IMPORTANT WINTER TIPS FOR POOCHES

Many Dogs are lost during the winter then any other season, your dog's need for food, shelter and loving care during the cold winter months. Try to Keep your dog safe and warm by following guidelines.
　1.) Don't leave your dog outside in the cold for long periods of time. Wind chill makes days colder than actual temperature readings. Be attentive to your dog's body temperature, and limit its time outdoors.

2.) Adequate shelter is a necessity. Keep your dog warm, dry and away from drafts. Tiles and uncarpeted areas may become extremely cold, so make sure to place blankets and pads on floors in these areas.

3.) Be extra careful when walking or playing with your dog near frozen lakes, rivers or ponds. Your dog could slip or jump in and get seriously injured.

4.) Groom your dog regularly. Your dog needs a well-groomed coat to keep properly insulated. Short- or coarse-haired dogs may get extra cold, so consider a sweater or coat. Long-haired dogs should have excess hair around the toes and foot pads trimmed to ease snow removal and cleaning. If you do the trimming, take care not to cut the pads or other delicate area of the foot.

5.) Feed your dog additional calories if it spends a lot of time outdoors or is a working animal. It takes more energy in the winter to keep body temperature regulated, so additional calories are necessary.

6.) Towel or blow-dry your dog if it gets wet from rain or snow. It is important to dry and clean its paws, too. This helps avoid tiny cuts and cracked pads.

7.) Don't leave your dog alone in a car without proper precautions. If the car engine is left on, the carbon monoxide will endanger your dog's life. If the engine is off, the temperature in the car will get too cold.

8.) Don't use over-the-counter medications for cough and cold on your dog without consulting a veterinarian.


Note

: Materials may be edited for content and length both further information please folow the source cited above.

http://www.akc.org/public_education/winter_care.cfm

Tips of Keeping Your Dog’s Teeth Clean

Did you know that regularly brushing your dog’s teeth and providing her with a healthy diet and plenty of chew toys can go a long way toward keeping her mouth healthy? Many pooches show signs of gum disease by the time they’re four years old because they aren’t provided with proper mouth care—and bad breath is often the first sign of a problem. Give your dog regular home checks and follow the tips below, and you’ll have a very contented pooch with a dazzling smile.

1. The Breath Test Sniff your dog’s breath. Not a field of lilies? That’s okay—normal doggie-breath isn’t particularly fresh-smelling. However, if his breath is offensive and is accompanied by a loss of appetite, vomiting or excessive drinking or urinating, it’s a good idea to take your pooch to the vet.

2. Lip Service Once a week, with your dog facing you, lift his lips and examine his gums and teeth. The gums should be pink, not white or red, and should show no signs of swelling. His teeth should be clean, without any brownish tartar.

3. Signs of Oral Disease The following are signs that your dog may have a problem in his mouth or gastrointestinal system and should be checked by a veterinarian:
1.)Bad breath
2.) Excessive drooling
3.) Inflamed gums
4.) Tumors in the gums
5.) Cysts under the tongue
6.) Loose teeth

4. The Lowdown on Tooth Decay Bacteria and plaque-forming foods can cause build-up on a dog’s teeth. This can harden into tartar, possibly causing gingivitis, receding gums and tooth loss. One solution? Regular teeth cleanings, of course.
5. Canine Tooth-Brushing Kit Get yourself a toothbrush made especially for canines or a clean piece of soft gauze to wrap around your finger. Ask your vet for a toothpaste made especially for canines or make a paste out of baking soda and water. Never use fluoride with dogs under six months of age—it can interfere with their enamel formation. And please do not use human toothpaste, which can irritate a dog’s stomach. Special mouthwash for dogs is also available—ask your vet.

