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Is Pet Obesity a Problem?

By Admin
18
Dec 2009

Pet Obesity could be a problem for most pets. Obesity is commonly perceived as a problem for people and not animals. On the contrary, pet owners must be aware and concerned about their pets overall weight. Compared to other animals the domestic pet is prone to be the animal that is obese. It is estimated that about 25% of the pets are obese or overweight. 

Your pet cannot be evaluated by just measuring their weight. Every pet owner should observe the overall physical condition of the pet by comparing it with one of its own breeds. The ideal weight of your pet will vary depending on the particular breed’s characteristics and lifestyle.

A great way to help to determine if your pet is of ideal weight is by an overall observation. Physically looking at your pet and feeling your pet’s structure. What are you looking for to determine if your pet is of ideal weight? When observing your pet the ribs should not be visible to the human eye but should be easily felt without pressing. No on the opposite end if your pet’s ribs are highly visible your pet may be underweight. Your pet’s stomach or abdominal area should be tucked in not droopy.  Is your pet’s head in proportion to its body? Does your pet tire easily when walking from point to point?

When looking from behind your pet does your pet’s sides stick out or belly hangs low? According to veterinarians your pet should possess an hour-glass physique.

The best way to determine if your pet is of ideal weight is to take your pet to a veterinarian for a complete physical. Obesity decreases the life span in humans and is no different in pets. An obese or overweight pet is not healthy, and could develop many health issues and health complications prematurely. This in turn could shorten your pet’s life span.

The primary reason for pet obesity is a very simple reason, your pet has more to eat and not enough exercise. As a pet owner you need to keep tabs on feeding habits, rewarding pets with food, and adequate exercise for your pet based on the breeds characteristics. As with humans who are overweight and obese it is a life style change that is needed to bring your pet back to its ideal weight.

Consult your veterinarian in regard to what your pet’s ideal weight should be and a weight loss or maintenance plan that is necessary to maintain the pet’s ideal weight.

A healthy pet will give its owner many years of joy and happiness.

Category: Puppy and Dog Health  Tags: puppy diet, puppy health  Leave a Comment

Keeping Your Dog Tick-Free

By Admin
03
Dec 2009

Dogs tend to spend more of their summer time outdoors. Therefore it is very important to be careful of parasites, bugs and micro organisms that can harm your pet while they get their whiff of fresh air. Precautions are necessary to keep these dangers away from your puppy. One of these pests that can cause a lot of nuisance and damage are ticks since they carry diseases. In particular Lyme disease. Avoiding ticks should be a priority to the new pet owner.

Why Ticks?

Ticks tend to stick to warmer temperatures, water, and movement. Ticks do not transmit through the air. Their motion is limited to crawling. They transmit themselves by climbing up taller structures or plants and drop onto any living and moving human or animal. Puppies and adult dogs frolicking in the outdoors is very susceptible to acquiring these pesky little creatures. The danger of having ticks on your dogs body begins once the tick bites. The bite itself is painless and unfeeling but the place of bite might get infected in no time. Consulting a veterinarian is advisable for treatment which normally involves oral antibiotics. If your pet dog is diseased due to a tick bite, there is a risk of infection spreading to other pets.

How to keep ticks away from your pet dog

The best way to avoid ticks is to avoid walking your dog in the midst of vegetation during tick season. Always keep the vegetation around your house trimmed. Certain preventive medication products are also available, but first consult with you veterinarian for proper application and products. Products vary depending on the dogs age and weight. Remember these medications are suited for a particular pet, meaning what is used on an adult dog may not be suitable for a puppy. Again it is recommended you consult with your vet before purchasing or administering any medication to your puppy or adult dog.

Removing Ticks

When your pet comes back from outdoors make sure to check him carefully for ticks by inspecting his or her body. For long haired dogs it will require some moving of the hair around so you can get a good luck at your pet. Check the underside of the pet and areas that are not easily noticeable upon looking at the dog. They are normally found in warm areas, under the arms, in the ears, between the toes and in the folds of the skin. If you find any, remove them carefully. Do not touch the tick, use a alcohol swab, then pull it up slowly with tweezers. Make sure not to leave any parts of the tick sticking to your dog. If you are unsuccessful contact your vet for advice.

Part of puppy and dog ownership is assuring your pet is healthy and happy. By attending to your pets health needs you can expect many happy and healthy years with your pet.

Category: Puppy and Dog Health  Tags: health, puppy  Leave a Comment

Why Do Dogs Bite Part 2?

By Admin
28
Nov 2009

In the article “Why Do Puppies Bite Part 1”, we discussed why puppies bite. In this article we are going to discus why dogs bite. If we allow our puppies to bite they will most definitely become biting dogs. There are 5 main reasons a dog will bite.

  1. Dominance
  2. Authority
  3. Security
  4. Protection
  5. Lack of good positive training

A dog will bite to show dominance over other dogs. Remember we have discussed in previous articles about the pack leader. Many will think that it is only the big dog that shows dominance over others. On the contrary it could be the smallest dog that is the most aggressive that tries to dominant and control the others.

An aggressive or dominating dog will command authority. This is the dog’s natural instinct to try to control other animals and their owners. Dogs use their teeth to determine who is the strongest amongst dogs and people. This is a natural instinct for dogs to use their teeth to bite to show authority. This is characteristic to all dog breeds.

A dog will bit because if insecurity. Some human or animal actions the dog has experienced could cause and insecure feeling resulting in a natural instinct to bite.

Dogs that are normally insecure from adverse actions displayed against them are now in the protection mode. They will protect themselves, territory, and owners as a self defense mechanism. Dogs that are continuously chained can be more likely to show aggressive behavior and are prone to biting.

