Train My Pets

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Heartworm, or roundworm, is very serious can affect all types of gun dogs. With gun dogs, working dogs, and other outdoor dogs, you must be especially concerned because they are more susceptible to heartworm. The worse case scenario is that an affected dog can pass it on to humans, as well as other dogs. In turn, you can also pass on heartworm to your own dog.

Known as a parasitic disease, roundworm can be transmitted from mosquito bites or other animals. It doesn’t affect dogs exclusively; other animals like foxes and coyotes can all contractg roundworm, meaning that should an affected animal come in contact with your dog, he will likely get heartworm. Because treatment is very difficult, heartworm prevention is the safest “treatment”. Heartworm can even kill your dog.

Preventing Roundworm/Heartworm

Prevention can come in the form of tablet or food additive when given to your dog as a preventative measure. A tablet can be ingested orally and mahy come in the form of a dog treat, and food additives can be added or mixed with food. Most of these treatments are monthly applications. Remember to give it to your dog each month. Use a calendar if it helps you remember.

If you live in an area where you have all four seasons, you should know that the number one carrier of heartworm are mosquitoes by means of passing on infected blood to another area when they sting their target. Where there are more moderate climactic change, roundworm is usually spread from one animal to another. No matter which scenario suits you, preventative measures should be taken each and every month, regardless of weather.

Symptoms of Roundworm

It’s difficult to notice roundworm infection early on as it generally has little or no outward affect on your dog. Only through blood tests or a very skilled veterinarian’s eye will it be seen. Usually, the roundworms will “gestate” or merely propagate themselves for the first few months before finally beginning to seriously affect your dog’s health. It is at this stage that they are easiest to treat, but when they are least often noticed.

Typically a dog infected with the round worm becomes lethargic and not necessarily interested in is normal daily activities. You may notice a cough or weight loss in addition to these other symptoms. Contact your veterinarian immediately because in addition to roundworm there may be other infections that may be causing the symptoms.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Roundworm

Blood tests are needed to confirm a roundworm diagnosis. It is an easy test and most vets are able to administer a blood test right in the office. Once confirmed, the vet will have to find out what stage of the illness your dog is affected with, determine whether or not the infestation is male or female, and make a final decision on the best course of treatment.

Once diagnosis has been made, treatment can begin. If the infestation has gone on for a while, it can become costly and extensive to treat. The roundworm must be destroyed completely and this is usually done through drug treatments and sometimes dialysis. It’s very taxing on your dog’s system and will result in weight loss and listlessness, especially when the worms begin to be discharged through your dog’s stool. Follow up treatments can last for months to ensure that all the worms were eliminated.

If left untreated, roundworm infection can lead to organ damage and treatment for a lifetime. Detecting symptoms as soon as possible is very important and treatment must start right away.

When you have any sort of hunting dog, you should always keep in mind that you should always keep your dog’s health as top priority. There are also lots of different hunting dog supplies that you should have on hand for your dog such as dog training collars or dog collars.

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Training your bird dogs to hunt, whether it’s for flushing, pointing, or retrieving, there are great tools at your disposal. Bird and Dummy Launchers are available with remote control devices that can be used together or separately to fill your training needs.

Remote Bird and Dummy Launchers

With both dummy launchers and bird launchers, a remote control can be used to train your dog without the need of an assistant. At one time, there was no remote control, meaning you would always need another person to help with the training which almost always leads to a distracted dog.

A bird launcher is designed to emit a number of sounds and beeps to help your dog learn the sounds that he will hear when he’s hunting with you. The type, be it a dummy launcher or bird launcher will be dependent on what kind of training your dog requires. And because your goal is to have a well-trained dog who will make a great hunting partner, launchers are perfect for the job.

Bumper Launchers

Teach your dog to retreive using a dummy launcher. This is the perfect tool if you like to work on your own, and the dummies will launch much further in height and distance than throwing it using your strength. This is helpful because your dog will be able to learn to retrieve game that is farther from you. The purpose of the dummy launcher is to train your dog to retrieve because launching by hand is too close. It will be a sort of fetching game for your dog versus real-life training. For added convenience, remote launchers can emit sounds to teach your dog to behave as if you were out on the field hunting game, like ducks or pheasants.

