Archives for March, 2010
If you already own a diabetic dog or are worried that you are starting to see the signs in your dog that he may have canine diabetes then you should speak to your local Veterinary Practice as soon as possible. This is because you need to know how this will affect your dog in the long term.
Canine diabetes can hit a dog at any age from around 18 Months onwards and if not treated properly in time can have some very serious, damaging results to your dog such as dehydration, malnutrition and even death.
In healthy dogs the pancreas releases insulin naturally into their body when it detects a high level of glucose in the bodies blood. The insulin created by the pancreas goes out and grabs the glucose from within the bloodstream. Dogs with diabetes can’t perform this task on their own and they need regular insulin injections to help counter act the high blood glucose levels.
There are 2 types of diabetes in both humans and dogs. Type 1 is the worst of the 2 and requires regular insulin injections. Type 2 is when the body tries to feed itself by using its own internal fat stores and isn’t insulin injection dependant.
Some of the more severe problems that canine diabetes can cause is progressive dog blindness. This happens because of high levels of glucose in the blood for long periods of time lead to cataracts forming in the eyes (this is when a white pigmentation develops on the lens of the eye) as these get worst your dogs sight will eventually go blind. Diabetic dogs will develop this if you don’t keep mindful watch over your dog’s behavior and pick up on any changes in their drinking and urinating. If your dog does develop canine diabetes then surgery could be an option however this could be expensive and if you don’t have your dog insured to cover this treatment then you may have the fork out a lot of money.
Another issue with canine diabetes which can be treated is dog pancreatitis this is when there is an inflammation in your dogs pancreas and if left untreated can become life threatening. Signs to watch out for are lack of appetite, blood in their stools, diarrhea, vomiting, excessive or in excessive drinking. Watch their eating and drinking habits and keep a diary of times and what they ate, this information could be crucial in helping your Vet determine whether your dog has pancreatitis.
To help your dog through with canine diabetes feed him food that he can very easily digest and put him on a low fat diet. Make sure you give him water on a little and often basis to keep him hydrated from the vomiting and diarrhea. Keep in touch with your Vet and make sure you administer all the medicines they give you correctly.
If you have any doubts at all, reagrding canine diabetes consult with your Vet and they will be able to advise on whether you’re stressing over nothing or whether there is something serious looming with your dog, that’s what their there for right?
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Mar 29, 2010 | | Dog Diabetes
Dog diabetes is a very devastating but treatable disease and the dog diabetes symptoms to watch out for are Polyuria and Polydipsia. These are the medical terms for these symptoms. Here’s what they mean:
Polyuria – When there’s too much glucose in the blood (also known as Hyperglycemia) the kidneys cannot cope and reabsorb everything back into the body and the excess glucose ends up in the urine the word for this is Polyuria.
Polydipsia – Is when dogs with diabetes need a much greater intake of water. However to look at this alone could give a false dog diagnosis of whether your dog has diabetes or not.
Basically these dog diabetes symptoms are when your dog drinks excessively and therefore needs to urinate excessive too, they go hand in hand. A diabetic dog will do this throughout the day so watch out for how often your dog needs to drink or go to the toilet. This is probably the best diabetes in dogs symptoms to watch out for especially if you notice an increase in this behavior.
Another one of the dog diabetes sypmtoms is that your dog may also have tiring due to the lack of glucose in their system and canine diabetes can occur in a dog whether they become under or over weight, sometimes their might be no weight change at all.
If you see these dog diabetes symptoms in your dog then it is advised that you seek medical help from your Vet. They will be able to run the proper blood tests to tell whether you own a dog who has diabetes. If their tests come back and show a persistently high level of glucose in their blood and a persistently high level of glucose in the urine your dog will be considered diabetic and your Vet will be able to assist you in the correct way to move forward with looking after your dog.
It’s not the end of the World if you or your dog develops diabetes and shows the typical dog diabetes symptoms because medical advances have come such a long way now that you can carry a kit around in your pocket that will help you monitor your blood glucose levels and you’ll also be able to administer your treatment anywhere you go.
By treatment I mean you will need to administer your dog with insulin therapy on a regular basis to relieve him of his dog diabetes symptoms. There are different types of insulin available for your dog and your Vet will be able to advise and prescribe you with the correct medicine and information on how often to treat. Keep the insulin refrigerated and before you administer to your dog give the medicine a little shake to mix it up. Don’t shake too hard all you’ll need to do is to move the capsule back and forth in your hand a few times.
