Thinking about a new puppy?

How much is that doggie in the window, you ask?  Bringing home a new puppy can be an event of great joy.  What fun a puppy could bring!  Think of all the good times ahead: hours of playtime, jumping up and down, rolling around and frolicking in the yard.

This precious being is yours to love and cherish, to raise and discipline, just like your very own child.  You can buy your puppy toys—the more sound the toy makes the more the puppy will adore it—and watch the bliss of playtime.  Cuddling up to its warm, fuzzy body, you are your puppy’s comfort and joy.  When the little guy gets scared, who’s he going to come running to with his tail between his legs?  You, of course, his guardian.  As you protect your beloved, he or she becomes the most loyal friend you’ve ever had. In time, the protector becomes the protected, and your puppy grows into a faithful dog who defends you.

Your puppy love has to be matched with doggie discipline, and a watchful parental eye.  Puppies tend to be on the reckless side, acting solely on instinct.  Their muscles are still developing, they bite and chew on just about everything, and you can expect to hear a lot of noisy barking when you bring a puppy home.  Foreign sights and sounds can confuse your puppy, and set off a cadence of barking.  It’s up to you to train your puppy, or take the initiative to place him or her in doggie daycare.  Puppies need training in etiquette and social skills as well as behavior.  How else is your little one going to know it’s okay to chase a squirrel, but its not okay to chew up your socks?  

The excitement factor is one of the most appealing things about adopting a puppy…but that excitement factor extends to eating.  Your pooch might get a little vigorous when the dinner bowl goes down on the floor.  You should talk to an animal care professional, and do your research, knowing what nutrition in what proportions your unique dog needs.

Naturally, there will be accidents until your pup completes potty training.  Henceforth, it is important to get to know your pet’s bathroom habits.  Just like with human babies, taking a glance at your dogs’ feces to monitor their health is a good habit to get into.  You can screen for signs of disease or internal damage. (And if your frisky puppy accidentally swallows a GI Joe, you need to make sure Joe gets through to the other side…)  

Be prepared for accidents and regular habits alike with dog poop bags, poop bags, or dog waste bags.  You’ll have that mess cleaned up with that foul smell gone in no time at all! 

What NOT To Feed Your Dog

Fido and Wishbone might come sit at your feet during dinner, drooling over what you and your family are chowing down on.  You might be tempted to toss your pup a scrap of meat, and little Johnny might sneak down his veggies.  Instead of scraping dishes, maybe you plop them on the floor and let the pooch lick them clean.  ‘Better than a dishwasher!’ you might exclaim.  

But the truth is people need be very careful about what they feed their dogs.  Many seemingly harmless foods can be deadly, or gravely serious, to the average dog’s liver, kidneys, or heart.  When Spot looks at you with those heart-wrenching, tacitly begging, eyes, it can be hard to resist!  (Does the term “puppy dog eyes” mean anything to you?)  But loving your pets means knowing what’s good for them, and doing what’s right, even if that means playing the tough parent sometimes. 

Chocolate is at the top of the list to withhold.  Caffeine and bromethalin, both present in chocolate, are toxic to your dog.  The darker the chocolate, the more concentrated the poison. Don’t forget, caffeine is in coffee, tea, and cocoa as well, so they’re on the list to avoid too.  Watch for signs of staggering and labored breathing, followed by a fast heartbeat or palpitations, and stomach pain and vomiting.  Severe chocolate poisoning ends in seizure, coma, or the death of your dearly beloved.

Tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, and garlic are all on the off list.  That awesome pizza you ordered Friday night is NOT sharable… unless you’re prepared to subject your pooch to liver and kidney damage (from the mushrooms,) tremors and heart arrhythmia (from the tomato,) and red blood cell damage (from the seasonings)—just a sampling of the effects these foods can cause. 

As you keep yourself healthy with fruit, restrain from sharing grapes and raisins, due to the potential for acute renal failure, and avocados, which cause fluid buildup in your dog’s organs.  Certain fruit pits and seeds contain cyanide, a pretty well known poison.  If you’re planning on sharing pears, plums, peaches, apricots or apples, just remember your dog always doesn’t spit out seeds and pits like you do.

The artificial sweetener xylitol is a more modern killer to be wary of.  Dogs experience a dramatic drop in blood sugar, leading to depression, loss of motor skills, seizures, or liver failure.  

Beware of macadamia nuts, walnuts, nutmeg, excess salt, animal fat, and fried foods.  From paralysis to pancreatitis, these all hold the power to harm.  

Many of these foods have a direct effect on a dog’s stomach and digestive system.  Diarrhea and upset digestion are unfortunate, but common side effects. If your dog should accidentally consume any of these foods, be prepared with biodegradable dog waste bags, dog poop bags, doggie poop bags.

