The Official Dog Blog

Roaming dogs regularly cause traffic accidents when they run into the street. What if someone is killed or becomes paralyzed as a result? Dogs are not handed lawsuits or given court judgments to pay for damages – their owners are!

Do not rationalize this situation by claiming that your dog needs the exercise. It is your job as a responsible dog owner to provide your dog with supervised exercise. It is also your responsibility to treat your dog as a family member and to protect him from harm.

If you do not have a fenced yard to keep your pet safe and sound, put your dog on a leash twice a day and take him for a walk. If you are away from home all day, ask a neighbor to walk your dog, or hire a pet-sitting service to do it. Build a secure dog run, or look into electric canine fences, which are often less costly than traditional fencing.

There are many alternatives to letting your dog roam. Pick any one of the options. By keeping your dog under supervision, you will enhance his response to your training efforts. You will also have peace of mind, and your dog will have a much better chance of living a long and healthy life.

1. Dog Hair On Your Clothes

Keep a roll of masking tape or a sticky roller in your car to remove dog hair after you leave the house. Keep some in your office drawer at work to do the same.

Remove dog hair from your clothing with a dampened rubber glove, sticky roller, or masking tape, or blow it off with a blow-dryer.

2. Dog Hair On Your Bed

When there is dog hair on your bedding, run your bedding through the air-dry or fluff cycle of your dryer to remove hair before putting it in the washing machine.

If some dog hair remains at the bottom of the washing machine after you’ve done your laundry, remove the hair by running the washer through one rinse cycle.

3. Dog Hair Clogging Drains

If your dog’s hair accompanies you into the shower and clogs the drain, or your drains run slowly after giving your dog a bath, keep a plunger handy. Plunge after each use to keep the dog hair from severely clogging your drains.

Purchase a mechanical plunger for those hairy pipes. All types of plungers are available in hardware stores and builders’ outlets.

Lastly, be sure to place steel wool in your drain to catch hair.

Cushioning the bony vertebrae protecting the spinal cord are discs. When a dog herniates or slips a disc, she has pierced the cartilage surrounding it, allowing the gelatinous
fluid within this cartilage to seep out and put pressure on the spinal cord. The result is an inflammation of the spinal cord that is painful to the dog and hinders her normal movement.

A slipped disc can occur over time or suddenly due to trauma, athletic activity, or everyday exercise. Dogs who have an extended back and short legs, such as the Corgi and the Dachshund, are especially vulnerable to slipped discs due to their elongated spinal column.

Symptoms vary because the rupture can vary in size and location from dog to dog. If the herniated disc is in the back, your dog will arch her back, walk with a clumsy gait that will appear especially exaggerated in the hind legs, and whimper. In certain cases, paralysis of the hind legs may occur. If the herniated disc is in the neck, your dog’s neck will stiffen and she will avoid moving it. She will whimper, especially if you pat her on the neck or head.

A puppy begins to change his baby coat for a permanent adult one at about three months old and is fully in coat by eight months. It is essential to provide all the vitamins and minerals your puppy needs to develop a good coat. Also the temperature of the puppy’s surroundings makes a lot of difference. A good heavy coat is developed more quickly when a puppy is kept outside than when it is always in the warmth of the house.

Boiled linseed improves the texture of the coat and gives it a wonderful shine. Many show people feed their dogs with some boiled linseed before starting their show career. The linseed should be boiled in water until it forms a jelly when cold. A tablespoonful of the jelly a day is about right for a medium-sized puppy over six months old.

Some puppies will have an undercoat and an over-length coat, which is waterproof. German Shepherds have this double-texture coat. That is why they are suitable as shepherd dogs, as the weather does not affect them so much. Some puppies, like the Mexican Hairless, have no coat at all. Short-coated dogs are far easier to keep clean than long-coated ones, but they feel the cold much more.

Castration is the best way to deal with an oversexed puppy. He will not get better as he grows older, as some people would have you believe; he will get worse. Destructive acts such as tearing up bedding are all part of the sex urge, and eventually he will mount people’s legs to the intense embarrassment of those concerned.

Castration, if done young, has no bad effect on the puppy at all, and the result will be fairly speedy. If left until the dog is really a confirmed nuisance, it takes much longer to have effect. Most vets do the operation overnight and let the puppy go home next morning. There need be no stitches in the incision. After a week the puppy is quite over it. Some vets put in stitches, but these do occasionally get infected. So keep an eye on the puppy’s backside for at least a week to see that all is healing well.

A castrated puppy should be strictly dieted to keep his figure. He is inclined to beg for food. There are no harmful effects after castration. All male dogs kept as pets would only benefit by this operation. They are much nicer to own, and remain happy.