Also when you’ve administered your dog with the treatment to help with easing these dog diabetes symptoms please ensure you dispose of the used kit in the proper way. Don’t just put them in your normal bin, I would suggest you put them in a plastic tub and keep them out of the reach of children and then when you get time take them back to your Vet and they will be able to dispose of them with all their used medical equipment.
Keep an eye out for these dog diabetes symptoms and if you do feel your dog drinks alot don’t panic but get him checked out just to be safe.
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Mar 29, 2010 | | Dog Diabetes
Every dog owner worries for their dog’s state of health and a dog with diabetes should not be overlooked. There are some signs to watch out for to tell if you own a dog with diabetes, here’s an overview of what to look out for;
A dog with diabetes will tend to show some very common signs and once you know what to look out for you’ll be able to at the very least take your dog to a professional Vet for a proper diagnosis. Watch out for your dog’s appetite increasing however they appear to be losing weight as if their not eating enough. Also on the flipside your dog’s appetite may decrease drastically. A dog usually goes mad at meal time however watch out for a sudden change and monitor it over a few days. If you see no change in their appetite going back to normal then seek advice from your Vet to determine whether you have a diabetic dog.
A dog with diabetes can also be identified should your dog start drinking a lot more than usual and needing to pee a lot more. Thirst is a huge sign that your dog could be developing canine diabetes so keep an eye on their water bowl, are they needing filling more than usual. Don’t panic if you do see them drinking a lot more especially in the summer when its hotter than usual they will need to drink more to stay hydrated.
Another way to tell if you dogs diabetes is developing rapidly is that their breath will smell a little worst than usual and it will have a very pungent, hit you odor rather like they just drank a bottle of medicine or something alcoholic.
Does he look like he’s sick, is his behavior a little different to the norm. If you see these signs don’t fret, you will need to just simple consult your Vet and get them to run their tests. If your dog doesn’t have diabetes then at least the results from these test will put your mind at rest.
Also your Vet will be able to tell you if you have a dog with diabetes they will be able to tell you if anything is actually wrong with your dog at all. They could just simple have a bug they picked up. If you still have concerns about your dog ever developing diabetes then your Vet will also be able to advise you on how to prevent it from developing in your dog.
Should you find you have a dog with diabetes you will need to monitor his blood glucose levels, his diet and make sure your dog gets lots of exercise.
All in all a dog with diabetes is a common however if you can watch out for these signs then you will be able to start the treatment to either prevent it from developing into a life long illness or, if things have developed past the prevention stage, you can find out how to properly care for your dog for the rest of his life.
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Mar 29, 2010 | | Dog Diabetes
Clicker training a dog is a lot easier to do than what some people might think. The dog clicker device is can be used to teach your dog a multitude of different tasks and can help them learn what they should be doing whilst they are living with you.
Most people fail when they start clicker training a dog because they think the clicker is there to tell the dog what to and what not to do. The clicker is only there to help you tell the dog that what they have done is good and you backup the sound with a treat and a lot of positive attention. A clicker could very easily be used to teach a dog negatives like attacking other people or even going to the toilet in the home.
When clicker training a dog you should approached with the mindset that the device is used as a communication tool to tell your dog that what they just did was right immediately at that point in time. And this is the mindset you’ll need when clicker training your dogIf you get yourself into the right frame of mind to use the device then clicker training a dog will work for you and you’ll find it easier than what you thought.
Once you get started with clicker training a dog you’ll first be teaching your dog the very basic simple commands like sit, come and go to bed however then you’ll move onto more complex commands. Break each task into stages and apply a click once your dog starts to do what you told him to do. So if you tell your dog to go to bed you would click when he starts to make his way to his bed and then you would apply a second click when he actually gets onto his bed, you can then follow this up with praise and/ or a treat.
When clicker training a dog I would personally recommend you treat your dog more in the beginning and then reduce this down to the point where you would praise more often than treat. I wouldn’t cut out the treats entirely even when my dog has advanced to more complex commands. If you’re worried about giving too much food to your dog then I would suggest you take the treats from his daily meal allowance. You usually get a plastic cup when you buy dog food from your local pet store so I would measure out your dogs daily allowance and then give him treats from this.
I hope this clicker training dogs guide will be useful to you and I have found these dog training tactics really do accelerate your dogs learning curve. The timing of the clicking sound is paramount to how successful you will be with this form of dog training.
When clicker training a dog if you use the clicker to try to get your dog to do what you say then it just won’t work for you at all. Follow these tips and you’ll soon see results and eventually you can teach your friends how to properly train their dogs by using a clicker device.
