allergies/feed/rss2/Rawhide%20chews%20are%20potentially%20dangerous%20because%20they%20can%20be%20a%20choking%20hazard%20or%20cause%20gastrointestinal%20obstructions%20if%20your%20dog%20manages%20to%20chew%20off%20a%20piece%20that%20is%20small%20enough%20to%20swallow,%20but%20too%20large%20to%20pass%20unimpeded.%20In%20addition,%20some%20rawhide%20chews%20are%20hard%20enough%20to%20break%20or%20damage%20teeth. - search results

Finding a top-quality dog food is not impossible if you know what nutritional ingredients to look for. Whole Dog Journal reports on the best canned dog food available in pet stores - how to pick commercial dog food that meets your dogs' dietary requirements, and which ingredients indicate a low- or high-quality pet food. Here is everything the pet food industry doesn't want you to know! No can of commercial dog food is going to be perfect for every dog, but to ensure your dog receives a proper balance of nutrients, the one you feed should meet the Whole Dog criteria. Your goal in selecting a food is to find the one with the most animal-specific proteins, whole food ingredients, and the least artificial additives.

Given that itchiness" is the most common reason for veterinary visits

I am having trouble keeping track of what day it is today

It's that time of year again. Runny noses and sneezes abound for us humans, as new plants bloom in the fall. But did you know that your dog can suffer a runny nose too? Dog runny noses are more correctly called nasal discharge. It can run the gamut from clear and watery to thick and purulent. The appearance and frequency of nasal discharge in dogs can tell you much about the underlying cause.

Learn what's most important on a dog food label. And the canned foods on Whole Dog Journal's approved list for 2018.

We recommend that dog owners switch foods frequently. Many food makers suggest switching foods slowly, by replacing a small amount of the dog's old food with a new food and slowly increasing the percentage of new food over a week or two. If you feed more than one type of food per day to your dog, and switch frequently, you will likely find that these slow switch" schedules are completely unnecessary. Why? Because dogs who eat a varied diet are already accustomed to a variety of foods; their bodies are already making a nice mélange of digestive enzymes that support the sort of mixed population of microbes needed to break down all sorts of foods. It's only when you have been feeding only one type of food for a long time that you need to be so slow in introducing a new type of food."

Those of us who love dogs tend to assume that everyone else in our circle of friends and family does, too. Sadly, that's not always the case. In fact, even those who do share our passion for canine companions don't always appreciate the over-enthusiastic attentions of a happy hound, especially when they are trying to enjoy the company of human friends in the comfort of a private home. Whether you are a visitor bringing your own beloved dog with you to someone else's house, or a host greeting friends at your own front door with your canine family members milling about your feet, here are some tips to help you make sure your dog/human visits go well.

There are a number of ways that we can stay on top of health issues that creep up on our dogs with age. Annual veterinary visits are a staple in every healthy pet's life. A comprehensive physical exam from nose to tail is step one in picking up clues to underlying concerns at every age, but it becomes even more important in the senior years.

Otto was vaccinated several more times with the five-way vaccines before I adopted him, but I'm not going to talk about those vaccines right now; I want to focus on the rabies vaccine – the only vaccine that dog owners are legally required to give their dogs in most states. Rabies vaccination earned this special" legal status due to the historical threat that rabies poses to humans; as recently as my childhood in the 1960s

Nature's Variety was founded on the principle that dogs (and cats) should be given a variety of dietary options, both in terms of ingredients (chicken, beef, lamb, pork, etc.) and in the very form of food they are given (kibble, canned, etc.). While many companies offer a dry and a canned form of their products, Nature's Variety is ahead of the curve in adding frozen raw diets to its offerings. To ensure that consumers were well educated about these unique products and the concept of rotational feeding" – very new at the time – Nature's Variety products were sold only in independent pet supply stores when they were introduced to the retail market in 2002. Nature's Variety offers two distinctly different lines of food: Instinct and Prairie. True to the promise of "variety" present in the company's name

Symptoms of bloat, which is incredibly painful for the dog, include pacing and restlessness; a distended abdomen; turning to look at or bite at the flank area; rapid, shallow breathing; retching without actually vomiting up any food, and excessive drooling. Bloat is a two-part disorder, telegraphed by its formal name: gastric dilatation and volvulus. The first part, gastric dilatation, refers to an expansion of the stomach due to the presence of gas and/or food. The second part, volvulus, is the fatal blow: The distended stomach begins to twist, cutting off the blood supply and causing its tissue to die off.

Teaching our dogs to look at us is important for training; if we have their attention, we can get them to work with us. If we can keep their attention, we can keep them working with us even in the face of distractions. These things are big accomplishments, but the value of teaching eye contact is even bigger!