Help! My Dog Has Cancer

There are many common health problems that your Golden Retriever will experience from time to time.  Most of these ailments are nothing serious, providing you know how they should be treated and prevented.  Below, we will take a look at the most common ailments, and tell you how to prevent your Golden from getting them.

Distemper virus

The distemper virus is an airborne disease that poses a high risk.  This virus can be prevented by getting your Golden 3 different vaccinations when he is between 6 and 16 weeks of age, along with his regular annual booster shot.  The symptoms from this virus include fever, cough, diarrhea, and vomiting.  If your Golden Retriever has these symptoms, you should immediately take him to see the vet.

Heartworms

Heartworms are among the most common ailment with all dog breeds.  They can reach lengths of up to 12 inches in the heart and the lung arteries, leading to heart failure, a decrease in blood circulation, and even death in some cases.  The symptoms with heartworms may not appear until it is too late, so you are better off preventing them with the correct heartworm medicines.

Heatstroke

During the summer months or hot days, your Golden Retriever can get a heatstroke.  You can prevent this from happening by giving your dog plenty of water, and never leaving him in direct sunlight.  If you are playing together on a hot day, you should give him plenty of time to rest so he doesn’t overdo it.  The symptoms indicating a heatstroke include a lot of panting or drooling, dark gums, a glazed expression, rapid pulse, and even vomiting.  If your dog starts to show any of these symptoms, you should immediately take him to the vet.

Rabies

Rabies is one of the more serious ailments that your Golden Retriever can get, as it has an adverse affect on your dog’s nervous system.  Normally, dogs get rabies through a bite of another animal that is infected with the disease.  There are rabies shots that helps to prevent the disease, and your dog should get them at least once a year.  The symptoms of rabies include seizures, aggression, and foaming at the mouth.  If you suspect your Golden has rabies, you should call the vet immediately.

Tapeworms

Tapeworms are normally caused by fleas, and affect your dog’s stomach.  The symptoms for tapeworms include a loss in weight, diarrhea, and even biting of the rectal area.  You can easily prevent your Golden from tapeworms by using a rigid flea control.  If your Golden Retriever exhibits symptoms for tapeworms, you should take him to the vet immediately.  If the vet catches them in time, he may be able to kill the tapeworms with an oral medicine.

Hookworms

Hookworms result from your Golden coming in contact with feces, his mother, or the worm simply burrowing under exposed skin.  You can prevent your dog from getting hookworms by cleaning his living area and keeping his skin clean.  The symptoms that accompany hookworms include a dry coat, weight loss, weakness, and blood in the stool.  As with all other ailments, you should immediately contact your vet if your Golden Retriever starts to show any of these symptoms.

Although these are just some of the most common ailments for Golden Retrievers, there are other ailments and health problems that your dog can get.  If your Golden starts to show any signs of ailment, disease, or health problem, you shouldn’t hesitate to contact your vet and set up an appointment.  Some of these diseases and ailments can be pretty serious – although they can be treated if you catch them in time.

Take a look at the can of pet food you are feeding your dog.  Don’t just check out the label.  “Super Gourmet Beef Delight” doesn’t tell you what your pet is actually eating.  Read the ingredients.  Are you aware what each ingredient is?  What it really is?  Not all ingredients in the can of food are necessarily good for your dog.  Here are three dog food ingredients you ought to steer clear of.

Corn (in any form)

You will notice it listed as corn gluten, corn gluten meal, corn cellulose, or just corn.  Dogs are carnivores but they could eat and digest vegetable matter.  However, corn is quite difficult for them to digest because they don’t have enough of the correct enzymes.  Excessive corn can lead to digestive issues.  The corn gluten, gluten meal, and cellulose are employed primarily as binders and also have little or no nutritional value.

BHA/BHT

These are phenolic antioxidants, used to preserve fats and oils.  Many countries have banned these from human use, but they continue to be permitted in the U.S.  They may possibly be human carcinogens and are demonstrated carcinogenic in animal experiments.

