A balanced diet for your pup! – What to avoid

It’s time for a new series – A balanced diet for your pup! This is such an important topic that we’ve decided to make it into a series of blog posts. Let’s begin!

So many of us, as dog owners wonder what would be the best diet for our pup. Answers to this question may vary based on who you ask. Your vet will most likely recommend serving dog chow and it’ll most likely be the brand which you can buy at his clinic while on the other hand you dog trainer be likely to recommend a Raw Food/BARF diet. Let’s first discuss the foods and ingredients we should avoid!

What should we watch out for?
Try to eliminate grains, especially if they’re in the top 3 ingredients of your dog chow. You pup would never reach for grains on it’s own. They are usually added to dog chows as a form of carbohydrates to make you dog feel full. Try to think of what your dog would reach for living in it’s natural habitat. The diet would definitely be meat based and enriched with fruits, veggies, and herbs.  Another thing we should never give to our dog is chocolate and sweets. Our pets have trouble digesting chocolate and we can cause a lot of damage by letting them eat our sweets. You can be sure that if your chihuahua eats a whole bar of chocolate you’ll be rushing to your vet’s ER.  Another thing we should look out for are grapes.  Grape seeds are toxic for dogs, eating 1 or 2 shouldn’t hurt anyone but be sure to eliminate them from your pup’s diet. If you have a vineyard or are growing a few vines in the garden be sure to keep the high up and and out the reach.  Garlic and onions may be ingredient staples of your favorite dishes—even some dishes that you share with your dog. But you should think twice before letting your pet lick up the rest of your garlic and onion-based broth from your homemade chicken soup. Any member of the Allium family—onions, garlic, leeks, and chives are the most common reported to cause toxicity because they contain N-propyl disulfide. This compound damages the oxygen-carrying substance found in red blood cells called hemoglobin which can lead to anemia and many other medical disorders. The last thing we’d like to talk about is chicken. Chicken meat is known for causing allergies for dogs. Even if your dog has been eating chicken their whole life, they could suddenly develop an allergy to the meat. Chickens are genetically modified these days and stuffed with chemicals which causes more and more allergies for pets. If you see signs or allergies like intensive scratching, baldness, red spots, etc. be sure to contact your vet. They may suggest trying a dog chow which doesn’t include chicken.

We think these are to most important topics to cover for today’s post. Be sure to check back soon for the next topic in our dog diet series!

What do you feed your pup with?

Pet Care & Spa for Dogs

Hey, guys!

We’ve released a new album called Pet Care & Spa for Dogs – Healing Music for Beauty Salon, Relaxation, Relieve Anxiety, Quiet Time. It’s made up of 30 tracks which are meant to calm and relax your pets while they’re being groomed. We recommend this album for pet salon owners! We all know that dogs go through a lot of stress while being groomed so let’s try to make them as comfortable as possible. Be sure to listen to the album on Spotify and if you enjoy it, be sure to download!

You can also buy it on iTunes and on the others online stores:

                                                                   

Dog Training for Beginners – How to have the perfect training session!

Hey there!

Here’s another post on dog training for beginners. Dog training can be a long and hard process, especially when you’re working with an older dog who has been taught wrong manners or hasn’t been trained at all. This post is mostly addressed to people who have rescued or bought an older dog and are beginning the process of teaching their pooch some manners.  This post isn’t on teaching actual command or tricks but shows you how to have an easier and more effective training session!

Set rules and boundaries! If you want to have rules remember to set them from the start! Since you don’t want your pooch sitting on the couch, never let him on it. Dogs don’t understand maybe or sometimes. They can either do something always or never, otherwise, they don’t obey your commands. You have to be very strict about following the set rules and never let those big, beautiful eyes fool you 🙂

The timing is key! We all know when to correct our dog but we often forget to praise when he is doing something right. Be sure to remember to praise your pup right after it is corrected. The correction and praise should be impeccable!

Be the leader! You should always be firm. Tell your dog what to do, don’t ask him if he’s feeling like doing it at the moment. If he’s not up for it then show him what you want and tell him once again. Remember, being firm doesn’t mean being rude or aggressive.

Remember to praise! We as dog owners, often focus on correcting our pup and often forget to praise him while he’s doing something good. It’s really important to build a close connection with your dog. It’s really easy to get frustrated with your dog and hard to remember to praise him! This is an observation made by numerous dog trainers. When you’re having trouble with your dog coming back to you, don’t get angry. Instead of being frustrated, praise him once he actually does what you’re asking for. If your do is quietly lying on the floor and chewing a bone or toy, be sure to tell him what a good dog he is!

Stay fair and take it slow! Be fair to your dog. If you’re expecting him to learn a trick or command, show him what you want and help him understand. Once you’re sure that you and your pup are on the same page, begin training! If you see that training isn’t bringing any progress try again. Remember to take things slow, a fast and intensive pace won’t help you with training. Everything takes time so be patient and know that you may need to re-teach some things if you go too fast!

