Before you go out and buy an expensive dog shampoo so you can wash your dog, you may want to try baby shampoo. Many pet owners say that using this shampoo gives their dogs healthy, shiny coats.

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By Niall Kennedy

It is hard to get an early diagnosis of lyme disease in animals including your own dog. The first sign of lyme disease in humans is a rash, well; animals do not develop this rash. Lyme disease is also not one of the first illnesses that the veterinarian looks for when you take your dog in for a visit. Many other common illnesses can produce some of the same symptoms, so it can be hard to detect.

Lyme disease does affect each dog different as it does with humans. Many dogs that are affected with lyme disease seem to be in pain and many stop eating. They may even run very high fevers. Lyme disease affects the entire body and some dogs may become lame and then even if untreated the lameness can disappear but can reappear later on. Your dog may not even show any signs of an illness for a long period of time and in fact have lyme disease, and then the symptoms can show up a year later.

Diagnosis of lyme disease can be done with a blood test. But, if your dog has had the illness for a long time even confirming that it is, in fact lyme disease can be hard to prove. In many cases, the antibodies that are present when a dog has lyme disease may have already disappeared or have not been created yet.

So, of course, the best way to go to ensure that your dog does not contract lyme disease is in the prevention. Always groom your dog after they have been outdoors in and around where ticks live, high grass, thick brush, or even in the woods.

About the Author: Niall Kennedy
http://www.pet-medication-supplies.net Pet Medication Supplies can help you get the best possible protection for your pet. Advantix, Arthramine, Cosequin, Frontline, Heartgard - find the best deals in pet medication for flea and tick control, arthritis and lyme disease. Upto 50% discount everyday on brand names.

Source: www.isnare.com

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Ask your veterinarian about using a Preventic dog collar. This way, your dog receives small, continuous doses of the same ingredient in the Mitaban dip that helps destroy the Demodectic mange mites.

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By Tina Spriggs

Most dogs live between ten and seventeen years. The
relationship you have with your veterinarian is going to be a
long one. It’s a worthwhile investment of your time and
energy to shop around carefully to find a vet whom you’ll be
comfortable with for years. If you don’t feel that you can
communicate openly and honestly with your animal doctor,
then keep searching.

The first thing you should look for in a vet is someone who
you believe will be able to communicate with you. This
person’s first job will be to diagnose what’s ailing your dog
or to try and figure out why your pet is behaving a certain
way. Next, the vet should be able to explain the problem to
you in a way that you can understand. The vet should then
be open to any questions you need answered until you feel
fully satisfied and confident that you know what your dog
needs and how you can take care of it. You shouldn’t stop
searching until you find a vet who is both qualified and
personable enough for you.

There are many resources to help you find the best
veterinarian. No matter where you live, start out by asking
friends or other family members. You might ask questions
such as: Who do you use? Does he explain what’s ailing
your animal clearly? Is he good with certain breeds? If they
know of a qualified vet, they may save you a lot of
searching.

Another option, growing ever popular, is an online search.
Many chat-rooms, newsgroups and clinic web pages are
both valuable and innovative methods of assessing what’s
available. Additionally, if you can find the contact
information to a private rescue clinic (many of which are not
in the phone book) online, you may be able to ask them
which vets they have worked with.

Once you have a list to choose from, you can call or even
visit different clinics. You first question should be in regard
to their office hours. Are they open late? Do they have an
emergency service phone number available? Are they open
on weekends? Again, this would be just in case there’s ever
an emergency.

Next, assess the staff. This may be hard over the phone,
because like any medical facility, they’re often busy places.
So, it may be best to do this in person. Are they friendly,
knowledgeable and helpful? Are they used to handling
animals, especially dogs carefully? If your dog is large, can
they handle him without injuring or frightening him more?
One ingenious way to find this out is to schedule a “nail
clipping” appointment. Don’t test ten different veterinary
clinics in one week, as this will tire your dog excessively.
Visit the clinic for a preliminary test of all that has been
stated. This will get you on the “inside” and will help you
make a well-founded, first-hand appraisal of the clinic and
its faculty.

