If your dog is an important part of your life, you will want to provide the best of care for her so she can enjoy a long and rewarding life. A trip or two each year to your veterinary clinic does not guarantee that your loyal canine will maintain her healthy appearance and youthful spirit. It is you, the dog’s owner, who can make the difference between your dog living a long, full life or one of physical disease and health problems.

Many dogs are treated like they are immune from common heath problems - they are NOT! They suffer many of the same health issues that afflict humans; teeth and gum disease, ear infections, toe nail problems, and hair issues, just to name a few.

Well, don’t get discouraged, because a few simple and easy grooming practices can help you prevent the premature aging of your pet. Basic personal dog grooming is the key to early recognition of skin and tumor issues, dental problems, and mobility difficulties.

To help you establish a regular dog grooming regimen, the following tips are provided covering five key areas; brushing, bathing, nail trimming, ear cleaning, and dental hygiene.

Brushing Your Dog

Brushing, or grooming, your dog is a great time for bonding with her and providing the physical contact that all dogs desire. This practice promotes a lustrous shine on the dog’s coat, whiling eliminating dirt, debris, and dead fur.

This is also the perfect opportunity to examine your dog’s skin for fleas and ticks, lumps, cuts, or contusions. And while you’re at it, take a moment and examine her ears, eyes, teeth and nails.

Bathing Your Dog

Here is the good news - most dogs only need bathing once a month, unless she likes to play in the rain and mud. If she does get dirty on a regular basis, adjust your bathing schedule accordingly.

A prerequisite to bathing is a good brushing. This loosens up any dead hair or dirt and makes the bathing process much more productive. A good practice is to start bathing your dog as young as possible. Generally start when she is about 14-15 weeks old, or earlier, if they tend to get into messy situations.

Find a good location to bathe your dog, preferably one that is contained and has good drainage. Undoubtedly, water will be spilled or shaken near and far. An enclosed shower or tub is an ideal location, or if your dog is a smaller breed, the kitchen sink can also work.

Wet your dog thoroughly, avoiding her head to keep water out of her eyes and ears. Plug your dog’s ears with cotton balls if there is a risk of flooding the ears. Use a dog shampoo and lather up the dog. Be sure to rinse thoroughly and squeeze off the excess water. The face should be washed with a soft, damp cloth. Towel dry your dog, and blow dry if desired, but it is best to keep her confined until dry.

Trimming Nails

Nail trimming can be a traumatic experience for some dogs. So, it is best to start the nail trimming experience as early as 2-3 months old to let your dog become accustomed to the practice. For puppies, you can often use finger nail clippers to tip the ends of the nails.

If this is just too much for your dog or puppy to handle all in one sitting, you may start with trimming only one paw at a time, giving your dog an extended break between sessions. The key to successful nail trimming is providing your dog lots of praise when she lets you cut a nail. Kind, soothing words of praise will let her know that she is loved and this experience is nothing to fear. Of course, a few dog treats after the session is over can’t hurt either.

Cleaning Ears

Inspect your dog’s ears often, but only clean them when there is evidence of dirt in the opening or canal. Use a cotton ball, never a cotton swab, to clean the dirt out of the ear. Soaking the cotton ball with a good ear cleaning solution provides the best results. Hydrogen peroxide can be substituted for the cleaning solution, if necessary.

If you notice that the dog’s ears are red, swollen, or emit a foul smell, the problem might be more serious and demand veterinary attention. Yeast infections, ear mites, and other ear problems are more easily treated by medications only available from your vet.

Keeping a Bright Smile

As a dog’s life span has been extended over the years, it is even more imperative that your dog maintain healthy teeth and gum tissue. You can assist her by brushing her teeth regularly. Start as early in life as possible, to get your dog accustomed to the feel of your finger or brush in her mouth.

Starting with your finger, or a special dog toothbrush fitted for your fingertip, begin massaging your dog’s gums and gently rubbing her teeth. Once she has become accustomed to the practice, try using a dog toothbrush, or small soft bristled human toothbrush, with dog-specific toothpaste. Never use toothpaste designed for humans on your dog.

Continuing this practice throughout your dog’s life will ensure that she will avoid gum disease, loose teeth, and related eating problems.

These easy-to-follow grooming tips take very little time compared to the years of enjoyment your dog will provide you and your family. Take care of your loving “best friend” and she will certainly return the favor many times over!

Bill Wilcox is a long time dog owner and experienced trainer. He is an avid author of dog care articles and writes for superior-dog-supplies.com and smart-dog-training.com. For more information visit:
http://www.superior-dog-supplies.com

http://www.smart-dog-training.com

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Posted on June 27th, 2008 by itbsuperrich
Filed under: pethealthinsurance.pet-insurance-zone.info | No Comments »

A dog, like a human baby, experiences the world through his mouth, by tasting and chewing on things. But, he also uses his mouth is as his hands. He carries and pulls with it as well as defends himself. Therefore healthy teeth and gums are very important.

