Dog Nail Care The nails are appendages of the skin. Each nail has a hard outer crust protecting it, and inside there is a blood and nerve supply. Nails, an organ of defense and aid in locomotion, as well as being useful in holding food while the teeth tear it apart, are strongly attached to the toes - much more so than our nails. Dogs' nails are constantly growing to make … [Read more...] about Dog Nail Care
Dog Care Tips
Dog Drugs to Kill External Parasites
Dog Drugs to Kill External Parasites Dozens of drugs can be used to kill insects, but some of them will kill mammals, including humans if misused. The dangerous long-lived environmental polluters have been outlawed but many organophosphates are still around. They are effective and sometimes spectacular in the sudden death of fleas when applied. Ticks are difficult to kill … [Read more...] about Dog Drugs to Kill External Parasites
Dog Owner Responsibility
Dog Owner Responsibility The obligations of dog ownership are few, but you must fulfill them. All that the dog requires of you is food, water, comfort, exercise, health, affection, and protection. If you can't supply these simple needs, it would be better for you not to have a dog, for it will only be a burden. For example, veterinarians will often see a Poodle whose coat … [Read more...] about Dog Owner Responsibility
Dog Personality Guide
Dog Personality Guide There can be little argument that personality traits are inherited as are coat, eye color, and scenting either with the nose close to the ground, as with hounds, or with head high, as with bird dogs. To breed dogs with good dispositions is one of the easier challenges for the breeder and yet there are perhaps ten casual matings for each well-studied … [Read more...] about Dog Personality Guide
Dog Physical Exams
Dog Physical Exams Any concerned person can and should do a simple, straightforward home examination. First, consider how the dog appears in general. Is it gaining or losing weight? Are its fluid and food intake and output normal? Are there any personality changes? Does it limp, cough, sneeze excessively, or have halitosis? Have there been any changes since its health was … [Read more...] about Dog Physical Exams
Dog Pregnancy
Dog Pregnancy The dams may become pregnant and then resorb her fetuses a not uncommon phenomenon. To be able to distinguish between a case of this sort and pseudo pregnancy, it is helpful to know how to tell at an early stage if the dam is pregnant. Pregnancy in dogs can be discovered by palpation or feeling. Note how the lumps in the uterus lie. Unless your bitch is … [Read more...] about Dog Pregnancy
Dog Spaying
Dog Spaying Most owners are not aware of the chain of events in a surgical procedure. The most common procedure is an ova Rio-hysterectomy, known also as a spaying (not spading) operation. Having found the dog to be in satisfactory health for surgery, the veterinarian may administer drugs to sedate, prevent excess salivation, and empty the stomach to prevent vomiting during … [Read more...] about Dog Spaying
Dog Tail
Dog Tail Dislocations occur in the tails and the toes of dogs of all breeds. Puppies born with tails that bend backward actually have dislocated vertebrae (an uncorrectable condition). Bending the tail to straighten it usually results in breaking it or damaging it so severely that the end below the break dies and must be removed. Toes that are broken at the joints usually … [Read more...] about Dog Tail
Dog Tongue
Dog Tongue The base of the tongue and surrounding areas are subject to infection from foreign bodies such as needles, splinters, and vegetation such as foxtail which penetrate the surface of the area and migrate as porcupine quills do. The seed fronds of some grasses when eaten penetrate the mucous often at the junction of the two jaws. As the foreign body migrates, it may … [Read more...] about Dog Tongue
Dog Training Tips
Dog Training Tips The need-reward method is the most effective one. The need created is for food. Most dogs are fed once daily so the training must take place twenty-four hours after the last feeding; for difficult trainees, thirty-six hours later. Let's say you want to train your dog to come when you call it. Tick the end of a twenty- or thirty-foot cord to its collar … [Read more...] about Dog Training Tips