First Aid - How To Administer CPR To Your Injured Dog

Do you know what to do if your puppy is suddenly lying on the ground after being seriously injured by a car accident, poisoned, electric shock, or is choking? I realize that the last thing you want to do is imagine your lovable pet being hurt in such a fashion, however, accidents do happen and if you are not prepared to administer basic first aid to your dog then it may be the last time you ever see him again should an unfortunate injury take place.

In today's article we are going to discuss basic artificial respiration as well as CPR that you can give your dog in case the situation calls for it. Please know that the following steps are just basic guidelines and you are encouraged to take a small class on first aid so that you can be better equipped to handle an accidental injury to your puppy or dog.

1. The first thing you need to do upon finding your puppy injured and lying on the floor is to check for his heartbeat. If you cannot pick up a heartbeat then you must administer CPR immediately. Here are the basic steps:

a) Place your hand on one side of your puppy's chest. If he is a large dog then roll him on one side of his body.
b) Then start compressing the area of the heart on his chest in short bursting movements, one compression for each second.
c) Administer one breath of air every six seconds (follow steps 2-6 below). If successful, your puppy will spring back to life.

2. The second first aid tip on your checklist is to check to see if there are any objects or obstructions in your dog's mouth. If you notice any blood or mucus, clear it out as best possible.

3. In order to make sure that the puppy's airway is clear, pull the tongue out of his mouth. Then shut his mouth gently.

4. Next pull the lips over your dog's mouth and make them secure by wrapping your hand around the mouth and under the chin.

5. With your other hand, create a funnel to the dog's nostrils which should be as airtight as possible.

6. Now slowly but smoothly take a deep breath and exhale the air gently into his nose. Repeat this breathing action on your puppy every six seconds.

Welcome back! If you've commented, I hope you enjoy the eBook. I hope to add more treats in the future, so stay tuned!

Flea Prevention: Chemicals & Natural Remedies - Which Work Best?

What are the best flea medications out there and are there any natural remedies that work? What natural ways can you use to prevent them altogether; before they spread throughout your dog's environment and your home?

These are very common questions that just about every dog owner asks when trying to keep their pets and homes flea-free.

Fleas are like roaches - they have been around for a very long time. There doesn't seem to be a way to eliminate permanently. Every year, with every new season, the fleas like to come around for a long, annoying stay. And if you live in the tropical areas then they pretty much stay year-round.

So What Can You Do About It?

Your options to counter the flea problem vary. Here are the most common ways to deal with them:

1) Veterinary prescribed flea medications
2) Over the counter flea spot treatments
3) Insecticide dip
h) Flea collar
5) Flea-fighting shampoo
6) Flea powder

Unfortunately, just about all of these solutions contain harsh chemicals which may or may not work well for your situation. And the fact that some dogs are sensitive to many of these applications brings on its own additional complications. Keep in mind too that the age of your pet, be it puppy or an older dog, will determine what you can use.

Flea Advice For Puppies

Do not use flea collars on puppies (in general) and powder is usually out of the question if they are not even eight weeks old yet.

The Older Dog

Use caution with chemicals on older dogs. Why? Because just like people, as dogs age they become extremely sensitive to chemicals. Old canines tend to get dermatitis too.

Dietary Flea Prevention: The Natural Way

Over the years Brewer's Yeast has been given to dogs to ward off fleas. You can take 1/2 teaspoon and mix it into your dog's food, then increase that dose over time. Fleas dislike the yeast. Brewer's yeast is also full of vitamins that are good for your dog.

Garlic is also a good alternative for flea prevention but you have to be creative with it and somehow grind or mix into food or treats for your dog. It should be fresh garlic, not powder or processed.

Veterinary Intervention

Your vet can provide spot treatments that kill fleas instantly after biting. You can also get some good over the counter options. Just keep in mind that many of these products may work on some dogs, but provide no benefit to others.

Try This Chemical-Free Soak

Wash your dog with normal shampoo, something gentle, and then change the water so that his entire body can be soaking for about 15 minutes.