6. Brightening the Pearly Whites Taking these steps will make brushing a lot easier for the both of you:
First get your dog used to the idea of having her teeth brushed. Massage her lips with your finger in a circular motion for 30 to 60 seconds once or twice a day for a few weeks. Then move on to her teeth and gums. When your pooch seems comfortable being touched this way, put a little bit of dog-formulated toothpaste or a paste of baking soda and water on her lips to get her used to the taste. Next, introduce a toothbrush designed especially for dogs—it should be smaller than a human toothbrush and have softer bristles. Toothbrushes that you can wear over your finger (or a clean piece of gauze) are also available and allow you to give a nice massage to your dog’s gums. Finally, apply the toothpaste to her teeth for a gentle brushing, as in step 7. A veterinary exam beforehand may be helpful to find out if your dog’s gums are inflamed. If your dog has mild gingivitis, brushing too hard can hurt her gums.

7. Brushing Technique Yes, there is actually a technique! Place the brush or your gauze-wrapped finger at a 45-degree angle to the teeth and clean in small, circular motions. Work on one area of your dog’s mouth at a time, lifting her lip as necessary. The side of the tooth that touches the cheek usually has the most tartar, and giving a final downward stroke can help to remove it. If your dog resists having the inner surfaces of her teeth cleaned, don’t fight it—only a small amount of tartar accumulates there. Once you get the technique down, go for a brushing two or three times a week.

8. Know Your Mouth Disorders Getting familiar with the possible mouth problems your dog may encounter will help you determine when it’s time to see a vet about treatment:

a.) Periodontal disease is a painful infection between the tooth and the gum that can result in tooth loss and spread infection to the rest of the body. Signs are loose teeth, bad breath, tooth pain, sneezing and nasal discharge.
b.) Gingivitis is an inflammation of the gums caused mainly by accumulation of plaque, tartar and disease-producing bacteria above and below the gum line. Signs include bleeding, red, swollen gums and bad breath. It is reversible with regular teeth cleanings.
c.) Halitosis—or bad breath—can be the first sign of a mouth problem and is caused by bacteria growing from food particles caught between the teeth or by gum infection. Regular tooth-brushings are a great solution.
d.) Swollen gums develop when tartar builds up and food gets stuck between the teeth. Regularly brushing your dog’s teeth at home and getting annual cleanings at the vet can prevent tartar and gingivitis.
e.) Proliferating gum disease occurs when the gum grows over the teeth and must be treated to avoid gum infection. An inherited condition common to boxers and bull terriers, it can be treated with antibiotics. f.) Mouth tumors appear as lumps in the gums. Some are malignant and must be surgically removed.
g.) Salivary cysts look like large, fluid-filled blisters under the tongue, but can also develop near the corners of the jaw. They require drainage, and the damaged saliva gland must be removed.
h.) Canine distemper teeth can occur if a dog had distemper as a puppy. Adult teeth can appear looking eroded and can often decay. As damage is permanent, decayed teeth should be removed by a vet.


9. Chew on This chew toys can satisfy your dog’s natural desire to chomp, while making his teeth strong. Gnawing on a chew toy can also help massage his gums and help keep his teeth clean by scraping away soft tartar. Ask your vet to recommend toxin-free rawhide, nylon and rubber chew toys.
P.S.: Gnawing also reduces your dog’s overall stress level, prevents boredom and gives him an appropriate outlet for his natural need to chew.

10. Diet for Healthy Teeth Ask your vet about a specially formulated dry food that can slow down the formation of plaque and tartar. Also, avoid feeding your dog table scraps, instead giving him treats that are specially formulated to keep canine teeth healthy.

Story Source: http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/dog-care/dog-care-dental-health.aspx

DOG GROMMING IS ESSENTIAL FOR

HIM, YOU AND

  YOU’RE ENVIROMENT

The skin is the anatomical and physiological barrier between the dog’s body and the environment. It protects your pooches from physical trauma, chemical insult & microbiological injuries. This body coat (skin) of your dog is the mirror of his health.The skin of you pooch is covered with hair. Hairs are flexible, elastic horny threads. The hair coat of dog may be divided as normal coat, short coat and long coat depending on the texture and total hair length. Hairs never grow continuously like claws or nails; hairs usually grow in a cycle. Each cycle consists of growing phase known as anagenic phase known as Telogenic phase, when the hair is retained in the follicle as dead and subsequently lost. In general, hair grows only 0.04 to 0.18mm (approx) per day.

