Dog Boarding Tips

November 11, 2007 at 2:07 pm · Filed under Dog's Health, Dog Tips, Dog Care

I’ve been to a few pet shop and animal clinics here in Malaysia recently. I noticed that they do provide boarding services to pets. It’s unavoidable that sometimes we need to be away from home and no one is there for our pets. So, learning and checking out on boarding service is one of the important topic to learn for all dog owners.

Here are some tips on boarding your pets:

1. Start boarding your pets at kennel at early stage. They will have difficulty adjusting to kennel when they get older.

2. Do some research, check out different kennel and compare the price and environment before boarding your pets.

3. Check and ask who will be the one taking care of the pets. Talk to them and see whether do they give you a warm and fuzzy feeling and show knowledge and care for the pets.

4. Always leash your dog when check-in.

5. Make sure the kennel condition is good. The place must looks and smell clean indoor and outdoor. Check whether there is enough light and ventilation and if the temperature is comfortable.

6. Check with the kennel what are the necessary things to bring, for example treats, toys and food.

7. When check-in, bring together most recent vaccination certificate.

8. Provide the kennel staff as much information about your pet along with past health problem or any medication your pet might be on.

9. When check in time, try not to make your pet feel like he’s being left behind. Try not to have tears and guilty feeling as dogs can sense our feeling. Just to reassure him/her that everything is going to be all right.

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Dog Grooming : Dog Ear Cleaning Tips

November 2, 2007 at 3:26 pm · Filed under Dog Care, Dog Grooming

Dog Grooming Pet Grooming: Dog Ear Cleaning Tips To Keep Your Dog Healthy

Regular ear check-ups and cleaning contributes to healthy ears, free of painful infections. We as owner are responsible to do regular ear health check-up for our dogs at home. If you are sending your pet to a groomer, ear inspection is one of the important area to care for. Did you notice that your dogs have hair growing inside the ear canal? Sometimes it can be quite smelly if not clean properly.

Basic Ear Cleaning Steps

1. Get ready the cleaning tools. Lift and expose the dog’s ear flap, using your thumb and index finger, remove hair as needed around the external ear opening.(Tips: Pull in the direction of hair growth and only small amounts of hair at one time. You can spray a light amount of medicated ear powder in ears and make the hair easier to pull)

2. If there is hair in the ear canal it should be removed when there are no signs of ear health problems. However, NEVER clean or remove hair more than one-half inch down into the ear opening, that area further down in the ear canal is best left to veterinary care.3. Using hemostats , carefully grasp small amounts of pet hair and pull outward toward you. Be very careful of their sensitive ears. Never probe further down than one-half inch into the ear canal opening. You must be extreme caution in order not to disturb or damage the ear drum. Clean the hemostats after drawing out hair and wax, and continue removing hair until done.4. Although you do not clean ears more than one-half inch into the ear canal, observe the condition of the pet’s ear beyond the cleaning limit and report any potential problems. You may see foreign matter, a discharge, heavy wax buildup or even a melanoma (tumor). Record your suspect observations so that you may accurately report them to the Vet.

5. Look for additional ear wax and matter to clean from the ear. Moisten cotton ball very lightly (absolutely no dripping) with a small amount of commercial ear cleaning solution, and swab and clean the ear canal area outward to the ear flap. Repeat as needed. This procedure may soothe irritated skin from the hair removal process depending upon the ear cleaning solution you use. Ensure you have removed all ear powder from ears.

6. Finally, it’s wise to sterilize tools and properly dispose of ear wastes and soiled cotton.Do not over clean your dog’s ear. If you over clean the ears, the result will be redness, or the dog may start scratching ears where it wasn’t before. Ears should be cleaned of matter as noted above, and reasonably freed of pet hair too. However, if you see the dog’s skin becoming irritated by the pulling, remove a reasonable amount of hair only and soothe pet’s ear with the lightly moistened cotton swab mentioned above.

As you clean ears you may uncover conditions that were previously not observed during the ear inspection procedure. You may discover a Hematomas, the swelling of the ear flap due to blood going into the tissue or serum under the skin, or foreign matter or swelling, etc. Discontinue further cleaning when you uncover any serious ear problem, and inform the pet owner that veterinary inspection is in order.

