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Do NOT Fetch Fido!
Do NOT Fetch Fido!
By Kathy Davison
At last and eventually I have the honor of reading about a Vet who has brought to light in a local newspaper the perils of throwing a stick for your dog.
Did you know that dogs suffer more injuries from chasing and catching sticks as they do from accidents on our great British roads.
I knew that because my father was a Vet and as a child I used to see the injuries arrive at the practice door. Some of them were horrific, dog with sticks that had cut their tonsils or where the part of a stick had gone down their throat. The dog has many nerves and blood vessels around the face and these can be easily perforated and can cause excessive bleeding.
My father used to advise them to throw rubber toys or a suitably sized hard rubber ball and with all the dog toys around now there is really no excuse. Think of it this way if you feel that the toys cost too much. What is cheaper ..the toy or the Vets Bill?
Mind you when you use a rubber ball of a suitable size make sure it is that really hard rubber and not the soft type. Any dog with the right amount of chewing can take apart a soft rubber ball and get pieces lodged in the esophagus and intestines.
Many a dog that has gone off his food and has been constipated on X ray has been found to have a piece of rubber firmly stuck in his gullet. Life threatening to say the least if he is not taken to the vet in time and at the end of the day highly expensive to get removed!
Its much cheaper to get the correct toy in the first place.
So is throwing a stick for a dog really as dangerous as I say?
Well let me enlighten you here to just a few typical injuries.
Dog left paralyzed after being stabbed in the back of the throat by a stick that then entered the spinal cord
Dogs who suffer a slow death as infection spreads from tiny fragments of wood left lodged in a wound.
Penetration of the tongue and into the windpipe by a dog running for a stick that had lodged into the ground
Still not convinced?
With today's credit crunch in full swing you might like to consider the cost.
Some Vets have seen costs in the thousands in treatment fees and in the end the poor dog has actually died.So next time you take your beloved pouch to the park for a walk and he is eager for his chase and return, introduce him to his nice new hard rubber ball, not only safe but bounces for miles!!
Kathy lecturers in Animal Health and Behavior in a college in N.Ireland. She has an online business dedicated to cats and dogs.
http://www.yourcatmydog.com/firstaidfordogs.php
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Stop Your Dog From Barking - 3 Simple Tips to Silence Barking Dogs When You're Away From Home
Stop Your Dog From Barking - 3 Simple Tips to Silence Barking Dogs When You're Away From Home
By David Diamondi
Imagine what life would be like if you could stop your dog from barking while you were away from home. There would be no more complaints from neighbors about your canine pet's excessive barking and you could walk down the street without worrying about who was going to approach you next about your dog's annoying behavior.
If your dog barks excessively when you aren't home, here are 3 simple tips and strategies you can try:
1. Give Them A Toy - A dog's barking can sometimes be a result of boredom. If you are going to be away from your pet for more than an hour, you need to make sure they have something to occupy their time. A good idea is to get them a chew toy such as a rubber bone or a squeaky rubber ball. With this new distraction in front of them, they are less likely to cause the neighbors grief while you are away.
2. Turn On The Radio - Sometimes barking dogs can be silenced by the sound of a human voice. No, not the voice of your neighbor yelling at them, but rather a sooth calming voice. The next time you leave home, try turning on the radio to stop your dog from barking. The best choice would be some sort of talkback radio station that had more conversation than music. This works a treat!
3. Move Them To Another Area - If you leave your dog to roam free in the yard when you are not home, and you get complaints from neighbors about the barking then you might try confining them to an area where their temptation to bark is limited. You could put them in a crate at the back of the property where they can't see the road or the neighbor's property or people walking by.
You should also be aware that some dog breeds are more likely to bark excessively than others. Especially small breed dogs like the Chihuahua, Miniature Poodle, Toy Poodle, Pekinese and Yorkshire Terrier. So if you have a small dog, bear in mind that it may be more of a challenge to get them to stop barking.
If you follow these tips you should be able to stop your dog from barking when you are not home.
And if you want more tips, here are some extra stop dog from barking secrets. You can even enjoy a FREE 6 day dog training mini-course to show you how to do it right.
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Is Your Dog Chewing You Out of House and Home?
Is Your Dog Chewing You Out of House and Home?
By Jim Burwell
Maybe you have a new puppy who chews or gnaws on everything in site? Typical right? Yes, but it's also not necessary. Or maybe you have a grown dog that still chews everything. This can get rather expensive.
Puppies chew initially because of teething but very rapidly they chew because they've LEARNED to chew your stuff. Adult dogs will chew because they're bored and also because they too have LEARNED to chew your stuff.
The best way to not have a dog that chews is to teach an alternative behavior from the very beginning of your dog's life with you.
As a puppy you must teach your dog to differentiate between his stuff and your stuff. When your puppy grabs something of yours and begins to chew,do, a simple, non-emotional, no yelling,NO, OFF, remove the object and replace your object with something that is ok for the puppy to chew. But I've done that you're saying and it doesn't work. The secret is to not make a big fuss over the puppy or dog chewing the wrong thing, but make a big fuss over the puppy or dog chewing the RIGHT thing. Never, never hit a dog for chewing an inappropriate item. The more emotion and interest you put on the wrong item, the more interesting it is to the puppy or dog.Set your dog or puppy up to succeed, not fail. Puppy and dog proof your house until they learn not to chew your stuff. If you leave shoes, tv remotes, kid's toys all over the place before the puppy or dog understands not to touch, then you are continually setting the dog up to fail and you are consistentlypromoting learned behavior you do not want.Look at how you are managing your dog's energy. If you don't walk your dog and the only way the dog gets rid of it's energy is by playing inthe back yard or being rowdy in the house then you get out of control behavior. If your dog uses up energy outside with no one out there to supervise behavior, the dog does not know that the outside behavior is not okay inside. Walking is important to dogs, a great way to constructively manage the dog's energy AND if you do your walk correctly, a great way to practice your leadership role with your dog.Leadership role is crucial in having a well balanced dog. Lack of leadership can cause anxiety in your dog and anxiety is handled by your dog in chewing, barking etc.. Chewing takes their mind off their anxiety.Also what your dog or puppy is allowed to chew on must be interesting, fun and taste good. Not a dry bone, a rubber toy without any type of treat stuffing or interactivity that intrigues the dog.Dogs are very much like children, they have to learn to behave appropriately. Good leadership, patience and setting your dog or puppy up to be successful takes work, but in the long run a lot less work and aggravation than not teaching your dog.
Be as comfortable with the trainer of your dog as you are the teacher of your children. And remember, Opportunity Barks!
For more great information on how to start off on the right paw with your puppy, please visit our puppy training page. Fill in the form and we'll send you terrific puppy training information. http://www.petiquettedog.com/yourdog/puppy_lessons.php
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