Posts Tagged ‘dog’
That is a little misleading since no disease is truly common in Dachshunds Most Dachshunds are born healthy and live long, relatively disease-free lives.Almost every dog can develop minor health issues even if they receive vaccinations and excellent life-long care. Even dogs that receive their vaccinations and excellent life-long care can develop some minor health issues in their lifetime.
However, there are some conditions that occur more frequently in Dachshunds than other breeds.
Adrenal Gland Malfunction
Hyperadrenocorticism, or Cushing’s Disease, is one common disease of the adrenal gland. In Cushing’s Disease, too much of the hormone cortisol is produced, either by the adrenal gland or by a primary tumor, or a malfunction of the pituitary gland, which is the master gland that tells the adrenal gland how much cortisol to produce. The elevated cortisol level results in excessive drinking and urination, skin conditions, a pot-bellied appearance, hair loss and sometimes diabetes. Specific laboratory tests can be used to diagnose Cushing’s disease and treatment depends on the results. There are several different drugs that can be used to decrease the level of cortisol. If adrenal cancer is present, surgical excision of the gland may be needed. Cushing’s disease is also found in other breeds of dogs.
The opposite condition is called low cortisol (hypoadrenocorticism) or Addison’s disease. Cushing’s takes some time to present itself, but Addison’s disease is a sudden episode of collapse due to too low of blood sugar (glucose) and an imbalance of the electrolytes. The sudden illness results in an emergency visit to the veterinarian for fluid therapy and cortisone injections to correct the imbalances. Addison’s disease is the most difficult to diagnose because the sudden collapse resembles many disorders. Specialized blood tests are necessary to identify both Cushing’s and Addison’s Disease. Treatment of Addison’s disease is life-long treatment with prednisone (cortisone) and electrolytes.
Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA)
Several eye diseases can affect Dachshunds, such as cataracts and progressive retinal atrophy. PRA is a gradual degeneration of the retina, the lining of the back of the eye. The degeneration results with gradual vision loss and blindness. PRA is a genetic trait, and since it is a slow, progressive disease, these dogs are sometimes bred before the disease is diagnosed, thus perpetuating the disease. Regretfully, there is no cure or treatment for PRA. Other eye diseases that can affect Doxies are cataracts, glaucoma, optic nerve hypoplasia, abnormal eyelashes (distichiasis) as well as other conditions. Regular eye exams can help early identification of these eye-disorders.
Intervertebral Disc Disease
By far the most common disease of Dachshunds is related to the discs between the vertebrae (the bones of the spine). The disc provides a cushion between the bones of the back (spine) and is normally gelatinous. In Dachshunds, this material sometimes ruptures and sometimes calcifies, or hardens. The protruding disc material causes inflammation, swelling and pressure on the nerves coming from the spinal cord and sometimes presses on the spinal cord itself. A herniated disc starts with back pain or a reluctance to jump, and can progress to partial or even total paralysis of the back legs. Most of them with disc disease can be managed medically with pain medication and anti-inflammatory medications. Acupuncture and Chiropractic manipulation is sometimes used to help relieve the pain with varying success. With a complete rupture resulting in total paralysis, immediate surgery to relieve the pressure on the spinal cord may help restore full function in the legs. The sooner the surgery is preformed, the greater the chances of full recovery.
Experimental treatment is being tested that uses laser heat to fuse the disc material in the spine to prevent the rupture. Being as this is such a common problem in the Dachshund, I do recommend purchasing health insurance for your pet. Unfortunately, some owners cannot afford the surgery and pets suffering with total paralysis or extreme pain are euthanized. Over time, a few of my patients there were partially paralyzed did recover some function of their legs. Some dogs may recover without surgery, but it is impossible to predict.
Vaccination Reactions
Allergic reactions to vaccinations does seem to occur in the Dachshund more often than any other breed. Usually, the reaction is minor, resulting in swelling of the muzzle and face and occasional hives. Occasional vaccine reactions can occur with any dog so it is always a good idea to observe your pet for a few hours after their shots. Vaccines have improved over the past few years so reactions are fewer and the benefits of protecting your pet against the diseases outweighs the risks.