Beforehand, mix of one teaspoon of the herb rosemary in boiled water in about one gallon. Let it cool, then add to the dog's water soak. Once the 15 minutes are up, wash the dog once again with a gentle shampoo and use the same rosemary water to rinse. It smells nice and does work.

Tip: Some people have used pennyroyal with good results in this soak treatment.

Dog Health - Natural Ways To Calm The Overexcited & Stress Out Dog

Does your dog become anxious and extremely fearful for no apparent reason at all? You have probably researched and read a lot about dog psychology and behavior issues that result from aggression or fear, however, sometimes the problem is not as complicated is we make it out to be.

Anxiety and fear are not necessarily the result of improper behavior or lack of training. Oftentimes your dog can feel better with less stress levels by using natural therapy. Many dogs like this also have a tough time sleeping at night due to their anxiety. Here are a few tips that you can try to use in order to help your dog relieve his fear and stress:

1. Try feeding your dog any food that has wheat in it. Reports have shown that the byproducts from digesting wheat can help act on certain centers of your dog/s brain which helps make him feel calm.

2. In other way to activate the calming function of your dog's brain is to feed him warm milk with a little bit of natural honey. Add a dog biscuit to the mix and you have a great meal that is a healthy and natural way for your dog to relieve his stress and fear.

3. There is a natural herb called kava which can be found in most health food stores. Try adding a few drops of this herb to your dog's water bowl. Kava has a natural relaxation-inducing effect and is perfectly healthy for your dog to ingest. It can also be purchased as a dry herb which can be added to your dog's food. Please do not use more than the recommended dosage that comes with the package.

4. Since we are on the subject of natural food in order to help relieve your dog's stress and anxiety, simply give your dog small snacks to nibble on during the day instead of one or two big meals. Research has shown that nibbling on food in very small amounts can also create a calming effect on both animals and humans.

5. Last but not least, there is another supplement that is very similar to Kava. It is called Bach's Rescue Remedy and can be found in most health food stores. Dosages vary but of course be sure to read the label for accurate amounts to feed your dog. We suggest that you opt for the liquid form of Bach's that does not contain alcohol and simply add it to your dog's water bowl.

First Aid - What To Do If You Are The First Person To Discover An Injured Dog

If you were to ever be the first person to arrive on the scene after a dog has been injured, are you prepared with the necessary steps to take? The following article will help you become educated as to handling an emergency situation with a dog who has been in an accident.

First, Assess The Area

The first step in any emergency is to assess the situation and make sure that the environment is completely safe. For example, most dog injuries occur by vehicle and the animal must be moved to a safer location and out of the way of further potential injuries.

Once you have relocated to a safer area, your next move is to quickly scan the dog and attempt to get an idea of what injuries he has suffered from. You must learn to make quick mental notes and categorize the injuries from least severe the most severe. This is an important step and should always be carried out before any type of first aid is initiated.

During an emergency, as you approach your dog, you will immediately see some problems. However, most serious injuries are not easily noticed. These unseen injuries can be life-threatening if handled incorrectly. Luckily, you can evaluate the hurt dog with a simple procedure which consists of finding out the dog's responsiveness, respiration, and pulse.

Responsiveness: Call out your dog's name or clap your hands loudly in his ear. If that does not work then try a light rub or tap to the dog's skull. Hopefully, your dog should either bark or move towards you. If there is no response, immediately check his breathing, circulation, and airway. You may have to initiate cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Respiration: If your dog is fortunate enough to respond, you must now check its respiration rate. Normal respiration rates can be between 10 and 30 breaths per minute. However, your dog may be panting up to 200 or more breaths per minute due to the accident. On the other hand, if the dog was injured by poison or hypothermia, for example, then respiration rate may be decreased. It all depends on the accident and you must evaluate whether his respiration rate is too high, or too low, according to your assessment about his injuries.

Pulse: Once you have checked for responsiveness and evaluated his respiration rate, the next step is to take your dog's pulse. To feel his pulse you must place the tip of your fingers on the inside of the dog's thigh or groin area. Do not press too hard or you may miss. Count for 15 seconds and then multiply by 4. This total will give you the beats per minute. The normal pulse rate for a dog is 60 - 120 beats per minute.