It is desirable to have good and shiny coat on the body of the dog. A shining body coat is the first beauty of your pooches. The puppy coat is soft and sometimes wooly appearance. Puppies generally shed their coats when they are 9-10 months of age. The puppies born in winter may shed their coat in spring. Even the color of the coat may also be changed while that duration. 

Adult dogs change their coat once in a year. Now these hairs usually create problem when these fall on carpet, chairs, clothes and floors. In order to minimize the trouble the dog should be well groomed, specially at the time of shedding. Daily brushing is the good practice. This keeps the dogs coat shining and healthy. Some dogs, particularly white coated ones may shed their coats to a certain extent all through the year. In such cases, use of medicated shampoo (Selenium Shampoo), careful grooming and multivitamin tablets prescribed by your vet may alleviate the problem.Brushing and grooming will give your pooches a sense of well being. Besides, it helps to maintain a clean environment around you. A groom kit should include brushes, comb, rake, shear, thinning shear, electric clipper, stripping comb, a good quality medicated shinning lotion or cream prescribed by your Vet and a towel.

First apply brush to remove the external dirt then comb it to stimulate the cutaneous circulation. Then polish the coat with shinning lotion and towel for shining the coat.  All dogs should be washed to keep the skin coat clean, to remove his odor and to avoid skin problems. Dog should be washed once or twice in a week in summer and on every two weeks or three weeks in winter. The water should be luke warm about 85 degree/Fahrenheit. Water should be poured on the body until the coat is wet. Preferably sulphur contain soap should be used. The soap or shampoo s should be rubbed thoroughly over the coat to form lather all over the body, after that dog should be thoroughly rinsed and washed with clean water. Finally, it should be dried up with a clean dry towel and kept in a warm place to make the body dry. No water should enter the ear canal, to avoid it ears may be plugged in with the cotton plug while bath. Regular attention and grooming of pooch will change the enviroment and mood of both yours and your pooches.

Before Grooming :-  

 

 Note:

A dog should not be bathed every day since it may remove natural oils and thus make the skin coat dull.

Human soaps which contain carbolic acid should not be used on dogs coat it can be harmful for his coat.

After Grooming :-

Story source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_grooming

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Materials may be edited for content and length both further information please folow the source cited above.

 

Steps to Save Your Shoes from Your Chewing Canine

What happen when you walk into your bedroom to find your dog, and you find your dog chewing up your favourite pair of shoes. What will you do and how will you stop it from happening again. Sometimes when you first get a puppy, he or she will start chewing on your shoes for fun, comfort or just because they are there for a good chew or Here are some steps to reclaiming your shoes, your socks, your sofa, and any other household object .

1.) Put your shoes out of his/her reach -Try keeping your shoes in a spot that is too high for your puppy to reach.

2.) Remain calm.

Unleashing your anger on your dog won't accomplish anything. In fact, it can further unbalance your dog - and move him to seek another object to chew to calm down!

3.) Create a disincentive. Buy a dog-deterrent spray from a reputable pet store or vet. One possibility is bitter apple spray. This carries a scent that people normally don't notice but it disgusts dogs. Your puppy may try to chew a shoe, but won't like the taste and will stop.

4) Be consistent with deterrent sprays.Whenever the spray scent fades off, spray some more on. Make sure you cover every part of the shoe, as well as the bottom and the inside. Eventually, after a while of keeping this up, your puppy will lose his chewing habit.

5.) Correct your dog. Do not try to grab the object away or take the dog away from the object. Instead, you can use a light touch correction on the neck or hindquarters to get your dog's attention away from the object.

