Health

It is not abnormal for your dog to drool sometimes. Pavlov showed in his famous bell experiments that anticipating a meal can make a dog salivate. Fear can also cause dogs to drool, as you will see in a storm-phobic dog. Drooling is a form of heat control for dogs called evaporative cooling. So, the answer is yes! Drooling can be normal and in response to the dog's emotions or environment.

Curly, a five-year-old Standard Poodle, eats the best food his human can afford. Raw chicken, rabbit, and venison are his favorites. Tina, his two-legged companion, switches the meats every few days, mixing the protein with some sweet potato, carrots, an occasional stalk of broccoli, and always a good fish oil supplement. Plus, to be sure that Curly is getting full nutritional benefit from every delicious bite, Tina always adds a sprinkling of a probiotic and digestive enzyme supplement as a final touch. Everything Curly eats is the best of the best: human-grade ingredients, no preservatives, no by-products. But somehow, despite all of the good lovin' and great food, Curly is a bit thin, won't put on weight, and his stool is sometimes dry – making it hard for the poor guy to poop during his daily walks. Tina knows that something is amiss and she is worried. She was told that maybe the probiotics weren't active, so she tried several different brands. But nothing has improved. So what gives; is it that the probiotics don't work? Adding supplemental Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, or other probiotic organisms to your dog's diet is almost always a good idea. This will support the resident microflora that are always present in Curly's gut, enhancing digestion and absorption of nutrients, supporting detoxification and elimination processes, and helping to boost his immune system.

A dog fecal sample for internal parasite testing is critical to determining effective treatment for your dog. Stool samples can also provide other vital information about your dog's health.

In 2013, the American Medical Association defined obesity in humans as a disease. The veterinary medical profession is also pushing to have obesity in...

I have a young Great Dane named “Bugsy.” I acquired him from a Dane breeder with a good reputation when he was four and a half months old. My only misgiving about the handsome pup was the discovery he had been raised on a terrible food, a brand made with poor quality ingredients and way too much protein and fat for a growing Dane puppy. Though many people think that big dogs must require lots of protein and fat to “grow so big,” giant breed dogs should be fed lower percentages of these nutrients.

restlessness

A broken or split nail is painful for your dog, but not all of them require a trip to your veterinarian. You may be able to treat it yourself; here’s how.

Why a blood test is an integral part of your dog’s requisite annual wellness exam, and how to get the most out of the blood chemistry test results. Most of the dog’s organ systems can be targeted by one chemical analysis or another, and with proper interpretation of one (or a combination of) these analyses, I can, at least in part, assess the dog’s current health/disease status. From this interpretation then, we can often derive a treatment regime, whether it is based on Western or alternative medicines. Isn’t science wonderful?

Most dog owners are aware that Collies and other herding breeds may be sensitive to ivermectin, used for heartworm prevention and to treat certain parasites. But did you know that these dogs can also be sensitive to a number of other drugs, and that other breeds can also be affected?

Metamucil, or psyllium fiber, is a good home remedy for dog anal gland problems, constipation, and diarrhea.

Mercury, my Chihuahua-mix, turned 17 years old this year, making him (by far) the oldest dog amongst all of my friend’s dogs. When people...

Vomiting is one of the most common reasons that dogs are brought to the vet. That’s probably because there are hundreds of things that...