Good Pawrenting – Page 14 – Healthy Dog Club

Surprising things dogs can tell about you….

December 17, 2012December 17, 2012 Healthy Dog Club

Your dog might not be able to talk to you about your bad day at work, but when he lays that little snout on your lap, you sense he just gets it. How much do we really know about what’s going on behind those puppy-dog eyes? “A dog’s mind is roughly equivalent to that of a human two-year-old’s,” says Stanley Coren, PhD, author of The Intelligence of Dogs. “But dogs also have the social consciousness of a teenager.” Put that together with a keen sense of smell, and dogs…

Healthy Dog Club interviews Dr Jean Dodds, a world renown vaccine research scientist about hypothyroidism in dogs!

December 15, 2012December 15, 2012 Healthy Dog Club

Healthy Dog Club interviews Dr Jean Dodds, a world renown vaccine research scientist about hypothyroidism in dogs, a growing epidemic often misunderstood among owners. She is also founder of Hemopet, a nonprofit animal blood bank in Southern California and has a new book out, “The Canine Thyroid Epidemic: Answers You Need to Know for Your Dog,” written with Diana R. Laverdure (Dogwise Publishing, $19.95). Dr Dodds talks about: The hypothyroid epidemic in dogs Causes of hypothyroidism (nutrition, genetics, vaccinations etc.) The role thyroid plays in dog’s health and function Importance in addressing this…

What do you call it? Dogs associate objects with words differently than humans

December 11, 2012December 11, 2012 Healthy Dog Club

Dogs learning to associate words with objects form these associations in different ways than humans do, according to research published November 21 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Emile van der Zee and colleagues from the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom . Previous studies have shown that humans between the ages of two to three typically learn to associate words with the shapes of objects, rather than their size or texture. For example, toddlers who learn what a ‘ball’ is and are then presented other objects with similar…

Ways to help your arthritic dog to live an active life without medication

December 7, 2012 Healthy Dog Club

Arthritis is probably the most common condition amongst the elderly pooch population. Today, veterinarians are seeing more cases because dogs are becoming more obese, less active and living longer. Below you can look into several options of new products that can eliminate pain, reduce inflammation, help repair damaged joints and help keep dogs arthritis safe and comfortable. Arthritis in pets is very similar as arthritis in people. It’s caused by normal wear and tear of cartilage and other parts of the joint. Typically, there is inflammation or swelling in a…

Small dog syndrome — why you need to take control!

December 7, 2012December 7, 2012 Healthy Dog Club

Before I even start writing about this I need to point this out: Regardless of a dog’s size, all dogs should be treated equally. We have a tendency to view small dogs as needing us more than a larger dog. We see things that small dogs do as cute, but if a big dog did the same thing, we would consider the dog’s actions as aggressive. A dog who growls at another dog, a cat or a person is saying they are the dominant dog. Growling is also a sign…

Dogs get stressed during the holidays and here are ways to prevent it

November 30, 2012 Healthy Dog Club

There are two sides of our most celebrated holiday season of the year. One that is so happy, so relaxed, so idyllic with chestnuts roasting on an open fire; peace on earth; good will, angels singing. The other side with last minute shopping, late nights wrapping gifts and mailing cards, standing in lines, working overtime or a second job to cover the added expenses, relatives coming from everywhere. Which one do you think is most likely reality? I love the holidays, but reality is, even if you enjoy hustle,…

Is food aggression in a dog acceptable?

November 28, 2012November 28, 2012 Healthy Dog Club

Food aggression is not acceptable and should be corrected immediately. Most trainers recommend following training: 1. Do not put the dogs food in his bowl, sprinkle it on the floor. This forces the food away as the dog eats, making sure the dog does not eat too much too fast. It also takes the dog longer to eat. The longer it takes him to eat without someone disturbing him, the more likely he is to learn that his food isn’t going to be taken from him. 2. Make doggie meatballs.…

Doggie language— debunked

November 27, 2012November 27, 2012 Healthy Dog Club

We call it the ‘doggie language’, but do we really understand what a happy dog looks like? Frightened? Submissive etc.? Our dogs communicate in far more ways than some might give them credit for. Wagging their tail is just one of many ways to communicate, their posture, ears, teeth and eyes also communicate certain feelings as well. Here is doggie language, debunked: Happy Dog Wagging tail is one of the signs we identify the most with hapiness in a dog. But there are other ways to know that your dog is content.…