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If you have a very energetic dog it can be due to a number of reasons. Some of them may be part of your dog’s individual nature or related to his breed. Some of them may be behavioral or part of his environment. Here’s a run-down.

1. Most young dogs are very energetic. This is especially true for dogs that are less than a year old but even dogs that are less than two or three years old may behave like puppies at times and have enormous bursts of energy. If you have a young dog you can expect him to be very energetic until he matures more. Once your dog is three or four years old he will start sleeping and relaxing more and be calmer.

2. Some breeds are more energetic than others. This is simply part of their nature. Sporting dogs, herding dogs, working dogs and some others need lots of exercise in order to be fit and happy. If they don’t get that exercise it can lead to behavior problems. If you have a breed that was bred to work all day and you and your dog are living in a small apartment, then it’s likely that your dog will have a lot of energy to burn. He may not be getting enough exercise to satisfy his needs. Before you get any dog you should always consider what the breed was originally intended to do. This will tell you what kind of exercise requirements the dog will have.

Even if you have a mixed breed dog, that dog may have had ancestors who did some kind of work. Your dog will have energy that he needs to use. Otherwise, he can also develop destructive behaviors in the home.

3. Many people feed their dogs a diet that produces more energy than the dogs need. Dog food today often provides more nutrition than is strictly necessary to meet nutritional requirements. Many people feed foods that have very high levels of protein. If you feed your dog a diet comparable to a dog that is going to run in the Iditarod then it’s not surprising if the dog has a lot of energy to burn. This can, in turn, lead to behavior problems when your dog has no way to burn off this extra energy. Look for a dog food that has more moderate levels of protein and you may see your dog’s energy levels go back to normal.

If you do have a very energetic dog there are some good things you can do to help your dog learn to channel his energy.

For puppies, look into puppy preschool and puppy kindergarten classes. These classes are great ways to socialize your puppy and introduce him to some early training. They can help modify the energy.

For older puppies and dogs sign up for a training class. This is a great way to help your dog use his energy in a positive way. He learns some good obedience training, the two of you are doing something fun together, and he’s getting rid of his energy in a good way.

Check into some dog sports and activities you can do with your dog. There’s everything from agility to frisbee toss to dock diving out there for you and your dog to try. Your dog would love it.

Have fun with your dog. One of the reasons people enjoy having a dog so much is because of their energy and the things we can do with them. See what you and your dog can find to do together.

Tell us what you have done to slow down your over energetic dog in the comment section below.

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Heartworms are a parasite found in dogs which are spread by mosquitoes. It is a very serious disease and, left untreated, can kill your dog.

At one time heartworms were only found in parts of the United States with mosquito problems but in the last 30 years they have spread to all of the lower 48 states. There is no part of the continental U.S. that is free of heartworms. Unless your dog takes a regular heartworm preventive of some kind he is at risk of developing heartworms after being bitten by a mosquito.

The basic heartworm life cycle is fairly simple. A mosquito carrying heartworm larvae bites your dog and transfers them into your dog’s bloodstream. There they will incubate for a few days until they migrate to your dog’s heart. At that point the microscopic larvae will begin to grow in your dog’s heart until they become very large. They can interfere with your dog’s heart action and pieces of the heartworms can break off which can also cause problems. The heartworms will also continue to reproduce.

Your dog probably won’t show any symptoms of having heartworms until the later stages of the disease. At that point the first symptom is usually coughing. This means that the heartworms have migrated to your dog’s lungs. They will usually be found in the veins and blood vessels leading to the lungs as well. They can also be found in your dog’s liver. From there they will infest other organs, along with your dog’s heart. As they infest organs the organs will begin to stop functioning and your dog will die. Your dog probably won’t be able to tolerate any exercise long before he starts showing any definite symptoms because he will be feeling weak and lethargic.

Fortunately, heartworm disease is easily preventable. There are a number of heartworm preventives in the market such as Heartgard, Interceptor, Revolution, Sentinel, Iverhart, and Ivermectin. Some preventives are given as monthly treats while others are daily pills. There are even long-terms injections available for your pet from your veterinarian. If you give your pet a regular preventive then there is no need for him to ever get heartworms.