Each year as the warm weather approaches, dog owners should be increasingly apprehensive about those gluttonous, disease-carrying "Rhipicephalus Sanquineus." This dangerous creature can infect man with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, cause paralysis, and even kill dogs and puppies.

Referred to by most everyone as "ticks", these parasites are blamed for carrying the micro-organism that caused the death of so many British war dogs in Singapore several decades ago. And during the Vietnam war, more than 300 U.S. war dogs had died mysteriously from tropical canine hemorrhagic syndrome, and canine hemorrhagic fever. Intensive studies resulted in the finger of guilt pointing directly at the ordinary tick.

Although there are several different species of ticks (wood tick, brown dog tick, etc.), a tick by any other name is still a tick. Because of resistance to insecticides, the tick is one of the most difficult external parasites to control.

The female tick will lay up to five thousands eggs in the crevices of a kennel, baseboard, or under the carpeting in the home. Eggs are never deposited upon the host animal. After twenty to thirty days have elapsed, the eggs hatch and become larvae. The larvae then seek out a host dog, gorge themselves on his blood, then drop off again to hide.

Six to twenty-three days later, the larvae molt and become eight-legged nymphs. The nymphs obtain another blood meal from a dog, drop off again and go into hiding. Twelve to twenty-nine days later, the nymph tick molts and becomes an adult. As an adult, it once more seeks the dog, engorges blood, and mates.

From the time the eggs hatch - and before the tick becomes an adult - it returns to the host dog more than once to feed on the canine's blood. Once hatched however, a tick can live in a house for up to two years without needing a host dog to feed on.

Out of doors, ticks climb onto branches and into foliage to await the arrival of a dog host. A dog napping under a bush, or walking within jumping distance of the tick is all that is needed to provide the parasite with a host. In the home, ticks will emerge from beneath rugs and carpeting, climb walls, table and chairs, and even up as high as wall pictures, to await the passing of a dog. They may even have to wait up to six months, but a tick can instantly sense the approach of a dog and jump on it as it passes.

First Aid - How To Take Care Of Your Puppy If He Has A Bleeding Wound

It is very common for puppies to wind up in troublesome situations where they get hurt from their adventures. Like small children, puppies see everything as a possibility for fun, even dangerous situations which adult dogs may have the wisdom to ignore.

Puppies can be injured from electric shock when chewing on wiring, they can suffer head trauma from items falling on them when they reach up to play with it, and they can suffer deep cuts and scrapes when messing around with sharp objects.

Today we are going to discuss how you can quickly help stop the bleeding should your puppy suffer from a cut. There are three general forms of bleeding as a result of an injury. Below are each of these types of bleeds along with a quick tip on treating the cut so that the bleeding can come to an end.

1. The first type of cut would be considered a normal cut or scrape as a result from normal everyday action. These type of injuries are not alarming and are just a regular part of your dog's life. However, even though the cut or scrape is no big deal, that doesn't mean it should be ignored. Simply treat the affected area with hydrogen peroxide twice per day until the healing has taken place. This will keep the cut from being infected as well as promote faster healing.

2. The second type of puppy bleeding can be in the form of a continuous flow or stream of blood. Should your pet start bleeding in this manner from a disaster, he will need medical attention immediately. Call your veterinarian or other available medical assistance. While waiting for help, raise the part of the body that is cut above the heart. In addition, it is important to apply several bandages over the blood-soaked area and apply pressure.

3. The third type of bleeding your puppy may suffer, and the most alarming, is if the blood is spurting out consistently. This type of bleeding is extremely serious and if you do not get help immediately, your puppy may go into shock and possibly die. The best thing that you can do here in this unfortunate scenario is to place bandages on the injured area, while elevating the limb, and apply steady pressure. Most importantly, get in your car and drive to the closest animal hospital that you can find.

Many eye diseases in dogs can be successfully cured surgically if non-surgical treatments do not help. In the condition in which the tear glands and ducks are not producing tears, for example, a medication is put into the dog's food in the form of drops.

