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Ways you are shortening the life of your dog

And you don’t even know it. Here is a great link to the article on “11 Ways You’re Shortening Your Dog’s Life” and they are all good for you to know. Most are common sense, but some take some consistent discussion from pet professionals with their clients. As usual, trust your vet, make sure you listen to what your vet tells you about your dog, we know its tempting to listen to what other “good intention” people tell you online. Your vet went to 12 years of school, are you willing to bet the life of your pet on someone who gave you a 12 second diagnosis over a trained professional? The local vet will know a lot about the ways you are shortening the life of your dog.

Ways you are shortening the life of your dog

Ways you are shortening the life of your dogDogs who fail to get socialized don’t get the same “bite” out of life as their happy, socialized counterparts. They often develop anxiety and fear-related issues, even dermatological issues, and they don’t enjoy walks in the same way. Similarly a dog that has no human interaction, no fun, no playtime, can get depressed. We state this all the time to new dog owners “Dogs were NOT bred to sit at home on the sofa and watch Jerry Springer all day”. Lazy dogs, like people are sure ways you are shortening the life of your dog.

Solution: Take your puppy at a young age (once he is fully vaccinated and cleared by your veterinarian) to training classes and puppy meet-ups where he can get to know other dogs. Let your dog stop and greet other dogs while out on a walk or host other dogs in your yard for puppy play dates. Next look at training for YOU and your dog. Yes, you could use a few lessons and the training helps build a relationship between you and your dog. The training never stops, always work on ways to communicate between yourself and your dog!

Not spaying or neutering

Veterinarians agree that forgoing spaying and neutering can be dangerous to your dog’s health. Spaying and neutering is still the best way to guarantee reducing the risk of several cancers, let alone the behavioral issues you can see with intact dogs.

Additionally, each heat cycle that a female dog goes through makes her more prone to the development of mammary cancer. Intact males are also more likely to develop prostatic diseases and testicular cancer than their neutered counterparts.

Solution: You can arrange to have a spay or neuter procedure done at your local veterinary office. If cost is an issue, there are many clinics that offer low cost procedures; call your local pet clinics and shelters to find out when they are having a special on the procedure. And as far as when to have the procedure done, there are different guidelines for different breeds. There is no need to leave your 6-year old male alone, because you plan to one day start breeding him. Leave this to professionals. You don’t want to be one of those “backyard breeders”, do you?

There have been many modifications made with regards to large breed dogs [and] when is the best time is. For this reason, you should discuss and plan the procedure out with your vet. Always trust your vet, its a recurring theme with us here at Happy Hound Dog Resorts, but we have some great veterinarians here in Riverside, Avondale and Ortega, why not ask them about your pet’s health?

Letting your dog outside unsupervised

Ways you are shortening the life of your dogLetting your dog roam free without you watching opens the door for a whole world of possible tragedies. Cars, wild animals or other predators, unscrupulous people—they’re all out there. Don’t let your dogs roam the streets unattended, even if they are tagged and microchipped.

Keep your dog on a leash at all times when walking him outside. If you take your dog to the park, be a responsible pet parent and make sure to monitor the play sessions. If you notice a threat or a potential predator, remove your dog from the situation immediately. We hope you have learned some new ideas on ways you are shortening the life of your dog. We want a long life for both of you.

At Happy Hound Dog Resorts the first day of dog daycare is always free so please come in and take advantage of our offer and also know that you can watch your dogs on the daycare floor all day or watch other dogs at no charge.