6.) Find safe chew toys. Many dogs use chewing as a way to calm themselves. Puppies who are teething chew to relieve pain. Provide an object that they can safely chew, such as a chew toy or a bully stick.

7.) Distract the puppy. When you notice the chewing, call him or her. Wave around an alternative toy, such as a rubber bone, a chew rope or other enticing goodies.

8.) Go for energy-busting walks. Take puppy outdoors as often as possible for runs and tumbles. This will be the best distracting activity possible and will go a little way to tiring puppy out.
　
　
Story Source:http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-Your-Dog-from-Chewing-Things-it-Shouldn't

http://www.cesarsway.com/tips/problembehaviors/5-Steps-to-Save-Your-Shoes-from-Your-Chewing-Canine


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Materials may be edited for content and length both further information please folow the source cited above.

New Rabies Vaccine May Require Only A Single Shot, Not Six

A replication-deficient rabies virus vaccine that lacks a key gene called the matrix (M) gene induced a rapid and efficient anti-rabies immune response in mice and non-human primates, according to James McGettigan, Ph.D., assistant professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University.
"The M gene is one of the central genes of the rabies virus, and its absence inhibits the virus from completing its life cycle," Dr. McGettigan said. "The virus in the vaccine infects cells and induces an immune response, but the virus is deficient in spreading."
The immune response induced with this process is so substantial that only one inoculation may be sufficient enough, according to Dr. McGettigan. In addition, the vaccine appears to be efficient in both pre-exposure and post-exposure settings.
Currently, the World Health Organization standard for rabies infection is post-exposure prophylaxis. The complex regimen in the United States requires six different shots over 28 days: five of the rabies vaccine and one of rabies immunoglobulin.
The current standard vaccine is made from inactivated rabies virus, whereas the experimental vaccine is made from a live rabies virus. The virus is modified by removing the M gene, thus inhibiting its spread within the vaccine recipient.
Worldwide, the annual number of rabies-related deaths is estimated to be 40,000 to 70,000. The disease is endemic in developing areas, where the six-shot post-exposure regimen is not feasible for many people due to cost and availability. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 10 million people worldwide receive the post-exposure regimen, which presents a financial burden to both industrialized and developing countries.
"Developing countries do not have the resources to vaccinate people six times after exposure, so many of these 10 million do not receive the full regimen," Dr. McGettigan said. "Therefore, simpler and less expensive vaccine regimens are needed. The alternative may also be to treat people pre-exposure, as they are with many of the current vaccines used. Although our vaccine was tested primarily to be a post-exposure vaccine, the data we collected show it would be effective as a pre-exposure vaccine as well."
Dr. McGettigan recently was awarded a four-year $1.5 million R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue his research on novel rabies vaccine approaches.


Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Thomas Jefferson University

Note:

Materials may be edited for content and length both further information please folow the source cited above.http://www.jeffersonhospital.org/

DOGS VACCINATION

THE IMPORTANCE OF DOGS VACCINATION

Paws Vaccination is a very essential and responsible step towards your pets. Vaccination prevents your dog from highly contagious diseases like Rabies, Distemper and Parvovirus etc. Basically there are 12 types of diseases which can be preventing through Vaccination and De-worming.

a.)  Rabies( This even can spread in human)           

b.)   Canine Parvovirus infection (“ Parvo”)

c.)    Canine Distemper.

d.)   Leptospirosis

e.)    Canine adenovirus-2

f.)     Canine corona virus

g.)   Canine parainfluenza

h.)   Canine influenza

i.)     Lyme Disease

j.)     Bordetellosis  (“ Kennel Cough”)

k.)   Heart Worm Disease

l.)     Intestinal Worm (Round Worm, Hook worm, Whip worm, Tape worm etc. Can also spread in Humans.)

