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How to Find the Best Veterinarian for Your Dog

Just as humans need medical checkups and urgent care when sick, your dog also needs qualified veterinary care if anything ever goes wrong. But how exactly do you find the right veterinarian for your pooch?

How to Find a Veterinarian for Dog Photo

Veterinary Examination

Seek a Trusted Opinion

First of all, ask your friends which vet they use. Also, talk to your groomer and doggy daycare workers. They should have the inside scoop on the area’s best medical providers. And lastly, check various online sites like Yelp, Pets911, and Kudzu. You can often learn a lot from other people’s experiences.

Oh, and If you do rely heavily on your Web-based research, be sure to actually call the vet before you bring your dog into the office. Observe the professionalism, tone, and body language of the staff when you visit/speak with them. Oftentimes, the intangible qualities will best inform your decision:

  • Is their telephone etiquette professional and genuinely pleasant?
  • Are the waiting rooms clean?
  • Do you find the staff knowledgeable and friendly?
  • Do they have on-site parking?
  • How comfortable do you feel at the facility?
  • How much do services cost ( i.e. vaccinations, treatment, etc.)?
  • Do they have an emergency telephone number; are they on call and what are their hours?
  • Have they answered all of your immediate questions?

Look for Any Attached Strings

Vets often advise you to buy specific dog food, which they have in stock at their offices. Typically, this is due to a specific condition your pup is experiencing. However, it’s no surprise that this specially formulated food is very expensive. So, if your vet does instruct you to feed a specific formula to your sick dog, don’t buy it from the vet. Instead, visit local pet store or (better yet) a discount warehouse club where you can purchase the food in bulk.  As you know, dog food can cost as much as you’re willing to pay, and vets will often prescribe certain premium foods because they collect a percentage of each sale.

The Follow Up

After the visit, take note of any additional communications from the vet’s office. Did they call or email you to check in on the progress of your dog’s sickness? Did they schedule you for another appointment next week to gauge the progress? The vet’s office shouldn’t be viewed as a once-per-year professional who checks out your dog’s health, but rather a key relationship between two parties who share a common interest—the ongoing health and well-being of your beloved pooch.

Spay and Neuter 101: The Basics

According to the Humane Society, more than three million dogs are euthanized every year. Abandoned in shelters, our nation’s chronic over-population of dogs has reached epic proportions. This is why animal advocates continue to remind the general population to spay and neuter our dogs. But aside from the population issues, there are also health-related reasons why getting your dog “fixed” comes so highly recommended.

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Please Spay and Neuter Your Dog

Reduce Injury and Disease

Spaying and neutering can prevent cancer. In addition, neutered male dogs will less likely want to run away (read: get hit by cars) or engage in rough-housing with other male dogs. Also, male dogs are inherently territorial and if not neutered will use dominance over other dogs, particularly when a female is involved. Just visit any dog park in America to see an unneutered, hump-anything-in-sight male doing his thing.

Dismiss the Myths

Dogs have an innate desire to breed. It’s just a fact. And contrary to popular lore, spaying and neutering your dog does not make them lazy, gain weight, or change personality type. All the spay and neuter procedure does is prevent your dog from seeking out other dogs to mate with.

Reduce the Population

As described in the opening, a major reason to spay and neuter your dog is to control the animal population. The reasons are threefold:

  1. Minimize the number of homeless dogs in shelters
  2. Reduce the number of pups roaming our city’s streets for scraps
  3. Eliminate the likelihood that dogs will attack pets

The Humane Society reports that a single female dog (and her offspring) can give birth to hundreds of puppies within 6 years. So, unless you’re a breeder, there is no reason to not have your dog spayed or neutered.

Dog Ownership Equals Collective Responsibility

Your primary job is to ensure the safety, happiness, and security of your dog. To that end, we as the greater dog-owning community should be dedicated to providing a welcoming,  caring environment for all of our nation’s pups. It’s up to everyone to spay and neuter our dogs…and to also care for, rehabilitate, and adopt the shelter and rescue group dogs in our communities.

Did we miss anything? What are your opinions on spaying and neutering?

Dog Insurance: Should You Insure Your Pup’s Health?

Did you know that you can buy health insurance for your dog? Similar to your HMO at work, most pet insurance plans offer multiple options. Services covered can include surgery, routine checkups, prescriptions, and even dental care. If nothing else, make sure your plans covers costs associated with catastrophic events such as transplants and chemotherapy (yes, dogs can get cancer). As with humans, these major medical procedures are incredibly expensive for you to pay out of pocket, but a quality insurance policy will allow for the best possible doggy health care.

