Serious Dog Urine Cleaning Products from a Surprising Source By Jonni Good

Nobody enjoys thinking about dog urine stains and odor, but it happens. Even older dogs have accidents. (And let's also admit that dogs sometimes do it on purpose in order to mark their territory - no accident involved).

I'm thinking about this unpleasant subject at the moment because I just moved, and a very distinctive stain showed that a medium-sized dog recently lifted his leg on my new porch. To prevent my own dog from re-marking the house when I moved him to his new home, I had to find a good dog urine cleaning product, and fast.

With the help of my local pet store owner, (who also runs a house cleaning service), I found a great product - but not at her pet store.

So where did my friendly pet store owner take me to find a serious dog urine cleaning product? She led me next door, to the auto supply house. She asked the proprietor to search his shelves for a product that would be good enough to remove the smell and stain from my porch wall, but which would not be so strong that it would remove the paint. The product he had in stock was called Unbelievable!, from CORE Products Co., Inc., (but the man at the auto parts store said there are other brands that work as well).

The product was developed for professional cleaners, and works to remove pet and food stains (and odors) from a car's upholstery and carpet. The product costs far less than the enzyme product I recently purchased from a veterinarian, and it worked immediately. I just sprayed it on the siding where the dog lifted his leg, and the stain disappeared instantly, along with the smell. I'll be trying it on that suspicious spot on the carpet in a few minutes.

The first product that most people turn in these situations is enzyme-based cleaning products that can be purchased at grocery and pet stores. I recently had an opportunity to use an enzyme product on a borrowed cat carrier that had been sprayed by the owner's cat, and most of the odor did go away, eventually.

However, the enzyme product, which I purchased from a veterinarian, was expensive. It also took a long time to work, and my cats could still tell that the carrier had been sprayed, even though my own human nose could no longer detect it.

The product I purchased from the auto parts store worked better, and faster. And it cost less. So, the next time you have a need for a dog urine cleaner, don't head for the pet store - go to the auto supply store, and ask for a product that works on urine stains and odors. You'll save money by not buying an expensive enzyme product from the pet store or vet's, and you'll be happier with the results.

Copyright 2006 Jonni Good

Jonni is the owner of a large and popular website that is totally devoted to helping you adopt an older dog at your local humane society. You'll find a list of local animal shelters, and many articles about selecting exactly the right dog for your family. http://www.older-dog.com

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How To Keep Your Westie Dog White By Jeff Cuckson

Our Westie dog called Pepper is lovely and white ( Oops - I'm looking at that westie photo again). To be honest, he has stuck his head in a bucket of soil or it looks that way. I'm afraid that it’s bath time again young man. God you were so cute when you were a puppy.

In keeping him reasonably clean and white; in the overall west highland grooming and health process; I find that brushing him regularly helps greatly, because the dirt and any dead hairs, usually fall off. I would recommend that you try and do this once a week. It then becomes a habit and as we all know, habits are easier to follow. This is just part of the process in how to groom a westie.

In the washing process, my wife uses a shampoo especially formulated for white dogs and this seems to do the best job. It is recommended that for a west highland terrier, they should be groomed every 6-8 weeks and especially in the summer. You have to to imagine what it would be like wearing a fur coat in the hot summer days. iT's cooler with the westie haircut.

We have noticed that Pepper's face has turned a rusty sort of colour under his jaw. Our vet has told us, that this is due to the hair being wet too often. As he seems to drink copious amounts of water, I try to dry this part as often as I can, following the vets instructions. I have found that Pepper has little black grains( for want of a better description) in the corner of each of his eyes on most days and therefore will remove them.

My last recommendation in this overall grooming process to keep our westies at optimum health, I have also found that his scratching decreases if I gave him cooling tablets. Always check with your vet if you are unsure of whether to give yours these tablets.

I hope that this article has been of use to you in helping with your westies health.

(Disclaimer: Any information contained in this site relating to various medical, health and fitness conditions of Westies or other animals and their treatments is for informational purposes only and is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own veterinarian. You should not use the information contained herein for diagnosing the health of any animal. You should always consult and check with your own vet or veterinarian.)