Recommended Core Dog Vaccines

·       Parvovirus: - Canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV2, colloquially parvo) is a contagious virus mainly affecting dogs. The disease is highly contagious and can spread from dog to dog by direct or indirect contact with their feces. It can be found especially severe in puppies that are not protected by maternal antibodies or vaccination. It has two distinct presentations, a cardiac and intestinal form. The vaccination is the only way to protect your adorable pets     from this harmful virus.  This virus usually attacks the intestine and causes severe Diarrhea, vomiting which can lead to the death. Mainly Doberman pinscher and Rottweiler’s are high risk breeds for parvovirus.

·       Rabies: - Rabies Vaccination is the only way to prevent your dog from this painful and dangerous disease called “Rabies”. It is a serious viral disease which affects the nervous system of your pets which leads to death. Rabies can be spread through the bites from an infected animal. The rabies virus is transmitted through the saliva of an infected mammal, or host. Contact with the eyes, nose or mouth can technically pass on the virus, but these instances are rare. A bite from the host is the most likely and common way for an animal or person to contract rabies. The infected saliva travels through the nerves and spinal cord towards the brain. The virus then incubates in the body for 3 to 8 weeks (depending on species), with no symptoms of the disease present. Once the brain is infected by rabies, the virus multiplies and spreads to the salivary glands and the symptoms of rabies appear.

·       Symptoms of Rabies: - Rabies symptoms vary, so in that case every dog may not show all the signs. Initial signs include behavior and personality changes, fearfulness, anxiety, shyness, withdrawal from people and other animals, and licking the site of the original bite wound.  Deeper signs are restlessness, agitation and over reaction to sights and sounds. Your pet may also experience the paralysis in the head and neck area. This causes inability to swallow, resulting in excess salivation, or "foaming at the mouth," and respiratory distress. Sadly, causes painful death.

Distemper: - Canine distemper is a large virus related to the virus causing measles in man. It is a morbillivirus virus (this group of viruses also includes measles and seal distemper). Some strains of the virus may be more pathogenic than others. However, vaccination offers protection against all strains. The early signs of disease are primarily respiratory with runny eyes and nose, and coughing. This is followed by depression, loss of appetite, vomiting and subsequently diarrhea. In the later stages of the disease, dogs may develop thickening of the foot pads, known as ‘hard pad’, and nose. Dogs which survive may go on to show serious neurological signs including seizures (fits).  There is no specific treatment for canine distemper, The best form of protection against this virus is through vaccination.

Why Do Dogs Eat Grass?

Dogs love to munch away on grass, and some even make it part of their daily routine. Fortunately, most experts believe it isn't something you should worry about. So why exactly do they gobble up that green stuff in your yard?

Scavengers 'R Us

Dogs, unlike their catty counterparts, are not carnivores. But they're not like your garden-variety omnivores, either. For tens of thousands of years, these opportunistic scavengers have devoured anything and everything, as long as it fulfilled their basic dietary requirements.

The modern dog, partly because of evolution and domestication, is no longer like its ancestors, which frequently ate their prey entirely, including the stomach contents of plant-eating animals. Instead, dogs today seek out plants as an alternative food source. Most commonly the plant is grass -- since that is what is closest at hand -- but wild canines are known to eat fruits, berries, and other vegetable matter, too.

Clearly, dogs can find their nutrients in a wide range of plant foods, but that doesn't explain why Fido usually throws up after eating grass.http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/digestive/c_multi_chocolate_toxicity

Water as a Weight Control Measure for cats

Obesity is one of the top health problems facing cats today. The Association for Pet Obesity Prevention estimates that 50 million cats are overweight or obese in the United States alone. All that extra body fat puts overweight cats at higher than average risk for diabetes mellitus, hepatic lipidosis (a potentially fatal liver disease), congestive heart failure, cancer, skin disorders, and musculoskeletal problems.

