Posts Tagged ‘Dog Health’
You love your dog. And like most dog-owners, you likely consider your dog to be a part of your family. That is why your dog’s health is so important. Just as you would be concerned about the health of a child, you should be concerned about the health of your dog. Fortunately, if you’ve already looked after your children, or even if you are concerned about your health, looking after your dog’s health should be easy. It requires all the things that you would expect: preventative care, paying attention to warning signs, knowing what to do when your dog is sick, and finding a veterinarian you and your dog can trust. If you follow all these steps, you will help ensure that your dog has a long and healthy life.
The key to keeping your dog healthy is, not surprisingly, a healthy lifestyle right from the start. Most importantly, this means only giving your dog nutritious dog food, throw those scraps away! Look for dog food that has been endorsed by veterinarian groups. While it may be more expensive than generic or even some brand name dog foods, in the long run it will help with your dog’s health.
Along with good food, your dog will need a lot of exercise. Although the amount of exercise each dog needs will vary according to the breed, no dog’s health will be improved by being stuck inside a cramped apartment everyday. Dogs need walks and time outside to play. Incorporate your dog’s exercise routine into your own. This will help your dog’s health, and your own health.
Finally, get your dog a veterinarian and have your dog’s health checked regularly. Along with spotting problems, your veterinarian will also be able to give you tips and suggestions on preventative dog health.
So you’ve decided to pick a veterinarian. You open the Yellow Pages and find dozens and dozens of veterinarians to choose from. Where do you start? Right off the bat, you will want to find a veterinarian that has a “small animal” practice, which will include dogs and cats and other common pets. These veterinarians will know the most about dog health. Most veterinarians are similar to a doctor who is a general practitioner. These veterinarians will be able to deal with and identify a wide range of problems related to your dog’s health, and are what you should use as your main veterinarian. Once you’ve found a general “small animal” veterinarian to deal with your dog’s health, they will be able to refer you to specialists as required.
If you’ve identified some possible veterinarians, start asking your friends and colleagues with pets for recommendations. And most importantly, talk to your prospective veterinarian. Ask about prices and availability for emergency care. Finally, before you chose any veterinarian to help you look after your dog’s health, be sure that you are comfortable with them and trust them to look after your pet.
After a lot of consideration, you’ve picked a veterinarian that will keep track of your dog’s health, and have started a preventative regime of good food and exercise. No matter how careful you are about your dog’s health, however, your dog will get sick. Either from contact with other dogs, or accidents while you are out on your walks, something will likely happen to your dog that will require the attention of a veterinarian. The problem is that it is not always obvious when your dog is sick. Unlike children, your dog can’t tell you when it is feeling down.
There are a number of sign you can look for, however. Is your dog more tired than usual lately? Does it seem depressed? Does it have a dry nose? Is it limping? Does your dog’s feces look off or runny? These are just some warning signs. In the end, it all comes down to whether you think your dog is sick or not. This requires you to have a close relationship with your dog to know when it is acting differently, and this attention will be the best support for your dog’s health.
Article Source: http://www.hobbyarticledirectory.com
Steve Dolan is a dog lover and long time dog owner. For more information about dog health click Dog Health and Dog Grooming and for more about dog trining and keeping your dog happy click Dogs and Puppies Online.
Busy people generally tend to shy away from home prepared food for themselves as well as their dogs. But relying on others for your and your dog’s nutritional needs is likely to ensure your dog’s health will suffer, if not your own.
What it really boils down to, is time. You think preparing homemade dog food is not time efficient, perhaps messy, and how can you be sure it’s healthy? Don’t commercial pet food manufacturers know more than you do?
No. Commercial pet food manufacturers are chasing the mighty dollar, just as most people are. Generally, they have very little interest in good quality. By the time you have finished reading this article, you’ll know more than they do.
Is homemade dog food preparation going to be messy?
No, not once you have the hang of what you’re doing, which is where I come in. I’m here to help you every step of the way.
Does it take a long time to prepare homemade dog food?
No, once you’ve got the hang of what you’re doing, it incredibly quick and easy.
Just as it can be in preparing your own homemade food.
So I’ve knocked away some of the most common excuses for not preparing your homemade dog food. But, as you still hesitate, there may be one hurdle in the way, which we haven’t covered.
You have been accustomed to believe commercial dog food is better than anything else. Your vet may have told you. Your parents may have told you. You see people feeding commercial pet food all the time. Can they all be wrong?
Yes!
Because none of them are looking to their dog’s origins. Dog evolved in the wild over many thousands of years, hunting in packs in times of plenty and eating carrion or plant matter in times of famine.
In contrast, commercial dog food typically pellets, is not raw or of the quality a hunted animal is. Dogs digestive systems and nutritional requirements have not changed or adapted, just because they are now domestic.
The best way to ensure your dog maintains not just good, but excellent health is to make homemade dog food, based on a wild dog’s diet. Sure, it isn’t possible to exactly duplicate a wild dog’s diet, but we can come so close that it won’t affect your dog’s health.
When you’re shopping in the supermarket, it’s just as easy to buy raw meat and bones as it is to purchase a packet. You can buy enough to keep your dog going until the next time you shop. Freezing food is an acceptable way to keep it, as it is not so destructive as cooking. Three or four days of fresh food and the rest thawed frozen food will be absolutely adequate to maintain good health.
Once you’ve measured out the food the first time, it’s just a matter of routine.
Keeping all the ingredients together means it’s convenient.
By making your own homemade dog food, you have control over the quality and the ingredients. This is critical to your dog’s good health as many ingredients in commercial pet food is toxic, not natural, not nutritious and certainly isn’t raw.
Try your dog on raw meat and bones for a month and you’ll see a big smile on his face!
Couple that with his drastically reduced health bills, and you’ll be the next one grinning.
