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City to host dog obedience classes
San Bernardino Sun, CA -
Nov 23, 2007
The city will host a series of dog obedience
classes beginning Jan. 6 at Hulda Crooks Park, 11800 Mountain
View. Participants can teach their dogs basic ...
Teach your dog some new tricks with some obedience
training
Milford Times, MI -
Nov 15, 2007
28, dog obedience classes will be
offered at the EFO Post 216 American Legion in Milford. The
classes will be geared at household obedience where
pets will ...
IEvery dog has its dance
Kansas City Star, MO -
Nov 25, 2007
“This was something he was just begging to do,”
Kern says of Davis, already accomplished at agility and
obedience. But how do you teach a dog to spin, ...
Thinking of giving pets for holiday? Think again
commercialappeal.com
(subscription), TN - Nov 28, 2007
What about obedience training? That makes
your dog a much better pet. If you want to adopt a dog
at Christmas, make it an adult dog. ...
Bad dogs have less fun in life
Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review, PA - Nov 24, 2007
By John Ross Dear Dog Talk: I'ma dog-obedience
trainer in Hartford, Conn. I've read your books and read the
Dog Talk column online. ...
Swabs for dangerous dogs
St George & Sutherland
Shire Leader, Australia - 2 hours ago
By Murray Trembath SUTHERLAND Shire Council is
to introduce new DNA technology to help identify dogs
involved in attacks on people or other animals. ...
Canines face DNA testingVillage Voice.com.au
Dog town
Boston Globe, United
States - Nov 29, 2007
As it turns out, Boston is also among the more
welcoming cities for dog owners. No matter what
neighborhood you're in, from Harvard Square to Brookline to
...
When the Dog's Breath Takes Others' Away
Washington Post, United
States - Nov 29, 2007
He has been given dental chews and dog
breath mints. Nothing seems to work, and I don't know what else
to try. He's a very lovable dog, but when he opens ...
Now for this
week's tips and advice
Food Allergies and How To
Overcome Them
I have covered allergies in previous episodes so if
you want some more specific detail take a look at past
editions in the index. Here I am going to cover the subject
generally as I have had a request from a reader to provide a
simple overview, as they are wondering whether their own dog
has a food related allergy.
Food allergies are sometimes difficult to identify unless one
is well aware of the baseline information with regard to this
type of allergy. The main symptoms of food allergies in dogs
include the facial itching, limb chewing, belly itching,
recurrent ear infections or skin infections. So by baseline
information, I mean knowing that there is no other possible
cause for the allergy. As you will appreciate this is almost
impossible to conclude – an allergy may be caused by any
number of different thing present in the dogs life. Isolating
the cause in some cases can be very difficult indeed.
Since dogs consume lots of prepared food materials including
various kinds of proteins, fillers, coloring agents and more,
in the commercial food materials, the incidences of food
allergies are more than one can imagine. Allergic reactions
mostly involve the skin or the gastro intestinal tract. You
only need to see the list of ingredients to understand that
any one of them may be the cause.
If you come across your dog itching after the provision of
specific food materials, then suspect the food allergy in this
animal. However, conditions like fungal infections need to be
ruled out in general before the conclusion that the itching is
indeed a sign of food allergy.
There are many recorded incidences of allergies of dogs to
corn or to wheat. However, like humans, food allergies vary
from dog to dog. Read the labels clearly before feeding your
dogs with new pet food materials. A great number of food
preservatives and colorings present in the food could well
cause an allergic reaction.
Food allergies are often linked to the hyper active behavior
noticed in the dogs. Added colors, preservatives, and high fat
diet might cause such food allergies in the dogs and hence,
you have to be really careful in providing new additions to
their diets. When you do give them a new food you should
closely monitor the dog for any signs of allergy.
There are many occasions that food allergies might be
diagnosed in the dogs but the dog may have other problems like
pancreatitis. To rule out the food allergies, observe your
dogs everytime you feed them, look for reasons to link the
signs of allergy that the dog may be showing with the new food
given.
If you suspect that food may be the reason for his allergic
reaction then you might try out a hypo-allergenic food on him.
Such food are usually of purer content and closer to more
natural ingredients. It doesn’t mean there are no chemical
ingredients that may affect the dog but it does mean that
there should be a lot fewer. So for example their will be no
or fewer artificial preservatives or colors that may affect
him. Taking these obvious things out of his diet first will
help you start to eliminate possible causes of the allergy.
Alternatively you could try a diet of the most pure organic
dog meal you can find mixed with fresh chicken (as an
appetizer to mix with the meal) either cooked or uncooked as
your dog prefers. My own dog had a reaction to some
preservatives and colors when I first had him, that showed up
in very hyper active behavior. I have therefore fed him on a
hypo-allergenic lamb and rice kibble mixed with a little raw
minced chicken to make it appetizing for him. He loves it and
always has done, and I must say that he is in extremely good
condition for his age (he’s a Briard nearly 13 now).
So, finding the actual cause of a food allergy is pretty much
hit and miss with a lot of luck thrown in. So before you
decide that its definitely food related, watch him carefully
for a while in everything he does and everywhere he goes. You
may well find that there are other possible factors it could
be.
Dry v canned
These types of food materials are different with different
grades of liking by the dogs. Dogs like dry foods only if they
are tasty only and however, on comparison, the dogs prefer
only the canned food items. Reason for such preference by the
dogs is that in case of canned food items, the moisture is
about seventy to eighty per cent but in case of dry food, it
is only about ten per cent.
However, if you view it in terms of nutrients, often the dry
food contains nearly ninety per cent nutrients whereas the
canned food items contain only less per cent of nutrients and
most of the times. It is only soy products that are structured
so well to look like meat pieces.
Hence, to make up the nutritional balance in the body systems,
the dog has to eat more amounts of canned food materials than
the dry food materials. Hence, just compare the cost factor
related to this feature by you. Many dry food items are
soybean and rice based.
Now some dry food items are based on corn. Sometimes, beef
based or chicken based food items come in the cans along with
mineral and vitamin supplements suited for the upkeep of the
dog’s health status. Larger dogs that weigh more than thirty
pounds need to be fed with semi moist food items or dry food
items in most of the occasions.
This is to satisfy the food receptors in the stomach. This is
due to the fact that the larger dogs need to eat plenty of
moist food or the canned food items to satisfy these criteria.
But it may not be practically possible in these larger dogs.
The small sized dogs may have a satisfactory level of
nutrients if fed even the moist food items.
However, the caloric density of the dry food should not be
forgotten. Enriched dry food items are highly welcome ones
than the non -enriched food items.
