Checking your Dogs Ears & Nails

Checking your dogs ears and nails should be done on a regular basis no matter what type of dog you have. If you haven’t checked them yet then do so as soon as possible.

The majority of dogs nails will naturally wear down if it frequently walks on rough or hard surfaces, however this is not the case for all dogs as some dogs nails will sometime continue to grow. If your dogs nails become too long, its toes will start to spread and it will have difficulty walking. Long nails in dogs can break more easily and this can cause considerable pain. If your notice your dogs nails are becoming longer than normal I would suggest taking him/her to the local vet / professional groomer where they will cut and file them for you. I personally would not suggest doing them yourself as you may cause more problems.

With regards to your dogs ears, they need to be looked at on a frequent basis. If your dog has lots of hair within its ears is can cause many problems especially if your dog is long or rough coated. Because your dogs ears are a warm, moist area, bacteria likes to grow in this area. Once bacteria starts to grow your dogs ears may start to itch which in turn will make your dog scratch and possibly cause an infection. If you use a very luke warm solution of water and gently clean the inside of the dogs ears with a wipe or professional dog flannel this should do the trick at keeping the bacteria at bay. Also if your dogs ears become extremely hairy, take a very small pair of nail scissors and gently clip any hair out of the way if it seems to be causing a problem. However please do take care doing this, some dogs will gladly sit there and let you do it, others will not. So if you have a dog that doesn’t like you touching its ears, then ask your vet or dog groomer to do it.

NOTE: Never use cotton buds on your dogs ears, this can hurt the dog and cause serious damage to its ears or hearing.

Tags: dogs, ears, groomer, nails, vet

Dogs from an Animal Rescue Centre

If you currently thinking about getting a dog for you and your family from an animal rescue centre then there are a few things you will want to take into consideration first.

Many people are under the impression that when dogs and animals end up at rescue centers they have done something bad or misbehaved terribly for their owner to have given them up. This is not always the case.

There are many healthy, friendly, well trained dogs just waiting in a rescue centre to be chosen by a caring human being. Some dogs may have ended up at the centres because their owner has become too poorly to look after them or maybe the family have run into difficulties so rather than see the dog suffer they have done the best thing for both them and their dog.

When you enter rescue centres, the majority have a description of the dog on board near to each dog. This board will often tell you how old the dog is (if known), male or female, whether it is well behaved, good with other pets, and any other information the centre feels that they must tell people about that particular dog.

Many rescue centres let you take the dog(s) around the complex on a lead so you can see how you both get along, and if you already have a dog at home the centre will arrange for a suitable time you can bring your current dog in and introduce it to the dog you are thinking about adopting.

I admit that when I’ve looked around dog homes / rescue centres in the past I found it very difficult. When you look at the numerous dogs behind their bars / or in their kennels, they seem to have that look in their eyes, saying “I’m over here. Please choose me”. On many occasion when I’ve been to the centres / homes I’ve come away heartbroken because I wanted to take them all home, give them lots of love, treats and cuddles.

Whatever you decide in the end, the main thing is to choose a dog suitable for you, your family and your surroundings (by that I mean, do not get a large dog if you live in a small flat, or if you are not able to sacrifice enough time to take the dog on daily walks etc).

Tags: animal rescue center, caring for a dog, centres, dogs home

Dog Food…

I felt the need to write a short article about our West Highland Terrier dog and what she has started to do with her dog food.

We always give our Westie dried Iams dog food with plenty of water nearby.

A couple of days ago I placed a cooked chicken in the fridge, and left it until lunchtime. Mitzi sat by the fridge, her nose touching the door for what seemed like hours!

Lunchtime arrived and by now Mitzi was begging, rolling over, doing all sorts of tricks, basically anything to get a little taste of this chicken. Giving in to her, I took one small slice of meat (cut into small pieces) and placed it amongst her dried food. Well I’ve never seen her go mad like this before! Her head was in her bowl immediately, hunting out these tiny bits of food. If you had never seen her before, you’d of thought she had not eaten for weeks the way she was going for it!

Luckily I had my camera nearby and managed to snap a couple of photographs of our Westie dog to show you the mess she made.

The only problem now is that whenever I place her bowl of Iams down she does the same thing, flirting dog biscuits just about everywhere whilst trying to find the invisible chicken she thinks is now always going to be in her dog bowl - bless her little Westie Socks.

Tags: Dog Food, dogs, Iams, West Highland Terriers, westies