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Good Sleeping Places For Pets - Your Pet Deserves It By Tango Pang

Experienced pet owners know that our animal companions definitely have minds of their own, and do not always share our opinions about what is best for them.

So you have bought your pet a cute little bed or sofa, and allocated a proper sleeping place for it, but you can practically guarantee that the pet will decide it would prefer to sleep on something else (usually something you need to use) and in a different place (usually a spot that makes it hardest for the family to move around and get things done).

However, it would be best if you could mark out a pet sleeping spot that is out of the way of high-traffic areas in the home, and where it is possible and convenient to keep the lights off at night to help your pet build and maintain its protective melatonin levels. The pet sleeping spot must be shaded from direct sun, sheltered from direct droughts, but cool and well ventilated.

No matter whether the pet sleeping area is used by day or night (more likely both), it should give easy access to drinking water and an appropriate spot for the pet to relieve. If your dog or cat is garden-trained, you may want to install a pet-flap. However, most dogs and cats adjust their toilet habits as they mature, so they do not need to be let out at night.

For nocturnal caged animals like hamsters and chinchillas, make sure the cages are kept in a quiet, cool sheltered spot by day so that the animals will not be disturbed by regular household bustle.

TangoPang is an animal lover. More Pet reads at http://www.howto-petadoption.com. Click Pet and Pet Adoption to see how you can improve your pet life.

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Ring Worm in Dogs By Marcus Peterson

Ringworm is one of the most common diseases in pets, especially dogs. Unlike its name, Ringworm is not a worm but fungi called Dermatophytes that thrives on dead tissues present on skin surface and follows circular path to spread infection.

Ringworm is an infectious skin disease and your pet usually picks it up from his surroundings like kennels, rodent burrows or from other animals who are already infected. There are about 35 species of ringworm that can affect dogs. The most common is ‘Mircosporum Canis’, which accounts for majority of ringworm cases

One symptom of ringworms in dogs is a lesion on the skin that looks like a rapidly growing circular patch of broken hair. The patch may look inflamed and may appear to have dandruff-like flakes on it. The most common areas where it can occur are face, ear tips, tails and paws.

If you find any of these symptoms, take your pet to the veterinarian. He may diagnose the disease by plucking hairs from the infected area and examining it under ultra violet light. On finding fungi traits, he may advise some anti fungal pills or topical medications for your pet

Humans need to take some precautions since ringworm is an infectious disease. Be sure to keep kids away from an infected pet, and adults should wear gloves when handling any items that have come in contact with the animal. Also keep your dog neat and clean and clip his hairs short since longer hairs promote unhygienic conditions.

Although, ringworm is a mild disorder the problems due to its infectious nature and slow recovery time can be problematic.

Ring Worms provides detailed information about ring worm, human ring worm and more. Ring Worms is affiliated with Dry Skin Lotion.

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How A Diagnosis For Dog Illness Is Accomplished By Judy Wellsworth

When you diagnose a dog health problem, you need to observe before calling the vet in order to give a full history of what lead up the problem. The vet will perform the basic tests, which include a blood test, urine analysis and stool analysis before moving on to more sophisticated tests such as x-rays for one example. Diagnosis for dog illness requires a complete inspection of the dog for parasites, injuries and behavior problems before moving on to the other tests.

Stool Analysis Diagnosis for Dog Illness The first thing a vet will tell you is to bring a stool sample in for analysis. This procedure will check for worms such as hookworm, ringworm, whipworm and tapeworms. Any intestinal bleeding or assimilation disorders will show up with a feces analysis. When checking the stool sample, a vet will look for corona virus, campylobacteriosis, which is a bacterial disease and salmonella diseases that affect the digestive system.

These types of test will reveal any disorders and save time when trying to determine the exact cause of the dog health problem. One thing to remember, the stool sample must be fresh in order to have a proper diagnosis.

