How to Recognize an Allergic Reaction in Your Dog

Dog have allergies, just like people do — and often to the same things such as dust, pollen, grass, and insect bites. Your furry friend may also be allergic to certain ingredients in her kibble. [more…]

Why Do Dogs Eat Grass?

Experts and owners theorize about why some dogs graze on grass like cattle do. Some people think it’s a sign of an upset stomach, and the grass is soothing. Some dogs just like the taste of it. Others [more…]

What to Do about Your Dog’s Diarrhea

Most dogs get an occasional bout of loose stools. Although uncomfortable and undesirable, diarrhea may just be the body’s way of clearing the intestine of something disagreeable. [more…]

What to Do about Your Dog’s Constipation

A constipated dog spends longer than usual defecating, and the resultant stools are small, round, and hard. You can bet that if your dog is constipated, he’s uncomfortable. [more…]

What to Do If Your Dog Is Bleeding

Some dogs don’t notice when they’re hurt and your first clue may be the blood trail she leaves. To stop bleeding, apply pressure to the wound with a piece of gauze or cloth for several minutes. [more…]

How to Help a Dog Injured from Electrical Shock

Occasionally a dog, usually a puppy, will bite down on an electric cord and suffer electrical shock, often accompanied by burns. The dog may be unconscious and have burns around her mouth and on her tongue [more…]

How to Treat Your Dog’s Sprain or Strain

Just like you occasionally do, your dog can overextend and end up with sore muscles. A sprain is a torn ligament and a strain is torn tendon, but the results of both injuries are the same — swelling and [more…]

How to Identify Signs That Your Dog Is Sick

Your dog can’t tell you that he’s not feeling well, so it’s up to you to notice the signs that he’s sick or hurt and to do something to get him healthy again. Signs of illness in your dog include [more…]

Immunizing Your Dog with the Right Vaccinations

Vaccinations are a routine part of veterinary visits. These immunizations prevent health problems that can cause illness, deformity, and even death for many dogs. [more…]

How to Prevent Heartworm in Your Dog

Heartworms are parasites that live in dogs’ hearts and cause heart failure. Preventing this disease is critical because treatment of adult worms in the heart requires intensive care and can be life threatening [more…]

How Much to Feed Your Dog

You have your dog’s food bowl in hand and the dog food on the counter in front of you. But how much food do you put in the bowl? Calories are the key. The label on the dog food package should tell you [more…]

How to Handle Your Dog’s Bad Breath

Doggy bad breath usually is a sign that all is not well in your dog’s mouth. If your furry friend has a bad case of dog breath, it can be the result of poor dental hygiene. About 70 percent of dogs have [more…]

How to Treat Your Dog for Poisoning

Substances toxic to dogs abound — in your house, your yard, and the world in general. If your dog ingests a poison, contact your veterinarian immediately for instructions. If you cannot reach your veterinarian [more…]

What to Do If Your Dog has a Spinal Injury

If you suspect that your dog has suffered a spinal or neck injury, be very cautious about moving him or you can further damage the spinal cord and cause permanent paralysis or even death. [more…]

Recognizing Signs of Sickness in Dogs

Your dog will probably get sick at some point in its life. Learn to recognize the signs of your minor maladies in your dog - a tummy ache or soreness after playing hard -and signs of real illness. If your [more…]

Dealing with Your Dog's Digestive Dilemmas

Your dog's digestive system is an amazing mechanism that takes in food, grinds it up, and converts it to nutrients that can be absorbed and used by your dog's body. The digestive tract converts food into [more…]

How to Decide Whether to Free-Feed Your Dog

Many people keep their dog’s bowl full and let him eat whenever he wants, known as free-feeding. Although this may seem like an easy approach to feeding, there are many reasons why it's best not to free-feed [more…]

How to Recognize Hot Spots on Your Dog

A hot spot is a small to large area of your dog’s skin that’s red, raw, and oozing serum (fluid that seeps from the blood). Hot spots occur most often in dogs with allergies and commonly appear on the [more…]

What to Do about Your Dog’s Bald Spots

Most dogs shed a little hair every day. But if your dog develops a bald spot on his back or side, the hairless patch points to a health problem.

Patchy bald spots where you can see through to the skin or [more…]

How to Check Your Dog’s Pulse

To check your dog’s pulse, you need to locate the femoral artery, which lies just below the skin on the inside of the back legs, between two large muscles where the leg joins the body. [more…]

What to Do If Your Dog Breaks a Bone

If your dog breaks a leg, your goal is to stabilize your hurting pup — a broken bone is very painful — until you can get him to a veterinarian.

Fractures are sometimes obvious, such as when the leg is lying [more…]

How to Treat Your Dog’s Eye Injury

The eyes are very delicate and easily injured, especially in dogs who love to play in the great outdoors. How you deal with a foreign substance in your dog’s eye depends mostly on how big it is and whether [more…]

How to Treat Your Dog’s Heatstroke

The temperature doesn’t have to be very high for a dog to suffer heatstroke. Dogs are descended from wolves, animals that live in northern climes and thus have not developed natural mechanisms to fight [more…]