If there is any function at all left, the medication will stimulate the glands to again produce tears normally. If the medication does not work, an unusual and creative operation is sometimes performed, whereby a duct of one of the dog's salivary glands is moved so that it empties out of the eye instead of the mouth.

The saliva moistens and protects the eye just as the tears are supposed to. Logically enough, Pavlov's theory works with slight alteration - a dog who has had such an operation cries when his appetite is stimulated!

If an ulcer has resulted from the dryness and inflammation of the eyes, or from some other irritation or trauma, medication is again tried initially. Especially if the ulcer is a superficial one, antibiotics usually heal it.

If the ulcer is a deep one or has punctured through the cornea into the eye itself, another innovative type of surgery is performed. The ulcer is covered with a truly organic "bandage" - the dog's own third eyelid, or a flap from the white part of his eye. The bandage is left on for several weeks while antibiotics are used to heal the ulcer. It can then be removed with a snip or two of the stitches holding the bandage in place.

Cataracts

Owners of old dogs often notice a condition commonly referred to as cataracts - a bluish white film over the eyes. Actually, the condition is a thickening of the lenses, which is a function of age. It usually begins to be noticeable in dogs about 10 years of age, and progresses slowly. It does not usually affect the dog's vision until the dog becomes quite old.

True cataracts are a total thickening of the lenses, so that light cannot come through the pupil and sight is lost. Certain injuries and infections can cause cataracts, and the condition is sometimes a sign of diabetes.

There is a disease, juvenile cataracts, in which cataracts appear at a very young age (as early as 1 year old), first in one eye and then in the other.

This is an inherited disease, seen most commonly in Irish Setters, Afghans and Old English Sheepdogs. The only way to prevent blindness is to surgically remove the lenses. Dogs are nearsighted anyway - they can't adapt their vision to distances - so the removal of the lens is something they can live with quite comfortably without much noticeable difference in eyesight.

Most dog owners, if not all of them, never consider looking into their pet's eyes for signs of illness, especially dogs with hair over their eyes.

There is a myth that cutting the hair away from a dog's eyes will cause blindness, but, in fact, a dog's eyes are much less likely to become diseased if the area is free of air. Dogs with hair growing over their eyes should either have it trimmed or pinned back.

Glaucoma

The most serious problem that can result from an inflamed eye is a condition called glaucoma. Glaucoma occurs when the fluid pressure within the eye gets too high. It is caused when the passage which drains the fluid out of the pupil becomes too narrow to allow fluid to pass. Glaucoma can and does cause blindness if not treated immediately. Inflammation of the eye is one thing which can cause the drainage passage to become swollen shut.

Glaucoma can also be caused by a tumor in the eye, or by an inherited condition peculiar to certain breeds, in which the angle of fluid drainage in the eye is too narrow at birth. Wire-haired Terriers, Basset Hounds, Cocker Spaniels, and Malamutes are more apt to be born with this abnormally narrow angle of drainage than most dogs.

If glaucoma is not treated immediately by alleviating the extremely high pressure of the eye fluid, a great deal of pain and eventual blindness will result. Owners, especially of the breeds mentioned, should watch for redness in the white part of their dog's eyes, dilated or large pupils, and rubbing of the eyes by the dog. If the symptoms are treated early, blindness can be prevented.

Check The Eyelids

Many eye problems require medical tensions caused by eyelid abnormalities. These are problems the dog is born with, and again, certain breeds are especially prone to certain abnormalities. The two most common types of eyelid abnormalities are ectropian, in which the eyelid turns out, and entropian, in which the lid turns inward toward the eye.

Bloodhounds, Basset Hounds, Cocker and Springer Spaniels, St. Bernards and Akitas are some of the breeds most likely to suffer from ectropian. Entropian is often seen in Chows, Bulldogs, Doberman Pinschers, Setters, Golden Retrievers, Poodles, and St. Bernards.

