More info...
By Gerry Ronson
 Taking care of your dogs is extremely important. You will find that dogs need to be taken care of to avoid certain diseases and that some of the other diseases are genetic. With genetic diseases you will find that they are difficult to prevent, which means that if your dog is susceptible you will be unable to prevent the disease, but there is much that you can do to help your dog through such diseases. When you are talking about prevention of dog diseases you do need to understand the inner workings of some of the more popular ailments of dogs. We will look at a brief overview of some of the dog diseases that you can prevent.
First it may be a surprise to you, but there are many dogs that have issues with the ears and eyes. Most of the dog breeds that suffer from ear or eye infections tend to have long hair that gets in the way of these two areas. Dogs that have long fur tend to have hair that will grow
around the eyes and fall into the eyes. While the hair is part of their body it can cause infections based on the oils as well as the dirt that may be on the hair. You will want to make sure that when you groom your dog you remove any hairs that are near the dogs eyes. Poodles, some terriers, and English Sheepdogs tend to be a few of the breeds that suffer from eye infections. To prevent these eye infections grooming around the eyes should be done once a month. In other words that means that you should check their eyes daily for infection and remove any hairs that have grown in the way, and once a month you should trim around the area. For ear infections you will find that ticks and other small insects can get into the ears. This means that you have to keep the ears clean on a daily basis. You should check to make sure there are no insects in the canals and that any dirt is removed. Hair can also cause ear infections in certain breeds like the Mexican Chihuahua that tends to grow hair in the ears and cause infections. When you are worried about eye and ear infections for your dog breed you should make sure to use a soft wet cloth around the areas each day to prevent any such infection from occurring.
Another dog disease that can be a difficult is hip dysplasia. Hip dysplasia is one of the most common ailments you will find in large dogs. Hip dysplasia is caused when the hip bones do not form properly. There really is no reason for the bones not to form, but most believe it has something to do with a calcium deficiency during the puppy stages. Hip dysplasia can be treated in a variety of ways. In English Sheepdogs they tend to cut the tail short to prevent the issues. In some cases they offer nutrition and calcium supplements to help your dog grow the bones as a puppy that they need.
Diabetes is another common ailment in dogs that has been seeing an increase like it has in people. You see with most diabetes cases there is a direct link to an improper diet as well as improper exercise. Diabetes is luckily treated with medication as well as changing the diet of your dog so it can be prevented. In some cases after a dog has suffered diabetes and the nutrition and exercise has been fixed the dog may not need to have medication for life. You will find that most dog breeds can suffer from this disease.
Gerry Ronson has been working with dogs for over 20 years and now works as a writer for the websites dog accessories and Kong Toys. Understanding Dog Abuse
By Gerry Ronson
 Dogs are one of the most wonderful pets you can add to a home. Not only do they show a lot of affection, but they can also be therapeutic for children with issues. Dogs should be loved and treated well, but as we all know that is not always the case. There are over 12,000 cases of animal abuse in the abuse database. Of that amount you will find that more than half is usually dog abuse. We may feel badly about the dog abuse that has been inflicted, but if you are considering going to a rescue shelter to adopt one of these dogs you have to be prepared for certain ramifications. Dog abuse even though it is physical can have lasting psychological effects on the dog. We will explore some of the psychological effects for dogs that have been abused below.
First dog abuse is usually considered to be yelling, screaming, hitting, or injuring the dog in some way. This means that most often dogs who have suffered abuse will have at least some type of psychological effect from verbal abuse and may also have physical damage. In some cases physical damage can actually leave the dog handicapped for the rest of its life or at least with severe health problems. When adopting an abused dog you have to be prepared to Dogs are one of the most wonderful pets you can add to a home. Not only do they show a lot of affection, but they can also be therapeutic for children with issues. Dogs should be loved and treated well, but as we all know that is not always the case. There are over 12,000 cases of animal abuse in the abuse database. Of that amount you will find that more than half is usually dog abuse. We may feel badly about the dog abuse that has been inflicted, but if you are considering going to a rescue shelter to adopt one of these dogs you have to be prepared for certain ramifications. Dog abuse even though it is physical can have lasting psychological effects on the dog. We will explore some of the psychological effects for dogs that have been abused below.
First dog abuse is usually considered to be yelling, screaming, hitting, or injuring the dog in some way. This means that most often dogs who have suffered abuse will have at least some type of psychological effect from verbal abuse and may also have physical damage. In some cases physical damage can actually leave the dog handicapped for the rest of its life or at least with severe health problems. When adopting an abused dog you have to be prepared to take care of all aspects, especially the health issues they may have. So, if you feel you are prepared for the physical demands of the dog care needed for abused dogs lets look at psychological effects.
Psychological effects generally present themselves as shy or aggressive behaviors. The behavior of the dog may also be extremely destructive to your physical property. Lets look at the shy behaviors first. In most cases the dog will shy away from being touched or petted. They will hide under beds, in closets, or other spaces they feel you will not notice them in order to keep them from being harmed as that is what they were trained to recognize as human behavior. In some cases the dog may latch onto one person of the household. Typically if the dog has been abused by a male they will be extremely shy and will not approach or be in the same room when a male is present. It is the same if the abuser was a woman. In some cases the dog may stay in the room, but they will not allow the gender of the person to pet them unless they are sitting down. For an example a German Shepherd mix was abused. The history is unclear, but it was plain to see the dog was abused by the behavior of avoiding any large man in the room unless they were sitting down. Only then would the dog hesitantly approach to be petted, even though the dog had been in the vicinity of this person for several months.
Aggression is another way to show the effects of abuse. In most cases the dog will snarl at anyone who tries to approach and they may even attack. In this case of abuse or psychological break it is best to have the dog enter a training course to be rehabilitated. Dogs that have psychological issues can have a behavior therapy that will re- teach them proper behavior. It will also help them to overcome their fears. Lastly when discussing dog abuse we need to look at destructive behavior. Some dogs may not display destructive behavior right away in a new home. It may take time to come to the forefront. In the same example as above a dog began to slowly destroy things around the home. In one instance the dog actually broke through the backdoor. Part of the problem was that the dog needed attention during the day that the owners were not supplying, but the other part was the actual abuse. They needed to show destructive behavior in the hopes that they would get any attention and that it would be several hours worth of that attention good or bad. Again therapy is needed as well as a more active roll.
Gerry Ronson has been working with dogs for twenty years and now writes for the website dog training. Share Your Opinion. (0 posts)
|