Bird Launchers

To train a pointer or flushing dog, bird launchers are almost essential. A significant advantage with these is the ability to set up multiple launchers in the field to simulate an actual hunting area. Dogs are natural hunters and honing those skills is most easily done by mimicking what their skills were bred for. Training a dog to honor another’s point for the flush and to be effective in finding and pointing are much more easily done while using a bird launcher. Pointing dog trainers have been using them for years and now flushing dog trainers are seeing the huge advantages these tools can offer as well. Using the low-ground spring latch, these launchers can effectively train for quail and pheasant as well as high-flying birds like fowl.

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Heartworm is very serious; it’s one of the worst diagnosis for your dog because it is usually fatal. However, it is very simple to prevent heartworm from ever occurring. All it takes is a pill, food additive and some preventative care. The heartworm pill can be given to your bird dogs as a treat while liquids and powders can be added to your dog’s food on a regular schedule, which will depend on the treatment type.

Heartworm Facts
Heartworm can live in the dog’s body and work its way into all major organs and tissue, and finally the heart, which is what kills the animal. Heartworm is a parasite and mosquitoes are often to blame because they carry heartworm. However, your dog can also get heartworm from other animals like foxes and coyotes.

Preventing Heartworm
Preventing is the easiest way to “treat” heartworm. As said earlier, getting protection is as easy as giving him a pill, adding something to his food, and keeping his home (and him) clean. While it’s common to treat heartworm only in the warmer months, many people have found that doing it year-round is both easier and more effective. Veterinarians agree.

Symptoms of Heartworm
The first symptom noticed by the owner is usually a loss of weight. Sometimes a lack of energy or excessive coughing is also seen as well. Once the parasite infects the dog’s lungs, coughing will become more extreme and heavier. As the parasite spreads, things will only get worse. The first few months of a heartworm infection are usually unnoticed as the heartworms are busy propagating and are not spreading to infect and cause problems yet.

Diagnosis
Typically a veterinarian will do a ‘double’ test to determine if the infection from heartworm is male or female as this does affect how it is treated. Normal heartworm tests are typically blood tests that may involve observation at the clinic. Test help determine how advanced the heartworm infection is by testing for an approximate heartworm count.

Treating Heartworm
Heartworm treatment must be started as quickly as possible to avoid your dog becoming fatally ill and even spreading the disease to other dogs he may come in contact with. Sadly, if your dog is already ill with the infestation, there is often a reduced chance of them surviving treatment. The good news is that most dogs are healthy when they’re diagnosed and treatment is successful. Many veterinarians encourage you to have annual heartworm tests with your dogs regular annual visits which means that typically this infestation doesn’t have the chance to infect your dog.

If you have other dogs or if your dog is in regular contact with other dogs and does become infected it is critical that you advise other dog owners. Since people can also contract heartworm, it’s important that if your dog is diagnosed that you contact your physician for testing as well.

While heartworm is a potentially deadly parasite, prevention is the secret to keeping your dog from contracting it. Keep in mind that health care should be one of your top priorities, but so should keeping your dog safe while training. That is why you should look into Dogtra collars for your hunting dog supplies. They are a great product which will help you keep control of your dog in the field.

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Are you a hunter who takes his dog out onto the field? If so, you must carry first aid kits, not just for yourself but for your dog, as well. Injuries can occur at anytime, so you should be prepared to treat small injuries before they become very serious. The good news is that there are an abundance of great first aid kits for gun dogs that you can use at home or out on the field.

While there are many options to purchase a dog first aid kit, it’s up to you to make sure that it’s ‘up to par’ and sufficient to take care of your dogs needs whether you are at home or out hunting. It may be tempting to wrap a dogs wound in whatever happens to be available (a torn shirt, handkerchief, etc) but having a properly sanitary dressing could make a difference between a wound that heals properly and one that can become infected and potentially debilitating. Don’t be penny wise and pound foolish when it comes to preparing your first aid kit for you dog.

Here is what to look for in a good bird dogs first aid kit:

A First Aid Guide
This guide should cover the basics of first aid for dogs. It should show how to bandage wounds, do mouth-to-snout resuscitation, and use the other items contained in the first aid kit to help your dog. This is for emergencies and doesn’t replace normal veterinary care, of course. Read the guide before you go out so you are familiar with the information in it and will either know it or be better able to find it quickly.

