disease resistance. It is always better to deworm the animal before the vaccination and this is given emphasis many times. Vaccination against the parvo virus is done at an early age because pups are often being affected by parvo viral infections. The booster dose for each vaccine needs to be given at appropriate time and this helps to build up the immune status to an appreciable manner. Vaccination is carried out in many countries against rabies disease.
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Bathing Your Dog
Bathing a dog needs to be given more emphasis. This is because of the fact that if you are careless in bathing, the animal may end up having some infections. For example, if you don’t close the ears with large cotton ball, the water may enter into ear canals and may cause some ear infections with signs like constant discharge from the ears and shaking of head.
Frequency of bathing actually depends on the breed of the dog. If the dog is of a hairy type like the cocker spaniel, then the bathing is to be carried out once in six to eight weeks. If these breeds are bathed too frequently, then the skin and coat loose the protective characters. However, when the dog has defecated on the skin due to the frequent digestive upsets leading to diarrhea, to avoid the bad smell, the dog may be subjected to frequent bathing some times by the owners.
Take more care in avoiding some irritant soaps or human soaps. The soap materials used for human beings are not suitable for dogs. Similarly, many human shampoo products are having some ingredients that are not suitable in the proportions that are to be used in case of dogs. Hence, always try to use the shampoo products that are mentioned mainly for use in dogs. Take more care in using any new product.
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| | Dog Care, Puppy Care
First steps in grooming
Grooming is one of the important activities to be known well by the dog owner. If the dog owner is not aware of the grooming, then the dog may encounter many types of diseases. First steps of grooming consists of activities like maintenance of coat, nails and ears. The maintenance of the coat mainly consists of enrichment measures like proper bathing, combing, drying of skin by dryers, and more.
The animal need not be bathed daily and this helps to protect the skin’s characteristics like insulation feature.
Use conditioners and shampoos that are meant for dogs. Combing needs to be carried out with a soft brush meant for use in case of dogs. There are varieties of brushes available and depending on the type of breeds, one can use the concerned brush. This grooming of the coat by a comb needs to be carried out daily and the fallen hair if any needs to be placed in dust bin always.
Otherwise, when the dog owners switch on the fan, the hair will fly and may enter the nostrils of persons. Always don’t clip too much because this may lead to injuries of nail always. Similarly, you need to carry all the materials required for the clipping with you before the start of the procedure.
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| | Dog Care, Puppy Care
Vaccination
Common questions about vaccinations are to be understood by the dog owners, as a priority. One of the common questions is whether the dog needs to be given vaccination on the first week of age or not. The dogs need not be vaccinated within five to six weeks of age. But, if they did not receive vaccinations, then the vaccination against the parvoviral infections used to kill viral vaccines and measles disease may be given.
Another common question is whether dog is to be given bordetella disease vaccine and lyme disease vaccine. No, these vaccines are only optional. Can the parvoviral vaccine can be used in first week of life? No. This will interfere with maternal antibody levels.
Can a pregnant animal be vaccinated? Yes. Two to three weeks earlier to pregnancy activity that is expected, the pregnant animal may be vaccinated against viral diseases. This helps to provide maternal antibodies to the young one to be given birth. Is there any need to give rabies vaccine to dogs? Yes. It is a must to go for the anti rabies vaccine for dogs.
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| | Health, Puppy Care
Puppy Housbreaking Tips
Perhaps the first and most important thing any puppy owner wants to do is to housebreak their new puppy. This cannot only be a very positive learning experience for the puppy, but also for the owner, particularly for first time dog owners.
When preparing to train your puppy to do what comes naturally outside, rather than inside, it’s very important to understand that dog’s are habit animals. Everything they do as they grow older is born from habit, the choice the dog owner has is whether the puppy is going to create it’s own habits or if the habits are going to be taught.
Another important factor to keep in mind that until after three months of age a puppy cannot physically control the muscles needed to keep from going, it just happens. To overcome this in the early months, take the puppy out often or confine your puppy to an area of the house where it’s easy to clean up any messes. Be sure to keep the area the puppy stays in clean; it can be very difficult to train a puppy to go outside if he or she can smell the scent of urine inside.
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| | Puppy Care