Dog Health: Puppy First Aid And Top Three Problems You Can Solve At Home
When you bring home a new puppy, it can be difficult to not fret at every little cough, every little whimper, and every little whine. Puppies are like small children in that they are susceptible to so much, yet our minds seem to create even more of an issue with their health than what they are probably already experiencing. Good puppy parenting is about finding a balance between paranoia and concern, and knowing the difference between problems you can solve on your home and those that require the care of a veterinarian.
To help get you started, here are a few of the most common problems that your puppy may experience that you don’t have to seek veterinary care for.
Cuts and Scrapes
Cuts and scrapes are part of the life of a puppy; just like children, they tend to get into everything and part of learning what is safe and what is not is getting into things that are not the best idea. This means that cuts, scrapes, and scratches will occur in the life of your pet, and it is your responsibility to discern between what things are safe to have in your small dog’s environment, and what things are not.
Whether your dog stays in the house all day or they spend a majority of their time outside, it is going to be difficult to pick up any and everything that could potentially draw blood from their delicate skins. Sharp objects, rocks, and even other pets can cause cosmetic damage to the skin of your pet, but remember that it is just that-cosmetic. They won’t kill your pet, and if you clean them right and do the right thing you might not even have to worry about a scar later on down the line.
In this case, some warm water and antibacterial soap is the best thing to have around. Your dog’s skin heals a lot like yours, so keeping the wound clean and bandaging it if necessary can make all of the difference in the world.
Paw Problems
Again, remember that your puppy is new to the world and they are going to have to find out a lot of things the hard way. Chances are that whether you have them inside or out, they are going to stick their noses-and their paws-where they don’t belong. This means that somewhere along the line they may end up with an object or a piece of an object in their delicate little paw pads.
While your little guy may be wailing like there is no tomorrow, don’t let that fluster you. This type of thing happens all the time but as dogs get older the skin on their paw pads gets tougher, as do they. You may see a bit of blood, but what is important is removing the object (usually with the help of a pair of tweezers) and cleaning the area as you would any other wound. Paw pads go directly on the ground, so it may be harder for them to keep this area clean than other wounds they may incur. Be careful to pay close attention to the area and make sure that it looks clean and that is as comfortable for them as possible.
Internal Parasites
Another part of puppy-hood is contracting internal parasites. They can come from a variety of places, and they can be pretty nasty at that. If not treated, worms and other parasites can do harm to the inside of your dog’s body and so it is your responsibility to make sure that your pet is de-wormed and ready to go. Luckily, this does not require the services of a veterinarian, at least in common cases.
Worms can be cured with a simple pill that can be bought over the counter, or picked up from your vet’s office. After they take the pill, the worms will likely be flushed out of the body; they should be fairly apparent in your pup’s waste material.
Of course, getting your dog to swallow the pill is half the battle. In most cases rolling it up in a piece of cheese or lunch meat or hiding it in a glob of peanut butter should do the trick just fine-your little guy probably won’t even notice!
Dog Health Inside Your Home: You Could Be Killing Your Dog Without Even Trying
Commonly referred to as “man’s best friend”, most dog owners regard their dogs as members of their family; in fact, some of them prefer to sleep next to their pet dogs rather than share the bed with their spouses. In recent years, dogs have become fashion icons, many thanks to Paris Hilton’s love for Tinkerbell, her female Chihuahua that not only became an overnight sensation for “writing” its memoir, but also for setting the trend among “accessory pets”. Most dogs do not have Tinkerbell’s celebrity status, but their owners surely love them just as much. Or, so Linda thought.
Linda Kajda of Massachusetts adores her Pomeranian Pebbles, who she felt helpless for when Pebbles started shedding her hair and not even her Vet could offer permanent relief.
Imagine her shock when she was told that she could lose her precious Pebbles to alopecia, a hormonal imbalance, which caused Pebbles to shed her fur, not in strands, but in clumps!
Dog’s Best Friend Can Be Its Enemy
Linda embarked on research that led to her discovery that it was SHE who caused her dog’s misery. Just like Linda, you could be killing your dog too without even trying. It just comes “within the territory.”
Despite the TLC she’s getting from you, your dog can get sick inside your home. Linda wrote a book about her discovery on dog health problems; here is an excerpt of that book on what you can do to save your dog’s life, without seeing your Vet:
1. Does your dog suffer from dandruff, which may cause he or she to shed its fur just like what happened to Pebbles? Give your dog an oatmeal bath and you will see immediate results.
