What we can do, though, is to conduct a simple dog food comparison to determine which foods best fit our dog’s requirements and our personal schedule. After all, some foods offer much greater convenience than the more natural, less processed types which may require freezing, thawing, cooking and preparation.

Convenience aside, the best food to give your dog depends not on the brand or the style, but rather on your dog’s age and any special requirements he might have. For example, older dogs require food containing a careful balance of protein, fat and fiber. Most commercial pet food companies address this need with offerings such as senior dog food, containing about 18 % protein, and food for dogs diagnosed with renal failure, containing about 14% protein.

Dare to Compare Dry Dog Food

The vast majority of dog owners go for dry dog food. Between the supermarket and specialty pet stores, owners enjoy many brands to choose from. Dry food consists of kibble typically made from one primary ingredient such as chicken, beef or lamb. More specifically, the main ingredient is usually a meat byproduct that’s been processed, dried and sold in packs or bags for easy dispensing. Needless to say, meat byproducts are far cheaper than meat, so this type of dog food is not only easy to store, it’s much less expensive than other types.

Hard kibble comes with some advantages. For example, it gives your dog’s mouth some exercise, and kibble’s somewhat less likely to contribute to plaque than softer foods.

When comparing brands, it helps to remember that there are essentially two types of dry dog food on the market: premium food and economy food. A smart owner will avoid purchasing the economy version, which is made from lower grade ingredients (for example, economy dog food will often substitute cheap corn for the more expensive meat byproducts). The “end” result, as it were, is that your dog can’t absorb many nutrients but simply passes the food through his body. So in addition to enjoying less nutrition, your dog will produce larger stools — and you might find yourself with more frequent vet bills.

Other Popular Contenders: Canned, Semi-Moist and More

Other categories of dog food include the semi-moist type and canned food. Many owners like to mix in some canned food with dry food, to potentially cover more nutritional bases without taking too big a hit to the pocketbook.

Semi-moist food is attractively convenient to owners, and dogs love it. Unfortunately, it may cause dental problems in the mid-term and worse in the long term, because semi-moist food is loaded with corn syrup and other sugars, which dogs just aren’t designed to process.

Recently, more natural, “premium” dog food has been introduced to the market, in which higher quantities of quality, nutritious ingredients are used to manufacture the food — often human-grade, in fact. Since vegetables, fruits, real meat and quality grains are used as the primary protein source in the highest-quality dog foods, these foods are a fast route to healthy skin and beautiful fur. For the most part, they contain no artificial coloring and preservatives, but are chock-full of vitamins and minerals instead.

Although this food costs more, you can feed your dog less of it, because it’s more nutritionally dense. So in terms of both convenience and nutrition, a premium, natural dog food is one of the best choices available to your dog, whether off-the-shelf or purchased online.

Pit Bulls, having strongly defined features and personalities, have a lot in common with each other. All are a product of a long legacy of physical and mental courage and toughness that allow their ancestors to survive. In short, Pit Bulls are exceptional dogs — and they need exceptional owners. Whether the Pit Bulls’ remarkable traits are a blessing or a curse to the owner in question depends entirely on him or her.

Here are four reasons why the Pit Bull may not be a good choice for you:

1. A Pit Bull is muscular, strong and energetic. He is not a lap dog who can be happy sitting at your feet all day. If you’re the type of person who loves an adventure and is willing to take your Pit along for the ride, you’ll probably make a great pair. But if you tend to be more sedentary and would rather hand your kid a quarter to walk the dog around the block, or work late hours with no one at home, a Pit Bull is decidedly not the dog for you.

2. The Pit Bull is a confident, almost disconcertingly intelligent dog. If you know how to properly train such a dog, and have figured out how to engage his wonderful sense of humor and love of play, you’re likely to find great pleasure in his intense intelligence … more than you’d experience with any other breed of dog. But if you expect your dog to hang onto everything you say without your having clearly established your dominance, or if you believe his training is done with a SIT and a DOWN STAY command, then the Pit Bull is not for you.

3. The loyal Pit Bull bonds deeply with his family. There is no other breed of dog more likely to give his life to protect the humans in his “pack.” This trait is a beautiful thing if you are equally loyal to him, treating him like a member of the family, and taking him along on your journeys and adventures. But if you consider having a Pit Bull to be something provisional, depending on how convenient it is — or worse, if your Pit gets left home alone while you’re out and about — then the Pit Bull is not for you.

