Chocolates for your Dog Health - A big NO NO

They say that chocolates are symbols for love, but certainly not when it comes to your dog health. Most dog lovers are aware that chocolate should not be given to pets particularly your pet dog. Dogs are receptive to a chemical called methylxanthines and unfortunately the compound theobromine found in chocolates is members of that family. Although it is fairly safe in humans, dogs are having difficulty if not unable to digest theobromine at all. Expectantly the dogs system will continue on digesting this substance and in effect poisoning itself instead of eliminating it as waste. That is why the premature manifestation of chocolate poisoning for dogs includes but not limited to diarrhea, vomiting, hyperactivity, dehydration and restlessness. The effect on dog's heart is the most decisive because it can cause rapid heartbeat and abnormal breathing rate and eventually can cause death.

Dog lovers should be aware that even though the severity of chocolate poisoning depends on the type of chocolate or the amount eaten, it nevertheless contains the same chemical harmful to your dog health. Although it’s of equal importance to know the toxic dosage amounts and the type of chocolate because it can be of help in determining what proper treatment or medicine your veterinarian should administer. Dark chocolates or chocolates high in cocoa is the most fatal of all the types, while white chocolate has the lesser amount of theobromine and therefore not as harmful as the former.

Dog lovers should take heed on their dog health if they suspect that their dog has eaten chocolates in anyway. Even if early signs of poisoning are palpable, most of these symptoms will appear at a snail's pace and can take 3 days to completely manifest. So by the time you assimilate that there is a threat to your dog health, it will be too late. So do not wait for this to happen, be sure to bring your dog to the nearest animal hospital and have it diagnosed for possible poisoning. Whatever the result are, you’ll be glad that you brought your adored pet in the vet. If you have discovered intake within 2 hours or less it will be helpful if you can simply induce vomiting while preparing to take him to the vet for further treatment and possible admission.

It is our inmost interest to endow with the best things for our treasured pet but sometimes we should keep in mind that what they want are not essentially they justly needed.

Harmful food for your dog health

If you care about your dog health and you want them to live the longest, healthiest life possible, it is critical that you know what you should and what you should not be feeding to them Click Here!. Dogs have different metabolism compared to humans and feeding them with foods that we enjoy can be very fatal.

Here are some of the common food items that should not be given to your dogs, as they have been found to be either directly or indirectly "toxic" to them:

• Grapes and raisins
  Grapes and raisins should be avoided as pet snacks as they can cause the dog to develop a sudden kidney failure with anuria (a lack of urine production).

• Raw eggs
  Undercooked eggs still contains an enzyme called avidin. This enzyme decreases the absorption of biotin or B vitamin, which can lead to skin and hair coat problems.

• Tobacco
  Like in humans tobacco is also very harmful to your dog health. Tobacco (from cigarettes and cigars or their butts, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, nicotine patches, and nicotine gum) contains nicotine, which affects the digestive and nervous systems. This can result in rapid heart beat, collapse, coma, and death.
  

• Onions and Garlic
  These contain thiosulphate, which can damage red blood cells and cause a form of anemia called Heinz body anemia, where your pet's red blood cells burst while circulating in its body.
  

• Raw Fish
  Feeding your dog raw fish regularly can result in a thiamine (a B vitamin) deficiency leading to loss of appetite, seizures, and in severe cases, death.
  

• Alcoholic Beverages
  Feeding your dogs alcoholic beverages can result to intoxication, urination problems, coma or death from alcohol poisoning. Remember that your pet is smaller than you are, so even a small amount is very lethal to your dog health.
  

• Potato, rhubarb, and tomato leaves; potato and tomato stems
  The starchy white flesh inside potatoes is not harmful, but potato skins which are still green and any green sprouts or "eyes" contain the alkaloid solanum which is poisonous to dogs and humans. The stems and leaves of tomatoes and rhubarb contain oxalates, which can cause bladder stones.

• Yeast Dough
  Yeast dough is designed to expand and when eaten by your pet, it can expand in your dog's warm stomach and produce gas in the digestive system. This causes extreme pain and possible rupture of the stomach or intestines.

