By Kimberly Taylor
There are three highly common things that threaten your dogs health in the winter months. The good news is that by taking a preventive measures and following the dog care tips below, you can keep your dog happy and healthy all winter long.
Avoid Dog Poisoning
Antifreeze kills dogs. It is reported that antifreeze has a taste that dogs like so they are naturally attracted to it. As a responsible dog owner, this dog care tips is one of the most important dog health care tips that I can give you. Make sure that antifreeze is stored in a sealed container and when flushing your radiator that you are quick to thoroughly wash away any spills that may occur.
Protect Your Dogs Paws
Protect your dogs paws from harmful irritants such as salt when walking your dog in the winter. You should know that both ice and salt can be harmful to the pads on your dogs paws. Both can damage the skin leading to tears or possible infections on the pad of the paw. Also, most dogs will lick the salt off of their paws thus digesting the chemicals found in the road salt. pet supply store. Your dog may resist wearing the booties at first but you should be persistent in order to protect their sensitive paw pads. Play it safe and train your dog to wear dog booties.
Provide Dry Bedding and Check Water Sources Regularly
If your dog spends any amount of time outdoors in the winter months their are two things that you must be aware of. The first is providing proper bedding and replacing it regularly so that it does not get wet and freeze. Straw is great to use for bedding because it can easily be replaced and it is a great insulator.
The second thing that you must pay careful attention to if your dog stays outside in the winter months is their water bowl. A dogs water bowl will quickly freeze in winter months so you must keep a close eye on it to assure that your dog has access to fresh water.
By following these dog care tips for winter, you can assure that your dog will be happy and healthy when warmer months roll around.
For free dog health care tips for every season, I highly recommend the Dog Health Care Blog.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Is Doggy Day Care Good For Your Dog?
By Amy Ammen and Kitty Foth-Regner
Doggy day care is the latest trend in cities large and small, where growing numbers of busy owners have signed their hyper dogs up for day-care services.
It’s a great idea – in theory, anyway.
The trouble is that the execution can be so flawed that a few weeks at one dog day-care center can turn a hyper dog into a monster … while a few weeks at another center can transform a troublesome pup into a perfect gentleman.
I’ve talked with countless owners who’ve experienced each kind of dog day care, and the difference seems pretty clear: the presence of a training component.
Owners who use training-inclusive day care rave about what the experience has done for their dogs.
“Harley is so much calmer and more obedient when he comes home from day care,” the owner of a young Rottweiler told me recently. “I’m sure it’s because of the training he gets, along with the constant supervision – he doesn’t have a chance to pick up bad habits.”
His comments are typical. So, too, are the reports I hear from many new obedience-class students who’ve experienced the other sort of dog day care – the sort that is nothing more than a nine-hour free-for-all from which their dogs have emerged either out of control or cringing from having been picked on all day by a bully or in firm possession of horrid new housebreaking habits.
Before enrolling your dog in a day-care program, be sure to check it out thoroughly. Observe the center at different times during the day, if possible, to see what sort of supervision that dogs get. If you see mayhem, uncorrected bullying or barking, or soiling indoors, look elsewhere.
On the other hand, if you witness a steady succession of training sessions – either with individual dogs or small groups – consider it a good sign.
But don’t stop there. Find out what kind of training method is used to see if it gels with your thoughts on the subject. At the very least, talk with some other owners and find out if their dogs seem to be better behaved when they’ve been in day care, or when they’ve stayed home. Ask them about their dogs’ impulsiveness, emotional control, and adrenalin levels, and how day care impacts these variables.
Is some day care better than none at all? Maybe, maybe not. Personally, if I couldn’t find a place that exercised my dog’s mind and spirit as well as his body, and used training techniques I agreed with, I would keep him at home. I would then commit myself to spending a chunk of concentrated time each evening on obedience-training and playing with him. For details, visit www.amyammen.com.