Urine Analysis Diagnosis for Dog Illness The urine analysis checks for blood in the urine, sugar levels, protein levels and the concentration of the urine. By analyzing the urine, a vet may determine if the dog has kidney disease or cancer along with other health problems. For the most part a urine sample is collect by way of catheter to prevent any type of contamination of the sample.

Blood Analysis Diagnosis for Dog Illness A blood test can determine many different health problems in your dog such as hepatitis, distemper, heartworm and herpes. If your dog has Lyme disease, the blood test is checked for antibodies and not the disease itself. Blood tests will show signs of many other disorders, which can lead to tests that are more serious needed.

Other Diagnosis for Dog Illness The gastrointestinal function test diagnosis assists in checking for a GI disorder. If you live somewhere where Valley Fever is common, a test will be done to determine if the dog has contracted the fungus. Signs are coughing, weight loss and fever. A blood test to check the white blood cell count and sometimes x-rays are required.

Some other tests used are biopsies to find out certain information about tumors and unidentifiable conditions. As you see, whatever tests are preformed on a person are also preformed on a dog to determine the correct diagnosis of a health condition. For determining anemia, a test called hypothyroidism tests the T3 and T4 blood counts with the best diagnosis of such a health condition.

When a dog is sick, you can easily find out the problem by contacting your vet and having some tests done in order to find any underlying problems that may cause symptoms that you have observed. Early detection and preventive measures will help to keep your dog happy and healthy.

You can also find more info on dog paw health and dog urine in lawn. AboutDogHealth.org is a comprehensive resource to help dog owners identify their dog's illness symptoms and treatment options.

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Stop Barking Dog Ideas That Work By Ira Nelson

One of the most annoying habits that dog owners bemoan is their pet’s undue and uncontrollable barking. It’s been found that perhaps one third of all dog owners mention this as a behavioral problem over which they wish they had more control.

There are many reasons that dogs react to situations and their environment in this way from territorial barking, to alarm barking, to aggression, and it is helpful to know what is triggering such conduct, but the main focus of this article will be on ideas and ways to stop barking dogs that get results.

It’s important, first of all, to distinguish between appropriate an inappropriate barking. Barking that alerts you to a dangerous situation or a few barks that warning someone is approaching, for example, should be encouraged and rewarded. This is your dog’s natural tendency to want to protect his pack. Nuisance or inappropriate barking, on the other hand, is barking that is excessive or unwarranted for the situation. Your pet may be distressed, fearful, or suspicious etc. in a circumstance that does not call for such an extreme response.

Stop Barking Dog Methods that Work

The best time to start teaching the difference between good barking and bad barking is when your dog is a puppy or still an adolescent. Start by not reinforce inappropriate barking and rewarding the appropriate silence. Be consistent and persistent with this until your puppy understands the difference.

Many people have great success with a switch-over or shaping technique such as clicker training which can be use to give you control over barking and silence.

Older dogs with entrenched habits may require stronger behavior modification techniques such as bark control collars which are used remotely and of which there are several types:

Citronella spray collars spray a scent and make a sound that most dogs don’t like and if used correctly, will help the dog associate his barking will a negative result. Ultra sonic, vibration, and electrical collars likewise offer different types of negative stimulation which will help the dog realize that his incorrect barking results in discomfort. Many of these devices offer increasing levels of negative stimulation for dogs which are, shall we say, a little more reluctant to learn. There are even combination devices, producing, for example, both a vibration and a sound.

The methods mentioned above will work in most cases, but occasionally more drastic measures need to be taken to stop a barking dog. In extreme cases, where all other methods have fail, it may be necessary for your veterinarian to prescribe psychotropic drugs or perform ‘debarking’ surgery. These solutions are controversial and in some areas debarking is illegal, but given the alternatives of surgery over euthanasia in the case of a drastically dysfunctional dog, it could be the best alternative.

For more information on this subject go to Stop Dog Barking

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Ira Nelson has years of experience in the dog care and training field. More information, tips, and techniques like the ones in this article are available at http://www.dogtrainingbasicsonline.com/

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Throw Up And Diarrhea In Dogs By Robert R Hart

When your dog has diarrhea everyone in the house is unhappy. When you look into their sad eyes, you get a sense of meaning to the phrase "I'm sicker than a dog!"

