Happy New Year
We all seem to make New Years Resolutions for ourselves. We make promises to eat healthier, exercise more, loose weight but how about doing all of that with your best buddy who may well need to eat healthier, exercise more and loose weight as well. What a perfect commitment for you and your dog. It is a fact that a leaner dog will live longer, have less health issues and will have more energy far into their older years. I suspect that applies to each one of us as well.
Walk twice per day first thing in the morning, an afternoon play that stimulates their brain and a walk in the evening. Feed your dog premium dry dog food, raw meaty bones as treats to assist in clean teeth and help satisfy their need to chew. Find some time in the evening to give your dog a body massage. It will lower your blood pressure from your work day and your buddy will love the physical affection.
.. Play hide-go-seek ..
When you are out of sight of your dog, call them to you. You can either use your normal "recall" command or just their name. Be very excited when they arrive. Start making it more difficult by "hiding" behind doors, couches, etc. If the don't find you at first, call them again. If your dog is very good at "stay" you can use this to keep them in place while you hide. Some dogs will use their noses for this task, others will just look, most of them will learn a faster recall. This is a great game for kids to play with dogs, as long as the kids don't encourage the dog to chase them. This is fun for the whole family while out on your walks! It will task your dogs mind and be loads of fun.
January 2010 Newsletter
Winter is a time to get outside, enjoy the crisp air and be invigorated by the cold. But, even though they sport an insulating fur coat, dogs can run into trouble in frosty temperatures.
... Winter Hazards ...
Hypothermia occurs when the body’s warming mechanisms can’t keep up to its loss of heat, and core body temperature falls below normal. Small dogs are at the greatest risk for hypothermia because compared to larger dogs, they have a greater surface area based on body weight.
Dogs can acclimatize to low temperatures by growing thicker coats and burning calories faster, but even these dogs can succumb to hypothermia if temperatures drop low enough or wind speed increases (boosting wind chill). A dog’s first response to a drop in body temperature is to generate heat by shivering. To preserve heat, blood flow is routed away from the extremities to the internal organs.
In extreme cold conditions, these temperature-maintaining mechanisms fail. Shivering stops, blood vessels dilate, and body temperature plummets. Pulse rate and blood pressure drop and breathing becomes slow and shallow. The dog eventually becomes unresponsive, lapses into unconsciousness and, in time, dies. The best way to tell if a dog is hypothermic is to take his temperature. If you don’t have a thermometer, put your hand deep in his groin. A dog’s body is normally warmer than yours, so if he feels cold, he’s hypothermic. You can also look for shallow breathing and mental dullness.
How low the temperature is – the degree of hypothermia – determines what treatment is needed. If a dog is mildly hypothermic, passive re-warming is adequate. Simply move him out of the cold and wrap him in a thermal blanket.
Active re-warming is required for more severe hypothermia – heating pads or radiant heat applied to his trunk is the best way. Avoid burning the skin by placing a protective layer between the dog and the heat source.
Snowballs and Frostbite is another condition that’s caused by cold exposure. The extremities – paws, ears, tail and genitals – freeze. Going for a walk on a cold, windy day is enough to freeze the tips of the ears.
Frozen tissue has no blood supply, so it is pale, bluish, and feels cold to the touch. If you have identified what you think is frostbitten tissue, do not rub it or submerse it in warm water. This accelerates cell death and worsens the damage. Frozen tissue must be gently and slowly re-warmed using passive methods. Blood supply sometimes returns and frostbitten tissue regains its health. Sometimes, blood flow cannot be re-established and the tissue dies.
Another winter issue is snowballs that collect on the feet. When a dog first goes outside, the warmth of his body melts the snow coming in contact with his feet and the hair gets wet.
The water refreezes as his feet cool, allowing snow to stick and accumulate. Foot snowballs can become very large and uncomfortable.
To thaw snowballs, use a hair dryer set on low, or submerge the foot in body temperature (not hot) water. After the snow is removed, check the feet for cuts or frostbite. To prevent snowballs from accumulating, keep the hair under your dog’s feet trimmed flush with the pads.
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By Jeff Grognet, D.V.M. |
.. Clean Up Your Toys ..
Get a box or bucket and collect a number of toys and other dog-safe items (don't start with things your dog likes to hoard or that you don't want them ever touching). Scatter the toys in a small pile on the floor. Through shaping and teasing, get the dog to pick up the items one at a time, and place them in your hand. Once the dog is lifting the items high enough to get your hand underneath to receive, you are well started. Be sure to reward each "gift" with a food treat. Make it harder and harder to put stuff in your hand, while maintaining the fun of this "return for refund" game. Each item retrieved is dumped into the bucket. The dog will leave harder ones for later, so over time make substitutions that make the items increasingly difficult for the dog. Some dogs take the leap and start putting things directly into the bucket themselves
.. Simon Says ..
If you have the right attitude, you can make obedience training a game. Let your dog prove how clever she or he is by sitting when you say "sit", lying down when you say "down", etc. Try it when your eyes are closed, your back is to the dog, or you are in a different position like lying down or even standing on your head! Mix it up "drop it", "get it", "hold it", and "leave it".
Ness Lake Retrievers
MAY THE BEST OF LIFE, FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, COME YOUR WAY
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