• Chocolate, coffee, tea and other caffeine
  Chocolate contains theobromine, a naturally occurring stimulant found in the cocoa bean.
  
  
  This compound is a cardiac stimulant and a diuretic. It increases urination and affects the central nervous system.

As a dog lovers, it is very important to remember that dogs and puppies do not have the ability as we humans have to digest and to utilize these foods for our benefits. Foods like these are delectable to us human but these are damaging to our dog's health.

Top Four Dog Killing Diseases

Taking care of your dog health and well being means knowing every threat that could harm them. To keep them safe and secure and provide sufficient food, vitamins and shelter are the basic needs but do you know the major concerns that keep your canine friends at risk? Below are the top four most dangerous and the most death causing diseases ever listed on canine statistics these past few months.

1. Canine Distemper Virus (CDV)
CDV attacks the respiratory, gastrointestinal and central nervous systems. The disease is contracted through contact with other infected dogs and can be fatal to both young and old dogs. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, fever, shivering, and redness around the eyes, loss of appetite, weight loss, seizures, thickened footpads, cough and a discharge from the nose. There is no specific treatment, but sometimes antibiotics can be effective. However, dog vaccination exists and should always be administered.

2. Canine Adenovirus or Infectious Canine Hepatitis (ICH)
Infectious Canine Hepatitis (ICH) is an acute liver disease, and highly contagious. The virus is transmitted through bodily fluids like urine, eye or nose secretions. Young and old dogs can be affected by ICH, but puppies are at a higher risk. Symptoms include fever, loss of appetite, vomiting, jaundice and corneal edema, though a blood test is needed to make a final diagnosis. Many dogs recover, but it's best to prevent ICH through a simple vaccination.

3. Para Influenza or Tracheobronchitis (aka Kennel Cough)
The common name for Tracheobronchitis is Kennel Cough because of its propensity for spreading in close quarters, such as in a boarding kennel. It's highly contagious and attacks the dog's upper respiratory system. Like bronchitis in humans, the symptoms are coughing, snorting, hacking and sometimes fever. Kennel Cough can be treated with antibiotics or prevented through vaccination.

4. Rabies
Rabies is not just a dog disease; it will affect all mammals that are not vaccinated against the disease. Rabies directly attacks the brain and the prognosis is often deadly. This common disease can be easily prevented through vaccination. In many states, vaccination for domestic pets is absolutely mandatory.

Many dog lovers have suffered a great loss and emotional struggle and this is indeed a big deal to dog lovers who treated their dogs as family and friend. Many dog owners invested a lot for their dog health but uncertain things might just happened and you lose them because of lack of knowledge and preventive measures. If you are truly devoted to your dogs and cared for them, know the diseases, protect your dog health, be prepared at all times and take note of the procedures to fight dreadful diseases. Always remember, your dog is your responsibility.

Dog Health 101: Why Dog Lovers Need to Vaccinate their Pets

Oftentimes, pet owners have this doubt about dog vaccination. They pity them, especially newborn puppies whenever getting their vaccinations. That is why, questions like, “How often do we need to let our dogs have their injections?', or “why do we need to vaccinate them?”, or for dog lovers who cannot withstand the pity cries of their pets ask themselves first, “to vaccinate or not to vaccinate?” Those are just some of the baffling questions most dog owners always ask themselves. But do they know the importance of vaccination?

Talking about dog health, vaccinations are antigenic preparations used to boost immune system and in so doing, establish immunity to various illnesses. These are given to prevent your dogs from acquiring malefic diseases and are designed to stimulate your pet's immune system, bolstering it to bring out antibodies to battle all kinds of harmful or deadly viruses or bacteria. Today the widespread of harmful zonotic diseases or diseases from animals to humans is one of our major health problems. With this we resort to the fundamental and most effective form of prevention, that is, vaccination both to humans and our pets. Since most of the dog lovers usually interact with their pet, vaccination uphold the dog health and/or public health.

