How to Trim a Dog’s Nails

Nail trimming among dogs are very important because it brings comfort to your beloved pet. Nail trimming also reduce potential pet injuries and damage to your home. Ideally, your dog’s nails should be clipped at least once a month. They say that this is the hardest task the pet owner will do. For many pet owners, lax nail care results from fear of hurting their pet during trimming. Clipping your dog’s nails might be easier than you think, just keep these few easy tips in mind.

• First you need to have the proper equipment in trimming your dog’s nail. It is important to have a special nail clipper just for the dog. You can ask your vet an advice about what types of nail trimmers are best for your dog. Also make sure that the clippers are sharp.

• The mood also matters, it is better to start trimming your dog’s nail when your dog is in the mood. It’s very important that your dog associates the nail clipping with a pleasurable experience.

• After setting all things you can start the actual clipping. Start by asking for your dog’s paw a few times. Praise and treat her. Then take out the clippers and cut the tip of one nail at a 90 degree angle. When you start to see pale pink tissue near the top of the cut edge, stop. You can use a nail file to smooth the edges further. If the tip of the nail begins to bleed, apply pressure using styptic powder or a substitute such as baby powder or cotton. Avoid wiping the blood clot off the tip of the nail once the bleeding has stopped.

• If your dog gives positive reaction give him a treat and praise him a lot. If your dog gives negative reaction put away the clipper and start again when your dog calm down.

How to Prepare Your Dog before Visiting a Dog Park?

If you are fortunate to live near the dog park and you have a dog, it is a best place for both of you to take healthy exercise and socialization. You can bring your dog at the dog park every weekend and let him play with other dogs. But before going to the park you should be prepared to make your visits safe and fun. First, know the rules of the park and follow guidance on how to use the park. Your dogs must be properly inoculated. He is license, wearing a dog collar with ID and rabies tags, and free of viral infections. Your dogs must be leashed until they are inside the fenced, off leash area.

You should recognize risks associated with interactions with other dogs and take protection to minimize these risks. The common risk is the spread of infectious disease. To avoid this kind of risk make sure all your dog vaccinations are up to date.

At Dog Park dog fight can’t be avoided and it happens sometime. To lessen this situation you need to train your dog well. Make sure your dog always comes when called and is well-behaved when interacting with other dogs, new people, and children.

When playing in the hot sun, your dog may not notice that it is getting overheated. Make sure your dog takes breaks in the shade, gets plenty of water, and does not play for long periods in the hot mid-day sun. Remember these tips when you go to a dog park for you to have a happy visit.

Canine Diabetes

Like humans, dogs can acquire diabetes too. Dogs with diabetes need utmost care and support because it is a life-threatening disease that every pet owner should be very concerned about.

Diabetes mellitus is a disease in which the beta cells of the endocrine pancreas either stop producing insulin or can no longer produce it in enough quantity for the body's needs. The body's energy "fuel" is glucose; without insulin, cells are not able to use the glucose for its intended purpose, so glucose begins building up in the blood where it can be seen as hyperglycemia or high blood glucose levels. This most common form of diabetes (There is another form not covered here, Diabetes insipidus.) strikes 1 in 500 dogs. The condition is treatable, and need not shorten the animal's life span or interfere with quality of life. If left untreated, the condition can lead to cataracts, increasing weakness in the legs (neuropathy), malnutrition, ketoacidosis and/or dehydration, and death. Diabetes mainly affects middle-aged and older dogs, but there have also been juvenile cases. The typical canine diabetes patient is middle-aged, female and overweight at diagnosis.

There are two types of diabetes, and dogs may acquire either of these types if they’re not cared for properly. The two types are diabetes insipidus and diabetes mellitus. Diabetes is an endocrine disease that is brought about by the malfunction of the endocrine glands.

Diabetes insipidus is characterized by the lack of vasopressin. Vasopressin is an anti-diuretic hormone whose job is to control the kidney’s absorption of water.

Diabetes mellitus is characterized by insulin deficiency. It is a condition where the dog’s body can’t metabolize sugar well. This is the more common and more dangerous type of diabetes that dogs can possibly acquire.

Generally there's a gradual onset of the disease over a few weeks, and it may escape notice for a while. The main symptoms are:

* excessive water consumption-- Polydipsia
* frequent and/or excessive urination-- Polyuria --possible house "accidents"
* greater than average appetite-- Polyphagia --with either weight loss or maintenance of current weight
* cloudy eyes-- Cataracts

Early diagnosis and interventive treatment can mean reduced incidence of complications such as cataracts and neuropathy. Since dogs are insulin-dependent, oral drugs are not effective for them,[9][15][16] and must instead be placed on insulin replacement therapy. Approved oral diabetes drugs can be helpful to sufferers of Type 2 diabetes because they work in one of three ways-by inducing the pancreas to produce more insulin, to allow the bodies to more effectively utilize the insulin it produces, or by slowing the glucose absorption rate from the GI tract. Unapproved and so-called "natural" remedies make similar claims for their products. All of this is based on the premise of having an endocrine pancreas which has beta cells capable of producing insulin. Those with type 1, or insulin-dependent diabetes, have beta cells which are permanently damaged, thus unable to produce insulin. This is the form diabetes takes in dogs-insulin-dependency-and the reason why nothing except using insulin by injections, insulin pump, or islet transplants can be considered real and effective treatment.

