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Spring is fading gradually into summer, and a lot of us love to spend time outdoors with our dogs. This means exposure to illness, but the most dreaded for dog owners is parvovirus. it strikes hard and kills fast-often within two to three days of dogs showing symptoms. But there's a lot of conflicting information on the web: some say it's airborne, some say it's only through feces. (Experts say it's through feces, even in trace amounts.) Some say it can stay in the environment for 6 months, others a year, some say indoors it will survive for only a month. Some say humans can be affected to some degree, others say not at all.
A pet dogs normal temperature ranges from 99.5 degrees F to 102 degrees F, while a puppy has a temperature of 96 - 97 degrees F at birth, which gradually increases by the fourth week. Any increase in temperature no matter how small needs attention. All animals have a part in their brain that regulates body temperature; it is called the "thermoregulatory center". The cause for the increase in temperature may be chemical compounds called "pyrogens". These are released in the blood, which circulates its way to the brain therefore adjusting the thermoregulatory center settings.
As the days grow longer, your canine companion faces a new, potentially deadly challenge to her health: the heat. Luckily, with a little planning and a few simple changes in her environment, you can arm her for a summer of fun in the sun.
The recent nationwide recall of dog food manufactured by Menu Foods is not a first. The Menu dog food recall followed reports of kidney failure in dogs due to wheat gluten being tainted by aminopterin, a rodent poison. The FDA has been conducting and investigation. In fact, The FDA reported that at least seventy six dogs, nationally, died after eating contaminated dog food manufactured by another company, Diamond Foods, in 2006.
Small breeds of dogs including toys, miniatures and just small dogs are a unique challenge to housetrain. This is largely because as puppies they are so tiny it is hard to tell when they are actually going to the bathroom, their body positioning changes very little compared to larger breed puppies.
