Caring for your dog’s health is a very important part of owning a dog. If you are able to follow the proper dog health care procedures, your dog will enjoy a longer, healthier life. As a dog owner, you are solely responsible for providing the best possible care for your pet. There are several basic guidelines that you can follow in order to maintain proper dog health care.
BEHAVIORAL CHANGES
When your dog’s behavior changes, this could potentially be indicative of a health problem. While many dog owners don’t pay enough attention to their dog’s behavioral habits, it is actually a very important part of recognizing potentially harmful health conditions. Your dog’s behavioral changes always have a reason, even if it’s not health-related. For example, you may notice that your dog is not eating as much during meal times. While many dog owners would not see this as a cause for concern, lack of appetite is actually a very common symptom in many health conditions that affect dogs. Your dog could have an intestinal parasite, or may have a gastrointestinal problem. Recognizing any changes in your dog’s behavior is a good preventive measure in dog health care.
GENERAL CARE
Though it may seem like common sense, there are many basic dog health care procedures that will help your dog enjoy a higher quality of life. This includes nutrition, water and exercise. While many dog owners are aware that most dogs require daily exercise, taking the time to walk a dog is actually often ignored. An average dog owner will walk their dog for 30 minutes twice per week, even though some dogs require 30 minutes of exercise on a daily basis. This lack of exercise can actually contribute to serious health problems, most of which are brought on by obesity. A healthy diet, fresh water and regular exercise will go a long way in caring for your dog’s overall health.
GROOMING
Regularly grooming your dog is actually an important part of dog health care, especially if you have a dog that is in the moderate-high shedding category. Grooming helps to remove excess dead hair, skin and dirt from your dog’s coat. If your dog is not groomed on a regular basis, it is entirely possible that a health condition will develop. The most common health condition to develop due to lack of grooming is skin irritation, since bacteria will begin to grow on dead skin particles. Grooming your dog at least twice per week should prevent this condition.
VETERINARY CHECKUPS
When caring for your dog’s health, it is also very important to keep attending regular visits with a veterinarian. A veterinarian is specially trained to recognize any potential health problems in your dog, and may be able to identify medical symptoms that a regular dog owner would not notice. In addition to this, it’s very important to keep your dog up-to-date on their immunizations. There are some potentially fatal diseases that may be prevented simply with a vaccine.
12. January 2010 at 2:36 pm
Finding the right veterinarian is not as easy as it might seem. Often one doesn’t find that out until something serious is going on. Even referral from a friend or a neighbor doesn’t always help. You don’t really know how good you veterinarian is, until you’re facing an issue out of the regular routine stuff.
We switched to a new veterinarian, because we felt our old one wasn’t showing enough care. It seemed all business to them. Our friends gave us a recommendation about a vet who they were really excited about and thought he was wonderful.
But once the poop hit the fan, we learned otherwise.
Now we have a vet who truly is amazing, and we can lean on him no matter what is going on. But sadly, I do believe that those are hard to come by.
So how can one tell how good their veterinarian is?
Does he listen to you? Does he take what you’re saying into consideration? Does he take things seriously and doesn’t dismiss symptoms? Is he able to go beyond the routine stuff? Than you have a good one.
Jana