Edie MacKenzie

Edie MacKenzie is a published author, traveler, dog lover, and tortoise enthusiast. Passionate about what she does, her books provide peopel a firm grounding in the dog breed and their unique characteristics with a nice touch of humor.

Cleaning Your Dog’s Ears The Right Way

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Different dogs require different cleaning schedules, when cleaning your dog’s ears,  from every couple of weeks to daily.

Your dog’s activity and the weather also influence the frequency of cleaning.

If your dog is an big swimmer, I suggest daily cleaning before bed. In most cases, twice a month is sufficient.

To clean the outer flap, ask your veterinarian to recommend a commercial ear solution that will prevent infection.

Soak a cotton swab with the solution and wipe the outer ear flap.

Never, never, never use a Q-tip or poke your finger into your dog’s ear. You can do irreparable damage to your dog’s inner ear!

If your dog’s ear gets infected, follow the same procedure that you would use for medicating the eye.

If your dog has drop ears, gently lift the flap and place the medicine where your veterinarian has instructed, so you’re accurately cleaning your dog’s ears.

Degenerative Joint Disease In An Aging Dog

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Noninfectious osteoarthritis is the commonest form of joint disease in the aging dog, a situation not too different from that in humans.

The disease is progressive and causes few, if any, noticeable symptoms in the early stages.

It is not uncommon for a veterinarian to discover the existence of degenerative joint disease or its predisposing causes during a routine checkup even if you don’t have an aging dog.

Primary arthritis develops from the normal wear and tear of a joint with time and age.

While seen occasionally in very old dogs, it is not the commonly observed arthritis that it is in people.

The bulk of aging dog arthritis cases are secondary to disorders which happened or started earlier in life.

The following are just a few of the many such disorders:

• Obesity in any breed but especially in the large and giant breeds.

• Mechanical trauma such as falls and jumping mishaps.

• Torn ligaments in any joint but especially the stifle joint in toy or miniature poodles.

• Chronic dislocating patella (slipped knee cap), most common in toy breeds.

• Osteochondritis dissecans, a disease of young dogs.

• Hip dysplasia.

So look for any of these in your aging dog.

Shocking Diets & Dangerous Eating Habits That Could Literally Kill Your Dog

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Once you see where your dog’s mouth has been ? or what’s been in it ? you may never want it kissing you again!

Feces are high on the list of disgusting things dogs love. Horse dung and cat feces are absolute favorites. Rather than butt your head against the wall trying to change your dog’s culinary tastes, it’s far easier to simply keep these delicacies out of reach from your pooch.

However, dog feces is another story; nobody knows what compels some dogs to eat their own (or other dogs’) poop. The best cure and prevention is diligent feces removal. Adding hot sauce to the feces may deter some dogs, but others just gobble it down and run for water. Commercially available food additives can make the feces taste bad ? or least worse ? and will dissuade some dogs.

In some cases the dogs appear to exhibit a compulsion to eat feces; these dogs may be helped with drugs used to treat obsessive-compulsive behavior in dogs. See your veterinarian behaviorist if you’re not sure why your dog eats feces.

Dogs also eat other non-food objects, such as fabrics and socks, sometimes causing obstructions that require surgical removal. Prevent this by diligently removing objects from the dog’s reach. You may also need to supplement it with drug therapy for obsessive-compulsive behavior and training that focuses on rewarding alternate behaviors.

Then there is clothing! More than one dog owner has paled as their dog dragged underpants into the room while company looks on. Without the owner’s interference, the dog would gladly chew them up. Socks are another favorite. They’re less embarrassing but potentially more dangerous.

Swallowing stockings and long socks can lead to intussusceptions, a potentially fatal condition which the intestines accordion upon themselves, requiring surgery. Again, prevention is the best means of control, so pick up your clothes!

What your pup decides to chew might not be just gross ? it can be dangerous. Chewing electrical cords can lead to shocks and electrocution. Eating drugs and poisons has led to the death of many dogs.

Although eating paper currency is an expensive habit, it ‘s not life threatening. However, swallowing a single penny can be much more expensive. Unless it is removed, the penny may stay in the stomach and release zinc, which results in zinc poisoning.

My local veterinarian was telling me a story just recently, about treating a Border Collie that gulped down a 3-inch metal anchor bolt. And 2 weeks prior she treated another dog that seemed to have lost its appetite and was loosing weight rapidly. It turns out the poor pooch had an abscess on its back, which turned out to be a 6-inch bamboo skewer that the dog must have eaten a month before. The skewer had migrated through he dog’s digestive tract and into its lumbar muscles, where it caused the abscess.

Anal Sac Problems In Dogs

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Something that you may not have understood about your dog before are his anal sacs. These two sacs are located in the muscle tissue on either side of the anus at the five and seven o’clock positions. An intensely malodorous secretion, usually brownish and watery in appearance, resides within the sacs.

The anal sac fluid, which emerges through two tiny ducts, serves an unknown purpose in the dog. It may help dogs mark territory or enable them to distinguish one another’s sexual identity, according to different theories. Whatever their purpose, the anal sacs of most dogs can be ignored throughout life. Other dogs, however, are bothered by periodic anal sac problems. They show it by madly dragging their hindquarters across the floor or biting and licking at the tail area. These dogs need to have their anal sacs manually emptied (expressed). A few need to have the sacs surgically removed.

