Care

Do you gaze with envy at dogs who walk politely by their owners’ sides, while yours tows you down the sidewalk? Not only is it annoying to have a dog drag you on leash, it can also seriously damage your dog’s trachea and spine. Plus, dogs who strain at their leashes (and who subsequently get jerked by their frustrated handlers) are more likely to have spinal misalignments, and dogs with spinal problems have a much higher incidence of aggressive and/or hyperactive behavior problems.

lie down

Nita was a standout among her littermates, clearly the most vivacious of a lively bunch. Her owner, Lyn Dodd, still chuckles at the thought of her favorite dog, a happy companion in her customary shotgun seat, riding around in Dodd's pickup truck. It wasn't until Nita was 14 1/2 years old that she began having health problems. One day I noticed that Nita was sitting in an odd way. Her hind leg looked funny the way it sprawled out to one side

In this expert answers from the backlog of Whole Dog Journal our experts answer readers concerns training small dogs and looking after dogs outdoors with non-toxic lawn care.

Some breeder/exhibitors can't place a physically standard correct dog into a pet home immediately if their personality/temperament isn't standard correct. If a puppy hangs its head, they'll have the tonsils removed to show the puppy. They'll continue to show a puppy that spooks easily even though they know the puppy won't do well on temperament . . . they have the hope if the puppy is physically standard correct they'll get placed and finish another champion for their kennel.

Heartworms are horrible. No arguments there. Anyone who has ever known or had an infected dog knows how slowly but surely the parasites can sap the animal’s strength and vitality. Going through the treatment to kill the heartworm is no walk in the park either. The “cure” is quite capable of killing the dog in the process of trying to save its life. But some people just don’t like the idea of giving the dog the chemical preventatives that can keep the pooch safe from infestation. And some dogs are sensitive to the drugs, reacting to each dose with vomiting, diarrhea, and other symptoms.

grain and vegetables to my five dogs. If you learn to shop wisely it doesn't cost much more than dog food and saves lots of money on vet bills.

-Billie Cecero
Palm Beach Gardens

More and more people, veterinarians included, are beginning to discover the benefits of these healing practices which have been used and trusted for over 4000 years. Acupressure, probably the oldest form of Chinese medicine, is the application of pressure, usually by the fingers, thumbs, and hands, to specific points on the body to stimulate the body’s own healing ability. Acupuncture, fully developed by 400 BC, uses needles that penetrate the skin to prompt the same acupoints on a deeper level.

Your dog needs to be mentally stimulated,” claim the makers of the Buster Cube, so they produced a product that purports to do just that. The result is a blue, hollow, hard plastic cube with rounded corners, designed to resemble a large die, even down to the spots on each of its six sides. The one-spot is actually a hole that you can pour kibble into, so that it fills the interior of the double-walled cube. When the dog pushes the Cube around, bits of food fall out of the hole. The theory is that problem behavior can diminish or even disappear entirely if a dog is given mentally stimulating tasks.

We bought Belle as a puppy from a friend, Linda, who is also a very good and conscientious breeder. A couple of Linda’s dogs were notorious for eating sticks and/or other assorted objects. Belle’s mother, in fact, had to have a quarter and a dime surgically removed from her stomach. We like to call that the “not-so cost-effective money retrieval” system! (Linda is also an accountant.) So, when Belle started finding assorted objects to munch on as well, we joked about it. But we stopped laughing in July of 1996, when she swallowed (whole) a pair of my nephew’s underpants.

and all other significant medical and temperamental data

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