Care

The date was Friday the 13th, so I guess I should have expected something unpleasant to happen, but the news from our family veterinarian that our 10-year-old Belgian Shepherd had, at the most about six months to live

The occasion of getting a new puppy or dog should be just as joyous as bringing a much-wanted and long-anticipated baby into the world. In the best of possible worlds, the dog's new family is welcoming, loving, and eager to learn as much as possible about and share as much as possible with the latest addition to the family. The transition almost always goes smoothly when the family is experienced with dogs, and already knows about providing healthful diets and gentle teaching for their canine companions.

No-slip collars are another special-purpose training tool that can be valuable in certain cases. I use only positive reinforcement training methods, and generally don’t allow the use of choke chains in my training classes. But occasionally a student explains that she uses a choke chain because her dog slips out of a regular collar unless it is tightened to the point of the dog’s discomfort. In the interest of helping people who have found themselves in similar circumstances, I tested three collars designed to prevent dogs from slipping away. However, these collars prohibit unlimited choking, making them much more humane options than standard choke collar.

Manufacturers of deworming products have gone out of their way to let us know that, left unchecked, these pesky parasites can plague dogs that are in poor health, rob them of nutrition, attack vital organs, and cause unthriftyness, illness, and even death. If a dog's health is poor and he is hosting an uncontested parasite population, all sorts of bad things can happen. It is important to protect our dogs from parasites, but as it turns out, protection largely follows as a result of building the dog's overall health. Toxic dewormers may be unnecessary to dislodge what few worms a strong and healthy animal might have.

Most dogs are used to our touching them with randomly placed pats on the head or back. If you think about it, however, the primary result of this brief contact is communication. Petting your dog is one way we thank them for a job well done and convey our love or appreciation for them. Massage and other forms of touch are also ways to communicate with your dog, but in a very different manner than petting. When carried out consciously with quiet intention, the methods I will show you in this article will convey your affection AND communicate in a deep manner with the physical structures of the dog's body.

a dog trainer and animal behavior specialist from Beverly Hills

In September 1998, our female Bernese Mountain Dog, Annie, became lame with painfully swollen and inflamed joints that were noticeably warm to the touch. She was just over four years old at the time. The sudden initial onset of symptoms occurred about three weeks after her annual vaccinations and a three-year rabies vaccine. We took her to the vet, of course, who conducted tests and more tests. A thorough blood work-up showed unusual and elevated antibody levels. All tests for Lyme disease, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis were negative.

I was so excited to read your article concerning urinary incontinence in the spayed female. For the first time in many years of owning spayed females, I have a Labrador who at four years of age had symptoms of this problem. Not wanting to use hormone replacement therapy, I looked for an herbal combination containing the best herbs for menopause in women. I have been using “Women’s Menocaps” from Wise Woman Herbals for over a year now, two capsules a day. They contain dong quai, burdock, black cohosh, motherwort and licorice.

Let's get one thing straight: A dog's gotta chew what a dog's gotta chew. Dogs chew to exercise their jaws, to clean their teeth and gums, and to relieve boredom. It's a completely instinctive and healthful activity. Once upon a time, dogs chewed happily on bones that were left over from our meals. However, this age-old practice has slowly changed as humans have come to rely (largely) on processed foods. Today, few home kitchens provide a steady supply of bones to the household dog. As our eating habits changed, so have our perceptions of food safety.

Chiropractic is one of the most effective, dramatic, and embattled health care modalities currently available to dog owners. The many amazed dog owners whose limping, stiff, sore dogs had to be lifted in and out of the car on the way to the chiropractor’s office, and who were surprised to see their dogs leap unaided into the car to return home after a chiropractic adjustment, can attest to the therapy’s effectiveness and drama. But, in trying to relate the story of their dog’s miraculous recovery at the hands of a chiropractor, many people learn how controversial the therapy is, especially to the uninitiated.

So, you're leaving town for a few days. What ARE you going to do with Fido? Experts agree that the best situation for your dog's health and happiness would be to have someone stay in your home, maintaining the dog's regular diet and exercise, and preserving his comfort and sense of security, but this is not always possible. And while we know people who haven't taken a dog-less vacation for the life of their dogs, we think this is a little extreme.

I don’t want to admit that I am lazy – but I am very busy – and dog baths sometimes have a way of slipping toward the bottom of the priority list. I have occasionally picked up one or more of the several “dry shampoo” or “waterless bath” products on the shelves of my local pet supply store and contemplated trying them out. I always told myself that they had to be too good to be true, and placed them back on the shelves. So when Whole Dog Journal decided to test these dog cleaning and coat conditioner products, I leaped at the chance, only to confirm what I had suspected all along.