4. A Pit Bull is perceived as a tough guy, a macho dog — or sometimes, an unpredictable monster to be feared. Occasionally this can have an upside; for example, if you live alone and want to feel more secure (although Pit Bulls make terrible guard dogs and are the most likely dogs to be stolen by strangers, because they are so trusting of humans). On the other hand, this can be a liability. Your neighbors may worry about your dog; mothers may fear if their children approach. With a Pit Bull, you’ll need to take care that you’re an exemplary dog-owning citizen at all times.

Some Pits were taken from illegal dogfighting operations. If this is the case, the rescue will let you know it. Such a dog will require extra care and rehabilitation from an experienced owner. Usually, the rescue group will want to monitor such a dog, and adopt him out to a family that lives nearby.

A search will turn up a number of Pit Bull rescue groups, all of which screen their animals carefully for temperamental and health problems. But rescue groups don’t stop their investigation there — they’ll turn an eagle eye on you as well. Most rescue groups will do anything they can to ensure that a dog they place doesn’t end up homeless again. They’re very picky about where their dogs end up. As one rescue I worked for put it, “We don’t find the dog for a family. We try to find the best family for the dog.”

It’s best to do your part to make sure you can be the “forever owner” a rescue dog is looking for. Choose your animal carefully. Do your research about any legal or insurance issues that may arise, and make sure your home can be his for the duration. Are you ready to find your own Pit? Contact your local animal shelter, and ask them to call you when a Pit Bull becomes available. Or you could start your search online now by trying one of the many Pit Bull rescue sites, such as http://adopt-a-pit-bull.1-800-save-a-pet.com/.

Ever noticed how when you say something to your APBT, he tries so hard to understand? It’s like magic — you utter some words, and his ears prick up. He cocks his head, and swivels his neck in the direction of your voice. And as often as not, when you take him for a walk, his ears rotate all the way back like miniature extras from The Exorcist, just to catch what you’re doing.

He really wants to decipher your words, and know where you’re coming from. Not only does your APBT marshal his considerable mental resources in hopes of understanding you, he also tries to talk back. But can you read his body language? Part of being a good dog owner is recognizing that canine/human communication is a two-way street.

Experts have pretty much determined that all our domestic dogs stem not from jackals or coyotes or any mixture thereof, but from wolves. And our modern dogs, from the tiny Pug to the mighty Mastiff, still speak the same language. Here are a few simple tips to help you understand your APBT’s way of “speaking” a little better:

1. If he wags and lowers his head at your approach, this is your APBT showing submission. (Enjoy it while it lasts.)

2. Does your APBT yawn a lot? Typically, this indicates that he’s nervous. If on top of his yawns, he also drools and pants, then you might have an extremely nervous pup on your hands.

3. A severely (an overly) submissive dog of any breed will lower his body and tuck in his rear, possibly even rolling over or urinating slightly.

4. If your dog is exposing his teeth and shows raised hackles, a square posture, and a direct and challenging stare, then you’re seeing the aggressive behavior and an outright bid for dominance, though in some dogs this may serve as a cover for their fear.

5. The language for “play with me” is universal among the canine set. It’s that distinctive posture with the rear in the air and elbows on the ground. It even has a fitting name — it’s classically called the “play-bow” position.

Your dog has been infested by lice. Dog lice aren’t the same kind of parasite as human lice, but they’re just as miserable for your dog. Six-legged creatures that actually chew your dog’s skin, dog lice trigger severe itching and after a certain point, hair loss. The white particles you see attached to his hair, close to the skin, are eggs and nits. Both are visible to the naked eye.

It’s not common for dogs to get dog lice — unlike fleas or ticks, many owners never have to deal with this particular shady character. It’s much more common for humans to get human lice. But dog lice still exist, and dog still pick them up, especially from group environments like kennels or shelters.

One little louse can’t do much damage to your dog, but once that louse propagates, your pet can literally be eaten alive. In very serious, untreated cases of dog lice, dogs have been known to lose up to a quarter of their blood volume within months. In this severe form of infestation, the dog begins to suffer from anemia and shock.

Learn more about dog lice.

James Jacobson

We all watched the recent tragedy of hurricane Katrina, most of us from the comfort of our living rooms. The devastation of so many lost homes and shattered lives was heart wrenching. But the part that made me hug my dog tight was watching the agony of people who were forced to leave behind their pets.