 

Relax and Calm Your Animal

Hey, guys!

We’ve released a new album called Relax and Calm Down Your Animal Companion (Calming Music & Nature Sounds for Dogs and Cats, Pet Therapy Ambient). It’s made up of 30 tracks which are meant to calm and relax your pets. These songs are perfect for relieving stress and preparing your pet to sleep through the night. Be sure to listen to the album on Spotify and if you enjoy it, be sure to download!

You can also buy it on iTunes and on the others online stores:

                                                                    

Breed Introduction – French Bulldog

Hey there!

Here’s another post from the “Breed Introduction” series! Today we’ll be introducing the French Bulldog also know as a Frenchie. These adorable pups have people very popular recently but there are a few things you should know about them before considering adoption or buying from a breeder.

French bulldogs are a domestic breed which was created by crossing bulldog ancestors in England with popular ratters in France in the 1800s. Bulldogs were very popular in the past, especially in Western Europe. One of its ancestors was the English bulldog. Americans had been importing French Bulldogs for a while, but it was not until 1885 when they were brought over in order to set up an American-based breeding program. They were mostly owned by society ladies, who first displayed them at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in 1896.

Just like most domestic dogs, Frenchies require a lot of attention from their owners and shouldn’t be left alone for long hours. They have fairly minimal exercise needs but do require at least daily short walks. The French Bulldog is sometimes called “Frog dog” or a “Clown dog”. Frog dog is in reference to the unique way they sit with hind legs spread out.  They have a single short coat which means they can become cold very easily. They are very delicate when it comes to extreme temperatures and also shouldn’t be flown in cargo. French bulldogs can also suffer from an assortment of back, disk and spinal diseases and disorders as well as eye issues. All of these disorders should be taken into consideration before becoming an owner! You should also know that they are very happy, friendly, compassionate and patient dogs. When it comes to coat colours, acceptable colours under the breed standard are the various shades of brindle, fawn, tan or white with brindle patches (known as “pied”).  You can find much more information online but here are just a few things that are worth knowing before thinking about adding a Frenchie to your family!

Leave a comment telling me what breed we should introduce next!

 

 

New Album – Canine Relaxation

Hi four-legged friend lovers!
Is your dog stressed? Does he need to relax? Here is the solution! This is my album. It’s very useful to calm down and relax your pets!

Listen to the music on Spotify:

 

You can also buy it on iTunes and on the others online stores:

                                                                    

The great help of rescue dog

How many times have dogs helped society in any type of situation? Try to think how many times he risks his life to save us! Today I would like talk about rescue dogs to thank them for helping us in dangerous situations we find ourselves!
So, we could continue to speak about his very important task but I’m going to explain to you how training rescue dogs takes place.

There are only three requirements to become a rescue dog:

– a strong build and personality: to operate in any type of situation, atmospheric condition and task
– a good feeling with his owner: to obtain the total obedience of the dog.
– time: to create the good feeling between dog and owner.

The training of the rescue dog starts when the dog is 4-5 months. The first period is personality’s education. The main activity of this phase is playing because he can socialize with others people and others places.
The second stage is obedience to commands. Starting with “sit”, “on the floor” and “come here” until more difficult. The third step is emotional and mental preparation. This stage happens in a gym and is composed by exercise that allows him to face any type of dangerous situation. The last education phase is searching for missing people thanks to their nose.

So, behind a dog rescue, there is a lot of work but the most important things are surely the love and the confidence that the owner shows them!
Don’t forget, he’ll never betray you!

Breed Introduction – Great Dane

Hello, friends!

Today I would like to start a series called “Breed Introduction” where each post will allow you to meet a different breed. Many of us like certain breeds based on their appearance but aren’t sure if they are the right dog for us. These posts should help you find the perfect dog for your family. Today we’ll be introducing the Great Dane which is my personal favorite.

The Great Dane is one of the biggest breeds in the world, adult males weigh up to 90 kilograms! That’s more than a typical grown man! Of course, not all great danes are as heavy, females weigh between 45-60 kg and males from 55-99kg. Their height ranges between 70 and 90cm and their life span usually reaches 10 years. Sadly these amazing creatures are prone to gastric torsion, hip dysplasia, and rheumatism based on their anatomy, which means we might have to run to the ER and hope for the best.

Great Danes are also known as the Apollo of Dogs and Gentle Giants. The German name of the breed is Deutsche Dogge or German Mastiff. Just like their nickname says, they are gentle dogs often seeking physical affection with their owners. They’re usually good with other dogs, families and other noncanine pets.  However, if not properly socialized, a Great Dane may become fearful or aggressive towards new stimuli, such as strangers and new environments. It’s best to train with an expert from the early stages to eliminate unwanted behaviors in the future.

The next thing you should now is the variety of coats!