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Mar 28, 2010 | | Clicker Training Dogs
In this article I want to help those people who want to use clicker training for their dog but don’t know where to start. I’m going to give you here a quick clicker training guide to show you the clicker training basics to get you going. Most people get the timing wrong and then wonder why, when they try to implement these clicker training basics, that their dog doesn’t respond as desired.
When clicker training dogs the best way for you to get started and one of the best tips for clicker training basics I can give you here is to first teach your dog that when he hears the clicking sound from the device he will receive a treat. This is where you should start because once your dog knows that whenever he hears the clicking sound he will be soon getting a nice mouth watering treat from you the sooner you can start to associate the clicker training with his good behavior.
One of the fundamental concepts you will need to understand with clicker training basics is that when you’re clicker training your dog you want to only mark the good behavior with your clicker device at the point in time your dog does the action. For example if you call to your dog “come” or “here” you would click at the point your dog begins to move towards you and then click again when he arrives at you whilst at the same time you would also give him a treat and some praise when finally arrives at you. You wouldn’t use the dog clicker to get your dog to come to you using the example above; say your dog was laid down on his bed and you call to him to “come” to you and he doesn’t move you wouldn’t then call out “come” and click to get him to get up off his bed you would call “come” as many times as required and then you would only apply the first click when he actually starts to get up. You would then apply the second click a microsecond before you give him the treat. Many people don’t follow these simple clicker training basics, get it wrong and then get frustrated with their dog.
Training with a clicker is can be very effective however if not done correctly you might as well not bother to use one because you are not associating the correct action from the dog to your dog clicker device. This is one of the fundamental clicker training basics you MUST grasp before you even begin.
So to recap when you start dog clicker training you should follow this clicker training basics routine per click. 1) Call out the desired command. 2) Click as your dog starts to make the desired movement. 3) Click again as your dog completes the desired action. 4) Give your dog a treat followed by lots of positive praise. All this can happen within a couple of seconds however if you can imprint this process into your mind it will eventually become instinctive and you will do this without thinking about it. Your dog will associate the clicking sound with receiving a treat and praise from his owner and he will want more of that so he will behave in a good way more often because you will have trained him towards what he should be doing.
Keep doing this and eventually you will no longer need the clicker device and your dog will obey your every command. And if you get to a point where your really finding things difficult just go back to the clicker training basics I mentioned above and start again.
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Mar 28, 2010 | | Clicker Training Dogs
The good news is that when clicker training a puppy or a dog you apply the same concepts to both; you mark good behavior with a click and a treat or praise (basically some form of reward for your dog).
A dog clicker is usually a small plastic device with a large button in the center when you press and depress this button the device releases an audible click, hence the name clicker. This sound is what you’ll use to mark your puppy with when they do what you command or show good behavior while you’re clicker training a puppy.
With both clicker training a puppy or a dog clicker training the dog clicker should be kept handy at all times so you can use it at any point in time. You will need to keep it handy because you never know when you’ll need it to mark your puppy’s good behavior.
When clicker training a puppy you use the sound that the clicker makes to mark your puppy’s good behavior at the very instance that they do it. You then follow this up with a “good boy” or a tasty treat. Keep doing this and over time your puppy will want you to click the clicker because he knows what he gets if you do. By this I mean that your puppy will do as he is told and not do the undesired things that puppies and dogs usually do like taking food from the kitchen side or ripping up your slippers or magazines.
Whilst clicker training a puppy to approve of their good behavior you should only use it for this reason, if you start associating the clicker with when your puppy is bad then he will never know the difference and the time and effort you’ve put into training your puppy with a clicker so far will have been wasted. When clicker training a puppy you should only ever use it to reward the good.
All in all clicker training dogs and puppies is very simple and easy to integrate into your dogs lifestyle and it shouldn’t disrupt their environment that much. To initially introduce your dog to the clicker I would suggest that you click at the point of every single piece of the good behavior your dog performs and immediately give him a treat along with some praise. Over time the process of clicker training your dog or puppy will become instinctive but make sure that when you start you stick to it and stay consistent. If you use the clicker all the time for both good and bad behavior you may has well not have bothered to begin with.
Clicker training is a great way to reinforce your dogs good behavior positively by utilizing your dogs natural psychological tendencies to make him learn what he should be doing and what he shouldn’t. This method of dog and puppy training does work and it has been proven many times however the owner of the dog introducing the clicker, once started, should keep using at all times.
You should aim to get to a point with your clicker training a puppy efforts where the clicker will be no longer needed and if you set out to use the clicker to mark your dogs good behavior you should find that it won’t take long for your dog to not need to hear the sound of a click and just your voice will be enough to steer him in the right direction.
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Mar 28, 2010 | | Clicker Training Dogs
