Archive for the ‘Puppy Care’ Category
I’m a new mother again. My daughter just gave me an early Christmas present, a puppy. So over the course of the next few articles we will touch on puppy care. Christmas, Easter, Valentines, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day usually bring an increase to a few families. No doubt there may be a few other families needing some pointers in the near future.
Owners of newly acquired pets should obtain the medical history of the pet and contact their veterinarian to set up a schedule for worming and vaccinations. Some breeders and pet stores have already started the worming and vaccinations prior to the adoption release and will provide you with the information. All pets adopted from the SPCA have been wormed and given vaccinations. They will also recommend you contact your veterinarian to follow up on worming and vaccinations.
Most reputable breeders initiate worming treatments at 2 weeks, and repeat at 4, 6, and 8 weeks, just prior to releasing the pet for adoption. On a newly acquired pet that has no history of de-worming contact your veterinarian to set up and immediate schedule of de-worming While consulting your veterinarian on basic worming schedules, you should have your pets stool examined for tapeworms, hookworms, roundworms, whipworms, and a blood test done for heartworms.
There are several types of tapeworms, the most common is the flea tapeworm. This tapeworm is most common in residential or urban areas. Dogs ingest it during grooming. The other types are usually transmitted to dogs through eating rabbits, rodents or uncooked meats. Tapeworms look like flattened pieces of rice in your pets stool or attached to the fur in the anal area. Dogs may drag their behinds as an indication of infection. Don’t allow your dogs to ingest raw meats or hunt rodents thus eliminating the opportunity for infection.
Heartworms are transmitted by mosquitos. When a mosquito bites an infected dog, it not only sucks up blood but baby heartworms in the blood. This gets passed along to the next dog the infected mosquito bites. An infected dog may show signs of a chronic cough, laboured breathing, listlessness, and is easily tired during exercise. Once your veterinarian has determined your dog is free of heartworm infection he/she will begin a regular preventative medication program.
Roundworms live in the dogs intestines and live by sucking blood. Puppies often are infected through the placenta of the mother. This is why de-worming is usually begun at 2 weeks into the life of the puppy. Pets infected with roundworms usually have bloated bellies and rough looking coats. Your pet may show signs of vomiting, diarrhea, and colic. If left untreated a severe infection could damage the brain, liver, or lungs.
Hookworms attach themselves onto the intestinal lining with hook-like teeth. As this worm feeds on your dog’s blood, it moves around continually leaving bleeding sores. Bloody, mucus-laden diarrhea is an indication your dog may have a hookworm infection. This worm infection can cause anemia, weight loss, skin problems, rough coat, weakness, and impair the growth and physical development in puppies.
To prevent infection of any type of worm it is important that you do not let your dog drink stagnant pond water, ingest other dogs feces, rabbits or rodents, raw meats, garbage, or bones it may find on walks. Also, do not let your pet play in possible areas infected by mosquitos or other dogs. And last, but not least, have your dog examined and put on a regular preventative treatment program by your veterinarian.
Posted in Puppy Care | 
Tags: Article, Basis, Care, health, Importance, Regular, Worming | 
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I don’t know about you but I’ll bet the thought of taking your puppy to the vet for recurrent urinary tract infections is not exactly enticing. Puppy urinary tract infections are painful for your puppy and expensive for pet owners. The problem is that many pet owners don’t address the problem until symptoms arise. If you work to prevent UTIs in your puppy easily and safely at home, it will save you and your dog a lot of trouble.
If you notice the signs of a urinary tract infection puppy foods made commercially should be avoided. Commercial dog food is full of artificial ingredients and minerals that can alter the pH of your dog’s urine, making it easier for bacteria to flourish. Instead, give your dog raw, unprocessed food and home cooked food.
In addition to giving your dog only healthy foods, make sure your dog has plenty of fresh, filtered water to drink. Filtered water will help your dog flush out the bacteria that cause puppy urinary tract infections. Tap water on the other hand is full of harmful chemicals like chlorine.
If you want to prevent urinary tract infection puppy care that focuses on exercise and a healthy lifestyle is very important. Many dogs do not get enough exercise in order to maintain good health and since they don’t go outside often, they hold their urine in for too long. This can lead to urinary tract infection over time. Make sure to take your dog out for a walk at least twice a day.
Diet, exercise, and sufficient intake of fresh, clean water will go a long way in preventing puppy urinary tract infections. However, if you want to give your dog maximum protection and boost his overall immune system functioning, you should give him a homeopathic treatment. Homeopathy is very helpful in both the prevention and treatment of urinary tract infection.
So how do homeopathic remedies work? Homeopathic remedies contain all natural plant extracts that maintain your dog’s bladder health, urinary tract health, and a healthy flow of urine. Furthermore, homeopathic remedies strengthen your dog’s immune system so it can fight off infections more easily. When it comes to urinary tract infection puppy homeopathy is highly effective, particularly when combined with a healthy diet and exercise. Best of all, homeopathic remedies are completely safe and have no risk of side effects.
Make no mistake about it. Prevention is always the best medicine when it comes to puppy urinary tract infections. If you want to keep your dog healthy and not worry at all about having to visit the vet, make sure your dog stays healthy through good diet and exercise. Most importantly, administer a homeopathic remedy. It’s the easiest and safest way to help your dog reach an optimum state of health.
When you have a new puppy, it’s hard to know where to begin. You have to figure out where he’ll sleep, where he’s to stay when you’re not home, how to get him to go potty outside and how to train him to come. How do you bath him? And where to get him vaccinated? It’s a little overwhelming, isn’t it?