Diseases Associated With Uncared For Dog Poop

Many people think to themselves that if dog poop is natural, why should they worry about cleaning it up?  Would you ask that question pertaining to a newborn baby or small child?  No, you would know that you must clean it up.  Fecal matter is not sanitary, and that holds true for canine excrement. 

 

What’s in dog poop that makes it dangerous? What comes out of your dog’s end is a combination of organic matter, laden with nutrients, including phosphorus and nitrogen, bacteria and parasites.  The disease causing capability of these bacteria and parasites is vast. 

Campylobacteriosis is one such bacterial infection.  It leads to diarrhea in humans, with the potential for subsequent pain, dehydration, and rash. Giardiasis, an infection of the small intestine, is another.  The most commonly spread disease that comes to humans through dog feces is salmonellosis (salmonella) characterized by fever, headache, muscle ache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and a host of other symptoms. Dogs also intrinsically carry fecal coliform bacteria, the headliner of these being E. coli, a notorious agent of illness.

Among the uninvited parasitic problems transferred to humans is toxocarisis, roundworms that cause rashes, coughs, fevers, or even loss of vision. 

Another avenue to disease is flies.  Wherever dog poop lies exposed, you can expect to see lots of flies…that will then land on your food, your furniture, your body, you name it!

When dog poop gets washed into streams, lakes, and rivers, it decomposes as it naturally would.  The problem is that the process uses oxygen, vital to fish and certain aquatic plant life, and converts the inherent nitrogen into ammonia.  Loss of oxygen plus excess toxin is a formula for dead fish.  Algae, essentially aquatic weeds, thrive in this environment, leaving an unbalanced and unhealthy ecosystem.     Water may take on a murky look, a green hue, and exude an unpleasant, phosphorescent odor.   In certain places, the effect of dog  The increased bacteria count kept people out of the water. droppings on the water has forced beaches to close.

While it may not be the worst toxin found in your watershed, nor is it likely the most widespread pollutant, it’s a smaller problem that can cause big issues in your local water quality.  One of the worst places to leave dog poop is next to a storm drain thinking it’ll be washed away and taken care of.  The next rain comes and you will have polluted your own water supply.

The problem can be controlled with responsible dog owners.  Past studies, as reported in USA Today, have estimated that 40% of Americans don’t pick up their dog poop. American Pet Products Manufacturers Association 2009-2010 National Pet Owners Survey, as reported by the Human Society of the United States, says there are 77.5 million owned dogs in the US.  Forty percent of the waste produced by 77.5 million dogs amounts to a lot of pollution and many taxed ecosystems.  Use doggie bags, dog poop bags, biodegradable dog poop bags. Bury the poop bags, or dispose of them in a legal container or sewage system.

The Trials of City Dog Owners

The life of an urban dog lover is not always easy.   Living in a high rise, or cramped in a small apartment, having little to no backyard, and a sidewalk for a front yard doesn’t exactly spell out the storybook environment for raising canines. But dog lovers are dog lovers and they will not be deterred: they make do.

Many city dwellers settle for smaller dogs, like Chihuahua and Shih Tzu, bred for small spaces and indoor living, but not everyone.  Some stand by their stolid breed, keeping retrievers and greyhounds.  All of these owners across the board deal with the issues of owning a pet in an urban environment. 

Urban dogs rarely have the spacious yards of suburban and country dogs, for one. Much like humans, dogs need exercise and they need to socialize.  They need a spacious open area to run and play.  Sometimes all it takes to change a poorly behaved dog is time romping in the great outdoors.  Interaction with other dogs teaches pets social skills, which can also modify their behavior as they relate to those of their own species.  Instead of opening a door for the dog to run outside, city owners may have the added difficulty of getting the pet down the elevator, or out the three doors to get outside. 

Perhaps the most unglamorous aspect of having a dog in a city is dealing with the dog’s waste.  The more dogs one has, the trickier—and messier—it can get.  It’s never exactly been pretty stooping down to scoop up dog poop…especially when you have three dogs, and you’re surrounded by fast moving people as far as the eye can see.   

But the fact remains that city dog owners must take care to clean up after their dogs’ droppings.  Most cities in the U.S. have strict rules and regulations for cleaning up after pets.  The good news is it doesn’t have to be that difficult. 

Carrying around dog poop bags is a simple way to make life easier.  A roll of these poop bags looks similar to a roll of produce bags at the supermarket, but these thin yet sturdy bags are sized for the material at hand.   A variety of biodegradable dog poop bags are on the market, providing an environmentally conscious way of handling the situation.  Both the bag and its contents decompose into the organic components from whence they came.  Pet owners can throw a roll into poop bags, or pocket, or for added convenience, put them in a dispenser. 

To purchase biodegradable dog poop bags go to http://www.thoughts.com/911savebeans.  These bags are available in many colors, and made to fit most poop bags dispenses currently on the market. Look for deals on free shipping.