The most common form of this treatment is an intermediate-acting basal insulin (NPH/isophane, Caninsulin/Vetsulin), with a regimen of food and insulin every 12 hours, insulin following the meal. With Lantus (insulin glargine) being unreliable in dogs, it is rarely used to treat canine diabetes. Most dogs don't require basal/bolus insulin injections.

The management of dog diabetes starts with a proper diet. There are foods that your dog should eat in order to help this condition. On the other hand, there are certain foods that can possibly make your dog's diabetes become worse. When your dog is suffering from diabetes, regular visits to the vet are essential. You may also be required to start using prepared meals instead of giving your dog its regular food.

Which Foods Could be Dangerous for My Dog?

Some foods which are edible for humans, and even other species of animals, can pose hazards for dogs because of their different metabolism. Some may cause only mild digestive upsets, whereas, others can cause severe illness, and even death. The following common food items should not be fed (intentionally or unintentionally) to dogs. This list is, of course, incomplete because we can not possibly list everything your dog should not eat.

Items to avoid	Reasons to avoid
Alcoholic beverages	Can cause intoxication, coma, and death.
Baby food	Can contain onion powder, which can be toxic to dogs. (Please see onion below.) Can also result in nutritional deficiencies, if fed in large amounts.
Bones from fish, poultry, or other meat sources	Can cause obstruction or laceration of the digestive system.
Cat food	Generally too high in protein and fats.
Chocolate, coffee, tea, and other caffeine	Contain caffeine, theobromine, or theophylline, which can be toxic and affect the heart and nervous systems.
Citrus oil extracts	Can cause vomiting.
Fat trimmings	Can cause pancreatitis.
Grapes and raisins	Contain an unknown toxin, which can damage the kidneys. There have been no problems associated with grape seed extract.
Hops	Unknown compound causes panting, increased heart rate, elevated temperature, seizures, and death.
Human vitamin supplements containing iron	Can damage the lining of the digestive system and be toxic to the other organs including the liver and kidneys.
Large amounts of liver	Can cause Vitamin A toxicity, which affects muscles and bones.
Macadamia nuts	Contain an unknown toxin, which can affect the digestive and nervous systems and muscle.
Marijuana	Can depress the nervous system, cause vomiting, and changes in the heart rate.
Milk and other dairy products	Some adult dogs and cats do not have sufficient amounts of the enzyme lactase, which breaks down the lactose in milk. This can result in diarrhea. Lactose-free milk products are available for pets.
Moldy or spoiled food, garbage	Can contain multiple toxins causing vomiting and diarrhea and can also affect other organs.
Mushrooms	Can contain toxins, which may affect multiple systems in the body, cause shock, and result in death.
Onions and garlic (raw, cooked, or powder)	Contain sulfoxides and disulfides, which can damage red blood cells and cause anemia. Cats are more susceptible than dogs. Garlic is less toxic than onions.
Persimmons	Seeds can cause intestinal obstruction and enteritis.
Pits from peaches and plums	Can cause obstruction of the digestive tract.
Potato, rhubarb, and tomato leaves; potato and tomato stems	Contain oxalates, which can affect the digestive, nervous, and urinary systems. This is more of a problem in livestock.
Raw eggs	Contain an enzyme called avidin, which decreases the absorption of biotin (a B vitamin). This can lead to skin and hair coat problems. Raw eggs may also contain Salmonella.
Raw fish	Can result in a thiamine (a B vitamin) deficiency leading to loss of appetite, seizures, and in severe cases, death. More common if raw fish is fed regularly.
Salt	If eaten in large quantities it may lead to electrolyte imbalances.
String	Can become trapped in the digestive system; called a "string foreign body."
Sugary foods	Can lead to obesity, dental problems, and possibly diabetes mellitus.
Table scraps (in large amounts)	Table scraps are not nutritionally balanced. They should never be more than 10% of the diet. Fat should be trimmed from meat; bones should not be fed.
Tobacco	Contains nicotine, which affects the digestive and nervous systems. Can result in rapid heart beat, collapse, coma, and death.
Yeast dough	Can expand and produce gas in the digestive system, causing pain and possible rupture of the stomach or intestines.
Xylitol (artificial sweetener)	Can cause liver failure.

Source: http://www.peteducation.com/