The best way to give any pill is to wrap it in a small piece of meat; most puppies eat meat hungrily, and the pills go down easily. I give my puppy a vitamin-mineral supplement that is in powdered form. It is unfortunately rather insoluble, but she doesn’t mind, and eats it up easily with her morning meal. If you start this habit with young puppies, they get accustomed to it.

All puppies should get accustomed from an early age to having their mouths opened without biting. Try opening the mouth and popping in a piece of liver, each time commanding the dog to “Open.” You will find that your puppy will quickly learn to open her mouth on command, hoping for the liver.

You must never try to open a puppy’s mouth with your hand on the bottom jaw. Always place your hand over the top of the muzzle, with your first finger and thumb in the puppy’s mouth where the teeth are absent, just behind the large canine tooth when it comes through. Keep the puppy’s head up, and stroke its throat until you see it swallow. Always put the puppy to the sit before attempting any medication. Otherwise it might struggle and choke.

Have you ever stooped to touch your dog and seen a spark fly or felt a jolt as your fingers made contact with his hair? Although the charge is enough to give you and your dog a shock, it’s not enough to cause damage to you or your animal companion. If static electricity is giving you static, you can eliminate it with some of these ideas.

1. You can help eliminate static buildup on your dog by using cleansing wipes that add moisture to his coat.

2. To help control static when you touch your dog, use an anti-static product in the clothes dryer when you dry your clothes.

3. Try a pet moisturizing spray to help eliminate dry skin as a way to control static buildup.

4. Use a humidifier to add moisture to the air and prevent the buildup of static electricity.

5. Place basins of water throughout the house to add moisture to the air if you don’t have a humidifier.

6. Use an anti-static product on your carpet. Spray it on but be sure to allow it to dry before letting your pooch walk on it.

7.Wipe your dog’s hair with an anti-static dryer sheet.

Despite what you may think, it is never a good idea to give someone a puppy as a surprise gift. Getting a dog is such a personal decision, and a bond needs to be made when an owner picks a puppy. A puppy given as a gift sounds cute, almost irresistible, but it takes the owner out of the decision-making process of picking a puppy.

For example, parents often give a child a puppy as a gift, but after a few weeks, the child grows weary of the responsibility. And who can blame them?

Owning a puppy is hard work. A puppy is not some toy to have around the house. Of course it’s a great experience for kids to have a puppy in the house – they can play with the puppy and help work on training. But a puppy should be a gift for the whole household and not just for a child.

Resist the temptation of buying a puppy as a gift for someone. Let the person make the choice of when they want to get a puppy and what kind they wish to have. Conscious choice is the best method in any situation that involves a commitment.

Do you have a dog that drools all over the place? This issue can be very offensive to other people, especially when you dog just jumps up on their lap and leaves a warm slimy spot from strings of saliva dripping down. However, you will be happy to know that drooling is not really a behavior problem, but it’s hard not to view it as one.

Certain dog breeds have loose, pendulous lower lips that form pockets, or jowls, in which saliva collects. When enough saliva collects, it overflows, and the dog drools. The dog has no control over this excess saliva.

If you have a breed of dog that drools a lot, you can keep things neater by teaching the animal to allow you to wipe its face and jowls to get rid of the excess saliva.

Start when the dog is young and wipe its entire face off with a towel several times a day. Tell it how good it is when it stands still for the wiping. Soon this will become a regular part of the dog’s daily routine.

Train the dog to wait for an invitation from you or a visitor before it puts its head on the furniture or in anyone’s lap. You can then wipe the dog’s face and jowls off ahead of time and and prevent the drooling damage to a certain extent.

Unlike horses, dogs do not sweat through the skin; they sweat through the tongue and nose, so that when a dog is panting, he is not necessarily thirsty. He is just sweating. Naturally if exertion makes a dog pant for long, he loses fluid, which he will have to replace by drinking water. Panting does not necessarily mean thirst, but a thirsty dog will pant.

Excessive panting may indicate distress, and dogs should be taken into a shady or cool place or they may get a heatstroke. It is not unknown for dogs to die at shows in hot weather from heatstroke. If a stroke is threatened, immediately put cold compresses to the dog’s head or, if the temperature is extremely high, immerse the dog in cold water until the temperature is reduced to about 103∞, which is fairly safe for a dog. Of course the animal must be dried off, or chill may result. If the animal has not lost consciousness, cool drinks are invaluable. Shutting dogs in cars with the windows closed is one cause of heatstroke. Only thoughtless owners would do such a thing.