Caring For Your Dog

This page is intended to provide typical questions that pet owners ask their vet regarding the care of their pet dogs

Top Tips for Keeping Your Dog Healthy

Keeping your dog healthy and happy is the most important part of pet ownership, and this obviously requires plenty of hard work and commitment. All dogs, regardless of their age and size, have a number of daily requirements that need to be met, and these include access to fresh food and water, exercise, and plenty of love and affection.

The following tips are designed to help you make the right decisions for your dog:

1. Stay calm – Try to stay as calm as possible when you are around your dog, as dogs are sensitive creatures and they can often sense when something is wrong. Sudden movements or raised voices may upset your dog, and this could result in it becoming stressed and frightened.

2. Train your dog well – A well-trained dog is always much easier to handle, especially in difficult situations. Owning an obedient dog will enable you to take your pet on outings and family holidays, without having to worry about its behaviour.

3. Exercise daily – It is important to exercise your dog daily to keep it in good condition. Regular exercise will also make your dog feel happy and relaxed, and this will help to prevent any behavioural problems.

4. Groom regularly – The condition of your dog’s coat is generally a good indication of its overall health. Regular grooming is essential, as it helps to remove loose hair and dander from your pet’s coat. Grooming not only keeps your pet clean and fresh, it also enables you to check your pet over and spot any potential health problems before they become too serious. It is important to remember that extra grooming may be required during heavy shedding periods.

 Exercise, good diet, healthcare, and plenty of love = Happy, healthy dog

5. Check ears, teeth, and nails – These areas need checking regularly to ensure that your dog is not experiencing any pain or discomfort. Ear mites and ticks can invade the ears, and plaque, tartar, and gingivitis can develop if the teeth are not cleaned regularly. Overgrown nails can also cause a great deal of pain and suffering, but regular exercise on hard surfaces, such as pavements, should help the nails to wear down naturally.

6. Provide a healthy diet – The daily nutritional requirements for your dog will vary depending on its breed, age, sex, and how much exercise it has. You should provide your dog with a complete and balanced diet that contains the correct amount of fat, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals. It is also important to ensure that your dog always has a bowl of fresh water available.

7. Maintain a correct body weight – It is a good idea to find out exactly what your dog’s ideal weight should be. Try to feed your dog at regular intervals throughout the day, as this will help to establish mealtime manners and enable you to spot any changes in your pet’s eating habits. If you want to give your dog any treats to reward good behaviour, make sure they are healthy ones.

8. Visit the vet regularly – You shouldn’t wait until your dog is unwell before taking it to see the vet. Routine check-ups at the vets can help to detect any health problems early on, and they may even prevent some conditions from occurring in the first place.

9. Love your dog – Your dog needs to know that you love it unconditionally, so make sure that you spend plenty of quality time with it. It is worth getting to know your pet well, as this will enable you to understand its body language. It is also important to purchase a good quality collar, lead, and bed for your dog to ensure that it is safe and comfortable at all times. Giving your dog all the love and care it needs will hopefully ensure that you and your companion have many happy years together. Never show anger or aggression towards your dog.

This article is included courtesy of www.thinkwoof.com

The Trouble with Ticks!
 
With the onset of warmer weather, something to be on the look out for when grooming or stroking your pets is ticks. Ticks are generally found in woodland, heathland and grassland. Waiting for an animal or human to brush past them so that they can jump on and feed. They attach using their mouthpart and will feed on blood from their host for several days before finally dropping off.
 
Ticks can cause problems in two mains ways:
 
– local tissue reactions: Firstly they can sometimes cause a marked tissue reaction at the attachment site.
– Tick borne diseases: Secondly and more importantly, ticks can carry infectious diseases which may be transmitted to pets and humans. The most common one is Lyme Disease. Caused by the tick borne pathogen- Borrelia burgdorferi.   
 
So how can you minimise the risk of Lyme disease in your pets?
 
– Daily monitoring for ticks and careful removal of ticks with a tick hook within 24 hours of attachment. The approach works because the tick infected with borrelia has to feed for several hours and often 24-48 hours before disease transmissions occurs.
 
Tick protection- there are a range of products that rapidly kill or repel ticks and which are very important in reducing tick feeding and therefore Lyme disease exposure. Bravecto chewy tablets last for 3 months, have a very rapid effect.