Tag Archives: health

Dog Harnesses Can Be A Safe And Effective Training Method

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Whether you need a large dog harness for your working dog, or maybe something flashy for a show dog, there are many good choices. Your pet harness should be bought with it’s designed use and your dog’s breeding in mind. All dogs collars and dogs harnesses are meant to be tools, you have to discover the one that is right for your animal and its temperament. Then commit the right allotment of effort required for training your pet . But for lots of dogs, a harness can be a safe and effective training accessory.

Using a harness for walking strong energetic dogs may seem hard to do but some modern harnesses feature elementary but clever techniques such as the front-attachment rings. When a dog pulls, it creates a small tightening or pressure around the chest and near the front legs. These mild but odd feelings stop when the dog stops pulling or lunging. Most dogs promptly associate pulling with uncomfortable sensations. When using this kind of harness, practice, in addition to positive reinforcement, is the key. If your aim is to train a large dog that pulls and lunges on a leash, seek out a training harness with a martingale-type closure that tightens when pulling and loosens up when the pulling ends and the leash relaxes.

If your dog likes to swim, or you live in a rainy, humid climate, you’ll want a more durable nylon harness. For a well-mannered dog that doesn’t get wet very often, leather is an elegant , wear resistant choice. A reflective harness and leash combination might be right if you and your dog are out after dark. After choosing your harness the harness training, like all training, requires repetition and patience. Most owners that try harness training experience very good results.

For the gentle dog that only needs a walking harness, style might be your main consideration and there are lots of designer and fancy made harnesses to choose from. Well made dog harnesses are made from leather or nylon, with each material having many years of use . Some other features to consider are: padding, spikes, buckles, Velcro, front leash attachments or top of the shoulder leash rings.

When doing your research on a dog harness, make sure to take into consideration ALL the features you may require. Don’t forget, just by choosing a harness, you’re taking a step in the right direction that will be protecting your dog’s health and well being.

When searching for a dog car harness you can shop where the pro trainers shop. All the pet harnesses here are top quality.

Hartz Real Beef Treats Recall

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SECAUCUS, N.J., Sept. 3 /PRNewswire/ — The Hartz Mountain Corporation is voluntarily recalling one specific lot of Hartz Naturals Real Beef Treats for Dogs due to concerns that one or more bags within the lot may have been potentially contaminated with Salmonella. Hartz is fully cooperating with the US Food and Drug Administration in this voluntary recall.

Salmonella is an organism which can cause serious infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems, all of whom are at particular risk from exposure and should avoid handling these products.

Salmonella symptoms may include fever, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and nausea in both dogs and humans. Anyone experiencing the symptoms of Salmonella infection should seek immediate medical attention. Owners of dogs exhibiting these symptoms should also seek veterinary assistance.

Hartz Mountain Corporation is recalling 74,700 8-oz bags of Hartz Naturals Real Beef Treats for Dogs, lot code BZ0969101E, UPC number 32700-11519, which were imported by Hartz from a Brazilian supplier, Bertin S.A., and which were distributed to a number of customers in the United States. While regular testing conducted by Bertin (prior to shipment to the US) did not detect the presence of Salmonella in any packages of this product, random sample testing conducted by FDA did indicate the presence of Salmonella. Hartz is aggressively investigating the source of the problem.

Although Hartz has not received any reports of animals or humans becoming ill as a result of coming into contact with this product, Hartz is taking immediate steps to remove the product from all retail stores and distribution centers. Dog owners having purchased this product should check the lot code on their bag, and, if the code is not visible, or if the bag has lot code BZ0969101E imprinted thereon, they should immediately discontinue use of the product and discard it in a proper manner.

Consumers can contact Hartz at 1-800-275-1414 at any time with any questions they may have and for information on how to obtain reimbursement for purchased product.

Contact: Hartz Consumer Affairs

Why Do Dogs Snore?

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About a third of dog owners allow their dogs to sleep on the bed with them. Many single men and women get company from their dogs in the day and the night time in this way. The lovers of no other pets allow their pets to sleep with them as much as dog owners do.

It is handy that dogs have a similar sleep pattern to humans, whereas cats tend to like hunting at night. Dogs also seem to dream and enter into the REM (rapid eye movement) sleep stage.

Every dog owner has observed his dog running and barking softly in his sleep. What else can they be doing other than dreaming? When a dog is sound asleep like this, it can be as difficult to wake him up as any child and when they do wake up they seem drowsy and they shake themselves awake.

Some dogs have been bred for definite purposes and this has lead to facial characteristics which have given rise to breathing abnormalities. Pugs and other dogs with squashed faces often breathe very noticeably in their sleep and at other times in the day.

Some dogs even snore and some snore very noisily. If your dog sleeps with you, this can be a concern. The causes why dogs snore are usually the same ones that lead to humans snoring, although, as stated above one of the main causes for breathing abnormalities is breeding.

