Dog Food Awareness Campaigns:

Dog food manufacturers promoted their various Dog Food Products by creating dog food facts and awareness campaigns, which has been received well by the dog lover’s community and adopted the concepts of balanced nutrition for their dog’s food.

Still every thing has to be taken in its broad perspective and considered, what meets all the requirements for best dog food. Following are the available choices:

Packaged Dog Food Products:

These include the dog food stuff manufactured and marketed by reputed companies available locally situated supermarket stores, pets store or veterinary practitioners. It can be dry powder, semi dry and wet available in cans.

Unfortunately there are some adverse reports in respect of packaged food, regarding worthless cheap filler materials present in packaged food and the sources used to make dog food can be from diseased or worst dead animals, which can not be used by any other industry.

Imbalanced Dog Food & its Effects:
An imbalanced dog food is a root causes of host of diseases caused in dogs life like Cancerous growth, weak immune responses, liver disorders, overall sluggishness, frequent diarrheas, defects in heart and kidneys etc., which can be prevented.

Dog Food Decision:
Although it is always, good to prepare fresh food for dog, but this all requires a hard devotion and perfect knowledge about canine nutrition. A mistake most often happening is about if you prepare dog food providing only mutton to the dog, whereas calcium and other minerals are also to be included.
Whether it is a puppy or a bit older dog requires a balanced food for its proper growth and healthy look and behavior, greatly depends on its nutrition, and being the dog owner you are responsible for it.
Dog Food Awareness Campaigns:
Dog food manufacturers promoted their various Dog Food Products by creating dog food facts and awareness campaigns, which has been received well by the dog lover’s community and adopted the concepts of balanced nutrition for their dog’s food.
Still every thing has to be taken in its broad perspective and considered, what meets all the requirements for best dog food. Following are the available choices:

Variety of Dog Food & Effects on Dog

Variety of dog food has witnessed lot of changes in respect of the practices of the past and present day concerns of the dog owners in relation to finding best dog food to take care of complete nutrition needs of the dog. The present day dog owners have learned the benefits of feeding by natural dog food and both the dog owner and dog are happy about it.

Dog Food & Preparation:

In the past times a dog would eat any food to survive become adult and reproduce to carry on the progeny. The dogs which got good food were healthy and the others lacked health and just spent their life in search of food and their mate irrespective the specific health issues.

Dog Food Easy Availability Factor:

The present day dog owners’ have the benefit of obtaining great variety of dry dog food, which is manufactured by reputed companies in their highly scientific manufacturing facilities deploying natural food resources, processing them scientifically and manufacturing wholesome and balanced dog food.

Some of the Food Companies are manufacturing dog food by using natural resources, it can be an ideal replacement to traditional natural dog food, which in present times is very cumbersome to prepare. Formulated dog foods are available at leading stores every where due to modern distribution net works, which provide user friendly solutions to dog owners a call or email away.

Anal Sacs

What are Anal Sacs?

Anal Sacs are small paired pockets, these pockets are located next to the internal and external anal sphincter muscles, there is one at each side of the anus. The sac empties through a short and narrow duct to the surface, this is near the edge at the inside of the anus. Each one of the sacs is lined with sebaceous glands; which are oil glands. They are also lined with apocrine glands; which are sweat glands. This secreted substance is somewhat oily and a brownish fluid. Some dogs anal sacs produce a thick, semi-solid material that is more prone to make an impact on the sac due to its inability to pass the semi-solid material to the narrow duct so it can reach the outside.

How Do Dogs Get Anal Sacs?

Anal sacs usually empty and refill themselves each day, but when a stool isn’t firm there’s not enough pressure exerted to empty the sacs. The result from this fluid accumulating is the anal region becoming increasingly itchy and sore. For some reason small dogs tend to have more anal sac issues then large dogs do.

How to tell if your dog has anal sac problems?

There is a very slim chance your dog will suffer from this problem, but if you think there is a issue here are some signs you should see from your dog.

• Your dog is scooting its butt across the floor.
• your dog is licking its butt more then it should be.
• The anal area on your dog is swollen, inflamed or has discharge.

