Dog Basics for NEWBIES

Dog Basics for NEWBIES Table of Contents: 1. Understanding ingredients 2. Dogs need different diets at different ages 3. Vitamin and mineral supplements 4. Boredom and variety 5. Cost of feeds 6. Dry vs. Canned food 7. Home made diets 8. Food allergies 9. How much should I feed my dog? 10. How often should I feed my dog? 11. Signs of Ill health 12. Heart worm, fleas and other parasites 13. Heart worm prevention 14. Common questions about heart worm 15. Fleas and other parasites 16. Do parasites cause “Scooting”? 17. Preventing dental disease 18. Home dental care 19. Veterinary dental treatments 20. The importance of the physical examination 21. Why are regular check-ups important? 22. What happens during an examination? 23. How often should my pet be examined? 24. How to administer medicine 25. Nursing a sick dog 26. Vaccinations 27. Common questions about vaccinations 28. Spaying and neutering 29. Spaying of the Female dog 30. Surgical neutering of the male dog 31. Pet health insurance 32. Clipping a dog 33. First steps in grooming Dog Basics for NEWBIES 34. Bathing a dog 35. Pet Identification 1. Understanding ingredients Understanding the ingredients of your dog's food items is a must for the dog lovers or dog owners. Whenever you feed the dog with different kinds of food items, you should always read the label and understand the contents about the dog feed types that are being used in such commercial preparations. You should understand the ingredients while buying food for your dog and also know what to look for. Feed items include dry and fresh food. The fresh dog food that is prepared in homes generally consists of ingredients like freshly cut chicken pieces in addition to the cranberry juices, blue-green algae, etc. If you come across any different kinds of preservatives and if the dog develops all of a sudden signs pertaining to the food allergy, suspect the unwanted ingredient in the feed items given. Similarly, understand about the moisture status. If the food item is having more moisture, then the dog may prefer this as well. Beet pulp, pasta, Soy bean oil, wheat middlings, calcium carbonate, magnesium oxide, copper sulphate, iron sulphate, zinc oxide, choline chloride, etc. are often the ingredients in case of vegetarian based diet items offered to the pet animals like dogs. Raw egg, chicken, beef, mutton, fish, quail etc. are often the preferred ingredients in case of dog diets that are prepared on the basis of the non-vegetarian items. Tauri