A dog’s teeth need the same care as a human’s. Therefore, it’s important that you take care of his teeth as you would your own. The best way to do this, of course, is to brush them, which should be done at least twice a week. There are special tooth brushes designed to fit in a dog’s mouth as well as special chicken flavored tooth paste to make the task easier. But sometimes, brushing your dog’s teeth can be a real hassle. For instance, there are some dogs that will flee at the sight of a toothbrush and it is very had to coax a seventy pound Rottweiler from under the bed.

So, how can you get Bruno the Rottweiler to care for his teeth? Here are several alternatives to toothbrushing.

Dog Food

Dog food is a major cause of tooth decay. Believe it or not, canned dog food, though it tastes real good, is not good for Bruno’s teeth. Therefore, you should not feed it to him all the time; once in awhile, as a treat, or on a special occasion is fine. Instead, Bruno should eat a good quality hard dry dog food. This will keep his teeth and gums exercised, as well as cleaned.

Bones

Of course, Bruno needs more than just dry dog food to keep his teeth white and his gums healthy. Chewing on things, such as sticks, the furniture and golf balls, though it is good exercise for his gums, is not very healthy, especially if he were to swallow the wrong thing. Or, in the case of the furniture, just chewing on it is not a good idea on his part. So, you can provide him with a bone, either rawhide or real, as a diversion. These come in various sizes to fit your dog. Bruno will want a larger one, while a smaller dog would necessarily need a smaller bone. Either way, he can exercise and clean his teeth without fear of choking.

Enzymatic Rawhide Chips

You can try some of the rawhide chips that are infused with enzymes designed to kill your dog’s bad breath as well as remove tartar and plaque. However, the taste leaves something to be desired and Bruno may not like them, thus leaving them untouched. If he does not use them, they won’t work.

Regular Visits to the Veterinarian

Of course, the veterinarian is the best person to keep Bruno’s teeth in perfect health. As much as he will protest, regular visits insure good oral and physical health. Your dog’s veterinarian will provide him the proper care that will keep him healthy and happy for years to come.

Arlene Mason is a freelance writer living outside of Dallas, Texas with her husband and two dogs. She has written and published the following e-books: “Understanding Low-Carb Dieting”, “On the Edge” and “Stepping Stones” which are all available at http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com

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Posted on June 20th, 2008 by itbsuperrich
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Dog arthritis is one of the most common diseases that affect canines; especially large breed dogs (60-90 lbs) the best thing you can do is to prevent the occurrence of this disease with the appropriate supplements when your dog is 4 or 5 years old and not wait until symptoms show, but if your dog is already presenting symptoms and/or pain you should consider the option of natural treatment for your pet’s condition.

Osteoarthritis in dogs (or just dog arthritis) can be treated effectively with natural supplements that are as effective as commonly prescribed drugs and much safer because of the less risk of side effects. Prescribed drugs may relieve pain, but they also can cause further degeneration of your dog’s joints and health, which could include, damage to the liver, kidneys, muscles and gastrointestinal bleeding, among others.

Just as human arthritis, dog arthritis tends to get worse with age, and you can find some senior dog food formulas that claim to contain glucosamine and chondroitin, both of them are supplements used to prevent and treat dog arthritis, but in the majority of cases, the amount included is not enough to do any difference in your dog’s symptoms. So, probably the best option is to feed your dog regular dog food and back that up with a supplement. Below you will find some of the most effective supplement used for the treatment of arthritis in dogs.

Herbal Glucosamine Blend, which is one of the most comprehensive canine muscle and joint support formulations available today, it includes Glucosamine HCl, MSM and Vitamins B1, B2, B6 and C, along with a proprietary herbal blend of Yucca, Devil’s Claw, White Willow, Meadowsweet and Alfalfa.

Glucosamine is essential for the formation of joint cartilage and synovial fluid, MSM, has an anti-inflammatory effect slows the progression of arthritis and relieves pain.

Alfalfa and Yucca extract, a combination of five time-honored herbs for chronic rheumatic conditions it also includes Burdock, Licorice, and Shepherd’s Purse. This extract is designed to help the body cope with the pain, swelling, and stiffness of arthritis and rheumatism while maintains the tone of the liver and kidneys to help eliminate excess waste materials and water from the joints.

Ortho-Flex Joint Ease Supplement for dogs this formula is a supplement for muscle, ligament, tendon, cartilage, and bone problems. It does not only to help in the relief of pain, but to also treat the underlying problem. It really helps older animals. This formula contains Chondroitin Sulfate, which is used to help dogs with joint conditions and arthritis.

The benefits of using natural, organic pet products are in the preventive measure, you want a healthy pet with a longer lifespan, but also an enhanced quality of life, there’s no use on living longer if the quality of life is not good, holistic pet care, will provide a better quality of life for your pet and ultimately will save you money with less visits to the veterinarian, bills and prescriptions.

Mariangie Gonzalez has a major in Animal Science and Pre-Veterinary and runs the day-to-day operations of her home-based business and website in which you can learn how homeopathic remedies could prolong and improve your pet’s life. She can also help you start your own home-based 100% natural pet supplies business, you can visit online at: http://www.MindBodyAndPaw.com

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Posted on June 19th, 2008 by itbsuperrich
Filed under: pethealthinsurance.pet-insurance-zone.info | No Comments »