Amy Ammen is among the nation’s foremost authorities on training unusual breeds and solving confounding problems. She has trained thousands of dogs through Amiable Dog Training, Milwaukee … hosts Your Family Pet on WRRD-AM 540 … regularly appears on TV … is frequently quoted in print … and conducts seminars nationwide. Her dancing dogs are headliners at popular family-friendly festivals.
Amy has written five books in addition to her latest, Hip Ideas for Hyper Dogs – as well as in a series of DVDs and articles for major dog publications.
This is her first book with Kitty Foth-Regner, a Waukesha, Wis., freelance copywriter. The author of scores of business-to-business brochures, white papers, and direct-mail campaigns, as well as The Cure (Main Street, 1987) and Heaven without Her (Thomas Nelson, 2008), Kitty is also a pushover dog owner. She first sought Amy’s help back in 1987, desperate for a way to stop her first Bassett Hound from dismembering every book in the house. Amy’s techniques instantly provided the needed relief.
For details, see http://www.amyammen.com
By Amy Ammen and Kitty Foth-Regner
Doggy day care is the latest trend in cities large and small, where growing numbers of busy owners have signed their hyper dogs up for day-care services.
It’s a great idea – in theory, anyway.
The trouble is that the execution can be so flawed that a few weeks at one dog day-care center can turn a hyper dog into a monster … while a few weeks at another center can transform a troublesome pup into a perfect gentleman.
I’ve talked with countless owners who’ve experienced each kind of dog day care, and the difference seems pretty clear: the presence of a training component.
Owners who use training-inclusive day care rave about what the experience has done for their dogs.
“Harley is so much calmer and more obedient when he comes home from day care,” the owner of a young Rottweiler told me recently. “I’m sure it’s because of the training he gets, along with the constant supervision – he doesn’t have a chance to pick up bad habits.”
His comments are typical. So, too, are the reports I hear from many new obedience-class students who’ve experienced the other sort of dog day care – the sort that is nothing more than a nine-hour free-for-all from which their dogs have emerged either out of control or cringing from having been picked on all day by a bully or in firm possession of horrid new housebreaking habits.
Before enrolling your dog in a day-care program, be sure to check it out thoroughly. Observe the center at different times during the day, if possible, to see what sort of supervision that dogs get. If you see mayhem, uncorrected bullying or barking, or soiling indoors, look elsewhere.
On the other hand, if you witness a steady succession of training sessions – either with individual dogs or small groups – consider it a good sign.
But don’t stop there. Find out what kind of training method is used to see if it gels with your thoughts on the subject. At the very least, talk with some other owners and find out if their dogs seem to be better behaved when they’ve been in day care, or when they’ve stayed home. Ask them about their dogs’ impulsiveness, emotional control, and adrenalin levels, and how day care impacts these variables.
Is some day care better than none at all? Maybe, maybe not. Personally, if I couldn’t find a place that exercised my dog’s mind and spirit as well as his body, and used training techniques I agreed with, I would keep him at home. I would then commit myself to spending a chunk of concentrated time each evening on obedience-training and playing with him. For details, visit www.amyammen.com.
Amy Ammen is among the nation’s foremost authorities on training unusual breeds and solving confounding problems. She has trained thousands of dogs through Amiable Dog Training, Milwaukee … hosts Your Family Pet on WRRD-AM 540 … regularly appears on TV … is frequently quoted in print … and conducts seminars nationwide. Her dancing dogs are headliners at popular family-friendly festivals.
Amy has written five books in addition to her latest, Hip Ideas for Hyper Dogs – as well as in a series of DVDs and articles for major dog publications.
This is her first book with Kitty Foth-Regner, a Waukesha, Wis., freelance copywriter. The author of scores of business-to-business brochures, white papers, and direct-mail campaigns, as well as The Cure (Main Street, 1987) and Heaven without Her (Thomas Nelson, 2008), Kitty is also a pushover dog owner. She first sought Amy’s help back in 1987, desperate for a way to stop her first Bassett Hound from dismembering every book in the house. Amy’s techniques instantly provided the needed relief.
For details, see http://www.amyammen.com
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