Diarrhea is the number three reason people take their dogs to the vet. Before running off to the vet, look around at what you might be doing to cause your dog to have diarrhea. The good news is that most episodes of routine diarrhea can be prevented, or at least minimized.

The usual suspects are:

• Food- either too old, left out too long, or exposed to high temperatures. Such exposure can happen while being transported to the pet store. Bugs and flies may have climbed into open bags, laid eggs and left droppings during packaging or in your home after they being opened.
• Chlorinated water- your dog’s intestinal tract requires a variety of bacteria to break down and process the food. Chlorinated water can kill these bacteria, causing diarrhea.
• Cleaning agents. Don’t forget, dogs living indoors are walking barefoot. If not sufficiently diluted, many cleaning agents can burn their pads, their eyes, and their lungs. They will often lick their pads to stop the burning, which can lead to diarrhea.
• Pesticides/Insecticides- Similar to cleaning agents in that when dogs lick their pads, they will ingest some of the chemicals. They might also eat a bug that has been exposed to insecticides.

Dogs are notorious for eating bacteria laden morsels out of garbage cans, or found while out on a walk. Dogs off leash are more likely to drink from a stagnant puddle. A few slurps is all it takes! Puddles can be toxic cocktails containing anything from bug larvae, discarded food morsels, infected spittle, leaked automobile fluids like transmission oil, or antifreeze.

Stress is another cause of dog diarrhea. Stress comes in many forms. Small dogs are particularly sensitive to non-harmonious living environments. They prefer peace and quite to yelling, screaming, or fighting; many get crazy if you run the vacuum cleaner, blender, or just leave the room.

Travel, or the anticipation of travel (with or without them) causes stress. Traveling with your dog often means different air quality, humidity, water, sounds, even food. Rescue dogs also feel the emotional stress of all involved in the rescue mission. Now that's travel stress! Any one of these can cause your dog to have diarrhea.

Female dogs in heat will drive male dogs that have mating experience into a frenzy that can cause loose and bloody stools. The female doesn’t even need to be in your house. It could be a neighbors dog out on a walk.

How to handle routine dog diarrhea?

A lot of people think it’s a good idea to let their dogs outside to eat grass when they have diarrhea. Well, that’s partially true. Dogs eat grass even when their GI tract is not upset. If you look carefully you will notice they pull at the grass. They do this to get at the dirt around the roots, which is teaming with soil-based organisms (SBOs). SBOs are essential digestive aids that also help maintain optimum intestinal balance.

Healthy grass and soil contains organic sulfur (MSM), as well (SBOs). However, if you live in an area where lawns are watered with municipal water (chlorinated) or are treated with inorganic fertilizers, or sprayed with pesticides and insecticides it is not a good idea to let your dogs eat the grass.

The actual cause of diarrhea is an intestinal imbalance between what is commonly referred to as “good and bad” bacteria. A balance of both is essential to break the food down so that the nutrients can be absorbed through the intestinal wall, as well as to push along what’s left to be eliminated. The good bacteria get spent in the digestive process and need to be replaced daily to maintain optimum GI balance. Once the “bad bacteria” get the upper hand, they breed quickly.

As I mentioned earlier, in most cases it is not a good idea to let your dogs eat grass. Supplements that contain SBOs are available today that are specifically formulated for dogs. If you were to give SBOs to your dogs on a daily basis, all but the most treatment resistant cases of diarrhea could actually be prevented. A side benefit is that they would be more alert, easier to train and have improved physical performance.

The author of this article is Robert Hart, the co-founder of Vitality Science, Inc., a company that formulates scientifically proven, all natural supplements to restore and maintain pet health for cats, dogs, kittens and puppies. To learn more about their products vitalityscience.com

Robert Hart has articles published in Fido Friendly Magazine, Ani-Med, The Pet Professor/Pet Style- on-line pet portals, and pet newsletters.

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