In the United States heartworm medication requires a veterinary prescription. Your vet will recommend a test for heartworms before writing the prescription. This is a simple test that draws your dog blood and checks for the presence of heartworm microfilariae in the blood. If your dog’s blood is clear of the presence of heartworms then your vet will write the prescription. If there is any sign of heartworms then your dog will need treatment.

Treatment for heartworms usually takes two forms. There is a quick approach and a slower approach. The quick approach uses an injectable drug to kill the adult heartworms. It is given over the course of two days. It kills the adult heartworms in the dog’s heart and the surrounding blood vessels. There is some risk involved in this approach since the large heartworms will be breaking off and may cause blood clots. When the heartworms break up they are carried to the lungs where they lodge in the tiny blood vessels. They are eventually reabsorbed by the body but it is possible that your dog could have a bad reaction at this time while the heartworms are in the process of dying. Your dog will probably cough during this time and for the next seven or eight weeks.

There is a second, slower form of treatment that involves using the same chemical that is found in heartworm preventive. It kills off the young heartworms as they emerge and allows the older ones to simply die off. This does take a long time and you won’t see a dramatic improvement in your dog. However, it is less risky.

The best way to combat heartworms is to start your dog on heartworm prevention as soon as you get him. Even very young puppies can take heartworm preventive. If you keep your dog on heartworm prevention for his whole life then you’ll never have to worry about heartworms.

Heartworm season is on the way so be sure and get your dog tested and on preventative, you will be glad you did. We keep our dogs on preventative 12 month of the year just to be safe.

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If you’re a dog lover there are many ways you can become involved in helping dogs and doing volunteer work. It’s not even necessary for you to own a dog to get involved. There are lots of groups and organizations which are always looking for dedicated volunteers to help with dogs. The most important asset you can offer is a love of dogs and a willingness to get involved.

Your local animal shelter is a great place to start if you’re looking for a way to help and to become involved in dog volunteer work. Most shelters are under-staffed and actively rely on volunteers to do a great deal of the daily work involved in caring for animals. Volunteer jobs may include walking dogs, petting dogs to make them feel more at ease and bathing and grooming. The best way to find out what your local shelter needs in the way of volunteers is to call and ask, or drop by and talk to staff. They will most likely welcome you with open arms.

Animal rescue groups are another way for you to get involved in doing dog volunteer work. Here there are a number of directions you can go. Some groups are more formal than others and may work with breed parent clubs to rescue certain breeds and mixes all over the country. Other groups will rescue any dog they hear about in a local area if possible. There are rescue organizations for every specific breed, for hunting dogs, for bully breed dogs, for dogs with certain health problems

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Dog Training Products

Training your gun dogs to hunt, whether it’s for flushing, pointing, or retrieving, there are great tools at your disposal. Bird and Dummy Launchers are available with remote control devices that can be used together or separately to fill your training needs.

Remote Bird and Dummy Launchers

Whether you are using a dummy launcher or a bird launcher, you can use a remote control that allows you to train your dog without having another person present with you. Without the remote, you would need at least one other person to assist in your training which of course can distract your dog.

Other extras with bird launchers include bird calls, sounds, and beeps that can be used to train your dog in field craft and hunting. Which kind of launcher (bird or dummy) will depend on the specific type of training you are doing with your dog. Your goal is to make an effective and confident hunting companion and launchers can be an essential tool towards this goal.

Bumper Launchers

This is your secret weapon in teaching your dog to learn to retrieve came. The dummy launcher is for those who work alone and you allow you to launch your dummies at a height and distance that is far greater than throwing it yourself. This allows your dog to learn to retrieve game that is further away. This is especially helpful when you consider that if you were using hand launching followed by shooting; your dog would become accustomed to fetching game at close distances. One of the best features of the remote launchers is that you can use the accompanying sounds to train your dog to react as if he were hunting actual game (ducks, pheasant, etc.).

Bird Launchers

For training pointing or flushing dogs, bird launchers will work perfectly. A great benefit to bird launchers is that you can actually set it up to launch multiple birds to simulate real hunting. The good thing is, dogs are bred to hunt so your main focus is to train your dog to respect another dog’s point, as well as flush out birds. A bird launcher will give you a good shot at achieving this type of training. Trainers of pointing dogs have been successful in using these for years now, and even those who train flushing dogs are starting to use these tools more often. Because a bird launcher is designed with a spring latch which will release prey fairly low, it can quickly help your dog learn the skills needed for hunting quail as well as pheasant.

