EVERYDAY DOGCARE

Warnings About Corn in Dog Food Unfounded

Some pet foods advertise that they have “no corn” as if corn is a dangerous or “bad” ingredient for dogs. It’s not. Corn meal and ground corn in dog food is a good source of starch and an essential fatty acid called linoleic acid. Corn also provides several B vitamins, magnesium, potassium, and carotenoids like beta-carotene.

Adjusting the Dog to the Toothbrush

James and Barbara Reed of Rockport, Massachusetts, are trying to get their 11-year-old shih tzu to accept a toothbrush. They adopted Wylie recently from an ailing female friend who has since died and report that he was in good shape except for decayed teeth. “We took him to the vet for an oral surgery that involved cleaning and extractions, which he tolerated well,” Mr. Reed reports. Since then, Mrs. Reed has attempted to get Wylie used to toothpaste from the pet store by putting it on pieces of meat. That worked well, but Mr. Reed is anxious about going the next step — getting Wylie used to a toothbrush.

Why Won’t My Dog Settle Down at Night?

It’s people with cats who frequently say their pet can’t settle in for the night and keep them up with their weehour wanderings throughout the house. Those with dogs often just complain that their pet hogs the bed. But there are plenty of dogs who experience nocturnal disturbances, too. Unlike with cats, the reasons for their difficulty staying calm at night can be quite serious, requiring your intervention. Here are four possibilities to consider for a dog’s late-night anxiety.

How Well Can You Read Your Dog?

Are you readily able to understand the expressions your dog makes? The answer is more likely to be “yes” if your dog has a plain face of a single color rather than a face with more than one color or a lot of markings. So say the results of a study of more than 100 dogs and their people called “What Is Written on a Dog’s Face?”

How to Give the Vet a Proper Diet History

Unless a dog is still a puppy, most veterinary visits tend to include little to no discussion about diet. Sometimes, however, what a dog eats becomes of paramount importance, perhaps because she has put on excess weight that could compromise her health, mobility, and even her lifespan. Or maybe she has developed an allergy that the vet suspects might be a food allergy, and it needs to be determined which ingredient could be causing the allergic reaction.

dog with diabete

Can dogs tolerate lactose?

Q: Are dogs lactose intolerant? My dog gets tiny bits of cheese for doing  tricks, but I wonder if I’ve been rewarding him with the wrong food.

The dog won’t eat from her bowl

Q: Why does my dog always take her food far from her bowl before eating it?

Short Takes November 2023

Post-Clipping Bacterial Infection

The Right Amount of Exercise Depends on Your Dog’s Age

Physical activity for a dog isn’t just about managing his weight, maintaining heart health, or slowing the muscle loss that comes with age and causes creeping frailty. Exercise is also very much about keeping up a dog’s mood and outlook on life. Just like for people, physical activity releases the feel-good brain chemical serotonin.

Why is she drinking more water?

Q: My dog had been drinking considerably more water than usual and urinating more as a result. I took her to the vet to see if she had diabetes or Cushing’s disease, but she was negative for both of those conditions. Nor does she have other potential thirst-making illnesses like kidney or liver disease, an infection, or a fever, and she does not take any medications that would make her thirsty. What might be going on?

When You’re Afraid of Needles But Your Dog Requires Daily Injections

Three main reasons for giving injections at home — and how even the squeamish can get used to administering them.When a veterinarian tells a client that their dog requires regular injections, some people start out by saying, “I can’t do that; I can’t deal with needles,” reports Tufts veterinarian Armelle de Laforcade, DVM. But, she says, “people who think they couldn’t go near a needle, once they try it, realize it’s not that bad.”

Teaching Your Dog That When He Needs to Go Out, the Bell Tolls For...

Some dogs have access to a doggie door that allows them to exit and re-enter at will, so they can “go to the bathroom” whenever they want. Fortunately for those who are unable to go out when they want, dogs are generally excellent at “holding it in” and can wait for the appointed times at which you take them to do their business. But still, there are those moments when they really need to relieve themselves even though it’s not time for their scheduled walk. What then?