Water and excess ear cleaning solution must never get in pet ears. Do not use water in the cleaning process. Do not syringe pet ears; it is a veterinary procedure only. If you are uncertain how to proceed, don’t. Seek professional veterinary care. It is best to advise the pet owner to seek veterinary attention rather than your aggravating a condition. When you bathe any dog you should also place cotton in their ears to prevent water from entering the ear canal, and the ear area (especially on those dogs with ear flaps) must be completely dry so as not to provide a damp environment favored by bacteria and fungus.

Hope you’ve found this dog grooming tip useful !

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Top 10 reasons dogs are dumped at shelters and what you can do…….

October 22, 2007 at 1:19 pm · Filed under Dog News, Dog Care

Today I want to talk a little about dogs in shelter. In hope that more people like you and me, or people from the shelter can benefit from it, at the same time safe a dog’s life.

Do you know that, approximately every 9 second, a dog is killed? There has been too many abandoned dogs each day. Shelter has been set up to rescue those dogs, but the number has been increase each day, and there is not enough space to accommodate every dogs. We can do our part to either educate more people about the fate of an abandoned dog, make a donation, or help to adopt a dog from shelter instead of buying from a pet shop. If you are dog lover, forward this to other dog lovers who care and help more dogs in the shelter.

I came across this website DogsInDanger.com and learn that they are actually a nonprofit national shelter who are trying to help shelters save the lives of millions of innocent dogs.

How Does This Work?

Most shelters don’t have big advertising budgets to advertise their dogs. DogsInDanger is run by a group of dedicated animal loving folks who want to help do what they can to save urgent dogs in shelters by gaining them invaluable adoption exposure.

And, it is FREE. There is no charge for shelters to list their dogs with us, and no charge for adopters to search the site for dogs in need.

Why your shelter should join DogsInDanger

DogsInDanger can give you as much help as possible without creating more work for your already overburdened shelter staff. They have made everything easy, including the registration and update process. In fact, no special computer knowledge is needed - anyone on your staff can keep the list current.

After registering, your shelter will have access to an Internet page where you can list dogs in your shelter facing euthanasia. Keeping the page current is simple, when you save the list and upload photos, the changes take effect on their site immediately.

They also help do marketing campaign targeting potential adopters and driving traffic to the site to see your listed dogs.

Top 10 reasons dogs are dumped at shelters

1. Moving
2. Landlord not allowing pet
3. Too many animals in household
4. Cost of pet maintenance
5. Owner having personal problems
6. Inadequate facilities
7. No homes available for litter mates
8. Having no time for pet
9. Pet illness
10. Biting

Adopt a Dog If You Can
And tell your friends to adopt dogs instead of buying them. Adopting dogs rather than buying them will save thousands of dogs from being euthanized in shelters every day. A dog is killed approximately every 9 seconds.

Spay or Neuter Your Dog
Spaying your dog prevents more homeless dogs.

Teach Your Children to Value Dog’s Lives
Learning to value life begins at an early age. Studies have shown that teaching children how to stop the neglect and abuse of animals through early humane education stays with them into adulthood.

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Can you feed your dog with bones?

September 18, 2007 at 4:21 pm · Filed under Dog's Health, Dog Care

I have been trying to find out the answer for this.

Some people said that bones are natural, contains protein and minerals which are good for the health of dog, and the chewing of bone can help to clean the dog’s teeth and more benefits.

However, we also worry that the bones may splinter and hurt the throat and digestion system of a dog.

In the wild, wolf and wild dogs used to eat raw meat with bones. We might thought that our dog should be feed with bones as well.

One thing we need to understand is that, the pet we keep at home is a domesticated dog. They don’t necessary to be feed like wild dogs.

Wild Dogs/Coyote:

They need the nutrition from the meat with bones because they live in the wild and do not have dog food.

They may have less risk of bones damage their intestinal tract because wild dogs/wolf will eat the whole animal including the fur, meat and other organs. The digestive tract wraps the bone fragments in hair thus providing some protection.

