Proper grooming for your dog does not only have aesthetic purposes but also adds to your pe’ s holistic growth physical and psychological. Since dog hair can interlace due to dirt and grime in the coat forming mats and tangles, they would need to be groomed to keep proper hygiene. Plus grooming generates more bonding time with your pet, creating a stronger relationship.

It is best to train your dog to be groomed at an early age. But, an untrained dog can still be taught to accept all the attention. Train your pet to get used to his body parts being handled and brushed. You need not go to a professional groomer, but if you don t have the time or the interest to groom your dog, be sure to select a groomer that handles the animals gently.

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Canine diabetes is becoming a lifestyle disease in dogs just like in humans. The risk for developing diabetes mellitus increases with age and weight.

Early warning signs include extreme thirst and increased water intake (and hence more frequent urinating), unexplained weight loss and depressed or lethargic behavior.

The usual treatment consists of strictly regulating sugar intake. This can be achieved by feeding a special diabetic dog food and feeding multiple smaller meals a day instead of one biggie.

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Does your dog suffer from heartworms?

Dog heartworm is a common disease among canines in the United States. Discovered in 1856, the worms mainly live in your dog’s heart and major blood vessels.

The worms, especially on worst cases, seriously impair the heart’s operations. Worse, they could also clog your dog’s blood vessels. These infections result in loss of body weight, chronic cough, dropsy, shortness of breath, chronic heart failure, vision disturbances, and ultimately, death.

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It is curious how many people, conscientious and considerate in all other matters, never seem to think about their veterinary surgeon as a person but merely as an expert perpetually “on tap”, whose duty it is to attend to the troubles, mild or serious, of pets at any hour of the day or night. They would not dream of ringing up even a great personal friend at three in the morning for a cosy chat about the length of Fido’s toenails or to communicate the breathtaking news that he was sick the day before yesterday but, believe me, people do just this with the veterinary surgeon! Evidently sleep is considered a luxury for these busy people.

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This is an important and serious condition (pus in the womb) in which the uterus is infected. Although it is usually confined to maiden bitches of 6 years of age or more, it is occasionally seen in young bitches as a result of infection acquired at the time of whelping or contracted from the stud dog. When a bitch is not bred from, the uterine tissues begin to deteriorate in the course of time, and this makes them more likely to become infected with harmful bacteria. In the case of young bitches accidentally infected after mating or whelping there is no degeneration of the uterine tissues, but infection occurs from outside, usually with the commoner groups of micro-organisms. All bitches should have at least one litter, which will, to a large extent, prevent this dangerous condition.There are two types of pyometra, open and closed, the latter being far more acute. The symptoms vary, but fever is always present (from 103F. upwards); there is loss of appetite, vaginal discharge (in the open type) of a brownish or pinkish colour and, as the condition becomes worse, great thirst, frequent vomiting and finally prostration. If untreated, a toxaemia quickly sets in. In the closed type, which can rapidly prove fatal, the symptoms are more acute, the fever is usually greater, there is no discharge and as the pus cannot escape, it is pent up within the uterus, there is considerable abdominal enlargement and the abdomen feels hard and is painful to the touch. A case of pyometra may begin as an open type and end as a closed, or vice versa.

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Pentobarbital is a drug that is used to euthanize our pets after sharing a hopefully happy life together. As the dog food you are feeding probably contains meat like beef, duck, pork or fish you would not expect pentobarbital to be present in your doggie’s dinner. However, pentobarbital continues to be found in pet food which leads to the hypothesis that our once beloved dogs and cats are in pet food. The pentobarbital-concern started off with anecdotal reports from veterinarians in the 1990s saying pentobarbital was losing its effectiveness as an anesthetizing agent in dogs.

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Last Friday a US dog lover asked my recommendations on the energy requirements of a rather obese dog. Below you find an excerpt of my response to them.

A six year old chihuahua/dachshund mix had been gaining weight from 7.5 to 10 pounds. Assuming the 7.5 pound is the ideal weight, this dog suffers from 33% overweight… which is just too much! A dog that is 10% above its ideal weight, is overweight.

She is on Hills I/D because of a sensitive stomach and for health reasons she now needs to loose weight. The owners have reduced the feeding amount from 1/3 can in the morning + 1/3 can in the evening + 1/8 can as a late snack to 1/4 can already. So from a 80% filled can, she is now on 25% of a can daily.

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Newfoundland Dog: Nana from Peter Pan (1904- )

Nana was the Newfoundland dog belonging to the Darling Family in the Peter Pan story by J. M. Barrie. Nana howled to alert Wendy's parents that the children were flying away. Mr. Darling ignored the warning of Nana and was so remorseful at the loss of the children that he slept in the kennel in Nana's place until their safe return. Nana - like her breed- is a loving, family-oriented Newfoundland and a lovely character in the story. A St. Bernard was used as a canine actor in the movie version of the story, but everyone knew (or was supposed to know) that she was supposed to be a black Newfoundland Dog like in the book.
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Puppies are super cute and so much fun to have around. They are filled with energy and curious about everything around them. It is your job as a responsible pet owner to puppy proof your house to make it safe from them and to protect your belongings.

The first thing you should do when puppy proofing your house is to go room to room on your hands and knees. Look at the things in your home from your puppy’s perspective. Think about what is at that level that may be interesting to him. You may be surprised to find many things that are potentially dangerous that you never even thought of before.

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Just as with humans, one of the biggest health problems today for dogs is obesity. Many owners think their pudgy dogs are adorable, when in fact they are extremely unhealthy. Overweight dogs can develop the same kinds of problems that overweight humans can, such as diabetes mellitus, which can be very tricky to treat. Obesity can also reduce your dog’s life expectancy.

If you are not sure if your dog is overweight, there is a very easy way to do so visually and by touch. A dog of normal weight should have an indentation at his waistline, and his ribs should be easily felt under his skin. An overweight dog will not have a waistline and there will be a thicker layer of fat over his ribs.

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