People have a special connection with their pets, as evidenced by the thousands who would not leave their dogs and cats behind in order to evacuate to higher ground. This sacred bond of unconditional love is a natural starting place for healing after tragedy, for the victims and for the rest of us, too.

After you send in your money, donate clothes or open your home, there is one more thing you can do to help: meditate. Even more helpful, you can meditate with your dog.

Meditation is compassion in action, and it isn’t just for the esoteric few. Meditation is a profoundly practical tool that enhances everyday life. It decreases blood pressure, heart rate, and the production of stress hormones, promotes relaxation and sharpens mental focus, all of which are of great help in modern society. But regular meditation has the power to transform panic and powerlessness into healing on a global level.

Scientists have recently studied distance healing, the practice of using intentional meditation to promote physical healing for a person, animal or plant that is miles or even thousands of miles away. They’ve found that distance healing works. In the same way that meditators in the studies improved the health of people with heart disease, meditating with the intention of improving the lives of the hurricane victims can help the continuing recovery effort and affect victim’s lives beyond meeting their material needs.

There is no one right way to meditate. Many meditation traditions utilize single-minded focus, or devoting full attention to a particular thing such as the breath, a word, or the light of a candle. The Dalai Lama meditates on compassion, and that is why compassion seems to emanate from his pores.

One of the most powerful ways to meditate is in a group. When two or more are gathered together united with a single intention, their efforts combine synergistically, meaning that together they have a greater effect than each person meditating alone.

But what if you don’t have another person to meditate with? James Jacobson, author of How to Meditate with Your Dog: An Introduction to Meditation for Dog Lovers, presents a simple, non-dogmatic meditation method that shows how to use the love that a person has for his dog as a synergistic force in meditation. When doing an intentional meditation like healing for the hurricane victims, sharing your meditating time with your dog creates a stronger intention than if you were to meditate alone.

Does meditation replace donations of money, time or work? Of course not. But it augments them. Regular meditation enriches our everyday lives and provides hope and healing in times of crisis.

About the Author: How to Meditate with Your Dog: An Introduction to Meditation for Dog Lovers presents a non-dogmatic approach to meditation. To fetch a free chapter from the book and the introduction from the audiobook go to http://www.DogMeditation.com

Source: www.isnare.com

Adam G. Katz

Now that summer is in full swing, many dogs are experiencing dry skin and excessive itchiness. I know that my dog, “Forbes,” certainly has been! Of course, the first thing you’ll want to rule out is fleas. But barring fleas, I’ve found that the best way to alleviate itching is to:

Splash approximately 2 Tablespoons of either vegetable oil or canola oil in your dog’s food.
The additional fat will give your dog’s coat a soft, shiny look and will help alleviate dry skin and itching.
You can also try an over-the-counter product you can get at most pet stores called, “Lipiderm,” which works pretty much the same, but costs a bit more.
Something else you might try: One of my newsletter subscribers writes, “Best thing for itchy skin is lemons. Slice a couple of lemons in a litre of water and boil it. Let it cool down for a day then you can spray it on. Works wonders and is cheap.”

To read more of my dog training ramblings, read about my book (click below): http://tinyurl.com/4efaq
Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer!

About the Author

Author, “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer!” which you can read more about at:
http://tinyurl.com/4efaq

Jon Dunkerley

In today’s society with flu pandemics and such grabbing so much of the spotlight, it is easy for us to overlook the fact that our dogs can also contract a version of flu. Yes it is true, there is a flu virus becoming prominent in the canine world that is believed to have originated as an equine strain. This equine strain has started to appear in dogs in the United States opening up a huge can of worms that we as dog owners now have to deal with. As if there was not already enough dangerous factors that we must be aware of, now there is another potentially serious relatively unknown one to consider.

The Canine Influenza virus presents similar to the human version of the flu:

- Nasal discharge
- Eye discharge
- Fever
- Coughing
- Sneezing
- Vomiting
- Labored breathing

Prophylaxis (Prevention)

- Keep your dog away from large dog populated areas.
- Avoid grooming shops, kennels, boarding kennels, etc.
- Keep your dog away from stray dogs
- Consult your vet for further prevention options

The trouble with the Canine Influenza virus, is that infected dogs can appear healthy. This is why it is crucial to keep your dog away from stray dogs, or dogs that you do not thoroughly know to be clear of the virus, (indoor pets)

Treatment

If you do feel that your dog has developed Canine Influenza, consult your vet immediately for best treatment options. Due to the relatively new appearance of the condition, treatment is limited to IV fluids, and Broad Spectrum antibiotics.

http://www.dogflu.ca

About The Author

Jon Dunkerley

http://www.dogflu.ca is devoted to providing up-to-date dog flu and dog disease info to dog owners around the world.

questions@dogflu.ca

James Jacobson

Meditation is as simple as a walk in the dog park.

