A Guide to your Dogs Basic Health Care Needs

Copyright Dogswish. 2012. All rights reserved worldwide. http:// www.dogswish.co.uk

Your Dogs Basic Health Care Needs

The Animal Welfare Act sets 5 Welfare Needs for Animals, which every owner is legally obliged to provide their pet with at anytime:

To protect from & to provide Treatment of Pain, Suffering, Injury & Disease
However, your dogs full healthcare needs will also depend on the following factors :

A suitable Place to live A healthy Diet, including fresh Water To give the Ability to behave normally To give Ability for appropriate Company

your dogs current Health Status and any Medical Conditions your dog might have
It is therefore important to adapt your dogs healthcare needs to your dogs Health Care Cycle:

Your dogs Breed your dogs Age

Puppyhood The energy requirement per unit of bodyweight for a puppy is about double as that of an adult of the same breed. A high energy dense and a highly digestible diet should be provided during this phase.

Senior-ship
Adequate food which takes into account the particular needs of the older animal must be provided.

Health Care Cycle

Adulthood Correct amount, balance and availability of nutrients need to be provided to sustain your dogs physical and mental health and activity.

Adolescence
Growth will continue, albeit at a slower rate until 12 to 24 months of age, when the bodyweight is achieved.

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Your Dogs Basic Healthcare Needs

Nutrition
Ensure your dogs food includes the following 6 Key Nutrients to provide it with a healthy and balanced diet: Proteins Amino acids make up different ranges of Proteins of which 10 essential ones need to be supplied via your dogs diet. Chose dog-food which contains so called complete proteins to ensure your dog will be provided with the adequate and correct proportions of all essential amino acids. Plus always remember to never over-feed on Proteins as they will be converted & stored as fat in your dogs body.

Fats
Fat is not only a great taste-enhancer for your dogs food, but it also supports the distribution of vitamins A, D, E and K in your dogs body. And did you know? Fats are also essential to help your dog maintaining a healthy skin & hair coat.

Carbohydrates
Untreated carbohydrates, dietary fibres and roughages are usually difficult to digest for your dog. However, cooked and crushed carbohydrates as they are provided in commercial dog foods can benefit your dogs digestive system by management of constipation, diarrhoea, diabetes & obesity.

Vitamins
To ensure the health of your dogs eyesight, bone formation & strength, reproduction, cell stability, blood coagulation and many more, Vitamins are essential in your dogs diet. Hereby the correct amounts & ratios are crucial and dont forget: Vitamin C does not need to be additionally supplied as your dogs body can produce it itself!

Minerals
There are over 20 different minerals that dogs need in different, sufficient & balanced quantities. Most commercial dog foods include all minerals in the correct amounts; therefore a deficiency is extremely unlikely as long as you provide your dog with good quality food.

Water
Yes! Water is a key nutrient for your dogs diet and therefore it is essential that your dog always has access to a fresh supply of drinking water. And remember: As for humans, water is not only necessary for a dog, it is vital for life!

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Your Dogs Basic Healthcare Needs

Weight Management
To successfully establish and maintain your dogs ideal weight, review your dogs body condition (you should be able to feel your dogs ribs, spine and waist with an appropriate amount of tissue between skin & bone) and take into consideration your dogs daily activity levels. This will already give you a good outline to identify if your dog is under- or overweight. Take the following simple rules to heart which will help your pet sustain its ideal weight:

Never feed your dog table scraps! Did you know that 1 small cookie translates into the human equivalent of 1 hamburger? Stick to your dog food manufacturers recommended daily feeding guidelines Try to feed your dog smaller, regular meals and divide your dogs food into small meals Build up gradually the amount of exercise your dog gets & make it fun S elect the right food appropriately to your dogs body condition, age, size & health status! AND continue monitoring your dogs weight on a regular basis

On the other hand, when you experience that your dog seems to suddenly and rapidly loses a significant amount of its weight, contact a vet immediately!

Health Checks
Checking your dogs health on a regular basis is a must! Therefore, we advise you to check your dog at least once per week carefully and systematically for possible signs of illness. This routine should include grooming of your dogs fur and cleaning of the ears, eyes and teeth. Use these sessions also to palpate your dog for any signs of ticks, fleas or any painful reactions. Also, dont forget to book an appointment for a veterinary check -up, at least once per year, for a thorough check on general health condition as well as for its yearly single booster injection against common viruses & diseases.