If you feel that you like to feed your dog with bones, maybe you need to study more about a few things. The decision of which bones are safe depends on the dog’s chewing behavior and the type of bone. In common, dog’s chewing behavior can range between “chewer” and “gulper”.

The dogs that are chewer, will patiently grind a bone to very small whereas for gulpers, they just swallow a big chunks of bones which is quiet dangerous .

Some disadvantage of dog eating bones:

1. Bones may choke dogs like splinter and hurt the digestion tract.

2. Too much protein, calcium or phosphorous that might cause a nutritional imbalance in dog’s diet.

3. It may fracture the dog’s teeth.

If you are worry that your dog is not getting enough nutrition, read the dog food label and consult your vet on which dog food is best for the growth of your dog. Some good choices of dog food I have tried out, you may want to visit their website. Or you can get recipe to make dog bones.

If you want to fulfill your dog’s “desire to chew”, consider the large selection of dog chewing toys here. You can find really nice and effective toy for your dog. From rawhide bones, hard rubber bones, rope toys and string toys, they are all preferable to real bones.

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Choosing A Healthy Puppy

August 18, 2007 at 9:40 am · Filed under Dog Tips, Dog Care

Since I’ve moved to my new house, I’m considering to have my own puppy now. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a very long time.

When I was younger, my family owned a coffee shop business and we stayed upstairs of the shop house. I wanted to have a dog but my mom said it’s not appropriate as we are doing food business and she worried that some customer may not like it.

Then after many years…, the business got closed down, and we moved to a residential house, and I thought, yes, now we can have our own dog! Who knows, my brother got married, and my sister-in-law is an anti-dog person. She doesn’t like furry animal, that includes cat, dog, hamster, etc.

Then, my last hope was to get a dog in my own house, now, finally it happens….

You might want to learn some tips on which puppy to choose from. Take note on a few things.

• Eyes: They should be bright and clear with no weepy discharge from the corners
• Ears: Floppy-eared puppies should still have very clean, shiny inner ear areas. There should be no excess wax or black material in the ear.
• Nose: Ideally, it should be cool and wet to the touch. If the pup has just gotten up from a nap, his nose may be dry. If you notice no other signs of illness but the dry nose and he interacts well with you, you’re probably safe.
• Coat: His fur should be silky, shiny, and well-maintained. No puppy available from a breeder should have a matted or tangled coat – this would indicate lack of proper care on the breeder’s behalf and you should be very cautious.
• Skin: Should be clean - no sores, dandruff, or parasites.
• Check for hernias - the pup should have no odd lumps or bumps in the abdominal area.
• The bottom should be clean with no sign of diarrhea or discharge from the genitalia.

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Can our dog understand how we feel?

July 19, 2007 at 11:29 am · Filed under Dog Care

At certain age, at certain time, or at certain point of our life, we may experience lonely, lost, despair and helpless. Have you ever feel like that? I do…., sometimes I feel like talking to someone, but very contradicting, I just can’t tell why and how do I feel inside, and don’t feel like mention it at all. Many times, I keep most of my feeling inside. My emotion, my thinking, my sadness. All I drink it like a big glass of water…… “ghrrrp”. First, I have this ego problem, I can’t tell or show how weak I am as myself. Second, I don’t want to make anyone worry for me……

Perhaps my best companion would be a dog. Even though I do not have a dog at this moment, but from experience, and from what I learn from other friends, dogs can sense how we feel. Verbal communication with another human, a friend, sometime does not work better than sharing my feeling with a dog. They give you that kind of look, so warm and loving.

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Is it possible to train an adult dog?

July 18, 2007 at 10:22 am · Filed under Dog Tips, Dog Care, Dog Training

Well…, the answer is yes and no, and it very much depends on individual dog actually. Most people believed that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. It is partly true because, dog are quite like people, and by the time they are grown, they are much more “set” in their ways.

However it is not impossible to train an old dog, but the method might be different from training a puppy. Below are a few Tips, Do’s and Don’ts for training an adult or old dog.

