Dog Health Care
This page is a guide to caring for your dog - the essentials that you will need when looking after a young pup or an adult dog. There is a guide on nutritional needs as well as grooming and general problems that a dog may have during its life.
If this is your very first pup... there may be just a bit of "What have I done?" anxiety about this major moment in your life but rest assured that we will guide you through this time and give you the information needed to raise a puppy to a health grown adult.
Remember, you have more contact with your dog than anyone else. If you know how to detect potential problems or illnesses with dog health care, you greatly increase the chance that your pooch will live a wonderful, healthy life. And what more could you want?
Vaccination and Worming Schedule
Vaccinations are an important part of your puppy's preventive health care plan. When given properly, they will protect him from several serious, even fatal diseases. It is recommended that your puppy's first vaccinations be given between six to eight weeks of age and continue every three to four weeks until they are sixteen to eighteen weeks old. (There may be additional vaccines recommended for certain breeds or puppies with high risk factors).
It is also a good idea to have annual vaccinations for your dog and breed specific vaccines because each breed has different fatal diseases.
Dog food & Diets
There are many different types of diets that are specifically formulated, there is the BARF diet which means bones and raw foods. It is a diet that is strictly raw bones with a mixture cooked vegitables.
For more information please visit our page dedicated to pet diets where you can find our articles on pet diets as well as books and videos on pet nutrition and diets.
Trimming Dogs Claws
Trimming nails is essential for the well-being of your dog's feet. When your dog's nails are not worn down through activity, they must be filed or trimmed. I don't like to see the nail actually touching the floor. When it does, that is when it is time for a trim. Use either type of clipper; the two blade style or the oblonged single blade.
Also, have a commercially available syptic powder, specifically for dogs, on hand. Before clipping, make sure that you can find the pink part, the "quick" ( blood vessel within the nail that contains sensitive nerve vessels). If your dog's nails are dark, you will be unable to see the quick. Be very careful as you snip just a little at a time.
Grooming your Dog
All coated breeds, dogs with more than a smooth coat, benefit from regular brushing. Some require it once a day others once a week. Factors such as coat texture (silky and fine tend to mat more easily than coarser hair), and length (longer needs more attention), condition (dry coat will mat easily so trim it off) and curl (curly hair mats easiest with wavy not as bad and straight least likely).
Some coated breeds do require trimming. This is typically those breeds who's hair continues to grow, such as Poodles and ShihTzu and Lhasas. Trimming your dogs nails is also part of grooming your dog.