Imagine sitting down with your dog. As you both begin to relax, your breaths become longer, less hurried. Your thoughts slow down until it seems like you are not thinking at all.

If you and your dog already share moments like these, then you’ve glimpsed the bliss of meditation.

Meditation is great for dogs. Not only does it improve a dog’s health and well-being, but excitable dogs become calmer, aggressive dogs become more loving, and dogs that once whined and howled for attention become quieter and more content. Meditation is great for you, too. It relieves stress and sharpens your mental focus.

Here are five ways to get started on a non-dogmatic meditation practice.

Schedule a regular time. First thing in the morning is a great time, or right after you get home from work but before you get into your evening activities. The more consistent you are, the more you and your dog will be able to ease into meditation.

Develop a ritual. Ritual helps to prepare you and dog for meditation. Light a candle, burn incense, put on quiet music, or sit in the same place and position each day.

Let go of expectation. If you have a pre-conceived idea of what your meditation experience will be, you’ll just get frustrated. Your experience will not be the same as someone else’s and chances are, will be different for you from day to day. Enjoy your meditation, however it turns out.

Connect with your dog. When you sit down to meditate, your dog should be either lying next to you or on your lap. Put one or both hands on your dog. This connection is soothing to him. Your dog may get up. That’s okay. Just stay quiet, and when your dog returns, put your hand or hands back on him.

Conclude your meditation the same way each time. This signals your body and mind, as well as your dog, that it’s time to move on to the next part of your day. The transition should be gentle rather than jarring. Pet your dog slowly, lengthening the stroke from short to long; whisper or say aloud an affirmation, quote, or prayer; or roll your head from side to side.

Meditating with your dog is as individual as your relationship with your dog. Be patient. Try different things. There are few rules about meditation. The perfect meditation is whatever brings you and your pooch bow wow bliss.

About The Author

James Jacobson

How to Meditate with Your Dog: An Introduction to Meditation for Dog Lovers presents a non-dogmatic approach to meditation. To fetch a free chapter from the book and the introduction from the audiobook go to http://www.DogMeditation.com

Samuel Murray

Pets definitely help us live longer and healthier lives. This is especially true of the elderly and those of us who live alone. Pets make wonderful and faithful companions. They are always there for us. However, this relationship can become strained, and sometimes even be broken when someone in the household develops an allergy to a beloved pet.

Studies show that approximately 15% of the population suffers from an allergy to a dog or cat, and about one third of those with an allergy to cats choose to live in a household with a cat despite the allergy. Some allergy suffers live happily with a pet for a year or two before an allergy starts.

There are sometimes long term health ramifications of repeated allergy flair up’s, especially for children. Repeated flair-up’s can cause permanent lung damage in children. This should be carefully and thoroughly discussed with your physician. One of the ways to live happily with an animal you are allergic to is to decrease your exposure to the animal. Keep the animal outside if possible.

If the allergy sufferer only has a mild reaction to the animal there are ways for the two of them to live together in harmony, but it takes work. The animal should not be allowed in the allergy sufferers bedroom or on the bed. Keep the animal off of any upholstered furniture in the house as dander can be transferred to upholstered furniture. Use a room purifier to remove airborne animal dander. Remove carpets from the home if possible and replace with wood floors. Wash area rugs on a regular basis with warm water. Use a vacuum with a HEPA filter in order to trap dander. The allergy sufferer should wash his or her face and hands after handling the animal. The animal can be bathed weekly in specially formulated shampoo that removes dander.

In some cases where the above methods and the use of over the counter antihistamines and decongestants do not help, the allergy sufferer may need to seek the help of an allergist. Immunotherapy can be thought of like a vaccination against your allergies. Given on a regular basis as shots, immunotherapy helps your body build up a natural tolerance to specific allergens.

With the use of the above methods you’ll be able to live a long and healthy life with your pet!

About The Author

Samuel Murray

This article courtesy of http://www.allergies-facts.com