Inhalant Allergy

Just like their masters, dogs are susceptible to allergens inhaled from the air. Pollen from trees, grass, and flowers, dust mites and molds are just some of the common culprits.

However, unlike their masters who exhibit inhalant allergies through sneezing and coughing, dogs show their reactions through scratching and biting as well as chewing of feet and licking constantly. A less common reaction is recurrent infections in your dog’s ears.

You can help alleviate the allergy by vacuuming frequently and dusting the areas your dog spends much time in (like his sleeping

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Flea Allergy

Flea allergy is the most common form of canine allergy. However, it is not the flea but the flea’s saliva that your dog may be allergic to.

To find out if your dog has flea allergies, a skin allergy test is preformed. If it he/she is tested positive, a strict control regimen can reduce symptoms. Consult you’re your vet as to what type of treatment is best for your pet. There is a wide array of choices ranging from pills to sprays to shampoos

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Does Your Dog Have Allergies?

Constant scratching, tail-chasing, coughing and wheezing, eye and nose discharges – if these symptoms can be observed on your pet dog, chances are very likely that he/she is suffering from allergies.

Yes, dogs, just like their masters can suffer from allergies. Roughly about 20 percent of the dogs living in our homes suffer from some allergy type. Major classifications of canine allergies are atopic dermatitis, flea allergy, food allergy and inhalant allergy.

Atopic Dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis is skin allergy disease caused by hypersensitivity developed by your dog’s immune system to several and very common substances like molds and dust mites.

If your dog scratches and licks himself very often (particularly licking and chewing the paws, abdomen and legs), and his/her ears are hot to the touch, he/she may be suffering from atopic dermatitis.

Check to see if your dog’s saliva causes stains. A red to brown stain is another indicator that your dog is atopic. In persistent cases, the skin on the abdomen changes color from pink, to a bright red then to black.

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Flying With Your Dog

There are many requirements that a pet owner must meet before traveling by air with a dog. While specific regulations will vary by airline, most airlines work with the same general rules when it comes to flying dogs.

Dogs Cannot Fly Alone

Every airline that was researched for this article has a rule against flying unaccompanied dogs from one point to another. Understand that dogs are considered to be cargo to the airline. You can’t send your luggage to a city somewhere across the country without going with it (only the airline can do that – insert rim shot here) and you can’t send your dog. Unaccompanied dogs must be transported by a licensed and approved pet transportation company.

Clean Bill of Health

All airlines require that a dog that will be flying with you receive a full physical examination and be tested for various diseases (most commonly rabies) before they’ll be allowed to fly. Usually the airline will require that the exam certificate be dated within a certain amount of time before the date of the flight, so the exam you had your dog undergo two years ago will not suffice for a flight you intend to take next week.

Weather Related Restrictions

The cargo hold on an airplane can become very hot. Because of this fact there are restrictions on what times of the year dogs may travel to and from certain cities. Most airlines will also enforce specifically weather and temperature related restrictions. For example, if the temperature in the arrival or departure city exceeds eighty or eighty five degrees Fahrenheit, pets will not be permitted on the plane.

Pets in the Cabin

Many airlines are now permitting the transport of pets in the cabin of the plane, provided they can fit into the in-cabin kennel cage (22″ long by 9″ high on most airlines). The cost for this service also varies by airline but is under $100.00 in most cases. This is a considerable improvement compared to the pets transported in the cargo hold which many consider an unsafe practice and which can cost more than $300.00 in some cases.

International Flights

The customs laws of many nations restrict the passage of dogs and other pets over their borders. Airlines must comply with these laws and in many cases your dog will not be able to join you on an international flight at all.

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Heartworms in Dogs – What They Are & What to Do

Heartworms (Latin name Dirofilaria immitis) are parasitic worms that are common in both dogs and cats. Like their name suggests, they live in the dog’s heart, normally free-floating in the right ventricle and nearby blood vessels. The worms are transmitted from dog to dog by mosquitoes which pass the worm larvae through their saliva. The presence of heartworms can be very dangerous to the dog’s health. Although the dog will not display signs of infection until it has progressed considerably, heartworms can be life threatening and are sometimes difficult to detect and diagnose.

