Dog owners are now turning to alternative medicine such a acupuncture to treat the ailments of their pets. This is just one such story.
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Parvo – How Can You Give a Puppy’s Immune System a Boost?
Carried and transmitted by dogs, parvovirus has a 20% mortality rate in dog treated in time, an 80% mortality rate for those who are not. Much more common in puppies than older dogs, parvo grows best in the rapidly dividing cells of the dog’s intestines. As the virus attacks and kills these cells it causes massive diarrhea and halts or slows the creation of white blood cells. In young puppies it can often directly infect the heart, leading to death.
So what can you do to give your puppy’s immune system a boost to help enable them to protect their selves?
Does Your Dog Chew Grass?
My dog crops grass like a cow. He eats it with gusto whenever he encounters it, to the extent that my friends have begun to refer to him, jokingly, as ‘The Ruminant’. This habit of his doesn’t bother me at all, since it seems to have no ill-effects on him whatsoever – although, when I’m standing outside in the cold waiting for him to relieve himself during one of his infrequent small-hours toilet calls (normally his timing is much more considerate), it’s hard not to hop impatiently from foot to foot while he enthusiastically tears out the mandatory five to seven mouthfuls of grass, chews thoroughly, and swallows, instead of just getting on with the task at hand.Unless your dog’s digestion is suffering unwanted upheavals from his grass-eating habit, it’s not really a problem. Dogs have been eating grass since the dawn of time (or at least, of the species) with few ill-effects, aside from the odd bout of vomiting – and really, this is one of those things that seems to bother owners a lot more than their dogs; most dogs, will simply re-ingest the vomitus and go about their day unfazed.
Separation Anxiety and Your Dog
Separation anxiety is one of the most common problems that dogs develop. It’s an anxiety disorder, and is defined as a state of intense panic brought on by the dog’s isolation/separation from her owner(s).
In other words: when you leave for work in the morning, your dog is plunged into a state of nervous anxiety which intensifies extremely quickly.
Dogs are social animals – they need plenty of company and social interaction to keep them happy and content. No dog likes to be left alone for long stretches of time, but some dogs do a lot worse than others: these are the ones most prone to separation anxiety.
There are a number of contributing causes to the condition:
– Some breeds are genetically predisposed towards anxiety and insecurity, which is something you should consider when deciding which breed you’re going to go for (particularly if you’re going to be absent for long stretches of time). A few of these breeds include Weimaraners, Springer Spaniels, German Shepherds, and Airedales
– A significant proportion of dogs from shelters develop separation anxiety. Most of these ‘shelter dogs’ have undergone significant trauma in their lives – they’ve been abandoned by their previous owners – and thus they have little trust that their new-found owner (you) isn’t going to pull the same trick.
Dealing with Your Dog’s Aggression
A dog’s aggression may take many forms. Read Daniel Steven’s, renowned trainer and author of SitStayFetch – Dog Training To Stop Your Dog Behavioral Problems, consultation to a client dealing with one such form of aggression in their dog.
SitStayFetch Consultation:
Hi Daniel,
Our beagle, Benny is showing signs of aggression (we have noticed this for quite a while and have tried a number of ways to combat this but nothing seems to work) and we are at a bit of a loss as to how to deal with this.
The problems we have are listed below:
He becomes aggressive if you try and take something from him that he doesn’t want to give you i.e. if he has pinched something like a sock. He will refuse to give it back to you and if you try and take it away from him he will attempt to bite you.