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Health and Safety

Heartworm, or roundworm, is very serious can affect all types of gun dogs. With gun dogs, working dogs, and other outdoor dogs, you must be especially concerned because they are more susceptible to heartworm. The worse case scenario is that an affected dog can pass it on to humans, as well as other dogs. In turn, you can also pass on heartworm to your own dog.

Prevention of heartworm is crucial, especially when you consider that once your dog is infected with this parasite it made lead to death. Of greater concern is other in animals that come in contact with your dog such as coyotes, fox’s, and others may have roundworm and may transmit that disease to your dog.

Preventing Roundworm/Heartworm

Prevention can come in the form of tablet or food additive when given to your dog as a preventative measure. A tablet can be ingested orally and mahy come in the form of a dog treat, and food additives can be added or mixed with food. Most of these treatments are monthly applications. Remember to give it to your dog each month. Use a calendar if it helps you remember.

In areas where there are four seasons, the primary carrier of roundworm is mosquitoes, which ingest infected blood and then give it to another animal as they sting them. In areas with less harsh seasonal changes, roundworm is more often transmitted from animal to animal. In all cases, giving your gun dog preventive treatment every month, no matter the time of year, is a best practice.

Symptoms of Roundworm

In its early stages, roundworm is very hard to detect since your dog won’t show any physcial signs of illness. Your vet can test for the disease, or skilled vets can tell by observation. It is typical of heartworm to gestate for several months before affecting your dog. During this stage of the illness, the disease can easily be treated, but it is best when your dog is asymptomatic.

Typically a dog infected with the round worm becomes lethargic and not necessarily interested in is normal daily activities. You may notice a cough or weight loss in addition to these other symptoms. Contact your veterinarian immediately because in addition to roundworm there may be other infections that may be causing the symptoms.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Roundworm

Diagnosing roundworms requires a blood test. During the blood test one step will be to determine whether the roundworms are male or female which will help direct your veterinarian to the proper treatment course.

Roundworm treatment is extensive and may be very expensive to treat. Aside from that the treatment is very difficult for your dog and in fact may result in his needing dialysis. Almost all dogs will be listless, suffer weight loss, and has other symptoms while the Worms are discharged. Follow-up treatments will be necessary to ensure that all of the Worms are eliminate it from your dog system.

Damage to organs can also be a result of roundworm infection and can mean lifelong treatment for that as well. This is why it’s so important to catch the infection as early as possible and to not delay in getting treatment for it.

When you have any sort of hunting dog, you should always keep in mind that you should always keep your dog’s health as top priority.

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Everyone feel that their pet dog deserves to dress like them, comfortably and with style! And when you think like the same than you are absolutely right. Because we feel that our dogs are a part of our family and need that special concern where their gear is concerned. So definitely, they depend upon you that you will choose for them clothes that could give them with ease. Always choose the right kind of Pet apparels for your pet dogs. Choosing the right kind of dog apparel you choose would depend upon many factors like the breed of your pet dog, its size, the requirement for its clothing, etc.
When choosing dog clothes one should keep in mind the requirement of the dresses and the fitting, which would give rise to a high level of relieve for your lovely furry pet.

Your pets ought to be pampered with different outfit for various occasions! Don’t let your dog wear the same coat which he had worn for his evening stroll cannot be repeated to the party he accompanies you to. As your doggy needs to be cared for and thought about where dog coats and jackets are concerned! You can anytime depend on us to dress your precious pet in style and comfort. We are one of the best online companies specializing in Designer Dog Clothes to bring to you a variety of uncommon clothing statements for any kind of occasion you are looking for! No matter whether you are looking for an evening stroller gear to walk your poodle, you want to dress your dog for a fancy costume party, or if you are looking out for a designer evening coat for a party he needs to attend – we have it all for every occasion and function!

