DearDog

1. Size of the toy: The size of the dog should decide the size of the toy. If your dog is of a larger breed then allowing him to play with small toys can expose him to the danger of choking. Similarly a large sized toy given to a small dog remains almost unused as the small dog can not do much with the big sized piece.

2. Type of the toy: Type of the toy to some extent will depend on the breed, age and temperament of the individual dog. For you puppies you can select some chewable toys like nylabone, gumabone. Toys stuffed with goodies like peanut butter, goldfish cracker are also (more…)

Your dog may hurt herself with sharp dew claws and there is also chance that it might cause unintentional harm to someone else who get close to the dog. But you are worried to take any step yourself as you fear you might hurt the dog while cutting the nails.

You can take the following steps to solve the problem: (more…)

When finally you decide that you are going to have a dog it is time to decide whether your will be male or female and what breed will suit your requirement.

There is no straight forward answer to these two questions. Before deciding anything you need to consider certain facts which will help you to make your mind up. (more…)

You love dogs and thinking of getting one. Specially after visiting your friend Amy’s house and seeing her pet you are serious. Now you are considering which breed you should go for that will suit your temperament and whether it should be male or female.

But before you go that deep, do a reality check to avoid frustration (for both you and your pet ) in future.

Do you have enough spare time?

Having a pet in your house will demand good amount of your time from your daily routine and you have to spend time for your dog every day without any exception. And if your profession requires you to go out of town frequently you have to make alternative arrangement for your dog’s care. So consider this aspect very carefully.

Do you have enough free space in your house? (more…)

It was once believed that a dog can not think the way we human beings do. Though there is some truth in this statement it is not totally true. It is fact that a dog can think and feel in its own way.

And a dog lover with keen sense for feeling her dog’s nature will vouch for this.

Nice part of all this is that anybody can grow this sense and start understanding her dog’s feelings in a much better way that she was capable of.

Spend more time with your dog; take it to a walk or an exercising session. These will give you an opportunity to understand your dog in a better way.

Plus make it a habit of observing and analyzing the body language of your dog. In course of time it will start making sense, and you will have better understanding of your dogs thoughts and feelings.

Dog’s nutritional need is different from humans.
The best foods for dogs are meat, vegetable etc.
Meat with less fat content is good for a dog as
dog’s stomach is not good in digesting fat.

Milk is also suitable as for dogs, some dogs
have been seen to have problem with milk
digestion but normally dogs don’t face any
problem with milk.

Dried (canned) foods and specially prepared dog foods
being rich in required vitamins and minerals
also very good for dog’s health but they produce
best result when used with proportionate fresh food.

What food you will give to your dog and how it
will like it will depend on the temperament and
digestive capacity of the individual dog. So be careful
about what the dog’s likes and dislikes plus how s/he
reacts to a particular type of food.

There are certain things that you need to be careful about no matter whether you train your dog yourself or send the dog to a professional.

Here is a list of most important ones:

The dog should be properly vaccinated before participating in any training program.

Ensure that the dog is not ill or dehydrated.

Do not feed the dog just before training program.

Training program should be designed keeping the dog’s breed and the individual dog’s temperament in mind.

Groom the dog in a way that it contributes to the good feeling of the dog and by no means be a hindrance to the dog’s mobility.

Ensure that the dog is properly warmed up before heavy physical activity.

Dog breeding secrets are not secrets anymore, if interested; a dog lover can find a lot of information in books, periodicals and all over the net. But question remains as to whether having a lot of information about the process is enough. Answer is a definite a ‘NO’.

If one is not in the trade of breeding dogs a lot of bookish information is not going to help. The best use one can have of the information about dog genetics and dog breeding found all over the place is, using it to:

1. Define own requirement (of course within realistic limits).
2. Find a professional breeder of high caliber.
3. Communicate own ideas and thoughts to the breeder
in a language that the breeder is comfortable with.