2. Have you installed a new carpet in your home lately? Carpets can cause your dog skin disorders.
3. Do ringworms feed on your dogs? Give your pets a good bath with rosemary or marigold petals and dandelion leaves to kill the pests and promote dog health.
4. Worried about fleas? Start feeding your dog with natural foods, such as fruits and some helpings of vegetables and notice how the new diet will starve fleas off your dog’s back!
5. Frequent visits to your vet’s clinic due to your dog’s recurring skin problem brought about by ticks can cause a dent in your wallet. Soak a cotton ball in liquid soap and apply it on the affected skin of your dog. See what happens.
Your dog’s environment and diet can contribute to its health – or death. The good news is you can do something about it. There are natural and home-made remedies that you can apply on your dog’s skin disorders and providing your dog with a good helping of natural foods can restore health, without shelling out hundreds of dollars to Vets, unless it is extremely necessary.
Linda has proven that her new found household remedies work and she would like to share these with all dog owners as much as possible.
Save your dog early. Waiting for another day may just be too late.
Linda?s website DogSkinSolutions.com provides access to more valuable resources on how you can take care of your pets without seeing your vet, unnecessarily. If you purchase ?Solutions to Your Dog?s Skin Problems? today, you?ll receive 3 more books, originally valued at $64 – but absolutely free-of-charge to you!
Simple home grooming techniques that will give you a healthier and happier dog
Regularly grooming your dog not only has the added benefit of making him look and smell good; grooming your dog on a regular basis also gives you the opportunity of deepening the bond you have with your pet and for checking his general health.
If you have a puppy, take the time now to help him become accustomed to being groomed. You can do this by simply spending time with your puppy and gently his entire body; examine his tail, paws, ears, and teeth etc. Talk to your puppy in a gentle and positive tone, and have some food treats with you, so as you can reward your puppy for his positive behaviour. If you have an adult dog who is not totally happy with the grooming experience, then go back to the basics, using the plan outlined here.
Although basic grooming procedures are generally the same for all breeds of dogs, the amount of time you will need to devote to grooming your pet and the tools you will use, will depend on the dogs coat quality and it’s length.
Breeds with smooth coats are quite low maintenance, and need only occasional bathing, and brushing. Short coated dogs who have a top coat and a more dense undercoat, for example German Shepherds, will require brushing at least once per day, so as the undercoat does not become matted. Curly coat breeds, for example, the Kerry Blue Terrier, will need to be brushed regularly, along with a bath and coat clipping very couple of months. Breeds that have wiry coats need regular brushing, at lead once per day to prevent matting. The longer coat breeds, such as the Such as Yorkshire Terriers, and Collies, need daily brushing and combing, along with bathing and clipping when needed, in order to keep their coats in good condition.
The tools you will need for grooming will vary depending on your dogs coat, however your dogs grooming kit should include the following:
Natural/organic dog shampoo
You can buy organic dog shampoo from a host of online vendors or large pet supply stores. Using an organic shampoo is much kinder to your dogs skin and fur, as it has the correct ph-balance, and does not contain chemicals, or atrtificial colours or preservative, that can be harmful.
Tweezers
Tick removal implement
Tick removal implements can be purchased from your local pharmacy, however, tweezers work just as well for removing ticks.
Brush, comb and or grooming glove
The brush and comb you choose should be adequate for your dogs coat. For example, for dense coats, use a comb with wider teeth, for smooth coats choose a comb that has closer teeth, alternatively a grooming glove.
Electronic clippers
Nail clippers
A small pair of blunt nosed scissors for clipping away unwanted hair from between your dogs pads, or around the eyes.
Vitamin E oil for cleaning your dogs ears.
Dog toothpaste and toothbrush
Towels for drying your pet following a bath
Organic wipes, for cleaning around your dogs eyes
Now it’s time to begin grooming your dog, so lets begin with the messy part first, bathing.
Bathing
You can do this outside or indoors, depending on the size of your dog. If using the bath, first put down a rubber non slip mat in the bath, so as your pet does not slip around. Put a large cotton ball in each of your dogs ears and place him in the bath.
Begin by covering your dogs entire body with warm water, if you are using a shower, keep the shower head close to the dogs body. Next, add small amounts of your dog shampoo to your dogs body, paying attention to his rectum and genital area, and between his paws. Once you have done this you can rinse your dog thoroughly with warm water.