Both conditions can cause infection and inflammation of the eye. They are most commonly corrected surgically. The surgery is a cosmetic one, for the purpose of correcting the confirmation of the dog's eyelid. The part of the eyelid which droops or turns inward is removed, making the eye normal. It is not a complicated procedure, and one which in nearly every case solves the dog's eye problems.

The eye, in dogs, as in all animals, is the most specialized of the sensory organs. As such, it is highly sensitive to trauma, infection and disease, both acquired and hereditary.

Because dogs can't tell their owners when they are suffering irritation or pain in their eyes, the eye is an often overlooked area of trouble. Many a devoted dog owner has failed to notice his pet's eye trouble until it is so advanced that blindness results or the removal of an eye is necessary.

From the tiny Pekingese, whose slightly bulging eyes can become diseased because of inadequate protection, to the huge St. Bernard, whose drooping eyelids can catch and harbor bacteria which cause eye infection, many special breeds are particularly susceptible to certain types of eye disease.

Dog owners should be aware of some of the most common eye problems, which breeds are most likely to develop them, how they are treated, and, most important, how they can spot potential trouble while there is still time to safely treat or cure the disease.

Many a serious problem starts with an irritation or trauma to the eye, which causes inflammation. If a dog's eye becomes inflamed, the problem should be attended to immediately, as the problem can usually be treated if diagnosed in time. If inflammation is allowed to continue for too long, much more complicated problems can result.

What Can Happen To The Inflamed Eye?

For one thing, one of the most important protections the eye possesses - the ability to produce tears - can be interfered with or stopped completely. If the dog's eye no longer produces tears because the tear glands and ducks are inflamed, the dog can develop ulcers in the eye.

Your dog can also develop a condition known as keratitis, or inflammation of the cornea - a clear protective disc over the colored part of the dog's eye - gets inflamed, the white part of the eye often responds by growing blood vessels down over the injured cornea.

Of course, the dog will be temporarily or permanently blinded if the blood vessels are allowed to block light from entering the pupil, the small hole behind the cornea which lets light into the eye.

Infection, bumps or scratches on the eye, foreign bodies such as foxtails in the eye, and ingrown eyelashes are all common ways in which a dog's eye becomes inflamed. If a dog's eye become swollen, red, runs a lot, or if the dog rubs his eyes excessively, the owner should see a veterinarian before the condition becomes serious.

It is quite easy to check your dog for any flea infestation. Do so whenever you are brushing or even petting your dog. Always take note of the animal's skin condition, checking his fur as well.

When you do this, a few things to keep an open eye for are:

1) Is the skin clean?
2) Is the fur clean?
3) Does the dog have an odor, even within 24 hours of a fresh bath?
4) Where is the odor coming from?

The Most Common Culprit Is The Flea

95% of the time any issues you find will be the result of fleas feeding off your pet. The flea causes much irritation on your dog due to sucking the canine's blood. Flea saliva can cause your pet to become allergic to the bite. This will cause far worse scratching than a dog that does not have this sensitivity.

What is even more terrible about fleas is they spread tapeworms inside your pet. If the dog ingests the flea then it tapeworms start to grow. All it takes is a small group of these vampires to cause problems.

Where Do They Come From?

The tiny flea that jumps around is visible on the pet's skin. Every time you take your dog for a stroll or a romp in the yard he is a potential victim to these parasites. The flea might not be there when you go out the door, but after that bush that you strolled by, the flea has just hitched a ride after a 2 foot jump!

The flea only bites to suck blood that will nourish it's eggs. Then it will hop off most likely in your home - especially the carpet. Then come the eggs that hatch into a mob.

If you start to see your dog scratching more than usual after an outing then check for fleas. Fleas can sometimes look like little moving black dots. If your dog has fleas bad enough you might see what is called "flea dirt." This is a waste product from the flea like dried blood and even at times eggs.

So brush your dog often and move that fur around to check for parasites. Check his back, the ears, along his neck and torso. Also check the belly and around the tail. If you find fleas then bathe your dog and get flea repellent for the inside of the house. And do not panic when the flea comes for a visit - every dog owner will encounter this problem at one point or another. It's just part of having a family pet.