Tweezers
You’d be amazed how convenient a pair of tweezers can be! Just think of all the opportunities your dog (and you) has to wind up with a sliver when you’re out hunting. It might be easy for you to remove a sliver from your finger, hand or arm when you’re out hunting but stop and think about the challenges of trying to remove a sliver from your dogs foot pad or anywhere on their fur covered body while you’re outside. Failure to remove a sliver can result in and abscess that winds up infected and can result in a systemic infection.

Good old Hydrogen Peroxide
This simple, cheap, and misunderstood liquid is the basis for any good first aid kit. It’s a sterilizer that can be used safely on animals and causes no discomfort. Use with a sterile gauze pad to clean a wound, prep a splinter site before removal and after you’re done, and so forth.

Remember Iodine?
Iodine is even better than peroxide for cleaning a wound before dressing it with gauze or bandages. The best course of action is to use the peroxide, then the iodine, to promote quicker healing of your dog’s wounds.

Antibiotic Ointment
This is helpful in easing the sting and preventing infection in cuts, scrapes, bee stings, rashes, and other minor injuries.

Eyewash
A simple saline solution for washing out the eyes can make your dog’s life much easier and save his vision in some cases. When your dog gets something in his eye that he can’t get rid of on his own, use this to clean them. A quick squirt into the eye and nature will do the rest in most cases.

Trauma Pad
A trauma pad is crucial if your dog is seriously injured; it will help minimize bleeding and help keep the wound bound as well as providing assistance in transporting your dog to emergency help. When shopping for a trauma pad watch out that the sizing is correct for your dogs needs.

Gauze, Tape, and Scissors
Simple tools that, when used correctly, can greatly help your dog in times of injury. If your dog is cut, scratched, or similarly hurt, you’ll want to bandage, gauze over, then tape the wound so it is protected from infection. These three tools can do that job quickly.

Don’t ruin a great hunting kit by not having a first aid kit for your dog! Not having one is irresponsible and dangerous, so make sure you have a nice, complete kit for your dog with all of the hunting dog supplies that you may need at all times, especially when you’re out on the field. Getting an extra one for home or other use is also a great idea.

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It’s summer and it seems like fleas are everywhere. Luckily, today’s pet owner has an arsenal of flea treatments at their disposal. Pyrethrin is a safe and widely used insecticide. Methoprene and Fenoxycarb are insect growth regulators (IGR) which prevent eggs and larvae from developing into pupae. Always treat gun dogs and their environment at the same time.

The complete life span of a flea can last anywhere from 2 weeks up to 8 months. Why are they so hard to kill? The cocoon that the pupa wraps itself in is completely impervious to insecticides. This is why people sometimes see a new infestation of fleas 2 weeks after the initial treatment. Once the pupa stage is over, an adult flea emerges. And you are back to square one.

Flea Baths
Using a regular flea prevention shampoo can help with flea control. One thing to be careful about though is flea dips – especially if you have children in the house. Flea dips are very harsh and most leave a residue on your dog – they’re only recommended in cases of very extreme infestation and should be discussed with your veterinarian before use.

Spot On Medications
These flea medications are dispensed between the shoulder blades. This is a once a month treatment. All brands kill adult fleas. Some prevent the growth of eggs and larvae as well. Puppies have to be at least 8 weeks old for use. Bathing and swimming lowers this medications potency.

Pill Flea Treatment
Pills treat fleas for 1 month. It’s works like flea birth control. Fleas bite your dog and become sterilized. They die without laying eggs and soon you have no fleas. This medication can’t be washed off and is perfect for indoor pets.

Natural Methods
Not everyone likes to use chemicals for flea control purposes. If this is the case, you should vacuum thoroughly as often as possible. In addition to carpets, vacuum furniture, pillows, and bedding. Properly discard the bag, or burn it, right away. Secondly, you should wash everything in the hot water cycle. Lastly, use dried pennyroyal, diactomaceous earth, or pyretthrum powder. Apply it on pet bedding and underneath cushions and mattresses. However, don’t use pennyroyal if your dog is pregnant. Repeat this process every few days.