Here’s how this ingredient listing looks on the bag of a preferred brand of kibbles.  That’s the fourth ingredient, by the way:  “Animal Fat (preserved with BHA/BHT)”.

Ethoxyquin

Ethoxyquin is an antioxidant.  It had been developed by Monsanto as a stabilizer for rubber.  It has also been used as a pesticide for fruit along with a color preservative for spices – and later for animal feed.  It may be linked to thyroid, kidney, reproductive and immune related illnesses including cancer.  Studies to determine the safety of Ethoxyquin have not been completed, and that is why it’s still allowed in dog foods.

As a side note, if you observe that fish meal is an ingredient in the pet food brand you are using, unless it says “human grade” fish meal, it’s preserved with Ethoxyquin, although it’s not specifically listed.

They are just a few of the dog food ingredients I suggest you avoid feeding your dog.  The best way to ensure that your dog is getting the healthiest, most nutritionally balanced food possible is to make it yourself.  Otherwise, you could be compromising your pet’s health without even realizing it.

Cheap dog insurance is a means of spreading the price tag on veterinary clinic care for your canine friend. Just about any doggy might be covered from a 6 week old doggy upward.

In case you are asking yourself about the use of dogs health insurance, keep in mind that 1 in 3 canines will need out-of-the-ordinary medical care bills within the upcoming year or so, and 2 in 3 pet dogs end up having a serious (i.e. expensive) health care complication at some time in their existence.

Vets are qualified to take care of a lot of ailments that up until recently would have been fatal for a doggy. However, the expense of these amazing life saving treatment options might be prohibitive. It would be horrible to be in a position where challenging medical treatments could quite possibly save your pup’s life, but you couldn’t afford to cover it. However this is happening to a lot of people today when the boundaries of veterinary clinic medical science are expanded.

Getting dog insurance plans makes it more convenient for you to do something about problems where the price tag on your dog’s care may be very high. If your pup develops a serious disorder or has a medical related crisis, it can save you a ton of money to be able to claim the expenses on health insurance.

Yet another advantage of new puppy health insurance is that if your pup is covered, you will probably get him to the vet the moment he has a health related ailment. Typically many of us always like to believe that our pup’s health and fitness will come first generally in most predicaments, there may very well be times when a trip to the vet was put off due to monetary factors. In case you have health insurance coverage you do not have to be so nervous because of the fee when your dog is hurt.

Much like health insurance on your household, you can see the fact that many different policies supply you with many types of coverage. Before you decide on any doggie insurance policy coverage, take the opportunity to consider various kinds of insurance policies from several different agencies. A few agencies won’t include specified breeds, or some may exclude selected types of conditions which might be typical in a few particular breeds, for example hip dysplasia.

If your doggie has sustained any specific afflictions prior to now, you need an insurance policy that insures pre-existing disorders. This could result in more expensive monthly obligations but yet will save you money in the event the issue comes back. For a new puppy, you really need to know if the insurance plan covers shots.

You may even choose to go over dog insurance policy coverage with your vet. Quite a few vets are linked up with particular puppy insurers. This can make it simpler to make a claim, but you might not necessarily receive the best price for your circumstances.

You can generally save on the regular monthly cost of a doggy health care plan by agreeing to pay a certain amount of the cost each and every time that your pet dog requires treatment. For example, when you pay the first $50 or even $25 of any individual claim, you can expect to pay a lower amount monthly than if you want the insurance policy to pay for everything.

A growing number of conscientious canine owners are taking out insurance protection today. Check out a plan yourself. Doggy health coverage insurance can care for your puppy plus your finances.

Clicker Training For Gundogs

Clicker Training is a relatively new way of training a dog using a small finger-length box which makes a sharp and distinctive click. Clicker training is the art and science of using a conditioned reinforcer to train your dog using no corrections or punishments.

The pet-friendly way to train…
Many dog owners worry about the things their gundog does wrong. Clicker training lets you concentrate on what the gundog is doing right. You’ll learn to build good behavior instead of trying to fix mistakes. Click when the puppy or young gundog “goes” in the right place. Click for sitting instead of jumping up. Click for waiting at the door. Click for a loose lead while walking the gundog at heel. Clicker training is also a great help in laying the foundation for gundog training.

