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June 6th, 2010 by Tommie Howard

The Good Old Days

Before the advent of commercial dog food, people fed their dogs scraps from the table and the dogs supplemented that food with other food found as they roamed throughout the day. In 1860, James Spratt invented the dog biscuit, which was made in England.

Gradually leash laws began appearing around the country and dogs became more bound to their homes. Cereal companies recognized the income opportunity sitting right in front of them. Thus, the birth of dry dog food.

Choices Of Dog Food

Today, dog food comes in many different styles, including canned, dry, semi-moist and frozen. Canned dog food is further divided into different styles, including ration, all-animal, chunky and stew.

Ration canned dog food is ground and cooked so as to be unrecognizable. The All-animal canned food contains chunks of recognizable byproducts, such arteries. The chunk dog food is ground and reshaped into chunks; byproducts are not identifiable. Dog food with added gravy is called stew and exists primarily for eye appeal.

Chemicals Found In Dog Food

As a dog food is more processed it becomes necessary to add more chemicals to it. Foods with gravy contain food starch, coloring and gums. To make food more tasty to the dog and visually appealing to the owner flavor enhancers and coloring is added. To keep the semi-moist dog food moist, prophylene glycol is added. Preservatives such as mold inhibitor, ethoxyquin, BHT and BHA are added to improve shelf life.

A Dog’s Nutritional Needs

Like almost all living things, dogs need fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, water and calories to support its growth, repair and activity requirements. A dog food must contain ingredients that a dog can absorb easily. It does no good to be 100% complete nutrition if the ingredients are only partially absorbed. Proteins from plants must be processed in order for a dog to absorb the nutrients.

No living thing on Earth eats the identical foods each day, every day. Even wild animals eat a variety of foods. Many dogs are fed the same food year after year with little variation. This is not the best thing to promote good health, even if the food claims it is 100% complete.

Australian Ian Billinghurst recommends the BARF diet. This controversial feeding plan has owners feed dogs raw food and bones in the form of chicken carcasses, fish carcasses, raw eggs, yogurt, fruits and vegetables and absolutely no grains.

Many people insist that this diet has made their dogs more energetic and healthier. Other people are completely against feeding a dog a raw diet. Whether the BARF diet or other raw food diet for dogs is right or wrong, dogs do need to eat food that they are adapted to biologically. If they do not eat quality food with easily absorbed ingredients, their health will suffer and degenerative disease will set in.

Picking The Highest Quality Food For Your Dog

There are many high-quality dog foods on the market today that have no by-products, high levels of digestible protein and low or no grain that owners can choose from. Before selecting a food for your dog, it is important to take into consideration the age and activity level of your pet, as well as learn all you can about dog nutrition so that you can make an educated choice about what to feed your dog.

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March 18th, 2010 by Chris Station

Training a puppy to accept a collar and leash is probably the single most important thing that you can work on when you start his training. Puppy leash training can begin almost as soon as you get him settled in his new home.

When you train your puppy to become used to a collar and leash, you are establishing the idea that you are in control. This is a really important point for your dog to understand if your training is going to be successful.

As soon as you can get your puppy to live with his collar and lead, you will be able to start focusing on other areas. Here’s how to train him to accept his collar and lead.

It’s important that the collar fits properly. Too loose and he’ll back his way out of it. Too tight and he won’t be comfortable. Try adjusting it so you can slip two fingers easily between his neck and the collar.

When you initially begin to use the collar, it will feel strange to your puppy. Give him lots of reassurance and attention to take his mind off it. It will take time before he gets used to the feel of the collar. Once he becomes used to simply having the collar on, you can move forward in training your puppy. Leash training, without a doubt, is easier if you have given your new puppy lots of time just getting used to wearing the collar.

Next, attach a short but very light leash to the collar. Make sure the leash is not any more then about three feet. Let your puppy drag the leash around for short periods of time. You want him to get used to how it feels to have something attached to his collar.

Be sure to keep a close eye on him while he is dragging the lead around. He may become frightened and agitated if he gets stuck for any length of time. Your job is to ensure that this doesn’t happen. For right now, simply making him aware that the leash restricts him briefly is enough. Remember, you want this to be a positive experience for your puppy.

Within several days, he will become accustomed to the feel of the lead. When he gets to this point, attach one end to his collar and the other end to your belt instead of letting it drag freely. Let him explore freely like before and let him get stuck. This time though, you won’t go and free up his leash.

Instead crouch down and call his name. Reach out your hand and offer him a toy or treat to try to get him to come to you. Praise him lavishly when he comes to you. Do this for a short time each day. Undo the leash after he has successfully come to you a few times, but always leave on his collar.

Once he routinely comes when he reaches the end of the lead and is called back, your puppy leash training will be successful. This success will make the rest of your training so much easier.

After a training session reward your dog with a cozy heated dog bed to keep him warm in the cooler weather or a coolaroo dog bed to keep him cool in warmer weather.

December 21st, 2009 by Christine Pinkston

Holistic cat food means that the food is all natural and yes you should be using it.

The cat industries food producers are one of the biggest culprits in the early deaths of our lovable furry family members.

A cat should live on average a quarter of a century but strangely enough the average life of a house cat is only eight years. This might be because of the nutritional value of the food we give them. Most store bought food is equivalent to a well known brand of junk food with creamy insides and a golden cake on the outside.

Fortunately for us we eat other things besides Twinkies or our life span might not be much better off then the average cats.

Anything holistic means that it is void of all artificial ingredients. The thing about cat food is that even if it says that it is holistic that does not automatically mean that it is good for your cat. The cat food companies have different laws they follow then food for human consumption does.