Signs of Heartworm Infection

When a dog is first infected with heartworms, there are literally no signs and the presence of heartworms can not be detected even with a blood test. Once the worm larva reaches the heart and matures, however, signs that are detectible by X-ray start to develop almost immediately. These include damage to the blood vessels around the heart and lungs. It is rare that a dog will be infected by only one worm and as the mature worms in the heart grow in size and number, the conditions worsen, eventually causing a blockage of blood flow. It is at this point that the dog will start to display physical signs which can include pain, hypertension, difficulty breathing, lethargy or even fainting. In extremely progressed cases the dog can suffer from heart failure and death although by the time the heartworm disease has reached this stage the owner has probably realized that something is going on and sought veterinary care.

Treating Heartworm Infection

Once a dog has been diagnosed as having heartworms, treatment must be started. What this treatment is and how it is administered is dependant on the stage of heartworm infection. Generally, there are four stages of heartworm disease.

Stage One – Dogs at the lowest risk – heartworms are detected in X-rays but all other tests appear normal.

Stage Two – Dogs are moderately infected, may have some difficulty breathing and be demonstrating coughing

Stage Three – Dogs are severely affected & may display weight loss, have difficulty breathing, blood tests likely show kidney and/or liver damage

Stage Four – Dogs have Vena Cava Syndrome and are in shock, essentially dying – surgery may be undertaken to remove worms, but there is no guarantee that it will save the dog.

When it comes to heartworms in dogs, prevention truly is the best medicine. The best time to begin a preventative treatment is early in puppy-hood, before the dog is seven months old since dogs older than seven months are at a great risk for adverse reactions to the preventative treatments.

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Dog Clothes

Some people love to make their dogs as cute as can be. For these folks there are dog clothes. Cute sweaters, doggie tee shirts, dog booties, stylish bandanas, and precocious little hats are among the items people will purchase to adorn their dogs with style. Dressing a dog is more about the owner than the animal, but as long as the clothing isn’t restrictive or overly cumbersome, most dogs don’t mind getting dressed up now and then for a night (or day) on the town and some breeds, especially those that crave attention, quite enjoy it.

The advent of the internet has taken the concept of dressing our dogs to new levels as websites offering all manner of “designer” dog clothing have popped up everywhere. With names like Glamour Dog, Designer Dog Wear, and Paw Printz Boutique (dot com, of course), these sites offer the tops in canine fashion for proud owners to place on their pups.

Years ago it was not uncommon to see a dog in a knit sweater or some other cute clothing article, but today there are nearly as many clothing choices for dogs as there are for people. There are dresses and slacks, raincoats, eyewear, headwear, footwear, and every imaginable item. There is doggie casual wear, for hanging around on the beach, doggie formal wear for those special black tie occasions and even doggie wedding gowns and tuxedos for the wedding of a doggie’s dreams!

In many cases the doggie designer clothing comes complete with a doggie designer price tag. Dog dresses at Glamour Dog dot com, for example, are listed with prices that run from $40.00 (for a to die for Mary Jane dress) to $86.00 (Pretty Pink Formal Dress). Some of these dog clothes cost more than a lot of people spend to dress themselves. But, the sites stay in business. Someone is buying this stuff.

Some personal favorites include the doggie trench coat ($70.00), the various college football jerseys ($25.00), and the 100% cotton doggie bathrobe – perfect for the pooch who wants to emulate Hugh Heffner.

The recent trend in excessive doggie clothing is undoubtedly spurred by the popularity of celebrity dogs like Paris Hilton’s infamous Tinkerbell and Anna Nicole Smith’s Prozac-popping puppy, Sugar Pie. Both pooches are rarely seen in public without some form of attire and the PR pooches are having an influence.

So, if you’re in the market for dog clothes that will turn heads and get your pooch noticed, designer doggie duds may be just what the fashion critic ordered. Just be sure not to combine designer labels or adorn your dog in designs that clash. After all, what could be more gauche?

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Finding a Dog Breeder

If you’re in the market for a purebred dog, you’ll need to find a breeder from which to purchase the animal. This can often be as easy as opening the classified advertising section of your local newspaper, but you’ll want to be sure that the breeder you’ve chosen is reputable. There are several ways to help ensure that the breeder you’ve found knows his stuff and is reliable, professional, and trustworthy.

