Healthy Pets, Healthy Lives !
Nutritional value matters the most when it comes to food choices for your dogs. You do not only need to satisfy the taste buds of your dogs but also want to maintain their adequate health. Most dogs get incredibly excited at their treat times, and hence treats are an integral part of puppy food. Blueberries make an excellent treat for your pups due to their nutritional values and minimal hazards…
Many people think that veterinarians have a dream job. Snuggling adorable puppies and kittens—what’s not to love? Fortunately, the public is beginning to understand that our job can also be quite grueling, with life-and-death decisions being made on a daily basis. So, with such a stressful job, a new-puppy appointment should be a ray of sunshine, right? For many veterinarians, this may be the case, but not for me. Mostly,…
“Calming signals” is a term coined by Norwegian dog trainer Turid Rugaas to group a large number of behavior patterns that she says dogs use to avoid conflict, to prevent aggression, to calm other dogs down and to communicate information to other dogs and to people. Since the publication of Rugaas’ 2006 book On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals, it has been a popular idea that actions such as…
When it comes to giving a dog a pill, a tasty disguise is often in order—trickery helps deliver the goods. But what if the dog isn’t the only one being fooled? Sales of pet supplements are soaring, prescription drugs (“no prescription required”) are just a click away, and pharmacies are creating compounds tailored to a dog’s individual needs. Yet, tests keep proving that remedies aren’t always what their labels claim.…
With their extremes of limb and coat, purebred dogs may seem more prone to health problems. And don’t breeders even compound defects, as they tinker with uniformity? Yet the dog of many varieties, a potluck of traits, outlasts them all. Not quite, say U.C. Davis researchers in a recent study lead by Anita Oberbauer in Canine Genetics and Epidemiology. Their analysis of health records of 88,635 dogs, both purebred and…
Whether you’re searching for your first best friend or the next one, choosing a dog to welcome into your home and heart takes some thought. The right decision is the difference between an uneasy relationship and a match made in heaven. Many people choose a dog without much reflection, and honestly, a lot of the time, things work out fine. Sometimes, though, a combination of unfortunate choices and bad luck…
Most people are aware that dogs and children can be a volatile mix, and precautions must be taken to protect kids from dogs. Regrettably, some kids are bitten, and even more, are scared or hurt by dogs chasing them or jumping up on them. “Our dog bit our son completely out of the blue! There is no way we could have seen it coming” is a common sentiment animal behaviors and…
If you’ve arrived at this page, you are probably the proud new parent of a puppy — congrats! You are also probably overwhelmed by all the decisions you need to make: kibble or wet food, collar or harness, daycare or dog walker? You might even be confused about when (and if) you should spay or neuter your dog. It’s a big decision for a new pet parent to make. Veterinarians…
Somewhere in northern California, a tiny dog is still prancing around on four paws thanks to hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). Unbeknownst to the dog’s owner, a piece of string had become wrapped around his paw, hidden in the dog’s dense fur. As circulation in the paw slowed down, skin and tissue began to slough off. By the time the owner realized what was happening, the paw was in such bad…
Oh, the weather outside is frightful! Winter weather is rapidly approaching and you’ve likely begun layering your clothing and weatherproofing your car. When organizing for winter, don’t forget to think about your pets. They too are deserving of special treatment this time of year. Here are ten tips for keeping your pets cozy, comfortable, and healthy this winter: 1. Just as arthritis can be more problematic for us when the…