However there is one important part of puppy care that is quite straightforward and that is puppy feeding. In this article we’ll cover what puppy food to use, when to feed your puppy and in what quantity.
The first 8 weeks of a puppy’s life should be spent with his mom. During this time they should get everything they need from their mother. After weaning, your puppy becomes your responsibility .
Don’t make the mistake of feeding puppies adult dog food. Ensure the food contains meat as the main item. Skip the brands that list grains as the first few ingredients. This is not what your puppy needs for healthy growth, grains may also cause his digestion to suffer.
When feeding small puppies stick with puppy food for at least the first year. Most dogs should be ready for adult dog food after this time
A dog’s stomach usually doesn’t like a lot of changes and you may notice some diarrhea if you suddenly change foods. If you are going to change the brand or flavor, do it slowly by mixing the first brand with the second and increasing the second over a period of time so their stomach can handle it.
Puppy feeding needs to be regular – at least 3 times a day. Sometime after 8 weeks you can switch the feedings to twice per day. It’s best to feed puppy regularly at the same time each day if possible.
Dog food packaging should list feeding amounts based on the dog’s weight. If you’re confused how much to feed, simply ask your vet to clarify. Naturally you’ll want to give him enough so he grows and thrives, but you don’t want to over-feed him either.
Now you have the what, when and how much as regards puppy feeding. Always contact your vet if you experience any problems.
Brining a puppy home for the first time is both a hugely rewarding experience and a demanding one. There are many great hints, tips and suggestions about bringing a new puppy into your home. The article below looks at the basics of puppy care especially in the early days when you introduce it into your home.
1) Vaccines – Vaccines are a good idea for every dog to help minimize both diseases and illness. By the time you get your puppy, the breeder should have already administered some vaccines. Be sure to check what vaccines have been given and when they were administered.
2) Feeding – Puppies should be fed dry puppy food and not normal dog food. Puppy food contains nutrients and proteins essential for a growing puppy.
3) Early Training – Training a new puppy should start as soon as possible. Puppies pick up things pretty fast, so early training is ideal. Training should include things such as sit, stay as well as toilet training.
4) Sleeping Habits – You should decide where you want your puppy to sleep well before you actually get your new puppy. Pick a spot where the puppy will sleep from that day on. It is often difficult to teach a dog to sleep in a different location to the one it was initially shown. So if you don’t want your dog in the bed with you every night, you should resist the temptation of inviting the puppy up onto the bed.
5) Socialization – Once the puppy is old enough, socializing is a must. Introduce your puppy to other puppies and people to help the dog with meeting new people and animals.
Bringing a puppy into your home can also bring new problems and challenges into your life. By following these tips and tricks, you will be sure to have a confident and loving puppy that will grow up to be a loving and confident dog.
Puppy training is a very interesting job for some people and very strenuous job for others. Generally, it depends on the way you deal with your canine. You need to scrutinize every action of your puppy carefully and understand its likes and dislikes. This way you can understand your pup better and provide him with better training.
Teaching Puppy to Accept a Collar:
Generally, you may find your pups confused or hesitant of themselves on the leash and collar you provide them. You need to keep in mind that collars are a training support. You cannot use them as an alternative to the usual buckle style collar.
You need to just place the collar in dog’s neck and allow him to skip, struggle and turn round as per his desire. You need to restrain yourself from laughing or pacifying him as this may encourage him to do this action repeatedly. Moreover, try not to scold him. The best thing you can do is to pay no attention to him. Instead, you can do some other thing to distract his attention from the collar.
By allowing a pup to play, train and eat well, you can divert his attention from the collar. Once he gets used to it, he may not even realize the presence of the collar.
Training Puppy to Accept a Leash:
You need to wait for few days before providing the puppy with a leash. Once you find your pup accustomed to the collar, you can put the leash on him. You need to do puppy training activity indoors or in a safe and confined area.
Allow the puppy to drag the leash around as per his wish. Initially, you need to be vigilant and take care that he does not entangle himself with the leash. You can repeat the workout for longer duration.
You can place the leash during mealtimes. This way he can associate the leash with an enjoyable event. If you find that he is scared of the leash, you can keep it adjacent to his meal, and once he gets relaxed you can attach it to his collar.
Picture the scene; you are all excited about getting your new puppy at the weekend. You have got all the puppy food, puppy toys, his new bed, dog bowl etc, and you are standing in your beautifully manicured garden thinking that life is great.
Well just take a picture of how your garden looks like now, because I can promise you that within 3 months of having your new puppy home with you, your garden is going to look a sorry mess if you don’t do anything about it.
What puppies just love to do is to dig and that is everywhere and anywhere, they don’t care about your beautiful plants that you have cherished for years or your beautifully mowed lawn that you have cared for so long.
All puppies care about is getting their paws dirty with your garden. Now to a young puppy this is great excitement and unless you STOP this behaviour it will only get worse over time.
This behaviour can lead to very stressful situation between owner and puppy as the owner feels powerless to stop this happening and the puppy feels victimised for his actions, so what we have is an uncomfortable standoff between owner and puppy.
So you your puppy have left his mark all over your treasured garden with his digging antics, and before you know whets hit you, your puppy is now a dog, and those small little holes in your garden caused by your puppy are now trenches caused by your dog.
There is no need to get into this situation if you have the right advice and training and a little bit of passion about giving both you and your puppy a better life together.