This probably isn’t news to you. Most educated owners know that their fat cats are not as healthy as they could be; but what they also know is that achieving meaningful weight loss is not easy. Recommendations from veterinarians typically center on feeding measured meals of a calorie-restricted diet. While this works for some pets, reaching and maintaining a target weight remains elusive for many others, which is why the results of a new study caught my attention.

The research was published in the Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition and showed that cats consuming a dry diet to which an extra 40 percent moisture was added (in the form of tap water) gained weight more slowly after dieting and had higher activity levels than cats that ate the same dry food containing only 10 percent moisture.

The study mimicked what often happens when a cat is put on a diet. Scientists fed 46 cats dry food, restricting their caloric intake by 20 percent. Once their "diet" was over, the cats were offered the same dry food free-choice, either as-is or with 40 percent extra water mixed in. The addition of water caused the diet to be significantly less energy dense and resulted in cats regaining weight more slowly than the cats eating the dry diet without added water. The finding of increased activity in cats fed a food with a lower caloric density is surprising and warrants more research.

Is feeding a moisture-rich diet the magic-bullet when it comes to feline weight loss? Probably not, but it is worth considering if you’ve tried to help your cat lose weight in the past without success. Keep in mind that this is a small study that doesn’t directly address the question of whether or not a moisture-rich diet helps cats lose weight; the subjects just gained their weight back slower in this investigation. Whether they turn out to be positive or negative, the long term health effects-of this type of dietary manipulation were not evaluated. I worry that essentially diluting a food in this manner for months or years on end could lead to an imbalanced diet and deficiencies in important amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids that may cause more health problems than the resulting weight loss solves.

Weight loss plans work best when they are individually tailored to the patient’s own needs. Talk to your veterinarian about what type of food, exercise, feeding strategy, and monitoring program offers the best chance of success for your cathttp://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/digestive/c_multi_chocolate_toxicity

Chocolate Poisoning in Dogs

Chocolate Toxicity in Dogs

Dogs are known for eating things when they are not supposed to. This is especially true of puppies. Also, dogs have an excellent sense of smell, making it fairly easy to find any secret hiding spots for the chocolate. This can be a dangerous combination when there is chocolate around the house.

Chocolate is derived from the roasted seeds of Theobroma cacao, which contains certain properties that can be toxic to animals: caffeine and theobromine. If ingested, these two ingredients can also lead to various medical complications and may even prove fatal for your dog.

Symptoms and Types

• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Increased body temperature
• Increased reflex responses
• Muscle rigidity
• Rapid breathing
• Increased heart rate
• Low blood pressure
• Seizures
• Advanced signs (cardiac failure, weakness, and coma)

The amount and type of chocolate ingested is also important, as they are the determining factors for the severity of the toxicity. The three types of chocolate that you must be aware of are:

1. Milk Chocolate – Mild signs of toxicity can occur when 0.7 ounces per pound of body weight is ingested; severe toxicity occurs when two ounces per pound of body weight is ingested (or as little as one pound of milk chocolate for a 20-pound dog).
2. Semi-Sweet Chocolate – Mild signs of toxicity can occur when 0.3 ounce per pound of body weight is ingested; severe toxicity occurs when one ounce per pound of body weight is ingested (or as little as six ounces of semi-sweet chocolate for a 20-pound dog).
3. Baking Chocolate – This type of chocolate has the highest concentration of caffeine and theobromine. Therefore, as little as two small one-ounce squares of baking chocolate can be toxic to a 20-pound dog (or 0.1 ounce per pound of body weight).

Causes

In the right quantities chocolate can become toxic for any dog. So be wary of feeding your pet anything that might contain chocolate and always keep it out of reach.

Diagnosis

Your veterinarian will perform a complete physical exam, including a chemical blood profile, electrolyte panel and a urinalysis. These tests will help determine if there is a chocolate/caffeine overdose.

Blood can also be taken to test for theobromine concentrations, while an ECG is performed to help determine if the heart is showing any abnormalities in rhythm or conduction of heart beats.


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