Clean from inside out
All of our dogs love to cuddle in their beds, on furniture and even on the carpeting. Unfortunately, these areas are favorite hiding spots for fleas as well. Vacuuming and treating all areas completely and thoroughly are the secret to success, however make sure that you don’t leave the bag in the vacuum or you’re just going to create a new nest for them. Your dog’s bed and bedding should be washed at least weekly in hot water to help prevent re-infestation.

In the outdoors, fleas usually stay in wet and shaded places like dog houses or kennels, flower beds, and underneath your deck or porch. If your pet spends time in these or other areas, treat the area. Also, rake and mow the lawn completely to keep fleas away. Rake up leaves from flower beds and beneath bushes to make insecticides more effective in these areas. Clean all pet kennels or carriers and make sure you vacuum the inside of your car. Garages, basements, and other rooms without carpetting should be mopped completely to kill flea larvae creeping in the cracks and crevices.

There are many foggers and sprays that are effective treatments of your home and yard. Read and follow the directions carefully. Heavily infested areas should be re-treated in 2 or 3 weeks.

Fleas can be a nuisssance to both humans and pets. Flea bites can be very itchy and cause skin problems, and even hair loss or infection. Even worse, a very bad flea problem can also cause anemia and tapeworms. As well, flea allergy to lead to dermititis. For these reasons, killing fleas is very important. By following the advice above, your pets and your home can remain free of fleas.

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Most hunters who own gun dogs treat the dogs not as a tool to use on the hunt, but as friends and companions who live with them every day. If your dog is living in your home with you, you’ve probably realized that these gun dogs also make great pets. In order to keep it that way, though, proper training for living in your home is a must.

Training a hunting dog to behave in your house is not difficult and only requires persistence and love. You’ve trained your gun dog to be great in the field, so now it’s time to turn that same training into house living. If your dog is a puppy, this is even more important and will take longer to teach—puppies, while smart, are easily distracted and forget what they’ve learned quickly. Again, persistence is key. Teaching your hunting dog , whatever its age, to go outside to potty, to not tear up your furniture, and so forth is most easily and humanely done by crate training.

Although many see crate training as a form of cruelty they couldn’t be more wrong. Dogs aren’t human (even if we treat them like they are) and they have totally different natural instincts than we do. If you create an environment in the crate where your dog feels warm, safe and can be quiet, this is the perfect environment for your dog to relax and is good for their well being. Keep in mind that bird dogs instinctively have a den mentality – they prefer small places that offer security and safety and if you create that environment in the crate, your dog will take to it naturally.

Crate size is extremely important to your dogs well being – they must be able to stretch their full body out in the laying down position, they should be able to stand naturally (i.e. no hunching) and they should be able to make a complete circle in the crate. Hunting Dogs will usually require a medium or a large crate when their full grown – but don’t make the mistake of getting one too big or the dog may decide that part of it is for use as a bathroom. However, if the crate is too small, the dog will not be happy with his cramped quarters. Keep in mind that you can use readily available dividers in a large crate to make it the right size for a puppy meaning you won’t have to buy a new crate as your puppy grows to adulthood. It’s important that you remember that dogs will seldom use the area where they’re going to sleep as a bathroom, making the crate ideal.

Don’t make the mistake of using the crate as a ‘pen’ for your dog day in and day out. The best use for a crate is to help teach behavior that is acceptable while you’re at work or even when you prepare to end your day in bed. Make sure that no matter how you use the crate that your gun dog still gets plenty of exercise since they have such a high energy level. You also want to make sure that your dog comes out of the crate regularly to relieve themselves. It’s pretty easy to get your dog accustomed to going into the great outdoors for bathroom use – you can do this easily by just walking them (and what dog doesn’t love to walk) – walk with your dog until he does his business and then make sure that you reward them lavishly (with a treat and kind words) when they do. Dogs understand this behavior very quickly and will respond by going outside more often (especially if they think it means getting a treat and praise).

Speaking of puppies, remember that they do not have the control of an adult dog and will probably have accidents inside their crate. First and foremost, do not berate or punish your puppy for this as it sends a mixed message that puppy won’t understand. Instead, put puppy in a safe area and clean up the mess. Make sure that puppy doesn’t see you cleaning up, as this also sends the wrong message.If you have a puppy, you must understand that they don’t have the control like adult dogs, and can’t go for as long without having a bathroom break either. With this being said, a puppy will have accidents in the crate. It is important that you don’t scold or punish the puppy, because this will make him relate to crate to a punishment. Remove the puppy and place him somewhere where it is safe and he is confined, such as a bathroom. This way the puppy doesn’t see you cleaning the mess up, because this will tell your puppy that having an accident is okay, and you will just clean it up.