If you want to make your dog’s life easier and less painful, you can also choose to administer what they called multivalent vaccine. The basic principle is a single injection for multiple defensive actions. One of the most common multivalent vaccines is DHPPiL for dogs or referred to as 5 in 1 vaccine. This stands for the 5 common dog diseases namely distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus, para-influenza and leptospirosis. However, vaccines can only last for 6 months or a year so annual re-vaccinations are suggested to keep your dog healthy. We just have to relate the need for regular shots for our dogs to newborn babies. Babies, still don't have a strong immune system that is why they need to have their monthly immunizations. Same as with our pets, we need to keep them away from viruses that may cause their unwanted sickness or even untimely death.

Dog vaccination helps protect your dog from diseases and your pet can develop strong immunity thus making vaccination a vital factor of your dog health care. Nevertheless, engaging your pets to 'annual vaccinations' needs to be consulted from veterinarians. It is important that you know what and how often to give your dog a vaccination, for his total safety. You should continue vaccinating you dog as per advice of your vets or by the requirement of local laws. As dog lovers, you should take full responsibility to make your dog as healthy as he can be. Prevention is always one step ahead than cure.

Dog Lovers Guide to Dog Vaccination

A certified dog lover must not only be concerned about how his pet dog would bring fun and entertainment to the household but a certified dog lover must also seek for the dog health and welfare. To do this, a complete and regular vaccine shot is needed for protection against possible diseases.

Dog vaccination does not only develop the well being of the dog but most importantly the overall well being of your household and the community. Prevention is better than cure has always been the rule. You wouldn't imagine how adverse and disastrous a rabid dog would cause and the contagious dreadful infections it carries may become alarming.

Dog vaccination has been found to be the preventive method. Remember that there is no proven cure for the disease only preventive measures. Thus to some countries were there are prone cases of rabies , government had imposed a law requiring core vaccination, not only to rabies but as well as dog diseases such as canine distemper, canine parvovirus, canine hepatitis serovars and leptospirosis. The vaccine being administered contain viruses and bacteria. Normally it may cause diseases but in this case, they have been chemically altered so that they won't bring any harm to your beloved pets. After vaccinated, your pets immune system develops antibodies that combats the virus and bacteria during exposure. Thus, prevent the disease and strengthens dog's health.

You may asked as to what age does vaccination must be applied how frequently. The answer is as soon as the puppy is weaned from the protection of a mother's milk. The mothers milk called the colostrum contains antibodies that serves as the primary protective agent for the nursing young. The antibodies are stored in the blood but its effect is temporary up until the puppy can be able to produce his own antibodies to keep it more effective and long lasting vaccine shots are needed. How often? Consequently, puppies are given a series of vaccinations until they reach 16 weeks of age. By vaccinating more frequently, later doses will continue to stimulate the pet’s generation of its own disease-fighting antibodies.

This protection from dog vaccination however has not come without side effects. Adverse reactions may occur in the appearances of ulcers, scabs, darkening of the skin, lumps with scarring with hair loss nearing or surrounding areas where the vaccine is administered. Fever may occur afterwards. To treat this a pentoxyfylline may be given to eased the inflammation. Future vaccinations where reactions arises must be reduce or avoided to the extent medically and legally possible. Dog Vaccinations are necessary but a dog lover must also take note the appropriateness of the type of vaccination to be administered so as to avoid further damage to the dog health. Consultation and supervision of a veterinarian is your best advantage.

Dog Health Protected at Home

Dog lovers are often put into a dilemma of determining if their dog health is in danger because like humans, dog do have emotions too, and sometimes they are not just in the mood to eat, play or roam around. Here are some of conditions that call for immediate actions.

· Pain, prolong or severe

· Major trauma, injury, or shock from

• falls, vehicle accidents, wounds or cuts, fractured bones

· Demonstrate signs of:

• weakness, collapse, rapid heartbeat, rapid of breathing, dilated pupils, and disorientated appearance,

· Ingested poison; be sure to present the product or the container if you have it.

· Penetrating wounds anywhere, but particularly in the chest or abdomen.

· Vomiting and diarrhea accompany by blood or violent episodes.

· Weakness and cannot put any weight on the leg.

· Any other signs that look serious, such as: eye problems, severe itching with self-mutilation, severe hives

· Difficulty breathing,

• raucous respiration, blue tongue, gasping for breath.

· Continuous bleeding on any part of the body; apply pressure with a clean cloth and go!

