Overall Dog Info

I know from personal experience, how important dog training really is and how it comes into play in every day life.  When your dog has no training and doesn’t know the basic commands you have potential accidents just waiting to happen.  Not only the danger it presents to your dog but it could also mean an expensive trip to the vet.  When your dog is told to “stay” and they don’t, it can lead to a very unfavorable or serious ending depending on the situation.

As an example, you have dropped a pill, a prescribed medication, on the floor and the dog comes running after it, you tell them to “stay” but they don’t and they lap up the pill before you can get to it … what do you do now?  Depending on the medication it probably means a trip the veterinary doctor.  Your dog is now at risk because they were not properly trained in the basic commands.  And you may have a very expensive veterinarian bill waiting for you.

I can personally tell you that I have had to extract, an open safety pin, a sewing needle, a whole chocolate candy bar that was thrown over our fence, and numerous other dangerous items out of my dog’s mouth.  No matter how diligent we are about keeping dangerous items such as sewing needles, safety pins, small parts of children’s toys, cleaning agents, or inappropriate foods out of their reach sometimes they just seem to “zone” in on the things they shouldn’t have.  Even with the dog being trained in the basic commands they can and probably will find something of interest to chew on that they shouldn’t have.  So it is a good idea to get your dog used to having your fingers in his mouth in case you need to extract a potentially dangerous object.

The basic dog training commands such as; sit, stay, and the recall (come to you) commands are at the very least what your dog should know and respond to without question.

When my Schnauzer was just a pup he was familiar with sit and stay and responded to those commands but, he often found dangerous items without me being aware of it at the time.  He also learned the “out” command right away because he was like a mini vacuum cleaner and found everything that was on the floor or in the yard that I had no idea was there.  It was at this time, when he was very young, that I had to fish the open safety pin, the sewing needle and the whole candy bar out of his mouth.  And since that time, he has learned to release his jaws when he is told “out” and he allows me to dig in his mouth to remove the foreign object that he shouldn’t have.  That’s not the most pleasant thing to do, but it is important, that you prevent your dog from swallowing  these types of things.

If your dog knows the sit, stay and recall commands,when something lands on the floor you can have the assurance that when you tell them to sit or stay they respond, you can retrieve the object before they get it in their mouth.  Then life is good because the potential accident was prevented.  Another aspect to consider is pet insurance because you never know when that time will come when you weren’t able to prevent the accident or your dog becomes ill, and treatment can be very expensive.  You can read more about pet insurance in my January 31, 2009 article.

My advice, especially to new dog owners, is to train them immediately in the sit, stay and recall commands as soon as you get them home. Use treats to reinforce the positive responses when they are young and just learning.  And if you don’t know how to train your dog in the basic commands and want advice on good methods of  training, we have two dog training programs that provide you with easy to follow techniques of  teaching your dog these and many other commands.  Having a well trained dog is for their welfare and your peace of mind.

For people who don’t have the security and peace of mind offered by insurance, it can be pretty scary. If something serious were to happen, it could very likely result in serious fees or even bankruptcy. And while many people give this kind of insurance serious thought and consideration, not as many people acknowledge the need for pet insurance.  But your pet is just as likely to need surgery or emergency care.  And vet bills are never small. If you don’t want to be paying out of pocket, consider looking into pet insurance.

The kind of insurance you need depends on the kind of animal you have. If you have a dog, for example, you can purchase dog health insurance, which offers coverage specifically tailored to dogs. There is also horse, cat, and other types of animal insurance. No matter what you need, there’s something available to offer you increased peace of mind. Sadly, some people are forced to put an animal down because they simply can’t afford a necessary surgery or medication. Make sure you furry family friend can live the long life he deserves by having his more costly procedures covered.

Are you thinking, “I take good care of my pets”. They have food, water, warm bed and a loving family that they belong to that should be sufficient, shouldn’t it? And the answer is “yes”, that would be as long as they don’t get sick or have an accident.

In America we are overwhelmed with the numerous insurance policies we need to protect the different aspects of our daily life. We probably have several policies, let’s see, there’s the homeowner’s policy, health insurance, eye and dental insurance, auto insurance, boat or motorcycle insurance, life insurance, etc. but the point being there is one area that most of us don’t think about. That is for the welfare of our pets, our financial responsibility for their care and how the cost would affect us financially.

Pet insurance is a subject worth at least investigating.  I would that say that for many of us we consider our pets part of our families, a very valuable part of the family nucleus and we would be lost without them.

And this brings me to the question, “How would I pay for a medical treatment if my pet were injured?”  If the charges were very much I wouldn’t be able to afford the cost.  Let’s say for example: your very healthy dog is hit by a car, the only injury sustained by the dog was a severely broken leg. The leg could be repaired by surgery with an excellent prognosis of the dog returning to normal. But the fee for this is $2,000.00 and you don’t have that kind of money.

So, what other alternatives are there? You can’t afford surgery, they say they can cast the leg, but the prognosis of healing properly is poor and that your pet will probably have a sever limp and be in pain.  Do you do that or or put the animal down? I know this would devastate me if I had no other option but to end the animals life because I couldn’t afford the surgery. Having pet insurance would have at least given me the option of taking into consideration: The age of the dog, the severity of the disease and/or injury, the probability of the pet’s recovery, the lingering affects of a disability or pain before having to decide to put the pet down due solely to the lack of  funds.

Bottom line, can you afford to give your pet the proper medical care if an emergency should occur?   Pet insurance is something that we should at least give at little thought to and investigate enough to know what coverages are available and the cost of each.  There are many companies providing pet insurance with premiums and deductibles to fit almost every budget.

Your pets will appreciate it and you may gain many additional years of companionship together.