Looking After Your Dog, Part Eleven - Older Dogs
Looking After Your Dog, Part Eleven - Older Dogs
The advances in medicine and veterinarian competence have significantly improved the life expectancy of pets. And this entails a rather new aspect in canine care - how to care for older dogs. Since the life expectancy of dogs is typically 15-20 years, the transition from one life stage to another appears rather rapid to humans. You must recognize the signs of your dog getting old so that you can provide it the much needed extra care. As with humans, aging in pets is a gradual process. It entails a gradual deterioration of organs, waning of sensory perception, and flagging of energy and strength. However, with a few precautionary measures and adjustments, you can keep your dog happy in the last years of its life. The first signs of aging may appear at different times for different breeds. It also varies from one dog to another. A strong, healthy dog will probably age later than a dog that has constantly suffered from various ailments early in its life. The first sign of aging is a gradual decrease in the activity level, depicting loss of strength and energy. Older dogs have a tendency to sleep longer than usual and depict a loss of excitement for a long stroll or other fun games and activities. Hearing impairment and a reduced visual acuity are a result of aging. Skin and coat, which once used to be lustrous and shiny, looks pale and rigid in older dogs. Oil producing sebaceous glands are weakened. Non-malignant tumors may appear under the skin, which are noticed when you rub your hand through your dog s skin. The organs in older dogs lose their efficacy and the immune system is unable to ward off bacteria and viruses. Although aging is an inevitable process, dog owners can delay its deteriorating effects through discreet canine care. Periodic visits to the veterinarian and administration of vaccines can help prevent common diseases. Annual checkups for intestinal parasites need be done. A nutritious diet is essential at all stages of a dog s life. Therefore, you must purchase the best dog food available even if your dog has grown old. Exercise is a must for dogs. Dogs with a protruding belly are more likely to fall ill and suffer the consequences of aging much earlier than a slim and active dog. Therefore, take your dog for a casual stroll and make it do a few exercises. This would help it stay agile and in shape even in the later years of its life. There are many products now available that will help your dog, and you, enjoy her senior years.Niall Kennedy is a lifelong dog lover and has worked in several pet sanctuaries. Best Pet Health Information is a resource that brings you <a href="http://www.best-pet-health.info">health information for older dogs</a>. http://www.Best-Pet-Health.info. Dog News Center - <a href="http://www.dognewscenter.com">Dog Article Directory</a> - Submit Your Articles Now Copyright Best-Pet-Health.info All rights reserved. This article may be reprinted in full so long as the resource box and the live links are included intact.
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Submissive urination in cocker spaniel
Why and When do Cocker Spaniels Urinate? Many Cocker Spaniels have a tendency to urinate (pee) when excited or scared, which can happen to other breeds as well, particularly when they are puppies. Excitement urination happens when infant muscles in puppies cannot hold urine if the puppy gets excited, and it pees. The puppy gets so excited when he sees his owner that he loses control of his bladder. The puppy is not aware of or able to control this and punishment will confuse him and is not fair to him. Often dogs outgrow this problem as they mature and gain control of the muscles that control peeing. Sometimes Cocker Spaniels do not outgrow the problem. Common situations in which Cocker Spaniels get excited or fearful and urinate are: Over-affectionate and boisterous greetings when you arrive home Guests entering your home Arguments between people Scolding Loud noises Playing indoors Angry behavior In order to understand submissive urination, you must understand dominance and submissiveness. Young puppies learn this from their mothers. Averting their eyes, rolling on their backs, and urinating, are all used to express submissiveness. In situations where a dog feels intimidated, their response is to give a submissive signal to show the person or other dog that they recognize their dominance. The most important thing is to never scold or punish your dog for excitement urination; it makes the situation worse as the puppy will then start to pee out of fear! Excitement or submissive urination is part of this breed s specific instincts. It is not a behavior ; it is instinctual. The dog is not doing it to be disobedient or punish you! He is excited, scared, or showing submissiveness to a person or animal he perceives as dominant. Excitement urination that causes an owner to get angry can easily become submissive urination. The dog does not understand why you are angry and, in a dog s mind, peeing is his attempt to calm and appease you. Cocker Spaniels often see other animals and people as dominant, so submissive urination occurs. Even a housetrained Cocker Spaniel may show excitement or submissive urination when greeting you or when in an exciting or scary situation. How to Prevent and Handle Excitement or Submissive Urination? The first thing to do is have your veterinarian examine your dog for possible physical problems causing this problem. Sickness and disease can make it difficult for your pet to control their peeing muscles. If physical problems are the cause, discuss options regarding your dog’s situation with your veterinarian, such as surgery, drugs, and coping mechanisms. Dog owners who are too dominant and strict will reinforce submissive urinating. So, calm down and be gentle and kind with your Cocker Spaniel. Get your temper under control! Never scold or punish for excitement or submissive urination. One way to handle the problem is to make sure your Cocker Spaniel is outdoors while you are gone (in a fenced and safe area naturally) so that when you come home, if he urinates, your floors are not damaged. But this does not solve the problem. It is a good idea