· Bloated or swollen abdomen or painful abdomen with or without vomiting.

· Inability to urinate, constipation or has bloody stool or urine or painful defecation or urination.

· Heatstroke

• heavy panting, intense weakness and body temperature about 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

· Inability to deliver puppies or kittens, labour contractions for longer than one hour or more than 15 minutes of labor with the fetus or membrane showing.

· Loss of balance or consciousness or seizure, including

• tremors, coma, staggering, convulsions, sudden blindness, tilting of the head, biting at imaginary objects and
• Sudden changes in disposition such as unusual withdrawal or out-of-character aggressiveness.

In addition I also included a list of basic and helpful first aid kit that every dog owners need to have in their houses. With this first aid kit, do lovers can take care of minor injuries and problem in their dog health if they have the appropriate tools, remedies, and equipment.

· Rubbing alcohol

· Ear syringe -- two ounce capacity

· Ace self-adhering athletic bandage -- three-inch width

· White petroleum jelly (Vaseline or similar)

· Eye wash

· Sterile, non-adherent pads

· Gauze sponges -- 50 four-by-four inch sponges, two per envelope

· Triple antibiotic ointment

· Sterile stretch gauze bandage -- three inches by four yards

· Buffered aspirin

· Dermicil hypoallergenic cloth tape one inch by 10 yards

· Hydrogen peroxide

· Pepto Bismol tablets

· Generic Benadryl capsules -- 25mg, for allergies

· Hydrocortisone acetate -- one percent

· Kaopectate tablets maximum strength

· Bandage scissors

· Custom splints

· Vet Rap bandage

Other suggested items are:

• Blanket
• Tweezers
• Muzzle
• Hemostats
• Rectal thermometer
• Ziplock bags
• Chart, that includes all dog health information, medications, and for other pertinent numbers to call in case of emergency.

Dog Health Questions on Hygiene

Cleanliness is next to godliness or should I say dogliness. Understanding you dog health is the same as understanding your health. Raising a dog also takes the responsibility of finding out and providing their needs as well as guarding their health. So here are more of dog health questions and answers that you need to know.

Why the bad breath?
Focusing on dental care is important because dental diseases can cause bad breath. Common implications are plague and calculus deposits on your dog's teeth. The worst thing is for it to develop into gingivitis. Give your pet a good brush of teeth at least 3 times a week to avoid this. Try to give your dog something hard to chew to exercise their teeth and remove plaque. At the same time you can visit vet clinic and pet shop to buy mouthwash or dental toy cleaner.

Does the frequent urination of puppies’ manifestation of infections?
Frequent urination in young or even adult dog is not considered normal. The first thing you need to do is to take a closer look at his urine. Examine if there is a trace of blood or unusual components. A young dog especially the female is prone to urinary tract infection since they cannot fight the infections because of their unchallenged immune system. An adult dog possibly be experiencing hormonal imbalance which can dramatically affects his kidney performance.

My dog stinks, literally!
Dog lovers know that their dog may get its unpleasant odor from playing around garbage’s and dirt. If regularly bathing does him no good then maybe you are bathing him too often. Like humans, frequent bathing can remove the natural oil from your dog’s fur and can cause dry scalp and eventually dandruff. You can change your regular shampoo or use milder shampoo for your dog. Mold and yeast are possible factors of stinks also, so be sure to dry your dog fur well after bathing.

What's the right way to remove those ticks?
The most common dog health problems every do lovers will agree are ticks. In fact, one of the main sources of ticks is from our dog and not from other wild animals. One way to remove this is to put mineral oil to the scalp of your pets. After 30 seconds you can then remove ticks by using a sharp pointed tweezers. Be careful in pulling them out from the hair. Do not twist the tick; rather pull out straight and slowly so as not to squeeze the head or the body to avoid exposing other organisms. In severe cases, you can go the veterinarian to ask for specialized formulated powder to kill ticks. Proper bathing and cleaning are a helpful way of preventing ticks.