There are a few final issues to resolve before your
assessment is over.

• Is the clinic is a multi-doctor clinic, or a one-person show.

Again, getting an inside view of the place will help you
answer all of these questions both quickly and accurately.
Finally, if you feel like you’ve found your new veterinarian,
celebrate! This was an important step in making your dog
part of the family. Rest assured that you have done your
part for your pet’s well being.

About the Author:
Tina Spriggs is an expert dog lover whose lifelong interest in canines provides the motivation for her site. To learn more about dogs or to find gifts and toys for them visit her site at Dog Gifts and Toys for Dog Lovers.

Copyright 2004. All rights reserved.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

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By Jennifer McVey

You’ve picked out the perfect puppy. You spent hours on the internet, researching the right breed for you and your family. Then you went from breeder to breeder or humane society to humane society, meeting and greeting pups until you find just the right match.

Now what? He needs a name!

Over the course of its life, you will use your dog’s name more than 35,000 times. So be sure you’re picking a name you can live with and love.

With these seven simple steps, the key to finding the perfect puppy name is at your fingertips!

• Dogs understand short commands. Easy names with two or fewer syllables work well.

• Your puppy’s name shouldn’t sound like any commands. “Stacy” and “stay” are too close for comfort. Such a name will only confuse the issue.

• Remember, you’ll be using your pup’s name in public. “Boner” may be cute among your fellow fraternity members, but it won’t go over well at the veterinarian.

• Make your kids part of the decision process. Kids like it simple, too, so if calling your Champion Cavalier King Spaniel “Bootsie” works for them, consider keeping the hoity toity name strictly for AKC purposes.

• You may think it’s an honor to name your pup after you’re favorite Uncle Norbert. Naming your baby after him may keep you in the will, but naming your puppy after him won’t.

• If you’re bringing home an older dog, ideally, stick with the name it already owns. Can’t stand it because “Barney” was the first boy who broke your heart? Then stick with similar sounds when choosing a new dog name. “Barney” morphs into “Farley” easily.

• Once you’ve chosen a name, try it out for a day or so. You’ll know right away whether it’s a keeper. If not, there’s always more puppy names on your list!

Take a look around you. All around are terrific ideas to inspire you.

At first glance, a couple things will stand out about your new puppy. Enjoy him or her for a day or two and take these into consideration.

• Appearance. What’s your dog look like? His color, size, and personal style inspires a variety of name choices. “Stubbs” would be a great name for a dachshund pup. Or you may call a cream colored cock-a-poo “Buffy.”

• Personality. Given a couple of days, your new dog’s personality will really shine through. Try “Cuddles” for the sweet little guy who loves to get cozy or “Puddles” for the pooch who can’t seem to find the doggie door.

If you want to go beyond the basics, many famous dog names or foreign dog names can fit the bill. Consider these favorite puppy names when making your decision.

• Celebrity puppy names. Today, pooches have more celebrity following than their famous owners. Chew on “Lola,” a name used by both Hilary Duff and the Osbournes.

• TV dogs. “Scooby” and “Astro” come to mind if you want to honor a famous TV pup.

• Movie dogs. Cool movies and cool dog names seem to go hand in hand. Cool Hand Luke’s “Blue” would be a fitting label for a variety of dogs. Or try “Bodie,” from the weeper Steel Magnolias.

• Comic dogs. “Snoopy” will always be a favorite, but also consider “Daisy” or “Odie.”

• German dog names. For starters, try out “Fritz” or “Kaiser.”

• Irish dog names. “Finn” fits well for any pup, as does “Murphy,” which just happens to mean “hound of the sea.”

• French puppy names. “Pierre” and “Gigi” are top contenders for any dog, especially those with a little oo-la-la in their genes.

The choices are endless. However, with these simple tips and some thought, before long, you’ll have found the perfect puppy name!

About the Author: Want to find a puppy name? The author, Jennifer McVey, uses her free time searching for common and not-so-common names for your canine friends. As webmistress of http://www.favorite-puppy-names.com, she delivers a comprehensive dogs name list along with great naming tips to help make the puppy naming process easy and fun!