Ask for References

Any good breeder will be able to provide you references of clients he has worked with in the past. These will be people who have purchased a puppy or utilized stud services and will be happy to share their experiences with you. Choosing a breeder that was used by someone you know is a good choice as well. If your friend or family member was happy with the service and treatment he or she received from the breeder, the odds are good that you will be as well.

Prepare to be Asked Questions

A good breeder will have as many questions for you as you have for him, perhaps more. Good breeders work to ensure that the dogs they breed are placed with the correct people. They may ask whether you have children, what size home or yard you have, and numerous other questions to help them let you know whether the dog you’re seeking is right for you and your family. A breeder that doesn’t ask these types of questions may be looking just for the money from the sale of the dog and is probably not the sort of breeder you want to do business with. A good breeder always has the best interest of both the dog and the clients in mind.

Guarantees

A good breeder will have had the puppies checked for potential health risks before ever selling the animal. Some problems, however, simply are not detectable until later in life. If you purchase a golden retriever pup, for example, and six months later discover that it has hip dysplasia (a genetic defect in the animals hip joints, it is often nearly undetectable until the animal is several months old), a good breeder will issue a refund to you, no questions asked. Genetic defects like this are avoided by the use of selective breeding (hip dysplasia in dogs has between a 25% and 85% chance that it is genetic in origin), but sometimes a pup will display the disorder even if there is no trace of it in either parent’s history.

Other Sources

Aside from looking in the newspaper of on the internet for a dog breeder, breeders can be found through veterinarian’s offices, pet supply stores, and at dog shows. Dog shows are a very good choice since the breeders that attend these events are often showing one of their dogs or are there to see the performance of one that they bred and sold in the past.

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Dogs in the Cartoons

America loves dogs in films and on television. We also seem to love dogs in the pages of the Sunday funnies and in animation. To list all of the cartoon dogs that have made some kind of impact on American pop culture could fill an entire book. Here, however, is a small who’s who list of dogs that have been popular in cartoons over the years.

1924 – Sandy

Fans of Harold Gray’s comic strip Little Orphan Annie fondly remember Annie’s dog Sandy. Although Sandy never had much to say except the occasional panel-ending “ARF!” she was loved nonetheless and often was able to help Annie out of tough scrapes when fighting Nazis or investigating haunted houses.

1950 – Snoopy

Easily the most recognizable cartoon dog in American history, Snoopy – the real star of Charles Schultz’s Peanuts – is an American icon. Snoopy stole the show in every Peanuts strip he appeared in. He fought the Red Baron from the top of his dog house, was the proud owner of original paintings by both Vincent Van Gogh and an Andrew Wyeth (the Van Gogh was sadly destroyed by fire), never quite finished his novel but typed the opening line “it was a dark and stormy night” countless times, and had a twin brother named Spike who lived in the desert outside Needles, California. Not bad for a Beagle.

1980’s – Odie

It is nearly impossible not to love Odie, the relatively stupid, completely mute (he doesn’t even think in words), and incessantly slobbering canine companion of Garfield the cat in the Jim Davis strip Garfield. Odie was there simply to be abused by Garfield, no doubt about it, but there are plenty of times in the history of the comic that we get to see just how important the little dog is to the titular chubby cat.

1990

What better pet for the misfit Simpson family than Santa’s Little Helper, a weary greyhound that couldn’t win a race if his life depended on it? From the Christmas themed pilot episode of The Simpsons to the episodes airing today (as of this writing the show is in its 16^{th season), SLH has been a fixture in the constantly expanding Simpsons universe. Who can forget SLH destroying Homer’s prized giant cookie, learning to talk in an effort to distract the family’s attention away from their “new” dog Laddie, and being trained as an attack hound by Mr. Burns and the not quite in the closet Waylon Smithers? Santa’s Little Helper is everything the Simpson family dog should be and more. Watch for his Snoopy imitation at the end of one of the series’ famous Treehouse of Horror Halloween episodes}

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Dogs in American Animation

One of the most beloved subjects for the creation of cartoon characters in America is the dog. Countless dogs have graced movie and television screens as animated characters – too many to cover in one short article in fact. There must be something special about the comical nature of canines that makes them such ready targets to become humorous cartoon characters, but there have been plenty to choose from.

