How To Treat Your Dog For Skin Irritations
Copyright © 2008 JK MacDonald

From my point of view as a long time pet dog owner. I have a lot of research time and suggestions to help other dog owners learn to treat a dog for skin disorders. In my experience the most commonly found problem is itching, and usually starts in one general area on the dog. If your dog has an allergic reaction to something, it will cause a skin infection or irritate the skin. If open wounds or scabbing appears on the skin this is a perfect place for bacterial infection to manifest. Read more »

Pet Adoption After Losing a Pet

If your family has experienced the loss of a pet, or if your pet is getting older, one thing that often comes to mind is whether or not you are ready for another pet. Should we wait or get a new pet right away? Should we wait until the older pet dies and first have a pet memorial for the kids? Would getting a new dog traumatize the older pet? Should we buy or adopt a pet?

The most important thing to do is to access your situation. Often, when one pet is getting old, it’s a good idea to go ahead and introduce a new pet. It may even help the older pet live longer. Read more »

Basic Lessons Every Dog Must Learn

Here are three basic lessons to start your dog with. Every dog needs to have this basic course in social and pack etiquette if they are going to be happy and stable companions.

Practice each lesson given here for at least ten minutes a day to help your dog master them. Stay consistent, even if you aren’t actively training make sure that your dog obeys the rules at all times.

The Human is the Leader

You are the leader, so start leading! You must be the one to decide when it’s time for something to happen, and that includes any kind of activity with your dog. Do NOT let them decide for you! Ignore attention seeking behavior like nosing to be petted or to play.

If you look at your dog when he requests attention than he wins, he has made you respond and that is a point towards his dominance. You MUST ignore him even if he’s being very silly in his attempts to win your attention. If you even smile a little bit, he will win!

Practice: Your dog comes up and noses you for attention. Ignore him. When he gives up and starts to walk away than call him back by using his name and the command “come”.

Give him lots of praise and love for coming when called. That way you are in charge, you are telling him that you will decide when it’s time to cuddle, and at the same time you are giving him the attention that he needed. Always, always, always obey this rule and you’ll be doing well in establishing your leadership.

Doorway and Stairway Etiquette

Having your dog charge through doorways or past you on the stairs, with little respect for you or what you might be carrying, is a bad thing. Leaders always go first in the pack, so if your dog is charging through the door, he is considering himself the boss and that has to stop. If you have a puppy, then you’ve hopefully already started learning the sit/stay commands, those will come in handy here.

Practice: Think of a place where you want your dog to stay until you have opened the door and stepped outside. I have a rug near my door, and that is the “stay” location. Your stay location should be within the range of your leash if you step outside the door.

Put on your dog’s training collar and leash, and walk him to the door. If he’s like most dogs he’s going to get really excited, probably start wiggling and whining and nosing the door in anticipation. Place him in his “stay” location and wiggle the doorknob. If he tries to move from his place immediately correct him with a loud “BAH!” or whatever your correction sound is.

Jiggle the doorknob again, and correct again if necessary. Practice until he no longer tries to break position if you jiggle the doorknob, then step up to opening the door. If he breaks position when you open the door, shut it quickly and correct him firmly. Continue to repeat this exercise until he stays in position with the door wide open.

Once you can stand with the door wide open and your dog remains in position, step just outside the door, holding the leash incase he bolts forward. If he breaks position to follow you, correct him firmly and put him back into position. Practice stepping through the door and keeping him in position.

When you can open the door and step outside with your dog staying in position, you can release him from his position by calling “free!” or “release!” whichever word you feel most comfortable with. This lets the dog know that he is free to now follow you out the door.

The same process should be used for stairs. Make your dog wait at the bottom of the stairs until you have reached the top, then tell him “free!” or “release!”.

The same is true for going down the stairs, through boundary gates, yard gates; anywhere the passage is narrow and signifies a separation between one area and another. Read more »

What are Animals?

With almost two million species having been identified to date animals are the most varied living thing on the planet. For over one billion years they have adapted to the changing world around them, developing a vast array of different lifestyles in the struggle that they face to survive. At one extreme animals include fast moving predators such as big cats, sharks and birds of prey; at the other extreme there are the inconspicuous animals living in the soil or on the sea bed. Read more »

Kidney Failure in Dogs- Are you Poisoning Your Dog Without Even Knowing It?

First let us begin by stating the obvious, you love your dog. I am sure he is loved just as much as any member of your family. Now would you ever feed your beloved family member something that you knew could cause his kidneys to fail?

Would you give him something that could cause him extreme pain, and eventual death? Of course not!

Chances are though, that you unknowingly feed your pet this poison everyday. Read more »

How To Choose Healthy Dog Food For Your Pet

Is healthy dog food a myth? You’ve probably wondered, since hearing about the recent dog food recalls. Pet lovers like you fear that their dogs will suffer like so many others that ate food containing dangerous ingredients – wheat gluten and a product used in the production of plastics.

If you’re like other dog owners, you’re taking a much closer look at those dog food labels. They claim to offer the top quality, balanced diet for your pet, but how can you know if it’s true? How do you guarantee that your dog eats only healthy food? Is it even possible to get healthy dog food from manufacturers now? Read more »