Overall Dog Info

I want to give my readers an update on a post published on March 22, 2009 regarding the Schnauzer crud and whether it can be treated by changing your dog’s nutritional diet.  Two to three weeks prior to that post I had changed my Schnauzer’s  diet to Wysong Dog Food, a natural dog food, and so far it has been a wise decision.  I want to update you on the results I have had and the overall condition of my dog.

I was feeding him a food from the health food store and thought he was getting a balanced diet and he was probably getting far more nutrition than what most of the products on the market provide, but it apparently was still lacking some vital nutrients.  Even with this food, I was supplementing with Omega 3 fatty acids and a powdered vitamin supplement, and he didn’t thrive then as he is now.    He, first of all, has not developed any more ingrown hairs that have festered with puss.  He no longer has dry scaly skin that flakes on his rump.  His teeth and gums are really healthy.  The tarter he had is more than 50% gone from his back teeth, and I haven’t been brushing his teeth as much.  I have been using Wysong’s DentaTreat that is sprinkled over his food, which is a dentifrice that removes tarter and I’m extremely impressed with it.  His breath isn’t as bad.  He no longer has flatulence (gas), which used to run us out of the room!  And, even within just a couple of days, I noticed he no longer had that somewhat bloated look in the belly.

I have to give this food and the company several thumbs up!  I have followed Wysong’s advice and use a number of different products to give my dog a variety of flavors.  Not only does the variety of flavors spice up meal time for him but they provide a variety of nutrients based on the food that is in that particular meal.  We would literally die if we ate the same food every meal every day of our lives, which I think would be short lived because we would not be getting the whole gamut of nutrients that our bodies need.  I do believe this also applies to our dogs.

He is revisiting his youth, he has so much energy now, I can hardly keep up with him.  I have carefully watched him and this energy is not the hyper type of energy, you can just tell he feels good, wants to play more and is more alert.

I know that the food is on the expensive side, but in my book, well worth every penny!  I still use the kibble from the health food store that I had a huge bag of and wasn’t going to throw it out.  So, I split his meal with half of Wysong’s Archetype Raw Dog Food, Archetype Buffet or the UnCanny variety pack with half the kibble.  And with only half of his ration of daily food being Wysong I have witnessed the above changes.

Wysong also has all natural dog treats, which are made with whole foods without the additives or sugars.  Yummy treats for him and I can give him all the treats I want without feeling guilty about what he is eating or afraid he will gain weight.

Trimming your dog’s toenails can be a tricky endeavor and very time consuming part of your dog’s grooming, especially if they have black nails and you can’t see where the quick is.  Years ago, I began trimming my dog’s toenails with the common guillotine nail trimmer.  Many times I would nick the dog’s quick and it would bleed and bleed.  Even though I always had the septic powder available for those times, the nail still bleeds quite a bit before it stops.  I always felt absolutely horrible when this would happen.  It didn’t make it any easier the next time because my dog remembered that I hurt him the last time I trimmed his nails.  So, needless to say, trimming the dog’s nails wound up being a struggle and I dreaded the thought of tackling the chore.

I have discovered a much easier way to do this and that is by using a coarse nail file.  What I did was purchase a couple of cheap coarse nail files from the drug store and I filed his nails with those instead of cutting them with the guillotine clipper.

I have a small dog, so I would set on the sofa, get an old towel, lay it across my lap and have my dog lay either next to me or on the towel.  If your dog is large then you may want to sit on the floor next to them.  Be sure to have healthy dog treats handy so you can treat them when they behave well having the nail trimmed.

Begin by having them lay next to you and before you begin be sure they are in a relaxed state, then take one paw, hold a nail firm in your fingers and begin to gently file the nail.  At first, your dog won’t be used to how the grinding on the nail feels and will probably jerk away.  As they become acclimated to the filing of the nail, you can begin filing harder and more rigorously to speed the process.  Trimming the dog’s nails in this fashion is less stressful for you and your pet.  Plus, there’s no worry about nicking the quick and making the nail bleed.  The finished length of the nail should not touch the floor when your dog is standing.  Your dog’s nails need to be trimmed at least twice a month.  If those nails don’t get trimmed the quick will extend longer inside the nail and it’s difficult to get the nail trimmed as short as it should be.

Be sure to purchase the very coarse nail files so that you can take off a substantial amount of nail in the shortest period of time.  Using the coarse nail file can be a precursor to using the very popular Peticure that is advertised on TV.  I have not used the PediPaws brand but would assume it works the same, although the one I use is not battery operated, it’s electric with a variable speed.  I only mention this as I use the Peticure  to facilitate the amount of time it takes to trim the nails and my dog adapted quickly only needing to get used to the noise it made.

This aspect of your dog’s grooming is such a very important part that it is necessary to find alternate ways of getting those nails trimmed.  If the dog’s toenails are left untrimmed they will continue to grow and become jagged and split, possibly exposing the quick.  Not only do the nails become jagged and split, but over a lengthy period of time, the dog’s feet can become deformed if their nails are left too long, which is painful for the dog.

Don’t give in or stop when the dog  jerks his paw away, it’s just because they aren’t used to the grinding on the nail.  If you let them relax and try again they will become used to it and realize that it doesn’t hurt.

Happy toenail trimming!

Does your dog attack visitors at your home before they are barely inside the door? Is your dog absolutely out of control barking, jumping on you and rushing the door in attack mode? Yes, I understand and this is not an easy behavior to change.  But it can be done and here are some basic dog training tips that you can use to change your dogs behavior when there is a knock at the door.

First, establish a boundary that your dog is to stay behind and you don’t open the door until they calm down and stay behind the barrier.  Second, they are to remain there until your visitor comes into your home. The dog is not to cross the boundary to approach the visitor.   The visitor can cross the boundary when the dog is calm and then allow the dog to sniff and smell them.  The dog is not to jump on the visitor.

These are very basic principles and not difficult to understand, but can be difficult the first several times you put this into practice with your dog. You don’t need to wait for visitors to arrive to facilitate your dog’s training.  You might consider having a family member, friend or neighbor assist you with the dog training.  Have them knock on or ring the door bell, patiently wait until your dog calms down and is in their designated waiting area and then come into the house.  Praise them with kind words and treats when they behave well.  If you do this several times a week your dog will learn this faster than relying only on visitors.  If you drill your dog in this frequently and early on in their training then your visitors aren’t outside waiting in the rain. Take a look…

In this video you will see the basic dog training technique in action.

One way to reward your dog for doing a great job is to give him dog treats.  They will really enjoy this and will want more.  So, don’t just give any food and treats to your dog.  You have to check if the food is safe so they will remain healthy.

There are so many different treats that you can buy for your dog.  You can find pizza flavored treats, liver biscotti, dog brownies and even dog cookies.  Your dogs can really have an assortment of treats that they can enjoy after doing a good job in training or for just being a great pet.  You can be sure that they are made with the best organic ingredients.  You have to be cautious with what you feed your dog since a lot of other dog foods have been recalled already.