With good health care, Dachshunds can lead a long and healthy life. Preventive health checks, proper diets, vaccinations, heartworm and parasite prevention, and good dental care can help your Doxie live longer. You can find more information concerning your dogs health at LuvUrDog.com as well Dachshund breed gifts.
No training is more basic for pet owners than that first important lesson: Do it outside!
Training your new puppy to potty outside the home, not in it, usually starts between six and eight weeks of age. Dogs as young as four weeks have been started on housebreaking, but at that age few have the muscular control to succeed.
Like any dog training plan, trainer patience is as important as the dog’s temperament. ‘Sit’, ‘stay’ and other behaviors can often be learned in a few days. ‘Potty’ training typically takes weeks – maybe as short as two, often a month or more.
As with other learned behaviors, it helps to watch for signs of the desired elimination and enforce and direct them with a voice command followed by praise. In this case that technique works even more to the trainer’s advantage, since all dogs will naturally eliminate. You want to train them to do it when and where you want!
Watch for circling or squatting, then pick up the pup, say ‘outside’ and dash outside. The puppy may circle some more, but will often squat immediately. Once it starts, say ‘Go potty’ ( or some other unique phrase) in a clear, firm (but not angry) voice. Wait until she is finished and then her praise lavishly.
You won’t always be able to catch the puppy about to begin, but don’t become angry or impatient when the dog eliminates indoors. It takes some time for the dog to learn to tell you it’s time to ‘go outside’. It also takes time for the muscles needed to control bladder and bowels to develop control.
Usually, puppies will need to eliminate every 2-3 hours. If you haven’t spotted pre-elimination behavior within that time, take the dog outside anyway. Issue the command ‘Go potty’ and wait. At first, usually, the dog will have no clue what you want.
Again, even when outside, it helps to wait and observe for the desired behavior then issue the proper command. That helps the dog associate the command with the behavior. Wait a few minutes and give the ‘Go Potty’ command a few times before taking the puppy in and then try agin in an hour. Of course, if you spot the pre-elimination behavior sooner, go outside again immediately.
Dogs have an innate ability to quickly learn what their ‘alpha’ (the leader of the pack) wants. This is almost always accomplished by associating a verbal command with behavior, followed by praise. Punishment is usually counter-productive, and nowhere more so than in waste elimination training. Never rub your puppy’s nose in the mess.
Paper and/or crate training is preferred by some. A pup can be trained to potty on a newspaper, or on one of the chemically treated housetraining pads designed for the purpose. Some small breeds that live all day in apartments may not need to go outside at all.
The technique has a couple of downsides however. Unlike cats, dogs prefer not to go in a scented litter box. Newspapers (even with the top layer removed after the dog goes) will eventually create an unpleasant smell in the house.
Also, long before the odor becomes unattractive to humans, dogs can smell their own distinctive scent. Puppies don’t find the smell unattractive – quite the opposite. And that is where the problem lays.
Dogs that are paper trained will often prefer to eliminate indoors. Sometimes your puppy may miss the paper by only an inch, creating a mess to clean up.
Once the odor is in the carpet, the dog will often seek that area out as its proper ‘place to go’. This makes training the dog to eliminate outside even more difficult. Best to suffer a few accidents than to create a hard-to-overcome habit.
Key factors to any dog training programs are patience, praise and consistency. Elimination training is the first test to be tackled for you and your dog.
Get more tips and advice on housetraining or dog training at Luvurdog.com/dogtraining
Dog Agility training can be an enormously rewarding, fun activity for both you and your dog. Unfortunately too many people think it will be too hard or too time consuming to train a dog to this level of activity. The truth is it’s quite easy to train your dog to enjoy agility courses.
Many dog trainers and instructors will agree that during dog training exercises it’s the owner who requires more training – not the dog. Even though it is human to know when someone is upset, dog have a hard time understanding what they are doing wrong.