Source: www.isnare.com

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Written By: Blake Kritzberg

Dogs are susceptible to various skin problems — which can be
frustrating for owners who want to see Fido comfortable and happy.
Does your dog have a skin problem, and if so, how do you fix it?

That depends on the symptoms you see. Of course, the most common
sign of a possible skin problem in your dog is constant, excessive
itching. Other symptoms include fur loss, either localized in a
certain location or spread across the dog’s entire body. More severe
cases may involve redness in the skin, changes in skin pigmentation
or even open sores that your dog constantly licks.

No particular symptom necessarily proves your four-footed friend has
a certain type of skin disorder, and you’ll need to investigate
other areas before you draw conclusions. While it’s common and
helpful for veterinarians to diagnose skin problems, it’s also
essential for dog owners like you to familiarize yourself with
typical canine skin problems, so you can react quickly and keep his
discomfort to a minimum.

Fleas, Lice and Ticks

One of the most common problems in dogs is the presence of fleas,
lice and ticks, which are parasites that live on the surface of the
skin and feed on the dog’s blood. These parasites’ saliva causes
skin irritation and results in intense scratching.

Lice and ticks can be detected visually when you check your dog’s
fur, while fleas are hard to spot with the naked eye. However, fleas
cause red pimple marks on the skin and also can be spotted through
the black, gritty trail of “dirt” they leave on a dog’s belly.

While you can remove ticks and lice with tweezers — applying
alcohol to relax the tick’s grip before doing so — you can also
adopt more general methods. For instance, you can give your dog a
dip with special tick shampoo to eliminate ticks. Flea sprays or
flea powder can also be applied to the dog to kill parasites. But
all these require persistence and it may be a while before you see
results.

One of the best methods to keep your dog comfortable is to prevent
ticks from living off your dog in the first place through the use of
a spot-on product, such as FrontLine or BioSpot. To apply these
chemicals, you drip a small amount onto the back of your dog’s neck
once a month. The chemical spreads throughout the dog’s skin and
kills parasites — including the eggs and larvae. When regularly
treated, your dog becomes an unattractive host.

Mange

Mange is a skin problem caused by mites that burrow underneath the
dog’s skin, causing intense and even agonizing itching. Bald spots
or inflamed red skin are common symptoms of mange. Two types of
mange exist in dogs: sarcoptic mange and demodectic mange, depending
on the kind of mite involved.

Most dogs carry the mites involved in demodectic mange or demodex.
However, these mites usually do not cause itching except when they
suddenly multiply into huge numbers. This may happen in young
puppies, or in dogs with decreased natural body defenses, sometimes
from stress.

On the other hand, Sacroptic mange or scabies causes intense itching
in the dog as the mites burrow under the skin and even lay their
eggs there. This causes large red spots on the dog’s skin, and
sometimes fur loss on the ears and elbows. Scabies can infect humans
as well and cause itchiness, although infection in humans usually
disappears by itself after a while. However, it is still important
for people to seek treatment if they get infected.

Treatment for mange requires patience and time, as eliminating them
or lowering the mite population takes a while to take effect. The
best way to kill the mites is to soak your dog in a lime and sulfur
medicated dip for 10 to 15 minutes a few times in a week. The dip
should not be washed off, but left to dry on your dog’s skin and
fur. During this time, it’s best to watch your dog closely and
prevent him from licking himself dry. As a further precaution, you
can feed him a raw egg to line his stomach before dipping him in the
solution. This way, even if he does lick himself, the solution won’t
be absorbed on an empty stomach.

When fighting mange, it’s also important to support your dog with
the highest quality diet you can find, to improve his immune system.
Healing from mange will take a lot of his internal resources. You
might consider looking into the raw diet for dogs and avoiding any
corn or rice-based products for the time being.

About the Author

Blake Kritzberg is proprietor of Poodle-oo: Fashion for Toy Dogs. Stop by
for toy dog couture and home decor, free toy dog postcards and the
Toy Dog Blog.
http://www.poodle-oo.com/

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