Here’s what the law says, if at the many stops on the way to the companies processing plant things get added to the meat and meat byproducts it doesn’t have to be claimed. The only things that the producers have to state as being in the food are what they personally added.

What they consider meat for cat food is another problem. Animals put down at the pound, parts of cows not usable for us, and road kill are all used for the meat and meat byproducts.

When they put the animals down at the pound they use a poison. This poison does not get cooked out in the processing plant so the food you feed your cat everyday may contain active poison in it.

So what should you do?

Well if you want your four legged family member to live a long and healthy life you might want to consider using a combination of homemade food and safe commercial food. With homemade food you don’t have to wonder what’s in it because you put it their.

Get more information about natural cat food to allow your cat to live his life to the fullest. Find out if natural cat food is the right direction to go for your cat.

December 17th, 2009 by Jennefer Poultson

When people buy a dog, he usually becomes much more than just an animal that walks around. He becomes a best friend, a trusting companion, and a protector of the home. When your dog isn’t feeling well, the last thing you want is to think that there is something seriously wrong with him. Since many of us don’t have enough in-depth knowledge when it comes to dogs, a trip to the veterinarian’s office is the best place to go for a dog health diagnosis.

This really should be done on a regular basis instead of waiting until he needs to go. Your veterinarian can help you to know which things to look for if you suspect that your dog is ill. On basic trips to the vet, your dog should have several things done to keep him healthy to start with.

Most importantly, your dog should be vaccinated. Many of the most popular killers of dogs are diseases that can be protected against by a vaccination. Your dog should get his distemper as well as his rabies shots along with treatments for fleas and ticks. If your dog is older, he can develop a type of Alzheimer’s and even asthma. Instead of guessing what is wrong, your veterinarian will be able to help you and treat your dog. It is important that you schedule regular check-ups for your companion.

A lot of the times, dogs can get the same sicknesses that humans get. Dogs can catch the common cold, a fever, and sometimes cancer. This is why it is so important for you to take your dog to the vet so that a regular, routine check-up can be done to check for any type of problems.

When you keep your dog healthy, he will be so much happier, and so will you to have a healthy pet. Having a dog that mopes around the home or acts like he is sick is something that worries all of us. Dogs are just like children in the fact that they are not able to communicate what is wrong with them or what hurts. Even though this would make things so much easier, dogs can’t tell you that they have a stomach ache.

This is why your dog has to be able to rely on you to keep him healthy. You have to fed him, walk him, bathe him, and love him with your entire heart, and he will love you back. There are many things that you can do in order to keep your dog healthy and feeling the best. Many veterinarians provide natural remedies in order to keep your dog in tip-top shape, both inside and out.

Making sure his diet is one that is recommended for his age and his particular needs can make the difference between having an energetic, healthy pet and one that does not feel like playing or leaving his bed. You should avoid commercial brands of dog food that have high concentrates of sugar and preservatives. Exercise cannot be stressed enough, and look at it this way. It is as healthy for you as it is for your dog.

A dog health diagnosis is the way to make sure there are no problems, even if they are little ones that could turn into something more serious later. After all, if you find out a few things about how to keep your dog healthy and happy, he will be around for a long time to be a faithful companion to you. He will love you unconditionally, greet you when you come home, and best of all, he will always be your friend.

To find out about holistic dog health and dog health diagnosis to maintain your dog’s health, go to HealthierDogs.com Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

December 6th, 2009 by Geraldine Dimarco

One of the most expensive things about owning poodles is keeping them well groomed. If you learn to do this yourself, you’ll develop a better relationship with your pet, and you’ll save a lot of money in the long run. Grooming poodles might seem hard, but it’s actually a task that just about anyone can learn to do. You just need patience and the willingness to practice your skills.

When you are looking into grooming standard poodles, you will find that the process will generally take around three hours once you have had some experience. When you are just getting started, you may find that you need to spread the grooming out over several days, to give you and your dog a bit of rest. After a few sessions, you’ll get the hang of it, but if the time commitment isn’t really for you, you’ll find that you can get a dog groomer to do it for you.

Remember that you have a choice of trims available to you when you are thinking of grooming poodles. You’ll find that the poodle’s curly, stiff hair will allow you to take advantage of many looks. Remember, also, though, that some looks are more care intensive and require more maintenance than others. Show poodles will certainly require more maintenance and a more conservative cut than pet poodles.

All show poodles must have a variation on the traditional lion cut. There are three variations on this kind of poodle grooming – continental, English saddle, and puppy. However, they’re all related to the traditional “poodle” cut that we know so well. Originally, this cut was created to help these dogs swim more effectively while retrieving birds from the water. A long mane of fur on the chest protected the lungs and heart, and the tufts on the legs offered joint protection.

If you are not going to show your dog, you’ll find that you have quite a few more options when it comes to making sure that your dog looks tidy. You can do an all-around short trim, which is ideal when you are considering how to make a good grooming job last, but if you are looking for something more flashy, consider looking at pictures online and in books to get some ideas.

When thinking bout grooming poodles, remember that most people will clip the fur at the base of the ail, on the feet and on the face very short, to make sure that it does not get very dirty and to make the dog easier to care for. Remember that the shorter you keep the fur clipped, the less dirt will get into your househhold, and the less the dog will need to be brushed over all. Remember to wash your poodle before you groom them, and make sure that if you clip yourself that you use high-quality tools that are kept sharp.

For more on house training poodles as well as information on toy poodle nutrition, you can’t go past Poodle Information.