One cause of snoring is a constraint of the nasal passages because of an allergy. If you suspect that this is the case, you can begin by thinking whether you have added anything new to your home or whether you use a new air freshener. If you cannot discover the cause yourself, you might have to call in a vetinary surgeon.

One of the principal causes of snoring in humans is being overweight and the same is true of dogs, particularly the smaller breeds. If your dog has just begun snoring, maybe he just put on that extra pound that broke the camel’s back, so to speak.

If you believe that this might be the cause of your dog’s snoring, the clear answer is to help him to lose weight through exercise and dieting. There is a good probability that that will stop the snoring.

If all else fails and you are being driven to distraction by your dog’s nonstop snoring, there is some minor remedial surgery available to open up the nasal passages. It is a quite routine operation that does not take long and should result in both you and your dog getting a better night’s sleep..

If you choose to go down this route, ring around a few vets to get prices as the fees that vets can charge differ considerably.

Why Is My Dog Scratching?

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All dogs scratch at sometime, and here are a few reasons why your dog may have an itch.

First of all you need to examine your dog’s fur to see if there is any sign of fleas. They will be visible if your animal is infested, alternatively, one random flea could have bitten him and caused an allergic reaction.

After a good search you find no fleas in his coat, you should try flea control for approximately four weeks to see if it had been an allergy to a fleabite.

If there is an odor coming from your pet, or his skin is damp and reddened, it could well be a skin problem. Try him first with a therapeutic dog shampoo to see if it remedies the problem, if it doesn’t you will need a medication from the vet.

Mange is a skin problem that is very uncomfortably and causes your pet to lose fur when they scratch.

As soon as you think there is a possibility of Mange, take your pet to the vet as he will need to take some skin scrapings. Tests at a lab will reveal whether there are mites present and appropriate medication prescribed.

If you have ruled out all of these possible causes yet your pet is still scratching, it may well be an allergy. Plants, mod, pollen and dust are all allergens that are found around the house.

If there is a pattern to his scratching and it worsens during the warm weather it many be an allergy to pollen or grass.

It can take a long time to pin down the cause of your pets itching, but is well worth it as you will have a healthy and much happier dog who is free of that irritating itch.

Skin Irritation In Dogs

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We are inclined to think of dogs as being tough; animals that can take care of themselves; animals that are far more in contact with nature than we humans are and we kind of admire them for it, after a fashion. However, the truth is that dogs come under a lot of of the stresses that we do including pollution and junk food, even though they do not have to do the nine-to-five or sit in traffic jams, which are of our own causing anyway.

Most of the stresses that dogs suffer are not of their own causing, they are our fault as well. These stresses often out themselves in much the same way as they do with us in neuroses, anti-social behaviour and skin problems amongst other ways. In this piece, I want to talk about some of the most common sorts of canine skin irritation, not all of which can be attributed to human activity.

The foremost cause of bad skin in dogs is fleas in the town and fleas and ticks in the countryside. The cause of the inflammation is these parasites’ spittle. A dog’s immune system can handle a few fleas, but the problem comes when he is infested. Brief infestation can happen fairly quickly, but usually it is a symptom of neglect. If a dog was groomed every week, the problem would not get out of hand.

Often a neglected dog will look mangy because he has pulled his hair out and injured his skin with continuous scratching, try to rid himself of his tormentors. If the dog had remained in a pack like it was born to tens of thousands of years ago, it would be groomed every day by its companions. A domestic dog relies on its owner to do this for him. You could liken it to a child crawling with lice waiting for its parents to do something about it.

You can treat it and prevent it happening by bathing your dog in insecticidal shampoo as indicated on the label and dusting him and his box with flea powder on a regular basis, say, in conjunction with his weekly grooming.

A similar looking condition is mange. Mange is caused by minute parasitic mites burrowing under your dog’s skin. Again, your dog can handle a few mites, but an infestation is bad. It can also be caught by humans, but our bodies usually clear the problem up. However, your dog will be driven to distraction by an infestation of mites.

If you cannot find scores of fleas on your dog, it is probably mange, also known as scabies. You should be able to catch this early if you notice red, possibly bleeding patches of skin. Your vet or pet shop can sell you something to cure it fairly quickly.

Mosquitoes can be as much, if not more of a bother to dogs than they are to us. Mosquitoes harass dogs on the snout and genitals, but you cannot put DEET or other creams for humans for the reason that they will lick the chemical off causing stomach problems. You can apply lemon juice or oil scented with grated lemon rind and lemon juice, because mosquitoes hate lemon smells.

If your dog’s skin problem does not fit into any of these categories, then he is probably suffering from an allergy or pollution of some sort and you will have to take him to a vet.