Dogs love routine and learn more quickly when they are on a “schedule” for learning. So take your dog outside at about the same time every day. Make sure that the dog is inside the crate whenever you aren’t there and that he gets exercised at about the same time daily as well. This routine will make the training process go much quicker and much more smoothly.

Most people feel that crate training is the humane way to housebreak your dog and it’s typically the quickest and most effective method of training your gun dog to use acceptable indoor behavior.

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Whelping is a term used to refer to the birth process of canines, when the female hunting dog gives birth to a litter of puppies. Most female hunting dogs (bitches) will go through this process naturally, with little help needed from you or a veterinarian. Occasionally, though, some help is needed and if you understand the process and what is expected at each stage of whelping, you’ll be prepared to give aid when it is needed.You may often hear people refer to the term whelping - simply put, this refers to the birthing process of a litter of hunting dogs. This is a fairly natural process for dogs, but sometimes you may need to assist in the process or seek the help of a veterinarian. Understanding the whelping process is critical in order to provide help to a hunting dog during the delivery process.

A bitch will be pregnant for about 58 to 68 days. Towards the end of this gestation period, at about the fifty-eighth day, you’ll want to start watching for signs of labor. Take the dog’s temperature regularly and watch for a sudden drop to about 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit as this is an indication that she will begin whelping within the next 24 hours. You can rent or buy a thermometer meant especially for this task from a veterinarian. Use a little lubricant, such as petroleum jelly, to help the process.The gestation period for dogs is 58 to 68 days. As that 58th day approaches you will want to keep a close eye for signs that your pregnant dog is about to go into labor. I typically take my dogs temperature as the days get closer to the expected delivery date and watch carefully for a sudden drop in her temperature. Now dogs typically have a normal temperature of 101.3 degrees Fahrenheit but about 24 hours prior to delivery their temperature will drop by a couple degrees to 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit, indicating birth is imminent.

Make available a whelping box (any box large enough for her to comfortably stretch in). It can be cardboard, plastic, or wooden. She will naturally begin nesting in that box shortly before the whelping process is to begin. Her instincts are telling her to prepare for the puppies.Now it’s important to designate a place where you female will have this litter of puppies. I prefer a whelping box made from wood – this will make cleanup much easier. As your dog’s temperature begins to fall you will want to introduce her to the whelping box. She will naturally begin nesting so make sure you line the bottom of the box with newspaper as she will shred paper in preparation for giving birth.

Don’t hold that 24-hour rule for temperature drop to whelping too fast, however. Often, this temperature drop happens only a few minutes or hours before the event. Nesting and temperature change together are sure indications no matter what, though. Be prepared anytime after her 58th day of pregnancy for her to go into labor at any time. When she does go into labor, she will begin contractions, which will be clearly visible as her muscles from shoulder to tail will contract and release rhythmically and she will likely lie down and find a comfortable place in her whelping box. She will whimper slightly and begin licking herself to prepare for birth.One point about this sudden drop in temperature, I have seen dogs go into labor as within only a few hours of this drop. So be prepared. If you find your dog is starting to nest in other areas of the house bring her to the whelping box to get her comfortable there. A combination of nesting and a temperature drop is a sure indicator that she is about to deliver puppies soon. Like humans, the first signs of labor are contractions. These contractions should be quite apparent in her muscles tightening from her mid-section to her tail. Another tell-tale sign is the female beginning to excessively licking herself as she begins to prepare for whelping the litter.

It’s likely that from here on in, you will only be an observer, watching as the pups emerge one after another. It can take several minutes or even hours. A bitch that has not had puppies before will likely take longer than one who hasn’t, but there is no hard-and-fast rule. If the process takes more than two or three hours, call a veterinarian for advice.Puppies should begin coming out one right after another. This can happen very quickly, or sometimes in a first time mother can take a few hours. If your dog has been in labor for more that two to three hours, you should consider calling your vet, so you know what to look for in case of an emergency.