How you can make your dog feel more comfortable and relieve problem

• To help relieve discomfort and help the anal sacs drain you  can soak i cup of Epsom salt and two gallons of warm water for approximately ten minutes. By doing this once or twice a day for a couple of days the fluid in the sacs will be more liquefied and flow more easily. Since the salts can be drying its smart to apply some petroleum jelly or mineral oil after you finish giving your dog a bath.
• If your dog won’t sit for you to give them a bath you can soak a washcloth in the Epsom salt water mixture and hold it to your dogs anal area for ten minutes, and twice each day. This should open the sacs and you may want to place your palm over your dogs bottom and gently rock it back and forth, but making sure to not squeeze it, this pressure may help the sacs drain more easily.
• by giving your dog more fiber, the fiber will absorb a big amount of water in the intestines and make the stools larger or more firm. When stools are larger there is more pressure on the anal sacs, which will help them empty normally.
• Another key element is making sure your dog recieves enough exercise, preferrable 20 minutes a day. Getting regular exercise will strengthen the rectal and abdominal muscles, resulting in more pressure on the anal sacs.
• You can also give your dog silica which is a homeopathic remedy and will help empty the sacs regularly.
• Sacs seem to be related to allergies so if you see your dog scratching and licking its feet and also has anal sac problems, its likely the problems are related. So its important to relieve any allergies your dog may have.
• You can also give your dog supplements that have omega-3 fatty acids in them like flaxseed or fish oil. This can help reduce any inflammation or itching.

Anal sacs can get infected and cause impaction, inflammation, or a painful abcess. Keep in mind infections can be dangerous so if you see your dog scooting way more then usual or their anal area swollen and red you should contact a veterinarian emmidately.

Submissive Urination

What is Submissive Urination?

I’m sure many of us have heard this word before, but wondered what does it mean exactly? the meaning is different then the word sounds, you would think it is a training method and not a bad habit of your dogs part. When a dog is feeling threatened, anxious, or afraid, submissive urination may occur. This might not be the person’s intention, but to the dog it may have came across as a threat. It’s important to take your dog to the veterinarian just to check and make sure its not a signal of any health problem, like diabetes or malfunctioning of the kidney. If you have a puppy who carries this problem, they will usually grow out of it, just make sure to ignore it and still provide training, while keeping the excitement under control.

Reasons for your Dog to be Submissively Urinating

• If you are punishing your dog.
• If your dog is nervous or shy when being greeted.
• If you are verbally yelling at your dog.
• If your dog doesn’t have confidence and is timid.
• If in the past your dog has been abused or mistreated.
• Keep in mind submissive urination may be accompanied by behaviors such as; lowering tail, ears, and body or laying down and rolling over.

It’s important to pay attention to the signs your dog could be showing you, you want to find out the exact reason for the submissive urination.

How to fix your dogs submissive urination problem

• If your dog is submissively urinating because of low confidence you can do many things to improve this, like taking your dog to obedience training and work on different activities to boost their confidence. Make sure to give your dog plenty of love when they are doing what they are supposed to, you want to make them feel appreciated when they are doing things correctly.
• When a dog is overly excited and therefore have inappropriate urination, you need to work on keeping situations more calm. When somebody is entering the house it’s important to let them know to enter quietly and ignore your dog if they become excited when somebody comes into the house. You could also keep your dog in the back yard while guests enter the house, so they are not in the house when the excitement occurs.
• Avoid punishing or scolding them, this will only make the situation worse.
• Give your dog alternatives to behaving submissively, you can have your dog sit or stay when you approach them and then reward them for listening to you.
• While you have not resolved the problem yet, you can put a plastic drop cloth or absorbent material in the entryway, where the accidents happen most frequently. Another option is purchasing doggie diapers so the urine doesn’t end up on the floor.

Dog Health Care: Cataracts in Dogs I’m sure many of us have heard of cataracts in humans, but what about dogs developing cataracts as well? cataracts are one of the most common issues dogs develop with their eyes, affecting all breeds and all ages.

What Are Cataracts?

“To break down” is the actual meaning of cataracts, this “break down” that occurs is referring to a disruption of the normal arrangements of lens fibers. The disruption is what creates the loss of transparency and therefore affects the vision. Cataracts may appear as crushed ice or white in the eye, you can see them in the lens of eyes.

Types of Cataracts

• Developmental Cataracts, also known as “early onset” develops early in the dogs life. This type may be inherited or also caused by trauma such as; diabetes, infection, toxicity or mellitus.
• Senile Cataracts, also called “late onset” and they occur in dogs that are over the age of six years. They mostly occur in humans and more uncommon in dogs
• Inherited Cataracts: when a dog has inherited cataracts, there may also be an association with other ocular diseases. When a dog ends up being diagnosed with Inherited Cataracts, its a bad idea for future breeding since the disease could be perpetuated in the offspring.
• Congenital Cataracts is a type of Cataract the dog develops at birth. The dog normally has the Cataracts in both eyes, but even though they are born with them this doesn’t mean the Cataracts were inherited. In a unborn puppy there may be a infection or toxins that cause the formation of the Cataracts.