Warning: in older dogs there can be an initial clearing period. This is natural and normal, but can look alarming if you don’t know what’s happening.
Busy people generally tend to shy away from home prepared food for themselves as well as their dogs. But relying on others for your and your dog’s nutritional needs is likely to ensure your dog’s health will suffer, if not your own.
What it really boils down to, is time. You think preparing homemade dog food is not time efficient, perhaps messy, and how can you be sure it’s healthy? Don’t commercial pet food manufacturers know more than you do?
No. Commercial pet food manufacturers are chasing the mighty dollar, just as most people are. Generally, they have very little interest in good quality. By the time you have finished reading this article, you’ll know more than they do.
Is homemade dog food preparation going to be messy?
No, not once you have the hang of what you’re doing, which is where I come in. I’m here to help you every step of the way.
Does it take a long time to prepare homemade dog food?
No, once you’ve got the hang of what you’re doing, it incredibly quick and easy.
Just as it can be in preparing your own homemade food.
So I’ve knocked away some of the most common excuses for not preparing your homemade dog food. But, as you still hesitate, there may be one hurdle in the way, which we haven’t covered.
You have been accustomed to believe commercial dog food is better than anything else. Your vet may have told you. Your parents may have told you. You see people feeding commercial pet food all the time. Can they all be wrong?
Yes!
Because none of them are looking to their dog’s origins. Dog evolved in the wild over many thousands of years, hunting in packs in times of plenty and eating carrion or plant matter in times of famine.
In contrast, commercial dog food typically pellets, is not raw or of the quality a hunted animal is. Dogs digestive systems and nutritional requirements have not changed or adapted, just because they are now domestic.
The best way to ensure your dog maintains not just good, but excellent health is to make homemade dog food, based on a wild dog’s diet. Sure, it isn’t possible to exactly duplicate a wild dog’s diet, but we can come so close that it won’t affect your dog’s health.
When you’re shopping in the supermarket, it’s just as easy to buy raw meat and bones as it is to purchase a packet. You can buy enough to keep your dog going until the next time you shop. Freezing food is an acceptable way to keep it, as it is not so destructive as cooking. Three or four days of fresh food and the rest thawed frozen food will be absolutely adequate to maintain good health.
Once you’ve measured out the food the first time, it’s just a matter of routine.
Keeping all the ingredients together means it’s convenient.
By making your own homemade dog food, you have control over the quality and the ingredients. This is critical to your dog’s good health as many ingredients in commercial pet food is toxic, not natural, not nutritious and certainly isn’t raw.
Try your dog on raw meat and bones for a month and you’ll see a big smile on his face!
Couple that with his drastically reduced health bills, and you’ll be the next one grinning.
Warning: in older dogs there can be an initial clearing period. This is natural and normal, but can look alarming if you don’t know what’s happening.
Article Source: http://www.articlewarehouse.com
Madeleine Innocent is a practicing homeopath, a specialised modality of natural health care. She treats both people and animals in her busy West Australian practice. Madeleine loves to spread the good work of homeopathy and other areas of natural health care and writes extensively on the subject. For a complimentary ebook on how to have a healthy dog, starting today, visit naturallyhealthydogs.com or www.bestdoghealth.blogspot.com
There was a time that we thought as long as our dogs were fed daily they were getting everything they needed to live a long and happy life. But fortunately advancements have been made in the veterinarian world and research has proven that there is a lot more to feeding a dog than just providing food for him.
We now know that dogs – like humans, require specific diets and nutrients. The days are gone that one has to choose from only a few select brands of dog food in the grocery store. There are now stores that cater only to our pets and their needs. In those stores we can choose from dozens of brands of food that were carefully blended in order to provide a balanced and nutritious diet for our dogs. In some cases we can even have the diet custom blended for our special dog. As responsible pet owners we also know that water is essential to a dog’s health and that water consumption should always be encouraged.
In addition to learning about our pets’ nutritional needs we have also learned more about how to make their meals more relaxing and enjoyable for them. In very recent years we have learned about the advantages of using particular dog bowls or dog bowl styles. We’ve heard it said before that presentation is everything and when discussing our dog’s food that remains true. Although your dog, like mine, may be willing to eat off the floor at times, it is to his advantage as well as yours to provide him with an appropriate dog bowl.
The bowl should be big enough to hold a full feeding for your dog. If the bowl is oversized it is easy to give the dog more food than is required which can result in your dog becoming overweight. If a bowl is too small you will find that your workload is needlessly increased.
It’s important that the dog is able to reach the food without difficulty. This means that the diameter of the bowl must be appropriate to the size of the dog’s face and nose. If your dog has long floppy ears it is necessary to find a bowl that will allow his nose and mouth to reach the food, but at the same time one that does not allow the ears to fall into the food.
Buying a bowl that has rubber feet or a rubber rim around the bottom will minimize tipping, spilling and sliding. This makes eating more enjoyable for your pet and fewer clean-ups for you. Elevated dog bowls can make eating a more pleasurable experience for your dog because he will not need to bend his neck so far to reach the food. This aids in proper posture and digestion. If your dog has pain related to stiff joints or arthritis this may be something you will want to consider.
Although being a responsible pet owner is always our goal there may be times in which we simply cannot be available for our pets as often as he/we would like. For those times it might be wise to invest in an automatic or self-feeding system. These are simply bowls that have a large reservoir containing a substantial amount of food. As the dog eats more food will fall into the bowl. Similar bowls are available for water. These can be ideal if you will be away from your pet for an extended period of time.
As time passes we are sure to learn of other ways we can accommodate the needs of our pets. For now most are happy with the love and care provided by a responsible owner – perks include things like dog bowls that are right for the individual dog.
Article Source: http://www.hobbyarticledirectory.com
Mike Brown
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