Dog Guidance Blog

1. Lessens male aggressive and territorial behaviors, but doesn’t affect the dog’s personality.  Behaviors are often owner-induced, so neutering is not the only answer, but it is a good start.

2. Prevents the need to roam in search of females in season.

3. Decreased incidences of urogenital diseases. 

This means of controlling breeding stock (neutering) improves the chances that knowledgeable breeding will take place, with dogs that will carry the breed forward because of their positive traits and absence of undesirable ones. 

A matter of recent public controversy revolves around the contention that purebred-dog genetic factors carry a certain number of physiological flaws and susceptibility to certain diseases.  The flames of controversy are fanned by people who ignore the fact that non-purebred animals suffer from the same kinds of conditions, and that there is less attention paid to identifying illnesses and infirmities in non-purebreds and almost none to eliminating them.

With so many different kinds of dog shampoos on the market today, it is not easy to decide which one to use.  For most breeds, a basic, all-purpose shampoo is fine.  But if you want your shampoo to do more than clean, you might consider a specialty shampoo.

Shampoos designed to deliver extra conditioning to long or curly coats can make post-bath grooming even easier.

Accentuate your dog’s coat color by choosing a shampoo made for white, black, or red coats.

For sensitive eyes, consider a tearless shampoo.

For wire-coated dogs, look for a shampoo designed to preserve the crisp texture of your dog’s coat.

Many dogs have sensitive skin or eyes.  A hypoallergenic shampoo can minimize sensitivity reactions to bathing.

If your dog already has a rash, allergies, itching, or other sensitive skin conditions, look for a medicated shampoo designed to treat your dog’s problem. Your vet should be able to recommend a good medicated shampoo for your dog.

For flea season, consider a shampoo containing a gentle anti-flea ingredient such as pyrethrin or limonene, or any of several natural botanicals designed to repel fleas, such as neem oil.

Routine grooming serves three major purposes:  First, it keeps your dog’s skin, coat, teeth, gums, and nails in a healthy state.  Second, it helps you detect any signs or symptoms of problems or abnormalities.  Third, grooming allows you to spend quality time with your pet which helps create a special bond between you and your dog.  It is therefore important to establish a daily or weekly grooming ritual that both you and your dog can enjoy.  If your dog refuses to be groomed, command him to sit and stay. In addition, grooming should always involve a reward for your dog.

Below are 3 simple steps to properly clean your dog’s face:

1. Gently wash the skin around the eyes using a fresh piece of moistened cotton for each one.  If you notice any discharge or inflammation, contact a vet for advice.

2. Hold open the ear with one hand and gently clean inside the flap with a small piece of moistened cotton. Use a fresh piece for each ear. Do not probe too deeply into the ear canal.

3. Loose facial skin must be cleaned regularly with damp cotton. This prevents dirt, dead skin, and bacteria from collecting in the folds and causing irritation and infection.

Pheromones are chemical substances secreted by an animal that influence the behavior of other animals of the same species.  Unlike other hormones, pheromones are secreted externally and influence other animals, typically by smell.  In this case, pheromones may play a very important role in animal behavior.  In dogs, pheromones probably influence group integration and are a factor in fighting and general aggressiveness.  Some theorys suggest that dogs release pheromones in urine and feces, and perhaps through exhaled breath, subcutaneous glands at the base of the tail and the foot pads.  This would tend to explain why aggressive, fighting dogs are often compulsive urine sniffers and urine markers, and why they become less aggressive when sniffing and urine marking are not allowed by their owners. 

Pheromones may act as a trigger or primer for certain types of behavior.  This case is typical of many wherein a dog appears to sense, by smell, another dog that may be perceived as a threat.  Also typical among some vicious biting dogs is the need to brand a strange territory with their own pheromones before launching an attack.  Some take place even when the biting dogs were on their home territory.  Remedial programs include restricting urination of the problem dog to a single area of his own yard.  This tends to lower the aggressiveness, as well as reduce the incidence of household urination.

Chances are that you have noticed lately that your dog’s new favorite hobby is scratching himself in at least three places at once.  When you part his coat to examine what is causing the itch and excessive scratching, you notice tiny white dust-like particles that are attached to the hair shafts.  What are these tiny particles and why are they causing your dog to itch?

Your dog is suffering from lice infestation.  Dog lice are six legged parasites that feed either on your dog’s flesh or their blood, triggering intense itchy reactions.  The tiny white particles that are attached to his hair are lice eggs or nits.  Although dogs rarely get lice and it is actually more common for people to get human lice, dog lice is still out there and our dogs are not immune to them.

One tiny louse cannot kill your dog, but once that tiny louse decides to invite all his louse friends to live off of your dog, then your pet could literally be eaten alive.  If your dog is suffering from a severe case of lice, he could lose about one quarter of his blood volume within months, causing severe anemia or shock.

There is now an opportunity for visitors of the site to get a recipe for their dog emailed to them weekly. What a great way to give your dog some variety in its diet. Currently, all you have to do is subscribe in the appropiate place near the bottom of the Dog Guidance Home page. Over the next week or so, there should be other places within the Dog Guidance site where you will be able to subscibe. Subscription is free, no emails are given to any 3rd party and anyone can unsubscribe at any stage.

A vital part of good prevention is to know the common types of illnesses and disorders associated with particular dog breeds.  For dogs, the parts of their body that are most frequently affected by congenital problems are the central nervous system, the eyes, the muscles, and the bones.  For instance, the Beagle, Collie, miniature Poodle, German Shepherd, and Keeshond are more likely to inherit epilepsy. 

Also, different types of nervous system disorders are often passed on within certain breeds.  Examples are paralysis of the front and back legs, which is common in the Irish Setter, a failure of muscle coordination common in Fox Terrier, and abnormal swelling of the brain is common in the Chihuahua, English Bulldog, and Cocker Spaniel.

A great number of common breeds suffer from congenital eye abnormalities including glaucoma, cataracts, and blindness.

An hernia is a common muscular problem for many breeds.  Breeds such as Basenji, Basset Hound, Pekingese, Lhasa Apso, and Cairn Terrier have a high risk for inguinal hernias (gut protrudes into the groin).  Umbilical hernias (gut protrudes through the navel) are inherited defects in breeds like Bull Terrier, Cocker Spaniel, Pekingese, Basenji, Collie, Weimaraner, Airedale Terrier, and Pointer.

Evaluating your dog’s food is a simple and straightforward procedure of comparing certain characteristics of one food with those of other types of foods that are available to feed your dog.  Regardless of whatever procedure you learn and use in order to effectively evaluate your dog’s needs should have enough built-in flexibility that innovative dog feeders can adapt it to best fit your own situation and further reduce their margin of error.

When making an evaluation, the four characteristics of satisfactory dog food, discussed below, should be used as the minimum standards that any food must meet. These four basic standards are:

1) Food should contain sufficient energy for daily activity.

2) A food should contain adequate nutrients, in proper relationship to each other.

3) Food should contain ingredients that are usable by a dog.

4) Food should be acceptable in a sufficient quantity to fully supply items 1 and items 2 above.