How To Best Take Care of a Dog that has Developed Cataracts

• You can start by keeping your dogs environment the same, in other words not moving furniture or other household items. This will help them maneuver around obstacles and not become confused.
• Make sure your dog is safe, if there is a dog wandering in the streets or coming a bit too close to your dog.
• Its essential to test your dog for diabetes, this is one of the leading causes of cataracts. If your dog does have diabetes they will need regular care from a veterinarian, and its good to watch their weight so diabetes doesn’t develop.
• Ensure you’re giving your dog plenty of love and attention.
• Surgery may be a consideration if your dogs reduced eyesight is too difficult for them to get used to.

Arthritis in Dogs

It’s interesting to find out that dogs’ arthritis and human arthritis are quite similar and usually caused from the same elements. Arthritis is one of the oldest diseases and very easily can make its way into your body so it’s important to take some steps to make your animal feel more comfortable and have less arthritis.

Ways to prevent Arthritis

Large dogs tend to develop arthritis as they age, but keep in mind there are many steps you can take to prevent this disease. You can start this by making sure your dogs’ bed is comfortable such as using a old mattress or soft couch. You can also use soft foam rubber that is four inches thick, if you have a large dog it is best to have a bed that is at least a foot off the floor, this makes it much easier for your pet. Don’t overexert your dog; limit the amount of exercise you give them. This means once around the block about three times daily. Dogs that are older and larger usually are overweight; this will limit them to receiving the proper amount of exercise and make the arthritis worse. The more weight put on their joints the harder it is for them to move about. For your dog to be the right weight you should be able to locate each of their ribs when feeling them.

Forms of Arthritis

There are many different forms of arthritis that a dog may have. The main types include: Immune-mediated, Osteoarthritis, Idiopathic and Infective. It’s amazing to find out that arthritis actually effects every one out of five dogs in the U.S. The arthritis called Rheumatoid mainly occurs in Toy or small breeds and that are between the ages of five to six.

Ticks
Doesn’t just hearing the word tick give you shivers, it sure does for me. Nobody likes or even wants to know their dog is a carrier for the icky bug and many dogs are while we have no idea.
How to get Rid of Ticks
Start by using the crevice tool on the vacuum and vacuum along the walls and in corners. Make sure to wash dog bedding regularly, and also make sure to vacuum around the cushions and in the cracks of furniture. You may want to purchase a pyrethrin spray, or flying insect spray to fog the room. Remember they climb vertically so you want to make sure and treat the back and sides of upholstered furniture. Removing brush and tall grass from around the house or kennel area can also be important. Deer, rodents and other animals may cause ticks so its important to keep these animals under control and watch out for them. Keep in mind just because the weather may be cold and frosty, doesn’t mean tick numbers will be lower, actually this is when ticks are at their height. You want to treat the yard and kennel with a insecticide, its best to try and get a invironmetally-friendly spray for this use. In the peak of tick months you want to spray every thirty days. You may also want to apply a 1-foot barrier of insecticide (flea and tick powder) where the carpet meets the wall around the room. The ticks moving around the wall to climb higher will meet with the insecticide and will be killed. Dogs love to be outdoors and in woods as we all know, but its important to keep this down, and always do a routine check on them after being outdoors.
Types of Ticks on Dogs
the two types of ticks found in United States consists of the brown dog tick, also known as Rhipicephalus Sanguines  and the American dog tick, or Dermacentror Variabilis. American dog tick consists of reddish-brown coloring and the male has silver lines on body, while the female has silver spots. These ticks are found in woods and grassland, they can transmit Tularemia and Rock Mountain Spotted Fever to humans. The brown dog tick is different in the way that they can live and grow in an indoor invironment. This is very scary to know that they may be found living in your kennels and homes. They can cause canine ehrlichiosis, canine babesiosis and tick paralysis. A infestation can outbreak very quickly in  your home and you wont even notice. Normally you wont notice till the infestation gets out of control and you start noticing ticks crawling up the walls and on curtains. There are many different types of ticks in different areas as some can only survive in a certain location. The deer tick or black legged tick may be in the Northern part of Eastern seaboard, the Oregon Coast, Northern California and upper Midwest.These ticks are the main vetor for a type of bacterium that causes lyme disease.

Methods of Eliminating Ticks

Yes, there are methods to get rid of these little destructive creatures, here are the numerous methods to choose from the kill the infestation you find on your pet.