The click is a marker signal
Clicker training is a science-based system for teaching behavior with positive reinforcement. You use a marker signal (the sound of a toy clicker) to tell the gundog that what he/she is doing is right. The system was first widely used by dolphin trainers, who needed a way to teach behavior without using physical force.

No corrections or punishment
In traditional training, you tell a gundog what to do, make that behavior happen (using force if necessary), reward good results with food, and punish mistakes. In clicker training you watch for the behavior you like, mark the instant it happens with a click, and pay off with a treat like chicken or something similar. The treat may be food, a pat, praise, or anything else the gundog enjoys. If the gundog makes a mistake all you do is wait and let them try again.

Replacing the clicker with praise
Clicker trainers focus on building behavior, not stopping behavior. Instead of shouting at the gundog for jumping up, you click it for sitting. Then, click by click, you “shape” longer sits, or more walking, until you have the final results you want. Once the behavior is learned, you keep it going with praise and approval and save the clicker and treats for the next new thing you want to train.

Fun and exciting for pets and people
GunDogs quickly learn that the marker signal means, “Something good is coming.” Then they realize they can make you click by repeating their behavior. They become enthusiastic partners in their own training. Clicker training is exciting for animals, and it’s easy to do.

In 6 short weeks your dog can learn to be the happy, obedient dog you’ve always wanted!

Call David for a free demonstration and see what just 6 week’s of gundog  training can do for you… Your dog will learn to be a more enjoyable, more obedient companion dog for your whole family.

In 6 short weeks your dog can learn to be the happy, obedient dog you’ve always wanted!

In just 6 weeks with our accelerated one – to – one training program, your gundog will learn to

Walk on a loose lead
Heel
Sit and lie down
Retrieve on a “seen”
Retrieve a “blind”
Be familiar with shot sound
Begin the basics of stopping at distance on a whistle
Stay when told, and come when called, even around distractions.
Learn basic manners and obedience

We will be working with you for 6 weeks and at the end of this period we will simulate a working test to see how well your gundog has developed. At this stage you will be hooked and want to go onto further things.

You may not be the type of puppy owner who spends a lot of time training your puppy . It’s quite alright (most dog owners do not have the time). However, there are two basic commands that could literally save your puppy’s life and only takes a few minutes each day to instruct.

Teaching your puppy the “leave it” and “drop it” commands can keep your pup from doing something unsafe, such as eating rat poison, stinking food and other yucky stuff, or running into the path of a speeding car.

Leave It

With your puppy on a leash, walk by a tempting item, such as food or a toy (you can pre-place items for this exercise). When your puppy tries to pick up the item, give a short quick tug on the leash and say, “Leave it.”

Enthusiastically praise your puppy for obeying (“Good Boy!”). You can offer a liver snap at this time if you prefer, but praise and a pat on the head work just as well. Repeat this routine at home.

Here’s another method you can use to teach your dog the “leave it” command: Hold a food treat in your unopened fist. When your puppy sniffs your hand, say “Leave it,” and keep your hand closed. When your pup stops nosing your hand, reward with praise, then give a verbal release command (such as “okay”) and let your puppy have the treat. Continue working like this until your puppy will sit quietly without touching a nearby treat until you give the release command.

Drop It

When your puppy picks up a forbidden object, say, “Drop it!” and walk over to your puppy. If your pup won’t release the item, offer it a tempting treat as a trade for the item. When your puppy drops it, offer praise and a safe substitute – preferably one that’s more tempting than the forbidden item.

If your puppy runs away from you, don’t chase it – it’ll think you’re playacting a game. instead, ignore your little one and get yourself a treat from the kitchen (something you know your puppy likes). Take the treat to a puppy-accessible area and start to eat it (or pretend to eat it, if it’s a dog goodie).

Be dramatic about how yummy it is. Call your puppy over, then give the drop it command and trade the treat for the forbidden item. (Be sure to praise your youngster for obeying.) After your puppy finishes the treat, offer an accepted toy.