How often may your dog’s anal sacs need to be expressed? This depends on whether your dog is one who suffers from bouts of impaction or from actual anal sac infections. Some dogs need monthly attention, while others can go several months without a problem. This is best discussed with your veterinarian, especially if anal sac impaction affects your dog. Should you feel you want to empty the anal sacs at home, here are some guidelines.

1. Begin by standing the dog on a firm surface. The floor will do fine with a large dog, while a table (with surface protected) may be necessary to express the sacs of a small dog. Hold a piece of cotton or paper towel in one hand to cover the anal area. This is useful because the secretion usually squirts out from the ducts once pressure is applied over the sacs.

2. With the absorbent material in place, put your thumb on one side of the anus and your index finger on the other. Gently squeeze your fingers together until the contents of the sacs begin to emerge from the ducts. Usually, the secretion is quite watery, but if it’s been retained for a while, it may resemble toothpaste. Don’t use excessive force, or you may rupture the delicate sacs.

3. Another method of expressing the anal sacs involves inserting your gloved and lubricated forefinger into the anus and feeling for each anal sac individually within the sphincter muscle. Then, grasping it between your thumb and finger, gently press on the sac until the fluid is released. This procedure should not be painful but it may be uncomfortable for the dog, so you’ll probably need somebody to hold the animal.

If you find that the secretion won’t budge, first try redirecting the pressure. Occasionally, the sacs will be completely impacted and then it’s time to see the veterinarian. This also holds true for secretion containing pus or blood, which indicates an infection of the anal sacs. If not treated promptly, they could become abscessed, which is very painful. Anal sac infections are frequently treated with oral and local antibiotics. The latter is inserted through the ducts into the anal sacs themselves.

Is A Professional Dog Obedience Training Necessary?

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Obedience training for your dog is an important part of responsible pet ownership.

While common puppy behavior problems and housebreaking are discussed in many books and publications, here we’ll discuss your options for basic obedience training and whether you want train your dog yourself or hire a trainer.

Training can begin as early as three to four months if yon train the dog yourself. Most trainers believe puppies aren’t mentally or socially developed enough to benefit from group obedience class until they are six months old.

Any sincerely interested dog owner can train his or her own dog, provided your dog hasn’t already acquired a lot of bad habits.
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Training Tips To Get Your Dog To Obey!

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You and your dog may want to attend a couple of lessons at a good training club. You may also want to arm yourself with a good dog training book.

Wait until your dog is six months old before taking him to a group obedience class, which is a popular option for many dog owners. Obedience groups not only provide an excellent
source of training, but also helps socialize your pet with other dogs.

When you first visit an obedience training class, make sure the instructors treat their pupils kindly – no punishment or yelling should be taking place or be permitted by those in charge. Your local parks department or school district may sponsor an obedience group.

If you’re having trouble finding one, ask your veterinarian.

Professional training is a good option for some larger breeds or for dogs that have acquired bad habits. If you are looking for a professional obedience trainer, find one who favors working with your dog in your own home.

No matter how appealing it may seem to send a problem dog away to be trained, the reality is that this often is a waste of time and money.

The dog may behave perfectly with the trainer and then ignore you once it arrives home. A professional obedience trainer will
equip you with the knowledge and confidence you need to train your dog.

The best way to find a good professional trainer is through a veterinarian or breeder’s recommendation.

Also, if you have any family or friends that can refer you to a reputable trainer then this would be the most ideal option. Arrange for an exploratory meeting with the potential trainer, you, and your dog.

Then, make your decision.

Training takes time and patience and a capable trainer will stress this fact. Length of training depends not only on your dog’s intelligence, temperament, and age, but also on how many bad habits he has acquired.

Obedience training requires you to take the lead, both as teacher and enforcer. After your dog has been trained you must not let him drift back into bad behavior patterns.

Is Carsickness A Problem For Your Dog?

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Some puppies get carsick just the same as many small children do. If you depend on a car for most of your transportation, you will want to help your puppy overcome carsickness as quickly and easily as possible. You can do a number of things to help your puppy avoid or overcome carsickness.

From the start, help your puppy form a positive association with the car. Without starting the engine, sit in the car with your puppy on your lap for a few minutes every day. Praise and pet your pup. After a week of this, start the motor. Place your pup on the seat next to you. Pet and praise him, making the experience agreeable. After a week of repeating this once a day, get a friend or relative to go in the car with you for a daily ride. Be sure that your puppy has an empty stomach and has had the chance to eliminate before getting into the car. Have your helper sit the dog on his or her lap. The helper must not allow the pup to squirm and wiggle around.

Take a short ride around the block. Each week increase slightly the distance that you travel. (One-week intervals for each of these steps are not cast in stone. Shorten or lengthen the time depending on your pup’s reaction.) Be sure that when you ride with your puppy, you have someone in the car to help control him. If that’s not possible, put the puppy in a crate in the car.

Do not let your puppy ride on the driver’s lap or crawl under his or her legs. This can become a bad habit and is very dangerous. Once your puppy begins obedience training and understands to lie down and stay, employ this exercise in the car when traveling. Associate trips in the car with fun. Every car ride should not end up at the veterinarian, groomer, or boarding kennel. Use the car to take your dog to the beach, park, or woods.

Most puppies, like most children, outgrow carsickness. In the interim, doing the right things can minimize messes, limit nervousness, and shorten the time it takes for your dog to learn that car rides can be a lot of fun. If none of the above steps seems to help, contact your veterinarian. He or she can provide medical solutions, such as mild tranquilizers, that will help avert sickness when the dog must travel in the car.

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