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Your Dogs Basic Healthcare Needs

Vaccinations Puppies are usually vaccinated at 8 to 10 weeks and should then receive regular boosters every 12 months after their first vaccination. These vaccinations will ensure your dog is protected against infectious diseases like the canine parovirus, canine distemper virus, leptospirosis and infectious canine hepatitis. And if you plan on travelling abroad, ensure your dog will be additionally vaccinated against rabies! Worming As dogs can pick up worms in various ways and even healthy looking pets can carry them, it is very important to apply a regular worming program on a three-monthly basis. These so called anthelmintic therapies come in various preparations incl. tablets, liquids, granules and spot-on. To guarantee the appropriate treatment, tailored to your dogs specific needs and health status, please contact us for an appointment! Dental Care There are many toys, treats and special foods available which are all designed to help with your dogs dental care. However, regular brushing is still the most effective way to maintain your dogs oral health. As dogs have long & flexible tongues that already clean most of the inside of their teeth, brushing is mainly needed at the outside of the teeth. Try to train your dog accepting the brushing procedure from an early age onwards, but dont worry with the right reward training, older dogs can soon accept & enjoy a regular brushing experience as well!

Flea Treatment So called adulticides are used to take out adult fleas usually within 24 hours. But, as fleas can breed and lay eggs very quickly, adulticides should always be used in combination with insect growth regulators, spot-ons and/ or household sprays which are specifically designed to prevent flea eggs from hatching. Furthermore there are a wide range of oral products and injectable flea control treatments on the market. Please contact us to discuss the best flea treatment option for your pet. Also, remember to treat every animal in the house as soon as you realise fleas on any of your pets and always follow the instructions on the package leaflet! Neutering You probably heard before that neutering may be beneficial for various different reasons. But there can be more to it than simply preventing pregnancies and overpopulation of unwanted animals in the rescue system: Neutering can prolong your pets life & reduce the number of health problems in later life prevents female animals coming into season and have false pregnancies can reduce the incidence of uterine, mammary, and ovarian cancers as well as hernias and infections reduces the risk of prostate and testicular cancer Spaying and castrations are carried out under general anaesthetic and most animals recover very quickly from the operation and against widely held belief without any character changes.

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Your Dogs Basic Healthcare Needs

... And What about ... ?

Micro-chipping
Micro-chipping is recognised to be the most effective and secure way of permanently identifying a pet. This, very small, electronic device is coded with a unique identification number and injected under your dogs skin with a sterile needle. But dont worry! The procedure does usually not cause any more discomfort than a standard vaccination. The chip can then be scanned and the unique identification number is linked to the owners address in a national database.

Insurance
Statistics show that 2 out of 3 pets require veterinary treatment every year and the resulting bills can make up to 30% of the total cost of owning a dog over its lifetime... In addition to this, there are many other ways that your dog could cost you money. Therefore we strongly recommend comprehensive dog insurance that will help you cover not only veterinary treatments, but also costs such as hospitalization fees or if your dog causes damage to someone elses property.

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Copyright Dogswish. 2012. All rights reserved worldwide. http:// www.dogswish.co.uk

Your Dogs Basic Healthcare Needs

Dogswish Pia Offord Dip.dog.psy.MOC.MSFTR
The founder of Dogswish, Pia Offord, grew up with 7 Siberian Huskies, parents who were highly engaged in dog agility and a father who served as a professional dog-handler within the guard-and security business and could therefore gain prominent knowledge and interest in canine behaviourism already from a young age.
Voluntary work in veterinary practices and kennels helped her to develop an excellent in-depth view in behaviour management as well as in basic animal handling & medical care. Her passion for animals, people and experience gained from years of leadership, including management, training and development of staff, helped Pia to understand basic learning abilities and approaches, which are closely linked between human as well as canine / feline creatures, and encourage her to consistently study this specific field further.

Contact
Dogswish Caterways Brighton Road Horsham West Sussex UK RH13 6PP Tel: +44 (0) 140 389 1821 Fax: +44 (0) 872 111 3554 E-mail dogswish@dogswish.co.uk Web site http://www.dogswish.co.uk Blog http://dogswish.wordpress.com Our aim at Dogswish is to develop the knowledge and understanding of dog -owners relating to their dogs behaviours and help them to achieve a balanced, happy and fulfilled life together.

All contents Copyright 2012 Dogswish. All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this document or the related files may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is strictly prohibited. All images by http://openclipart.org/