1. You got to be a lot more firm and stricter towards adult dog compare to puppy.

2. You got to understand the background of the dog. Like how he had been trained before, it would be of great advantage if you can find out from previous owner or the place you adopted him.

3. House-train your dog on the first day he arrive. Show him the bathroom and place to eliminate. Praise him if he eliminate at the right spot.

4. Train by tricks - this means make your dog believe that whatever he does, is his idea. For example, if he sit down, quickly you call out “sit”, repeated that a few times and he will eventually familiarize “sit” as a command for him to sit down. You may want to try come, stay, fetch, etc.

5. Keep training session short, like 3-5 minutes is good enough.

6. Remember, reward is very important. Every right deed needs a treat from you.

7. Be consistent with your training method and stay positive always.

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What Human Food I Can Feed My Dog?

July 16, 2007 at 1:15 pm · Filed under Dog Tips, Dog Care

What “Human” Food Are Ok For my Dog?

Previously I post about food that are poison to dogs. Today, i’m going to share a bit on what human food are ok to feed to dogs. Some of the food we eat, are good for dogs. Of course, there are many packet and canned pet food in the market, they are claimed to be included all the necessary nutrition that are needed by a dog.

But if you think of having some variety for your dog’s diet, you can try some of the food listed here. However, the food here do not refer to the scrap food or leftover from your table.

This is just a small list of examples of foods dogs can eat Dogs won’t necessarily get all the nutrients they need if they eat these foods exclusively, so check with your veterinarian if you are interested in feeding your dog a home cooked diet.

Any food that causes stomach upsets or digestive problems in your dogs should be avoided. Like people, some dogs cannot tolerate certain foods even if they are considered “safe”.

**Meats, Chicken or turkey breast, boneless fish, beef Liver, chicken livers

The meat should be boneless and with skin removed

**Vegetables like carrots, green beans, lettuce, capsicum

It is advisable that the vegetables to be put through food processor before giving to the dog for better digestion cause their digesting system is different from human.

**Grains like rice, bread and oats safe to be taken in small amount.

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Rescue a pet while you shop!

July 13, 2007 at 10:41 am · Filed under Dog Tips, Dog Care, Introduction

Isn’t it good that while you buy something for your pet, at the same time, you are helping one of the Pet Rescue Team in their funds? As you know, most Pet Rescue Team are running by volunteers, and they are non-profit organization, and they need lots of support and charity from the public to make sure the organization is running as it was suppose to be. Each year, they rescue lots of homeless and abandoned dogs and provide them with proper shelter.

I found out this store recently and feel like to share to the world. Kind of happy that there is such store to help in the charity work.

How it works?

When you purchase something from Rescue Pet Store, a portion of your order (10%), goes to the animal rescue group of your choice. You can find out more in their website.

What do they sell?

The store is quite comprehensive with pet supply, ranging from Dog’s Bed and House, Dog’s Bowl, Shampoos, Toys, Flea & Ticks, to Vitamins and Supplements and many more.

Something to share - Fate Of A Dog

I thought of sharing this for quite sometime, maybe now is the time to let more people know about their responsibility and the fate of a dog.

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Dog Owner Must Learn Topic- “Food That Are Toxic To Your Dog”

July 12, 2007 at 2:29 pm · Filed under Dog Tips, Dog Care

Food that we eat, might not be 100% safe for dogs, some food might even be poisonous to them even in very small amounts. This is due to their body metabolism is different from us or other animals. Food that are listed below should not be given to them. It should be stored out of their reach. Extra care need to be taken care of while you try to prepare food for your pooch.

1. Chocolate and caffeine - this include coffee and tea.

2. Alcohol

3. Baby food

4. Bones from fish, chicken, etc (cause obstruction on the digestive system).

5. Citrus Oil Extracts - which may found in insecticidal sprays, insect repellent, fragrant and shampoo.

6. Grapes, raisins

7. Onions and mushrooms

8. Raw fish (especially Salmon), raw egg

9. Tomatoes, Avacados, Apple, Cherries, Peaches, Macademia Nuts and Nutmeg

10. Large quantity of Salt and Sugar

So be smart and make sure no accidents happen!

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