Towel dry your dog to begin with, then if you wish, use a dryer, however, don’t put the dryer to close to your dogs skin, and don’t point the dryer directly into the dogs ears.
Next, let us look at the general grooming procedure you can make on a more regular basis. To begin with, check your dogs coat for dirt, and parasites such as fleas and ticks. Also check the condition of your dogs skin. When you are happy his skin appears healthy, you can move on to combing his coat.
Combing your dog
Always comb your dogs coat in the direction the hair grows, combing small section at a time. If you encounter a knot in your pets fur, use the first tooth of the comb to gently tease the knot free. Hold the base of the knot as you do this, so as not to cause your dog any pain.
Brushing your dog
The next step is to brush your dogs fur gently, but not so vigorously as you will cause ‘brush burn’. Brush your dogs fur in the opposite direction hair growth. Attend to all areas of the body, ie, body, tail, chest, legs and behind the ears. When doing this part check your dogs paws and between his pads for any lodged seeds from grass, grit and dirt etc. Clean and trim any excess fur.
Having done the hardest work, brushing and combing. The next part to concentrate upon is nail clipping. Most dog owners avoid clipping their dogs nails, many leaving it to their vet, but with a bit of practice, trimming your dogs nails will become a routine procedure.
Cutting your dogs nails
Check to begin with to see if your dogs nails need trimming. Dogs usually wear down their nails by walking on the pavement, however, they still may need a trim every several weeks or so.
To begin with, identify the quick in each nail; the quick is the blood vessel inside the nail. It can be seen quite easily in light coloured nails as a red coloured line, but impossible to see in dark nails. Care must be taken not to cut into the blood vessel, as this will obviously be painful for your dog, and will also cause some bleeding.
Cut the nail in one stroke below the blood vessel. In darker nails, make several vey small cuts. If your not sure how much nail to cut if you have a dog with black nails, less is better than more.
Cleaning your dogs ears
It’s now time to move on to your dogs ears. Wax, dirt and fungus can build up in a dogs, especially in the case of floppy eared breeds. During the grooming process check your dogs ears for signs of wax and dirt etc. Smell inside your dogs ears, a foul odour, could mean your pet has an infection, especially id he has been scratching his ears, or shaking his head a lot. To clean your dogs ears, use a natural cleanser, such as an essential oil blend. You can use the following blend to clean your dogs ears, and keep them free from wax build up and infection.Put a little of the blend on a cotton ball and clean each ear.
Ear cleaning essential oil blend
2 drops Roman Chamomile
2 drops tee tree
4 drops lavender
Mix with 20 mls of Sweet Almond or Jojoba oil. Pour into a dark bottle and keep out of sunlight or in the refrigerator. This will last several moths. Use the blend to clean your dogs ears each time you groom him.
Cleaning your dogs eyes
Finally, let us look at cleaning your dogs eyes. It is important to clean your pets eyes regularly, in most breeds this can be done during the normal grooming session, however, with breeds who’s tear ducts can become blocked easily, cleaning around the eyes will need to be done more regularly.
Check your pets eyes for signs of discharge, especially in the corner of the eye. Use your blunt nose scissors to gently clip away unwanted hair, especially at the corner of each eye. When this is done, gently clean around each eye with a wet cloth or an organic baby wipe. These type of wipes are especially good for cleaning your dogs sensitive areas, such as around the eyes, as they contain no alcohol, or other ingredient that is harmful to the dog.
Job done. The more often you groom your dog, the quicker it will seem to become. Having said this, your dogs physical and emotional well being depends on being kept clean and healthy, so make grooming an extra special and fun time for you and your dog.
Ivan Ojounru has been training dogs in the UK since the late 1908′s. He now lives in France where he continues to train dogs and write about dog related behaviour care and trainig topics. He is passionate about giving dog owners the skills, knowledge and confidence to enable them to train their own dogs successfully. For further information visit http://www.dogtrainingcareadvice.blogspot.com
Home Remedies For Cats & Dogs!
An Amazingly Comprehensive Guide For Cat And Dog Owners. Earn 75% Commission On Every Sale! Over 50 Commission Enhancing Tools At www.petnaturalremedies.com/affiliates.html.
Home Remedies For Cats & Dogs!
Home Remedies For Cats & Dogs!
An Amazingly Comprehensive Guide For Cat And Dog Owners. Earn 75% Commission On Every Sale! Over 50 Commission Enhancing Tools At www.petnaturalremedies.com/affiliates.html.
Home Remedies For Cats & Dogs!