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No -Go Foods for Dogs Posted On 2010-04-26 , 2:56 AM Some foods which humans like to eat and also other animals can in fact be harmful to dogs. It is very easy to make a mistake and sometimes feed your dog scraps from the table and it becomes dangerous when when those scraps either could have been cooked with a harmful ingredient like onions or are just directly harmful to the dogs. So lets look at common foods from our kitchen to avoid and why. Alcohol.... This Can cause intoxication, coma, and death. Mind you it can do that to humans as well!....depends on the amount I guess Onions and Garlic are toxic to dogs and be careful of baby food [yes people do feed baby food to dogs?] as it contains onion powder. They Contain sulfoxides and disulfides, which can damage red blood cells and cause anemia. I often cook with garlic and onions so I have to be careful and not give my jack Russel some left over mince. Many dogs will acquire a taste for cat food if it is left within reach. Cat food is too high in Protein and fat for dogs. Put the cat food out of reach. Chocolate -too high in caffiene and of course tea and coffee. [Kind of picture my jack russel have his morning cuppa!] These substances also contain theobromine and theophalline which can effect the nervous system and the heart. Often with meat leftovers we are tempted to give to our pooch. Be careful of Fat trimmings as this Can cause pancreatitis. Grapes and raisins Contain an unknown toxin, which can damage the kidneys. Any Human vitamin supplements which contains iron Can damage the lining of the digestive system and is also highly toxic to the other organs and especially the kidneys and liver. In the same vein be careful with Large amounts of liver. The liver stores Vit A and in a high enough amount to cause VIt A toxicity in dogs Macadamia nuts Contain an unknown toxin, which can affect the digestive and nervous systems and muscle. Milk and other dairy products. Some people think that milk is good for a dog but just like humans who can be lactose intolerant some dogs do not have sufficient amounts of lactase and so it will make them feel sick and they may vomit. Lactose intolerance can also cause Diarrhea. In the same vein be careful with raw eegs .they contain an enzyme called avidin which affects the absorption of Biotin, a B vitamin .This vitamin is important for the dogs coat and skin Raw Fish can give rise to a thiamine deficiency [another B vitamin ] and this can lead to a loss in appitete. For More Articles like this THE DOG HEALTH BLOG comment
Another Why Article Posted On 2010-03-24 , 3:55 PM I have been writing up a series of WHY articles to my site as often I get asked loads of why questions when it comes to dogs. My latest is "WHY are Dogs Aggressive towards some Strangers and not others? You may have already worked it out for yourself but if you are curious the article is here comment
Just About Me Posted On 2010-03-15 , 8:47 AM WELCOME TO MY PERSONAL PAGE! Since you landed on my site I thought you may as well know a little about the Author behind it! I grew up with animals all around me, especially dogs! My father was a Vet in Ireland and I could guess that we usually had in the region of 10 dogs or more at any one time in our household. Most of these arrivals came from the farms where they were brought into my father's surgery to be put down as the farmer could not find homes for them. On the farmers departure we kept the dogs, namely because there was nothing wrong with them and my father could not bear to do the lethal injection. It was differant in those days! At Various stages my mother was showing dogs,clipping dogs,training dogs and basically our family life was all about dogs! I would guess that I have experienced most breeds of dogs from the small terrier to the large St Bernard. I have always loved dogs and in fact all animals and this love was developed even further when my father decided to take a position in Africa . Off we flew to the lushious country of Uganda. What a way to grow up! My Managerie now extended to owning Monkeys, anteloppes,reptiles of various species and at one stage a baby elephant . Unfortunately for myself and my two brothers, life was great living in the bush but the education system was pretty non-existant. A short stint in a local school and a bout of Hipatitis and off we were packed to boarding school in Belfast . My live continued with a mix of western life and then Africa in the Holidays . It was only natural that I continued my education pursuing a degree in Ecology and Biology and then entered into a career in teaching. Africa has a strong pull it gets in your blood and after a few years following my degree I once again took off to Africa . There I stayed for 22 years and only returned to the Uk some 8 years ago . Today I lecture in Animal Health in a college and also Health and Social care. I started this website as a hobby to write about the animals I love. Somehow it just keeps growing! comment