One method is spray, they will either come as an aerosol, or pump bottle. You want to make sure the dog is completely covered with the spray, but keep in mind no to soak the dog with spray. Make sure to not get any of these products in the dog’s eyes and apply with cotton balls around eyes and ears. Use the spray in a well ventilated area since the spray contains permethrin or pyrethrin. Dips are another method used and they usually have some residual activity so they need to be applied everywhere on dog. Make sure to follow the directions carefully and apply in a well ventilated area. Put cotton balls in your dog’s ears and ophthalmic ointment in dog’s eyes. Using the collar on your dog is another great method you can try, but keep in mind it is very important for the collars to be applied properly. You should be able to put two fingers between the collar and the dogs’ neck. You want to cut off any extra collar length so your dog doesn’t end up chewing on it. Check the package on duration of the effectiveness, because the collars may become less effective when they get wet. Watch to make sure your dogs skin is not becoming irritated from the collar. If your dog is spending a lot of time outdoors or in a severely tick infested area you can use a preventic tick collar, and the topical one-a-day month product; which will give your dog the best protection. For this to work the tick must be in contact with the active ingredient for them to be killed. If using a tick collar, when you see the ticks attached and feeding on the dog, even if they are right under the tick collar, this must happen for the tick to take in the insecticide and die. A good tick collar should kill the tick within 24 hours, which will reduce the risk of disease being transmitted. When a pet is treated with insecticide there is still a chance a tick that attaches for a sufficient time could transmit disease.  You can also use shampoo as a method of eliminating ticks, they are primarily for getting rid of ticks that are already on the dog, but some have residual activity. For the tick and flea shampoo to work you need to leave shampoo on for at least ten minutes and make sure to scrub dog thoroughly all over with shampoo. Remember to protect your dog’s ears and eyes from shampoo.  Powders are another method; they are easy to apply but may make a mess in the process. Use a powder in a well ventilated area and if your pet has asthma you should retain from using the powder so your dog doesn’t inhale it. Once-a-month Topical insecticides area applied to the back in a small area and typically the easiest product to use, usually lasting the longest as well. Some kill just fleas and some kill both fleas and ticks. So make sure to check the label on the package to know your getting the right product.

How to Remove a Tick

This process may seem scary, especially if you mess up and hurt your dog or can’t get the head of the tick removed, all you need to do is follow these instructions carefully and be calm and focused while proceeding. To remove a tick you want to first start by putting latex gloves on so you don’t have direct contact with the tick. A disease can be transmitted from the tick to your pet to you, so you want to be very cautious. Feel all over your pet until you come across a lump and move the fur to see if it’s a tick. See if the tick has protruded, if they are swelling up from attaching themselves to your pet. Ticks may be many colors such as: brown, black, tan, or reddish disk like arachnids. Use tweezers to grab the tick making sure to not pinch your pet’s skin. You should have somebody distracting your pet so they don’t try and move. Make sure to use a straight and steady motion when pulling the tick out. Do not twist or wiggle tweezers, don’t pull too hard because then the head of the tick may stay in your dogs skin. Don’t smash the foot of your bare hands or squish it with your foot. Either dispose tick in fire or squeeze tick into tissue, then flush down toilet. To manage the bite apply antiseptic ointment, and clean your hands and tweezers thoroughly.

Neutering Male Dogs
The word castration is when the male is not capable of producing offspring because he has had his testicles surgically removed. When a dog is neutered their hormones aren’t raging so they are much happier and do not mark their territory as often. They are less aggressive,they may be more willing to participate in dog training techniques and if neutered at a younger age they are much calmer.

Estrus
Estrus is called heat and is the mating period of female animals, Estrus occurs when a dog is in a season or in heat. The female dogs menstruation is fairly similar to a humans menstruation period.

Symptoms of Estrous Cycle and How it Works
Dogs start by having bleeding occur in their vagina and swelling of the vulva, also increased urination. It will be more difficult to tell on small dogs because they will have less bleeding. The pro estrus will start with vaginal bleeding which will last for four to nine days. This is the time male dogs will become more persistent,but female dogs will not yet mate. Estrus is when the female will take the male, conception may occur and the stage lasts four to thirteen days, the female will let any dog mate with her at this time. The metestrus and anestrus is when ovarian happens, there are no symptoms at this time but false pregnancies may occur. If you want to make sure your dog does not become pregnant you need to keep her confined for the three weeks. Watch your female and record her cycle, it may change and its important to know when its happening. If you do not plan to breed your female throughout her lifetime its best to get her sprayed. Its recommended that you get her sprayed before her first heat cycle for health reasons. An non sprayed female has a greater risk of developing mammary tumors, pyoetra and uterine cancer.