Personal Pet Check-Ups

For all pet owners, regular monitoring and examinations of your pet will give you a better idea of the animals overall health and prove as good quality time for both you and your pet. Also, this may help you catch a problem in the early phases and certainly before it becomes life threatening. The list of things you can do during this time could be long but below weve taken the time to list a few of the most basic and easy to read signs of being off color. In addition to the usual, these steps may help you in deciding your pets actual state of health.

CHECK YOUR PET FOR:

1) Build up in the tooth area. Also bad breath- which may suggest gingivitis or other tooth/gum problems.

2) Clean ears. Is there wax build up, ticks, mites or other parasites inside? Is a bad odor present?

3) Are the eyes discolored or irritated? Is extensive matter present?

4) A greasy coat? Is the skin grey white or red and irritated? Do you find evidence of fleas or other parasites? Is the smell of the animals coat on your hands, after checking it with your fingers, fishy, rank or offensive?

A doggy odor, while common, is still a sign of a low level of health. If your answers to many of the above areas are YES, then you should plan some type of action to discontinue this cycle of bad health. First and foremost, diet is the best place to start. Consult with your vet and/or check into possible alternative therapies. In the end, your pets overall health is up to you, so these early warning signs should not be overlooked.

A clean bill of health is the most valuable gift you can present to your pets- next to your love and attention.

Article written and reprinted with permission of: http://www.pedigreedpups.com/
Purebred Dogs, Puppies and Dog Breeders - "Your New Best Friend"

Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.

Debbie Ray, owner of http://www.pedigreedpups.com and http://www.total-german-shepherd.com, is a lifelong animal lover and dog enthusiast. Interested in more dog information? Training and health tips? Thinking about getting a purebred dog? Interested in the German Shepherd Dog in particular? Need to promote your dog related website and get additional in bound links? Check out pedigreedpups.com , total-german-shepherd.com or http://www.pedigreeddogs.com (purebred dog breed directory) for more information.

Helpful Tips to Keep Your Toy Dog Breed Cool and Safe in Hot Weather

Sunny summer days seem to incite all sorts of fun activities with your Toy Breed Dog: As temperatures soar, the hot weather also brings with it very specific hazards such as sunburn, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. The good news is these threats to your pooch are preventable. In this article I will give you a few tips of how to keep your toy breed dog cool and safe during hot summer days.

Protecting Your Toy Breed Dog from Sunburn

Toy Breed Dogs can receive sunburn much like humans. The nose, tips of the ears and around the lip area are especially susceptible to the burning rays of the sun. Use common sense when outdoors in the summertime with your Toy Breed Dog. Keep your Toy Breed Dog in the shade during the hours of the day when the suns rays are most intense. This is usually between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. However, if you need to be outside during these times, it's okay to apply sun-block to your dog's nose and the exposed skin on the ears. It's a little risky to apply sun-block around the lips. Your Toy Breed Dog would probably lick off the sun-block product which could present another health hazard. So avoid the lip area when using sun block on your Toy Breed Dog. If you notice the area around your Toy Breed Dogs lips becoming pink or red, contact your vet to find out an appropriate treatment for this area.

Protecting Your Toy Breed Dog from Heat Exhaustion or Heat Stroke

Leaving a Toy Breed Dog in a parked car during summer weather is the leading cause of heat stroke. Toy Breed Dogs can also suffer heat exhaustion or heat stroke if they exercise too heavily on a hot, humid day or, if they live outdoors and don't have shelter from the sun. Toy Breed Dogs are also more susceptible to heat stroke if they are overweight or suffer from lung or heart ailments. Older Toy Breed Dogs are less tolerant of heat and may succumb to heat strokes more readily than younger Toy Breed Dogs.

Here are a few tips to help keep your Toy Breed Dog safe from heat stroke:

Do not take your Toy Breed Dog with you on errands if you need to leave the dog in the car.

If you are traveling with your Toy Breed Dog and must make a stop, even for the shortest period of time, leave the air conditioner on.

If you take your Toy Breed Dog with you for walking, jogging or cycling exercise, do not push the Toy Breed Dog on exceptionally hot days. Always take plenty of fresh, cool water. Watch your Toy Breed Dog for signs that the dog needs a break.

Most Toy Breed Dog owners do allow their dogs to live indoors. If for some reason, your Toy Breed Dog needs to live outside, be sure you provide an all-day shade area such as a ventilated doghouse, large beach umbrella or overhang to block the heat of the sun during summertime months.