to do more to help the puppy stay dry. All indoor activities should take place only after taking the dog out for a pee or poop. If a dog is almost ready to pee or poop, but hasn’t gotten around to doing it, any physical activity will trigger the urge to go. So, if your dog wakes up and you start playing with her, you’re asking for trouble! Take a potty break first, have play time second. Play time outdoors is the best idea, especially for the puppies that have small bladders. Don t hover over your Cocker Spaniel when you come home. She will see this as dominance and will become intimidated. Don t look her directly in the eyes. Dogs assume that direct eye contact is a challenge. For a submissive dog, even a moment’s eye contact can be intolerable. Eye contact from above heightens the reaction. Another behavior that challenges a dog is bending over or touching the dog’s head, neck, or shoulders. Dominant dogs often control by placing the neck or a paw over another dog’s neck or shoulders. When a human pats a dog on the head, a submissive dog sees it as a display of dominance and finds it intimidating, leading to peeing. A goal in controlling excitement urination is to prevent your dog from becoming so excited in the first place. Do this by exposing your dog to whatever excites him, over and over until it no longer excites him. If your dog gets excited and wets when you return home, ignore him; don’t even look at him. Then take him outside to pee. Then leave again for a few minutes, return and ignore, leave, return and ignore. Keep doing this until you can see that your dog is actually bored with the whole thing. If excitement urination is a problem when visitors arrive, have them do this too. It may take many sessions to get your dog calmed down. When your dog stays calm and no longer gets excited when you come in, then very quietly and gently say hello. If any signs of excitement appear, repeat the coming in-and-leaving routine. A rapid sequence of heel-sits will capture your dog’s attention to the game of heeling and sitting instead of urinating. Then, take him outdoors. Praise him when he pees outside; this builds self-confidence. Remember to ignore all excitement urination and never scold or get angry at your dog. As the dog matures, he can learn to sit and shake hands when visitors arrive. Use a small food treat as a reward for not peeing in the house when you arrive home or guests enter. It s difficult for a dog to eat and pee at the same time. Take the dog outdoors quickly thereafter. If your Cocker Spaniel pees while being trained, be especially careful not to yell or scold him. Be firm and use a confident-sounding, but kind, No when the dog misbehaves. If your dog’s problem doesn t improve with the above suggestions, there may be other options. For example, drugs can sometimes be prescribed by a vet for excitable dogs to calm them down. But, remember, this kind of training can take weeks or months before Learn all about Dog Adoption from the unique e-book Super Dogs and Puppies. If you are searching for dog breeders, learn how to choose the right dog breeder. Nancy Richards has been a dog lover for the past 12 years. She has owned and handled dogs of different ages and have helped many fellow owners in training their dog
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Human and Animal Kingdoms
Animals typically don’t re-incarnate in the same sense that we do. Because we have an egoic level that animals don’t have, we can have repeated earth lives. Animals have, rather, an astral aspect, which dissipates into the general pool of astrality. This particular difference could well be shifting now, as the forces of spiritual evolution continue to play on all four kingdoms of life on Earth. One constant, however, is that animals and humans do not “inter-carnate.” Each kingdom keeps to itself. Another important difference between animals and humans is entailed in how animals tend to be specialists, while humans are the generalists. Every animal has either an ability or knowledge, or understanding, in a specialized area, that transcends a human capacity. A horse can out-run us. Birds can fly. Fish can breath under water, and so on. Humans, however, are the generalists. Humanity is able to address many of its lesser abilities by creative invention. We can make things that run faster than horses, or construct a craft that can fly. Although most animals may not yet reincarnate in the same sense as humans, they are still able to devise plans for their incarnations on a soul level, make choices, seek to learn and unfold specific lessons, and set out to accomplish spiritual goals. However, they do so via their group soul aspect, the over-lighting ego of the species, or one of several groupings within a species, more so than on an individual basis. The Spirit of the Bison, for example, is orchestrating plans on this level. (see the Earth Vision article The Return of Bison and Wolf for more on this. The naturo-human interchange is designed for teaching and learning - as a two way street. Ourselves and beings in nature are at once students and teachers of each other. As presented in The Spiritual Ecology of Evolution, we owe a dept to the animals, who have gone before us to help us find our way. This is what comprises the deeper basis in the impulse for stewardship, our responsibility to the animals. Some of the questions that proceed from this article are - do animals inter-carnate among themselves, that is, one species to another? And, in that animals are spiritually evolving, and therefore becoming more egoic, to what extent are some animals at this time actually reincarnating in the classical sense? And, in what ways is the nature-human relationship evolving? The Insight21/Earth Vision projects will be delving into these questions further, and will also be inviting input from readers who may have some experience and/or references toward this end. Further Resources The Return of Bison and Wolf - from the Earth Vision project — www.evsite.net The Spiritual Ecology of Evolution - from Insight21 - www.insight21.net J Graf is the coordinator of Earth Vision and Insight21 - doorways for the 21st Century - at http://www.evsite.net and http://www.insight21.net
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