All Bulldog owners know the importance of maintaining its good health, the benefits of doing so, and how it works as an advantage for the relationship between them. A healthy dog is a happy one, keeping it in that state will make it love you more, strengthening its bond with you. This also lessens its chances of contracting diseases, which can be minor or fatal. A healthy pooch will of course lived longer than the other pooches that are usually neglected or deprived of basic needs. Maintaining its peak condition as much as possible will grant it more years to live.
Nutrition plays a major part in a Bulldog’s health. There are many owners who feel that giving it the leftovers from meals three times a day will be enough, but it never is. Filling its stomach till it isn’t hungry anymore just doesn’t cut it. Like people, they too have daily nutritional needs which has to be complied. Instead of feeding it table scraps, you can feed it commercial dog food instead. Read the nutritional facts on it and see if it’s compatible with your dogs nutritional diet as suggested by your veterinarian. In general, feeding it three times a day is recommended, rather than giving it one mountain meal a day.
Make this a habit, and remember never to overfeed your Bulldog. Having a stuffed balloon-like dog can be very cute and works well with catching the attention of others for your own personal benefit, but it can have many bad effects on the pooch. Overfeeding can cause it to bloat, which can lead to all sorts of problems that can be fatal if left unattended. Continue Reading…
If you have dog barking problems how should you train your dog or puppy? There are a number of things to think about before you decide to get a puppy or adult dog but once you have one how do you train it correctly? Barking dogs are a common problem for owners and some neighbors!
Firstly you have to understand what sort of breed of dog you have and what it is bred for? For example a German shepherd is bred to be a guard dog so will bark as a warning of danger. If you understand why the dog is barking you have a start to solving any dog barking problems.
If you want to stop dogs from barking all together you will be unsuccessful! You should not be trying to stop dogs from barking all together. Dogs are naturally designed to bark, that is obviously how they communicate. The main problems occur when there is nuisance dog barking behavior.
You are the boss and have to make sure your dog is aware of this. This does not mean you have to use force or punishment as a form of training but you do have to be consistent. Your dog will naturally bark to warn you of any danger. This is not bad behavior. If your dog continues to bark however, this is when you have to be firm with your dog. Do not be bullied by him. A happy and well behaved dog is one which knows its place in the pack and that is naturally below you. You are the one who has to assert themselves or you will be bullied by your dog.
The secret to dog training and to alleviating dog barking problems is to be consistent as I said previously. If you have a new puppy you will be able to commence this training as soon as the puppy arrives in your home. To stop puppies barking it is important to reinforce your position as head of the pack. Praise your dog or puppy for warning you of some perceived danger but if the dog or puppy continues to bark after you have praised it then you must stop reacting to the puppy or dog and even turn your back. This may seem harsh but using your body language is part of the training you have to adopt to train your dog or puppy effectively.
Most dog barking problems are due to the owner not understanding their dog and not understanding why the dog is barking. All dogs want to please the head of their pack, that is you and you must understand your dog. Only consistent training will achieve this.
To stop puppy biting there are numerous do’s and don’t you want to be aware of. Puppy’s bite for various reasons and despite these reasons there are common things that should never be done, as well as things that should be done to assist in the process of inhibiting your puppy’s biting. First and foremost NEVER under any circumstance use physical force as a form of corrective action. This type of negative reinforcement is not only unnecessary but will in most cases encourage the very behaviour you are trying to stop. As your dog wants to please you, the most effective method of showing your displeasure is the cold shoulder treatment. If the nipping continues after this you may need to move on to the time out method, this involves the use of the puppy’s crate as a way to isolate them for 5 minutes or so. When you bring puppy back out to play, remember
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Everyone has heard that dogs shouldn’t eat chocolate but has anyone heard of onion toxicity?
There are a number of foods that can create serious health problems for your dog and unfortunately not many people of aware of this. These foods include cooked as well as uncooked chocolate, onions, bones, mushroom, macadamia nuts, garlic, avocados, grapes, raisins, and all spicy or greasy foods.
Most pet owners have, at one time or another, fed their dog foods containing onion such as pizza, hamburger, general table scraps or gravy. A small amount is not likely to cause a problem since onion toxicity depends on the quantity of onion ingested. However, onions in any form including cooked, raw, dehydrated or powdered can create a serious life-threatening form of hemolytic anemia in dogs.
All red blood cells carry a protein called hemoglobin which delivers oxygen to our tissues and organs and our dog’s tissue and organs. Onions contain a substance called thiosulphate which dogs and cats are unable to digest. Garlic also contains thiosulphate but in much lesser amounts. Thiosulphate causes oxidation of hemoglobin in your dog’s red blood cells, which then forms lumps and weakens the cell membranes. These lumps, called Heinz bodies, protrude from the cells and eventually cause the cell to rupture and die. When enough red cells are destroyed the body becomes starved for oxygen and goes into a state of anemia. Continue Reading…
If you have a new puppy you will want to make sure you use a housetraining technique that will work for both you and your puppy. There are a number of different ways to house train a puppy but once you have chosen one particular technique do not stray and mix it with alternative techniques as this will be confusing for your puppy and for you.
Paper Training Puppies
This is one of the most effective methods for housebreaking a puppy. Paper training your puppy is a very simple concept. This way of training your puppy is perhaps not as quick for your puppy to master as other techniques but it is effective if you are consistent. As with all dog training consistency and firmness is much more effective and you and your puppy will be much happier. He will be better behaved as an adult dog if he is sure of his place in the pack. You are the pack leader and must ensure your puppy understands this. That is not to say that you use any form of chastisement on your puppy. Positive reinforcement is always more effective for a puppy than smacking or shouting at him. He will only see that he is getting your attention not that you are displeased with his behavior. So start as you mean to go on and provide firm boundaries for him.
The effective puppy paper training technique basically involves putting down newspaper for your puppy to pee/poop on and you clean it up. Choose an area, perhaps in your kitchen where you can place a few large sheets of newspaper on the floor. Try to keep the same place for the next few days so that your puppy associates this area as his place to pee/poop. This may take a few days if not a few weeks for your puppy to master. Once your puppy has the idea to use only the paper you can reduce the amount of paper you put down until eventually you move the piece of paper outside to where you want your puppy to pee and poop. You may find some regression however! You may think your puppy has the idea and is now housetrained; however, he may again soil somewhere you do not want him to. If this happens do not chastise him or he will just get the idea that peeing and pooping is wrong all together which will cause both you and him much distress later on in life. If he does soil somewhere just revert to placing the paper again in the area you first chose.
Positive re-enforcement
When your puppy uses the paper to soil on praise him and show him you are pleased. Try not to give treats at this point or you may find he gets the idea if he just squats down he will get a tasty treat! Make sure you always reinforce his good behavior but avoid shouting or smacking if he soils somewhere you are not happy for him to. Remember, it is your fault if your puppy or dog soils somewhere you do not want him to. It is you that has to train your dog. Go back to training him and both you and he will be much happier.