If more than an hour goes by with her in labor but producing no puppies, help her up and take her for a brief walk around the area or (if the weather is good) in the yard. Do not go further than you can carry her, however, so that if she collapses into birth, you can quickly take her back to her whelping box. Feathering is another technique that can help stimulate birth. Put on a latex glove and lubricate with KY jelly or another non-toxic lubricant and gently insert your finger into her vulva up to the top of her vagina.There are some tips to help your dog along into labor, and should be considered only if she has been in labor for more than one hour and no puppies have come out. One of the suggestions is to get your dog up and allow her to walk around. Just make sure she doesn’t venture too far from the whelping box, so if she begins to go into labor you can easily get her back to the box. The other tips is a technique called feathering. This is when you put on a latex glove and apply some non-toxic lubrication and gently insert your finger into your dog’s vulva and gently rub the top of the vagina, this will help stimulate involuntary uterine contractions.

When the puppies finally do come, they will be preceded by a gush of fluid as her water breaks. After her water has broken, expect a puppy within twenty minutes and more to follow shortly after, one after another. They are usually born head first and the mother will naturally know when to stop. You can “feel” her gut by gently pressing with your fingers to see if more puppies are due to arrive.When a puppy is being born it is accompanied by the water sac, which can either be with in tactic, or ruptured prior to the puppy being fully delivered. The puppy is usually delivered head first.

Once they are born, the mother will likely do all the work caring for the puppies. Make sure that warm, damp rags are ready for wiping down the pups and for gently massaging them to stimulate breathing. Most likely, mother will do this with her tongue as the pups are born, so again, you will likely just watch. Do not pick up or handle the puppies any more than medically necessary during the first few hours so that they can have mom’s full attention. Gentle, shortly-timed handling for the first week or so is recommended while the puppies acclimate and grow.Most of your puppies will be delivered with a placenta and in an amniotic birthing sack. Care should be taken not to make sure the puppy is removed from the sack, cleaned and dried as quickly as possible. The mother should naturally do most of this for you, however, there will be times when you need to step in and help. During the first few hours after birth you should try to keep your handling of the puppies to a minimum and let the mother naturally accept and begin caring for these puppies on her own.

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It’s not uncommon for hunting dogs to get an ear infection in fact it’s a result of the size and depth of their ears. Because hunting dogs (gun dogs) spend so much time outdoors and have large, floppy ears, they are actually more prone to getting an ear infection. Infections in the ear are a result of yeast or bacteria which can grow in your dogs’ ear and eventually may wind up in the ear canal.

Symptoms of Otitis
Since ear infections can be quite painful to your dog and can even lead to deafness, it’s important to know what to watch for. Some symptoms will be behavioral while others are more clinical in nature. Watch for:

Your dog has any discharge from their ears which is heavily colored
Your dogs; ears begin to emit a strong, foul odor
Your dog begins to scratch his ears or shake his head excessively

These symptoms can worsen and the infection may become more severe. The deeper the infection goes into the dog’s ears, the worse it will get as it affects the inner ear. This will affect your dog’s balance and ability to hear. The advanced symptoms may include:

Disorientation
Falling down or an awkward “drunken” gate
Loss of hearing
Unusual eye movements or “crazy eye”

As soon as you’ve noticed something wrong, take your dog to a veterinarian. The faster you treat the infection, the easier it will be to care for it and the less it will cost you in money and your dog in pain.

Your veterinarian can find the problem by utilizing a special scope to observe the infection, and sometimes, a cotton swab may be use to get a sample. Ear mites and other diseases can have the same symptoms of otitis, so they must be ruled out before treatment can begin.

Treating Ostitis
The usually course of treatment is medication. Hydrogen peroxide saturated in the ear on a regular basis may be prescribe; otherwise, special medication may be suggested for more serious states of infecttion. To diminish the effects of infection, antibiotics may also be used. Your vet will thoroughly clean your dog’s ears, then you’ll take him and administer medications at home.

When you give the medication, which is usually squirted or poured into the dog’s ear, you will have to hold the dog down or have someone help you. Obviously, the dog won’t like this, but it needs to be done.

Because dogs cannot become immune to ear infections, you should watch carefully for the signs, even if you believe he is cured. Early action requires early detection, and makes the infection easier to handle.

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