Dog Care 101
The senior dog years can be hard -- on both the dog and the owner. But there are many things you can do to keep your older dog with you and feeling as good as possible for many years to come. Here's what to look for in terms of your dog's weight, energy, and behavior issues as he approaches old age.
If your dog spends most his time indoors then it's easy for his toenails to get too long. If you hear your dog's nails click when he walks on a hard floor, it's time for a trim! Here are a few things you can do to make your dog's nail clipping day a pleasant and even enjoyable experience for both you and your dog.
The way to teach your dog some fun new tricks is to simply think about some things your dog does naturally without being asked. Then, give a specific 'command' to that behavior. From this point forward, whenever your dog does that behavior... call out that command. That's how you associate the behavior with the command. So, in the future, your dog will do this particular behavior on command.
Just who did we buy those expensive pillows for anyway?... We recently invested in a new set of down pillows for our master bedroom. They were very expensive. Aside from the fact that we allow our dog on our bed -- though we didn't used to -- we're now finding that he uses our new pillows all the time!
If you drive with your dog unrestrained in your car (which means the dog has the freedom to roam from your lap... to the back seat... front seat... and from window to window) and you live in California, then you may be breaking the law soon. I have to say, as much as I have been guilty of doing this in the past, I think driving with lapdogs should be outlawed... and in all states. Here's the scoop about the new lapdog law regarding drivers with unrestrained dogs in the vehicle...
I have Lyme Disease. My dog does not. Our vet thought this was odd, because dogs spend much more time closer to the ground and inevitably get a lot more tick bites than we do. Plus, 90% of the time we're outdoors, our dog is usually with us. ...I guess the tick preventative that our dogs have always worn -- Frontline Plus -- really DOES work!
