Dog Articles

Have you decided to start living a healthier lifestyle? If you’re contemplating the ketogenic or “keto” diet to accomplish your goals, or are already on it, there are some things you should be aware of to best ensure that you don’t endanger the health and safety of your pets while you’re improving your own.

The evening of December 4, 2018 was unfolding like any other. Kristi Blust did the usual quick basketball practice drop off run with her daughter after work, taking the typical 10 minutes or so. She returned home to start making dinner for her family, just like the night before. That's where the similarities stop though. Sadly, that evening wasn’t going to be just like any other evening for Kristi and her family.

Bringing home a new dog — whether they're a puppy or adult — is an awesome thing, no doubt! But it can also be a bit overwhelming, both for you and your new dog.

Regardless of where your dog came from — shelter, rescue, foster home, breeder, or even your neighbor down the street — joining your family is a change. An awesome change, but a change none-the-less. And change can be stressful for dogs. This is why many dogs will go through an "adjustment period" when they first come into a new home.

You can ease and shorten their adjustment period — and minimize your own stress — by being well prepared with products and aids that can help your new dog settle into their new life.

This article aims to make things easier for you, with some behavior and safety awareness, shopping tips, and recommendations for products that may help you and your pup during this time of transition. I cover everything from calming aids (including pheromones and music), to how to make bedtime "sleeptime," as well as safe toys and crate essentials. 

Like many health-conscious people these days, Melissa Wardrop is eating healthier and watching her and her family’s consumption of sugar. She’s also a very considerate person, both generally and also in terms of taking her friends' sugar-free eating habits into consideration. Sadly, it was the two “thank you” loaves of sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free zucchini bread she baked for her friends that led to the loss of her beloved family dog, Lucy, a beautiful and sweet 5 year old Lab.

Grain-free diets for dogs have become all the buzz in recent years with lots of dog food companies, bloggers, and pet lovers extolling them as the cure for all that ails dogs. Now, I’m not going to get into all of my thoughts on this trend. (The board-certified veterinary nutritionists at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine have already done that in these articles on their petfoodology blog.) What I will say though is that it tends to be (emotional) marketing that's driving the grain-free pet food craze, rather than science and an actual medical need for excluding grains from the diets of dogs — even those with food allergies. But again, that discussion is outside the scope of this particular article. 

The purpose of this article is to ensure that, if you have chosen to feed your dog a grain-free diet, and especially if it's a food that contains peas, chickpeas, lentils, or potatoes in place of the grains, you are aware of the newly recognized possible link between the feeding of a grain-free diet and the development of Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM), a very serious form of heart disease in dogs. DCM is characterized by a distention and thinning out of the muscular walls of the heart, causing it to be a less effective pump to move blood throughout the body. As you might imagine, that’s not a good thing! Dogs with DCM are at great risk of progressing to heart failure. You can learn more about the condition in this article from the good folks in the cardiology department at the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine. 

Tips to help your dog keep their cool

When the temperatures rise, you may be able to stay cool by sweating or drinking a nice glass of iced tea, but your dog isn't so lucky. Not only should your dog not drink tea — or any caffeinated beverage, for that matter — they also really don't have the ability to sweat very well. Dogs mostly cool themselves off by panting.

So, how can you help keep your pup comfortable and safe when the mercury starts to rise? Fret not, this article contains some tips, tricks, and cool (pun intended) product suggestions that can help.

Until you have a dog, you’ll probably marvel at rolling fields of grass at sunset. But once you have a dog, that bucolic scene can look more like a hotbed of potential pain and injury from foxtails (also called “grass seed awns”).

For the most part, peanut butter can be awesome for dogs and most dogs LOVE it! Peanut butter is great as an occasional "high value" treat, it’s useful for hiding pills, and it can even be used to distract your dog while giving them a bath or trimming their nails.

While most peanut butter brands are safe for dogs, not all types of peanut butter are safe and not all amounts of peanut butter are safe, either.

 
It’s been said that what you don’t know can’t hurt you, which is a silly thing to say, especially if you’re talking about your dog.

If you’ve read anything on Preventive Vet before, you’ll know that some of the biggest dangers to your dog are the things that you're not aware of yet. After all, you can't prevent what you're not aware of!

Dogs have an innate desire and need to chew. Unfortunately, they’re not always great at picking the best things to chew on. This is where you come in.

It can sometimes feel like there are as many types of chews and chew toys as there are dogs to chew them. And just about everyone has a personal pick for their dog, no matter what they hear to the contrary.

The truth is, there are some types of chews and chew toys that are best avoided if you want to keep your dog safe. Even if you decide that you still want to give your dog the following chews and toys, you should at least know the inherent dangers and risks.