Fawn and brindle

• Fawn: The color is yellow gold with a black mask. Black should appear on the eye rims and eyebrows and may appear on the ears.
• Brindle: The color is fawn and black in a chevron stripe pattern. Often, also, they are referred to as having a stripe pattern.

• Harlequin and black
  • Black: The color is a glossy black. White markings on the chest and toes are not desirable and considered faults.
  • Harlequin: The base color is pure white with black torn patches irregularly and well distributed over the entire body; a pure white neck is preferred. The black patches should never be large enough to give the appearance of a blanket, nor so small as to give a stippled or dappled effect. Eligible, but less desirable, are a few small gray patches (this gray is consistent with a merle marking) or a white base with single black hairs showing through, which tend to give a salt and pepper or dirty effect.
    Gray merle (Grautiger) dogs are acceptable in conformation shows under the FCI as the gray merle dogs can produce correctly marked black/white harlequin dogs, depending on the combinations. The aim for deleting the colour gray merle as a disqualifying fault is to provide a wider gene pool. Their status is that they are “neither desirable nor to be disqualified”.Consequently, this color must never obtain the highest grading at dog shows.
  • Mantle – The color is black and white with a solid black blanket extending over the body; black skull with white muzzle; white blaze is optional; whole white collar preferred; a white chest; white on part or whole of forelegs and hind legs; white tipped black tail. A small white marking in the black blanket is acceptable, as is a break in the white collar.
• Blue: The color is a pure steel blue. White markings on the chest and toes are not desirable and considered faults.

Other colors occur occasionally, but are not acceptable for conformation showing, and they are not pursued by breeders who intend to breed show dogs. These colors include white, fawnequin, brindlequin, merle, merlequin, blue merle, chocolate and fawn mantle. The white Great Dane coloring is typically associated with vision and hearing impairment.

It’s easy to tell that these huge teddy bears aren’t cheap pets. Maintaining a healthy diet tends to be expensive based on the ammount of food they eat. They need a normal amount of exercise and plenty of love from their owners!

I hope this post helped you learn a little bit about the breed! What dog should we talk about next?

all photos found via Google Images

Dog’s vision

Continuing with the curiosity of dog’s world, today we are going to talk about dog’s vision.
I think all people, at least once in their life, ask themselves: “Can the dog see?” and “Can the dog see the colors or only black and white?” and again “Which colors can dogs see?”… In this post, we will try to answer these questions and will focus on other aspects regarding dog’s vision. We can start!

Movement vs Detail

Dog’s eyes are more sensitive to the movement than to the detail. In fact, the dog sees up close in a very blurry way. To see the details of an object, the dog has to be at least 50 inches from it. All this has been proved thanks to a test: if the dog owner stands 300 yards away, probably the dog can’t see him, but if the dog owner is on the move, the dog can see him even up to 2 kilometers far. Don’t forget, the dog was born to hunt, so seeing objects on the move is maybe the most important feature of his vision.

Colors or Black and White

Dog’s eyes structure is very different from human’s eyes structure, so that makes the difference in the perception of colors. Dog’s eye has more retinal rod than cone cell, compared to human’s eye. Retinal rod permits to see black and white also in low light. While cone cell permits to recognize the colors even if they don’t appear significantly in dog’s vision. In fact, the dogs can’t see as many colors as humans. Green and red are seen as yellow tones but they can see blue and violet very well.

Field of vision

Dog’s field of vision is more or less 240°, with a binocular visual zone of 80° and two monocular visual lateral zones of 80°. It all depends on the dog’s breed, based on his anatomy.

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All images via Google

Does the dog have memory?

Does the dog have memory? Maybe the behavior and the memory of dogs are considered the most inquiring things to know about our four-legged companion. Specifically, a lot of studies had been focused on the ability of the dog to memorize objects and actions useful to do a specific task. That’s not all, the latest studies show that the dog can elaborate strategy to solve a problem and he will learn thanks to imitating. I’m going to explain more in this post.

Dog’s memory: a feature for every situation
– Short-term memory: used to remember actions that have happened right now. Our friend can forget all he has memorized once he finished doing the action. The dog uses this type of memory for successive actions: to take the ball and to put it in the dog basket, etc.
– Long-term memory: consisting of all his life’s experience and sensation regarding mostly information taken during the adolescence (until 3-4 months). All these experiences remain pressed on the mind of our dog friend and help him to recognize dangerous situations to prevent them. Note that the dog, as the human, never stops to learn but, while growing and getting old he may need to experience more repetition to learn the action.
– Procedural memory: used to do complicated actions (to find the way to come back home, to sneak an object through a crack). The process comes thanks to a map in the dog’s mind that can be adapted for any type of context.

Dog and memory: how to act                                                                                                            

So, dogs also have memory, and any experiences leave a trace on their mind. They can be positive experiences as cuddles and food but also negative experiences that probably will stay in his mind forever.
So… Pay attention when you interact with your four-legged companion… He has memory!!!