Do I have to check my dog ears and eyes?
Yes. It’s advisable to check your dog’s eyes and ears at least once a week especially dogs with large and hairy ears. You should check for unusual discharged and odor. To clean your dog ears, use cotton with baby oil and gently clean starting from the inside to the outside. This is not only good for your dog health but I am sure he will like this. Healthy dog’s eyes appear clean and shiny and usually wide open. Just used a wet cloth and wipe any discharged or obstruction. Do not pour water directly to your dogs’ eyes because this can caused irritation.

I hope these dog health information educated you on how to maintain your dog’s proper hygiene. It is better to know the basics, to move out and learn on your own.

Dog Lovers on Dog Health Questions

Dog lovers are very concerned towards their pet that they usually do a lot of researching on dog health information. They are often times tend to be anxious when their dogs start to show unusual behavior. These are only a few of the dog health questions and answer information that I found in the splendid world of Internet that any dog lovers need to know about taking care of their dogs.

How will I know if my dog is sick?
There are obvious signs to tell when your dear dog is ill. They might show any or all signs of loss of appetite, diarrhea, constant vomiting, depression, weakness and weight loss. It's safer to contact your vet before you administer something. Be cautious; some thing's wrong if one of these signs shows up.

Do I have to brush their teeth?
Of course, because you need to maintain the dog's oral hygiene. Studies show that almost 80 percent of puppies get into oral disease in as early as age three. Regular brushing of their teeth will keep it stronger, healthier and you can keep them away from pains of anesthesia. It is also advisable to give them toys that will strengthen their teeth.

Can I know the temperature of my dog through his nose?
This is one presumption of most dog owners which is untrue. You can't tell the temperature of your dog through their nose. In times of hot temperature, your dog sweats off to cool himself resulting for its nose to feel cool and moist. On the other hand if the temperature is too cold the dogs’ nose will go dry just what human manifest to regulate the temperature in their body.

How often should I take him for vaccination?
Only your veterinarian can tell how often your dog needs to be vaccinated. Since there are many factors that affects and determines this one, the best way is to regularly visit your vet and talk about more on this aspect so you will be oriented as to how often and what vaccine is needed.

Do I have to visit the vet often?
Visiting your vet generally depends on your dog health, age and status. For puppies, regular visit is a must since you need to secure a lot of checkups and vaccination and for older ones, at least twice a year depending on its needs. If your dog is sick, it’s a must that you do regular visits for test and medications. The vet will then advise you on what to do and how often you need to follow up for check ups for your dog health to improve.

As much as you care to buy them good stuffs over the Internet so is the need to know information on how to perk up your dog health. And please take note that not all the time,word from dog owners are dependable, so remember do not try to make a diagnosis of your own, go to the veterinarian to seek medical and professional advice.

Caring for your Dog Health: When loving your dog is just not enough

It has been very evident and has been proven for thousands of years that dog is really man’s best friend. Today, because it seems that the relationship between man and this fine animal is going stronger, one can also say that “man is dog’s best friend”. But why dog and man? Why not cat and man or horse and man? Why not even consider man and orangutan (many updated reports consider orangutans as the man’s most likely ancestor)?

Dogs - man's best friend, a faithful companion and ally since prehistoric times. This so called "Man-Dog" relationship that existed for Billions of years has always been clouded by mystery. No one could ever put in plain words why there is such a high level of understanding between man and dog. But do we truly understand these gentle and loving creatures? There are many reasons why this kind of bonding is far greater than anything. But if you would ask me, in my most personal opinion, maybe it’s because the word “dog”, when spelled backwards, becomes “God”. But whatever may be the reasons or whatever may be the opinion of many different people; this site was created to present helpful articles for dog lovers like me.

This wonderful animal will be discussed here extensively, how to take care of them, updates, stories, and so much more. As a dog lovers and simple as an owner, we must try to understand how they feel or how they react to certain conditions. One very important thing we often neglect is how to properly take care of our dog health.

If you own and love dogs, then you are certainly one of the many dog lovers. All you need is an understanding of how special and fragile they can be. We often hear or read heroic stories of dogs saving or helping their owner’s life. What sad is we also hear dogs treated in a bad way sometimes intentionally but most of the time because of our negligence and mistaken presumptions. As an owner we should make it a point to get involved in our dog health and life. If you are dog lovers, be wary of your dog health like you would with yours, and with that we could keep this so called "man-dog relationship for another billion years.