Keep older Toy Breed Dogs and those with lung or heart conditions inside your home on hot days. If you do not have air conditioning, keep a fan running.

Avoid situations that force your Toy Breed Dog to stand on sun-baked surfaces such as cement sidewalks, a truck bed or beach sand. The extreme heat can cause blisters on the Toy Breed Dogs pads.

If you must walk your Toy Breed Dog in the heat of the day, walk on grassy areas as much as possible.

Of much importance is to provide your Toy Breed Dog with an unlimited access to cool, clean refreshing drinking water.

If you will follow the above tips during hot summertime weather your Toy Breed Dog should be safe from experiencing heat stroke.

Author: Connie Limon. Visit us online at: http://www.abouttoydogs.com We are an article and resource directory all about Toy Dogs. Our mission is helping you decide which Toy Dog is right for you and/or your family. We provide you with helpful, educational articles and dog training resources.

This article is FREE to publish with the resource box.

Connie Limon. Visit us online at: http://www.abouttoydogs.com We are an article and resource directory all about Toy Dogs. Our mission is helping you decide which Toy Dog is right for you and/or your family. We provide you with helpful, educational articles and dog training resources.

The Key To House Training A Puppy

No Dog training means more to most new puppy owners than that first important lesson: Not in the House!

Teaching your Dog to go to the toilet outside the home, not in it, usually starts between six and eight weeks of age. Dogs as young as four weeks old, have been started on the house training, but at such a young age, a puppy is unlikely to have enough muscle control.

Like any dog training, the trainers patience is as important as the dog's temperament. 'Sit', 'stay' and other behaviours can often be learned in a few days. 'Potty' training can take weeks - sometimes as short as two, often a month or more.

As with other learned behaviours, you should look for signs of the impending action, then enforce and direct them with a voice command followed by praise. In this case the technique works to the trainer's advantage, since all dogs will naturally go to the toilet. The trick is to get them to do it when and where you want!

Look for signs such as circling or squatting, then pick up the pup, say 'outside' and hurry outside. The puppy may circle some more, but will often squat immediately. As it begins, say quickly (or some other phrase) in a clear, firm (but not angry) voice. Wait until the puppy finished and give lots of praise.

You won't always be able to catch the puppy about to begin, but don't become angry or impatient when the dog goes to the toilet indoors. It takes time for the dog to learn to tell you it's time to 'go outside'. It also takes time for the muscles needed to control bladder and bowels to develop.

Young dogs need to go to the toilet every 2-3 hours, on average. If you haven't spotted evacuation behaviour within that time, take the dog outside anyway. Issue the command 'quickly and wait. At first, usually, the dog will have no clue what you want.

Again, even when outside, it helps to wait and watch for the desired behaviour then issue the command. That helps the dog associate the command with the behaviour. If the dog hasn't gone after a few minutes and a few 'quickly' commands, take it back inside for an hour. Of course, if you spot the pre-toilet behaviour in less time, go outside again immediately.

Dogs have a surprising ability to quickly learn what their 'alpha' (the leader of the pack) wants. This is almost always accomplished by associating a verbal command with behaviour, followed by praise. Punishment is usually counter-productive, and nowhere more so than in toilet training. Never rub a dog's nose in waste.

Paper and/or crate training is preferred by some. A pup can be trained to go on a newspaper, or on one of the chemically treated puppy pads designed for the purpose. Some small breeds that live all day in the home may not need to go outside at all.

The technique has a couple of down sides however. Unlike cats, dogs will rarely go in a perfumed litter box. Newspapers (even with the top layer removed after the dog goes) will eventually create an unpleasant smell in the house.

Also, long before the odour becomes unattractive to humans, dogs can smell their own distinctive aroma. They don't find it unattractive - quite the opposite. And that's the problem.

Dogs that are paper trained will often prefer to eliminate indoors. Sometimes they'll miss the paper by only an inch, creating a mess to clean up.

Once the odour is in the carpet, the dog will often seek that spot out as its proper 'place to go'. This makes training the dog to go to the toilet outside even more difficult. Best to suffer a few accidents than to create a hard-to-overcome habit.

Patience, praise and consistency are the keys to any dog training. Elimination training is the first test for you and your dog.

Terry King runs Parcel Pets - http://www.pets2home.co.uk/cat--Training-Aids--TRAINING_AIDS.html - a leading UK pet supplies web site and has had pets all his life. He lives with his wife Louise, dog Sam, Cat Sabrina and 5 fish!