Why Do Dogs Do All these things? Posted On 2010-02-22 , 8:12 AM Hi there I find that as a dog lover and someone who also knows a bit about them ...I get asked alot of WHY questions. Why do dogs cock thier legs ? Why do dogs try and mate with the chair leg? and so I have decided to write a series of articles on the WHYs of dogs. Starting off with the first Article Why Do Dogs cock thier legs? Here is a short snippet of the article You will find the rest of this article here along with some others Everyone is by now familiar with the fact that, for male dogs, urination is much more than the mere elimination of waste substances from the body. Every time they are taken for a walk, the main focus of interest is in reading the chemical signals deposited on scent-posts of various kinds in their home range by the leg-cocking urinations of other male dogs. Every tree-stump and lamppost is sniffed with quivering concentration. Then, after its odour messages have been carefully read, the dog leaves its own scent-mark, obliterating the older deposit with its own powerful odour. When they are puppies, both males and females squat to urinate, but at puberty, around the age of eight or nine months, male dogs begin to lift one back leg when squirting their jet of urine. The raised leg is stretched out stiffly, with the body of the dog angled so that the stream of liquid is aimed sideways, instead of downwards on to the surface of the ground below. So powerful is the urge to perform this leg-cocking that, on a long scent-filled walk, a dog may run out of urine and find itself unable to produce a jet of liquid. On such occasions, male dogs can be observed desperately trying to squeeze out just a few more drops in order to leave their ‘calling card’. Even when the bladder is completely empty they will continue to perform the leg-raising act, so independent has it become from the need to remove liquid waste. article continued here comment
My Dog The Street Dog Posted On 2010-01-20 , 7:43 AM Many times I am asked about walking dogs on the street and although it might seems a daft thing to ask ,there is a right way and a wrong way! When a dog walks with you on the street, he will meet people and other dogs. You want to keep him from taking too much interest in them, but friend and stranger alike will have other ideas. They'll call him "nice doggy," they'll pat him and smile. Your dog has already learned not to jump up on people even so he may greet the stranger by pawing, licking or just acting silly. If he is the reserved, offish type, he may frighten the stranger by growling or bristling. This is not ugliness; your dog is only trying to say "Won't you please leave me alone?" You know that your dog is kindness itself, certainly not a biter. But what you may not have learned is that a dog can be goaded beyond endurance into anger, even as you or I. In a case like this we cannot very well correct the dog; he's doing all right. What a pity people do not treat dogs with the same dignity shown each other. Strangers do not rush up to one another and act as if they had been friends all their lives Yet this is what they sometimes do to the dog, and the dog has every right to resent it. Pat a strange dog on the head and what happens? He may snap because he cannot keep your hand in sight. Hold your hand down perfectly still, giving him time to get your scent. When he makes up his mind he may show friendliness or he will ignore you. Do not try to make friends with a strange dog. Wait for him to make friends with you. When passing a dog on the street, your dog will react according to his previous association with other dogs. If he is used to their company, he'll probably give them a welcoming wiggle and continue on. But if he has never, met other dogs he may be shy or fearful, or he may kick up quite a fuss, snarling and tugging on the leash, or he may be awfully anxious to make friends. The fearful and the over-friendly dog is not corrected at a time like this. He needs a carefully chosen doggy friend to play with occasionally. The snarling one, however, is yanked sharply by the leash as you order "No!" Then make him Sit until the other dog has gone by. Next time, when you see another dog approaching, make your dog Sit immediately. If the dogs are friendly you and the other owner may let them play together a while. The Stay is an elaboration of Sit, and a most useful exercise, too. Your dog will be ready to learn it as soon as he has learned to Sit. The new exercise will take longer to teach because it demands more of the pupil. Tell your dog to sit, holding the leash in your left hand, with you at his right. Bring your right hand up to his face, palm flat, and say in a firm tone of voice, "Stay!". If he moves, give a short jerk back on the leash, and make him sit, repeating the command. Do it for only a few seconds at a time at first, then for longer, and move away from him,Letting the leash go slack. If he gets up to follow you, go back to the same spot, and make him sit and, stay again. This training should also be followed when the dog is lying down or standing, so that you can walk around him or away while he stays. Kathy lectures in Animal health in a college in n.Ireland comment
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