Anytime you can browse our website and choose your dog clothes without having to visit any dog store. Our main concern is the comfort level of our furry dog pet. To help you with the correct measurements we have methods by which you could get the perfect sized dress or dog apparel for your Lovely pet. To give you a briefing about our dog clothing, we have a variety of dog clothes from Designer Dog sweaters , coats, jackets, hooded comforters to sanitary pants, pajamas, dresses, costumes, wedding attires, and many more.

If you are staying near a beach where the weather is hot the whole time, you need to select the right kind of dog shirts to provide your pets’ ultimate comfort and breathing space. But in summer weather needs you to choose some cool material for you pet. You could choose robes and tank tops made from good cotton and materials that would soothe your doggy climatically or you could choose swimwear so that your dog is comfortable while swimming. Our website is aimed at providing your bundle of fur with the right dog clothes for the right occasion. Browse though our site to choose from hundreds of special designer clothes for your special pet. Happy pet shopping!

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Crufts was won by a gundog called Yogi in Birmingham, England.

The Hungarian Vizsla took the coveted title of Best in Show 2010.

It was the movie that made Dalmatians an instant success as companion dogs and family pets, and caused the over breeding of Dalmatians that led to several serious problems. Among the most serious of these issues was a sudden influx of Dalmatians into shelters and the abandonment of many of these dogs. The people who snatched up Dalmatians immediately following the release of “101 Dalmatians” expected the docile, intelligent creatures depicted on the big screen. When the dog was more difficult to train than expected and went through serious shedding episodes on a regular basis, people quickly got tired of them.

Spot the Dog

There’s no doubt that the Dalmatian has a mind of its own and can be quite aggressive. There’s also no doubt that given proper training and socialization, these can make excellent family pets, companions and show dogs.

There are many countries that claim the origins of the Dalmatian and there seems to be no real consensus about which is the legitimate originator. There’s little doubt that this is a true “ancient” breed or that it is directly descended from some breed that dates back several centuries. The first undisputed evidence of the Dalmatian goes back a mere two centuries to the early and mid 1800s. In those days, many people raised Dalmatian to be the equivalent of a modern day car alarm. The dogs didn’t ride along in buggies, carts and wagons, but trotted along beside. Once the wagon reached its destination, the Dalmatian was trained to take up a position under the conveyance and guard it until his master’s return. They were especially popular in cities where thefts were more common. These dogs would run alongside the wagons, often taking refuge from other wagons and horses by walking under the wagon they would be guarding!

The natural stamina needed for their guarding tasks has lasted across the years. Today, Dalmatians need plenty of exercise and tend to expect some help getting it. They want their people nearby and can be destructive if left to their own devices. Like several other breeds, the Dalmatian craves attention and will settle for negative attention if his owners aren’t doling out sufficient time otherwise.

An important fact that caused the disenchantment of many Dalmatian owners is the incredible memory of these dogs. Once they’ve been mistreated, they may never really recover. The families who had small children who were rough on the Dalmatian or mistreated the dog quickly found out that distrust was immediate and long-lasting. That led to many families’ willingness to give up the dogs quickly.

Dalmatians have a white coat, usually with distinctive black spots though the spots may be several shades of brown as well. In some cases, Dalmatians may have no spots, though this is often a negative point for the show ring. The spots are irregular and may or may not completely cover the ears.

Treated well and properly trained, Dalmatians can be every bit the wonderful companion depicted on the big screen. And one of the most incredible traits? These litters can be every bit at large as the one in the movie with litters of 12 to 15 puppies being quite common.

About the Author
For more information on Dalmatians and other Popular, and not-so-popular breeds of dogs, visit The Non Sporting Dog Directory

Article source:
Dalmatians – Great Dogs, Even in Numbers Less than 101

Dalmations have a reputation for being slightly aggressive and difficult to train. Not when you have the Secrets to Training Dogs course. This month, there are some fantastic free bonuses being given away too. But hurry…the offer doesn’t last long! Click here to see full details

We have a 21 month old and a 3 1/2 year old dog. We brought home a stray kitten that we think is about 4 months old. He is afraid of the dogs and the dogs are a bit aggressive towards him. The strange thing is that we already have a cat that is 1 1/2 years old. We’ve had him since he was a kitten and he and the dogs have always gotten along. We want to keep the kitten, but we’re not sure how to get the kitten and the dogs to get along. Any suggestions?

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