When you’re training any dog of any breed and at any age, you need to remember that dogs will do anything to please their human masters. In the event that they lack an explicit grasp of the way to please you, naturally they are unable to behave as you wish.
The process of training your dog requires you to have knowledge of both positive and negative reinforcement techniques.
How to Train A Dog Using Rewards
Puppies are inherently able to understand rewards and compliments. If your puppy goes to the toilet in the yard on his own and you give that action a word, the puppy will associate that word. Make sure that you give your dog a treat when he/she does their business in the right spot.
That puppy will learn very quickly that it feels nice to do his business in that particular place every time and so you’ll find him learning to go there automatically.
Reward is true for every action you want your dog to achieve.
Correct punishment for training a dog:
When it comes to praise a dog can respond very well so it will learn all of the good behaviors. Too bad that if a dog hears a “NO” and sees you running towards him, the dog will continue to perform bad actions for the attention.
In order to teach a dog that behaviour is unacceptable, turn your back on the dog and fold your arms. If your dog receives no attention at all, this is the worst form of punishment he can feel and so will begin to learn that bad behaviour isn’t worth the effort.
Agility and how to train my dog.
Praise and rewards are always essential whether you are training your dog or not. Dogs enjoy the opportunity to play all the time. Curiosity come naturally to them and they are playful by nature.
When it comes to an agility course, a dog will an abundance of rewards that he will receive when completing the course.
You need to have patience when doing agility training. At first, try to take your dog to a local dog training class that offers an agility course. Younger dogs that are under 12 months are in danger of injuring themselves when it comes to these courses.
Learn more about Training Dog for Agility here.
Go through the agility course with your dog and make it a fun experience for her. If you have the choice, you may want to lower the bar on the jumps so they do not appear to be threatening. The way to get your dog doing what you want is by praise and food rewards.
If you see this course as fun your dog and you will enjoy agility better. Your dog will love the opportunity to be rewarded for playing and once he understands which pieces of the agility course he’s meant to aim at, he’ll soon be racing around the course like a pro waiting for his reward.
Learn more about Training Dog for Agility here.
We don’t all use the same methods when it comes to house training puppies. What works well for one dog may not work at all for a different dog. If you find one method of training not working after a while, the best thing to do is to move on to a another method. Do this to assure you receive the greatest benefit out of training your dog.
Every person will tell you a different answer about how to house train a dog. No matter what it is that you are trying to train on, you should always start with the most commonly used methods. This is due to the face that they work in most scenarios. You probably won’t have any problems if you do, but you can also use something else. Dog training won’t work unless you take all the time that your dog needs and focus only on your dog.
For dogs that need to be trained to go potty outside instead of inside, make use of crate training techniques. As long as you are getting the proper sized crate, keeping it clean, and making sure that it is safe and secure, there is nothing wrong with this training method. There are some individuals that believe crate training is not how to go about house training your dog. Many do not realize that a dog’s natural comfort zone is within a den much like their ancestors.
There are a couple of rules to follow when training a dog not to bite. Above all, do not ever hit your dog. methods have nothing to do with how to house train a dog.
Violence will always breed violence so be careful. In addition, be sure that you are not play rough tug of war games with the dog because it will encourage it to bite and growl.
Learn more about how to House Train Dog here.
After a lot of training, punishment for a dog will become easier. Your pet will do anything to please you and that is what they strive for daily. If you show your disapproval and feelings of hurt through your emotions and the tone of your voice that is generally enough for the dog to know that it did wrong. The dog will understand. It is never necessary to hit the dog or take away food, water, sleep, and other requirements for a healthy dog.
Even though there can be an overwhelming amount of advice for house training dogs, it is a nice starting place. Begin training your dog right away because there is never time to waste. Dog are like people, they obtain skills at different rates. So be kind, be patient, and always remember to love your pet and you will find that training a dog is easier then you think. After a while of house training your dog, you will be able to help others.
Learn more about how to House Train Dog here.