The Dog Owner’s Essentials

HEALTHY TEETH ADD YEARS TO LIFE

Whatever they chew has to be harder than tartar but softer than teeth and here are my three favorite dental “toys” from the pet shop or grocery store:

Beef shanks – NOT PORK and NOT RIBS. But beef shanks which are open on both ends and the marrow cavity is nice and deep. They’re available baked or barbecued – OR steamed and stuffed – or fresh and frozen. I like the baked and barbecued best. Your dog may think differently. My second favorite dental exercise is from a BEEF KNUCKLE which is super nice for almost all dogs including a Jack Russell who is 9 pounds and loves his. (Amazon.com for Beef Knuckles)

Finally, I like ANTLERS soaked overnight in beef broth. Yummy. And clean. But, antlers MAY be crunchable by big-jawed breeds like Pitbulls. Supervise all dental exercise and remove anything they’re actually INGESTING.

FEEDING RIGHT IS CRUCIAL TO LONGEVITY

This is just a DRY FOOD like Rachael Ray’s Just 6 or Nutrish, or Costco Kirkland’s Healthy Weight or Salmon and Sweet Potato. Nutro is pretty good. Iams notsomuch. Farmer’s Dog isn’t trustworthy.

Feed for the weight you WANT the dog to be. And that’s not about exercise. That’s about the AMOUNT and giving the food PLAIN AND DRY. Nothing on it. If you wanna give green beans, or some canned food, give it on the side NOT ON THE FOOD. Feed twice a day per this scheduled amount:

SKIN HEALTH

A slicker brush that’s self cleaning – like the green one at left. You brush the dog or cat’s coat, and then on the back of the brush there’s a button that pushes all the hair off in less than one second. Using this brush removes almost ALL the dead hair and stimulates skin circulation. It exfoliates dead skin flakes. The FLEA COMBS (only need one) are for the odd times you have to remove “crusts” from infected spots. Crusts are where bad bacteria proliferate in the skin, making a little crusty spot into a BIG crusty spot or spots.

Flea combs also remove fleas. (Amazon.com or the pet shops.)

PULLING ON THE LEASH IS NO LONGER NECESSARY.

You should be aware that more than fifty percent of harnesses on Amazon are labeled “No Pull” Harnesses but that’s JUST a buzz word unscrupulous or ignorant mass-marketers use…..and really only applies to Gentle Leader and the Sporn TRAINING Halter.

Even the Sporn UTILITY Halter is ‘fail’.

The Sporn TRAINING HALTER is nothing but two nylon cords in little sleeves of fake lambswool that go under the armpits and attach to the collar under the neck. There are no nylon fabric ‘panels’ or pads in this, correct TRAINING harness.

ZERO dogs pull on this harness. It’s done and done. If you get the wrong harness that’s on YOU.

NAIL TRIMS AREN’T THAT HARD. Learning to do a nail trim isn’t that hard and it saves you a bundle to do it yourself HOWEVER I would NOT try a nailtrim on a dog without a MASK on so you buy a GOOD quality stainless steel nail trimmer and a proper mask for the dog to wear then you find a groomer or Vet Tech to train you how to do the nail trim. Or, I’m sure there’s a Youtube video. MASK AND TRIMMERS.

So far I have never found a grinder that’s worth a shite.