The last reason does bite are from lack of good positive training. Again I cannot stress this enough how positive training can affect your pet. A dog that is trained by aggression or negative reinforcement is more likely to be an aggressive dog. Dogs perceive this forceful, fear inducing, and sometimes painful training as threatening their life which results in their natural instinct to defend or fight.

Think of our human natural instinct of flight or fight. When we are cornered or threatened we too must make a choice whether to fight or flee. Most of us, as dogs do, we fight. That is a natural instinct if our lives are threatened. There is no difference with a dog in fear of their life aggressively attacking its subject by biting than ours by fighting.

According to the Center for Disease and Control Center, 4.5 million Americans are bitten by dogs each year, and one in five dog bites results in injuries that require medical attention.

Can I train my dog to never bite? No, but you can control the aspects of your dogs biting habits with correct positive training methods.

Category: Aggressive Dog Behavior  Tags: Aggressive Dog Behavior, agressive behavior, biting, dog training  Leave a Comment

Why Do Puppies Bite Part 1?

By Admin
28
Nov 2009

“For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Newton’s third law of
Motion

We must first understand why puppies or dogs bite to understand how to stop them from biting or control their biting. The main reason I have found in my research is puppies bite because they are teething. Experts have determined the teething period for puppies range from 4 to 6 months up to a maximum of 10 months.

It is very crucial within this period for the new owner to control the puppy’s training process. All puppies like to play by being mouthy and chewing on anything they can get their sharp little teeth into. This is the time the new dog owner should control the puppy’s biting inhibition. The puppy must learn what is acceptable biting and what is not acceptable biting.

Within the litter puppies will play and bite naturally. However the mom will correct the puppy if the puppy bites mom while nursing, by rolling the puppy over and correcting it, or just get up and walk away. The mom in this situation is the pack leader and the puppy knows the rules of the pack. In the home, the puppy must understand that the new owner is now the new pack leader, and the rules of the pack. It is very important to correct a biting puppy if the behavior is not acceptable.

It is very important to socialize your puppy. Lack of socialization of your puppy between the age of 3 wks to 3mths with your environment, your children, other people and other dogs can also lead to growling which can lead to biting. You can read about socializing your puppy and the importance of this aspect of training in Socializing Puppy Tips:Aritcle.

All puppies explore things in their environment with their nose and mouth. They sniff around, find something, and next thing you know it is in their mouth. Many of times I have turned my back to see my dog with a dish towel I have dropped, my shoe that I left out, or a sock they found in the bedroom in their mouth.

There are different breeds of dogs that are known chewers. I have a Chocolate Lab that likes nothing better than to sit by my side with a chew toy in her mouth. She is just content to chew on that toy until she goes to sleep. I have taught my dog what is acceptable biting and what is not. It is acceptable to chew on the toy; however it is not acceptable to chew on my shoes. I did this by sternly saying no while pointing at my shoe and positively rewarding her with her chew toy. This worked for me and it may work for you.

Rewarding positive behavior will get you the acceptable behavior you want out of your new puppy. The rules are consistency in your training methods. Don’t reward the puppy for everything or the puppy may be confused. Some biting from the puppy may be acceptable but the intensity of the biting is what you are looking to control.

My adult dog has learned how to use her mouth to grab my arm when playing however the pressure is controlled. If the pressure is too intense I say no, she stops, or I walk away. This teaches her the biting was not acceptable and if she cannot control that she does not get to play.

Remember it is all in the training process. I never recommend the new dog owner using training in a negative manner. This can only add to your dogs inhibitions and could create the opposite behavior than what you expect. Positive reinforcement and rewards are recommended for a healthy and happy puppy.

Category: Aggressive Dog Behavior, Puppy Training Steps, Socializing A Puppy  Tags: agressive behavior, biting, dog, puppy, puppy training  Leave a Comment

How To Train Dogs Not To Jump

By Admin
27
Nov 2009

How to train dogs not to jump when greeting you at the door or greeting people on the street during a daily walk is not a simple task. Basic puppy training to stop dogs from jumping on friends, family members, and others is necessary for an obedient and healthy pet. The following 9 videos provide tips and tricks to training your puppy and dog not to jump when greeting others.

 

Why Dogs Jump on People. In this short 1.58 minute video find out exactly why dogs jump on people.

How to Generalize No Jumping Dog Obedience. In this 2.43 minute video generalizing no jumping obedience with a dog is demonstrated.

How to Play Memory Recall Games with Dogs. In this video which last 1.36 minute learn how to play memory recall games to teach your puppy how to come in low and not jump onto a person when greeting you or anyone the dog comes in contact with.

How to Practice Dog Greetings at the Door. Here the dog expert will show you in 2.01 minute how to practice training a dog in proper door greetings not jumping.

How to Reward your Dog. 2.46 minute video on how to reward your dog during dog training.

How to Start from Sit to Teach your Dog to Not Jump on People. Learn how to start your dog from the sit position to teach your dog not to jump on people in this 1.27 minute video.

How to Teach your Dog an Alternative Greeting.
In this 2.12 minute video you will learn how to teach your dog and alternative greeting that does not involve jumping on people.

How to Use a Dog’s Leash to Prevent Jumping. Here’s a great method to use when teaching your puppy not to jump. 2.40 minutes.

How to Use a Leash to Train your Dog Not to Jump. Learn how to use a leash to train your dog not to jump in this 2.09 minute video.

Category: New Puppies, Puppy Commands, Socializing A Puppy  Tags: puppy command  Leave a Comment
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