In the 1970’s the creative team of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera had their heyday on television. They practically owned Saturday mornings when nearly every cartoon show seemed to be an HB production. The team and their company created over a thousand animated characters over the years and a number of their most memorable ones are dogs.

Scooby-Doo

Scooby-Doo, where are you!? Anyone who was a growing and television watching child in the seventies remembers the lovable Great Dane with the bottomless stomach and nerves of aluminum. As part of the team of teenagers that trekked the country in their psychedelic van “The Mystery Machine,” Scooby and his pal Shaggy got more mileage out of one plotline than any cartoon characters in history. Scooby-Doo has aired on television in one form or another for over thirty years and, with the success of two recent live-action motion pictures based on the series, shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. We’d have gotten away with it if it weren’t for those meddling kids and their dog…

Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy

This was a pair made for cartoons if there ever was one. Augie and his dad were two bachelors traveling around and getting into adventures and misadventures with humorous results. Augie was clearly the brains of the operation, but he was never going to reveal that to his Jimmy Durante inspired “dear old dad.” We never did find out what happened to Doggie Mommy…

Hong Kong Phooey

Only Hanna Barbera Studious could have thought to take the 1970’s fads of “blacksploitation” and Kung Fu movies and make it into a kids cartoon show. They pulled it off, though, with this “number one super guy” that was voiced by the late, great Scatman Crothers. By day he’s a mild mannered janitor working at the police station, but whenever there’s trouble he jumps into the filing cabinet, dons a mask and a gi, and emerges as… a dog in a gi that knows kung fu. Good times all around.

Muttley

Appearing as the sidekick of the eternally villainous Dick Dastardly, Muttley the dog never said a word, but his wheezy snicker rings in the memory of anyone who ever saw an episode of The Wacky Races, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, or Stop That Pigeon.

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Doggie Hygiene

Washing your dog is important, but not as important as some people think. Healthy dogs actually don’t need to be washed all that often, but humans prefer to bathe them so that they have a more pleasing smell and appearance. Doggie bath time is a good time to spend with the dog, however. Although most of them don’t like to be washed, they will appreciate the contact and attention that they receive from their owners during a bath. It is also a good time to perform some other necessary “dog maintenance” such as cleaning the ears, checking for ticks and fleas, and brushing the teeth. Since many dogs do not like to sit still for any of these activities, it can be a good idea to do them all at once.

Brushing Dogs’ Teeth

Brushing your dogs’ teeth is just good dental hygiene. Most vets recommend that it be done at least twice a week to ensure your dog maintains healthy teeth and gums. If you’ve not been doing this (and, unfortunately, many people don’t) it’s never too late to start. The dog should have its own toothbrush and special toothpaste designed for dogs. Make sure you brush the back teeth in small circles, the same way you would your own, and brush up and down the length of the “pointy” canine teeth. Dog toothpaste is made to have a pleasing taste (for the dog, don’t try it yourself) and this should make the dog willing to let you perform this activity.

Checking for Ticks & Fleas

Ticks are nasty little arachnids (they’re eight-legged creatures like spiders, and therefore are not insects) that will latch onto your dog’s skin and make its blood their meal ticket. They are most common in wooded areas, but your dog should be checked for them regularly because they can carry a number of diseases. The best place to look for these bugs in under the collar or on the dog’s underbelly, buried in the fur. If found they can be removed with tweezers.

Fleas can be found in the same places, under the fur. The presence of fleas can be betrayed by the sight of their droppings on the dog’s coat. They look like flecks of pepper. The fleas themselves look like bits of brown rice. They’re about an eighth of an inch long. They can’t simply be picked off of the dog like ticks can, but finding them will let you know its time to start the dog on a program to control and eliminate the insects.

Cleaning the Ears

Pet supply stores sell special solutions for cleansing a dog’s ears. Dogs can easily get ear mites, small insects which live in the ears and feed of the waxy secretions there. Over time the bodies of these short-lived creatures build up and form a black, dirty substance. Using a cotton swab dipped in a bit of this solution, gently clean the inner ear. It may be difficult to hold the dog still for this procedure, but it doesn’t take long. And the result will be clean ears and the avoidance of potential infection and earaches in the dog.

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