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A Routine Vet Visit

General First-Aid Tips

When it comes to proper health care for your dog, the best solution is always prevention. By implementing some basic  measures into your daily routine, you can enjoy the peace of mind that comes with knowing you’re pup is getting the best health year-round.

So before shopping around for an insurance policy, brush up on your own first aid skills. Locate a reliable vet near you, and learn the physical symptoms of a sick dog. In fact, by simply investing time to focus on these two tips, you’ll save loads of time and money going forward.

Pet Insurance = Lower Costs

It’s not hard to find a quality veterinarian in most cities. Rather, it’s the costs of veterinary care that are prohibitive. Even a simple checkup can be pricey, and by the time you request vaccinations, heartworm treatments, and dental procedures, costs very quickly skyrocket. This is where dog health insurance steps in.

A quality policy lessens the costs of routine care, minor injury, or major medical surgery. Depending on the company, your pet insurance policy may also even help you cover the following costs:

  • Annual checkups
  • Dental care
  • Prescriptions
  • Chemo therapy
  • Organ transplants
Check out our Pet Insurance Review for the specific companies we recommend for your pooch.

Selecting a Proper Diet for Your Dog

Selecting the best diet for your dog is similar to selecting the best diet for yourself. Depending on size, weight, allergies, and activity level, each person’s nutritional needs are unique. Likewise, every dog is different, and your pup’s diet should be well balanced for her lifestyle and personality.

In efforts to increase the nutritional content, many owners are preparing homemade meals for their pups, while others find themselves purchasing premium foods. This of course is in stark contrast to those who simply feed their dog whatever’s on sale at the grocery store (or whatever scraps fall off the dinner plate and onto the floor). A major problem with the grocery store option is that commercial dog foods have no formal guidelines concerning ingredients. Okay, so that’s not exactly true. Guidelines state the product must contain: vitamins, minerals, protein, fat, and carbohydrates. But then again, I could probably find each of those ingredients in the kitchen garbage right now…not much of a standard, huh?

Best Dog Diet Image

Best Dog Diet Image

Begin with the Labels

The only way to determine the quality of your dog’s food is by reading the label, and even then, it seems that you need a biology degree to understand the ingredients. And with ongoing dog food recalls, many owners refuse to trust any manufacturers and ultimately believe homemade food is the best answer. But of course, “best” does not always equal “practical”. It takes time, preparation, and dedication to ensure the homemade meals are fresh, properly prepared, and nutritionally balanced. Regardless of your decision, you must know what your dog is eating.

The Banned List

Some foods should never be fed to your dog. Dietary experts now believe dairy products, chocolate, grapes, and sugary foods can be harmful, if not fatal to your pooch. And although chicken, fish, lamb, and turkey are typical ingredients in dog food, the jury is still out on the safety of pork in a dog’s diet.

Price as a Consideration

You may think premium dog food is too expensive, but I encourage you put it into perspective. If you feed your pup a healthier food, you usually have to give her less per feeding. This is because premium food is denser and packs a bigger nutritional punch per serving. Also, think about the potential long-term effects of substandard health for your pooch and the associated medical costs.

What’s Your Dog’s Health Worth?

Your dog’s well-being is the primary concern. And aside from exercise, diet is perhaps the most vital aspect of ongoing positive health and happiness. Of course, as your pooch ages, so will her dietary needs. As a result, be sure to monitor any changes in energy level and weight so that you can continue to provide optimal nutrition for your pup.

What food, vitamins, and supplements do you give your dog? Any recommendations?

The Proper Way to Clip Dog Nails

There are few tasks that worry dogs (and their owners) more than nail trimming. But there’s no reason why clipping your dog’s nails should be frightening. In fact, it should be viewed as just another grooming task like brushing or bathing. Unfortunately, most of us have vivid childhood memories of nail clipping disasters, but if you keep a few easy tips in mind, your pup’s next nail clipping can be a pleasurable, money-saving experience.

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Millers Forge Dog Nail Clipper

Gather the Proper Tools

Ideally, your dog’s nails should be clipped at least once a month. And before trimming, make sure you have the proper equipment. This means putting those human clippers back in the medicine cabinet; you’ll need to buy a special nail clipper just for the dog. We recommend the Millers Forge Dog Nail Clipper because they’re ultra-quiet. This saves your dog (and you) from the icky “crack” sound of a clipped nail. Often times, it’s actually the sound of the clipping that causes your dog to jump or wiggle as if in agony. And if the manual clippers don’t suit your pup, you should consider a professional dremel tool, which gently files the nail down. These are more expensive than manual clippers but may be the better solution for you. Only Clip the Tip To ensure the safety of your dog, make sure you only cut the very tip of the nail. The blood vessels (called the quick) are further down the nail, and if clipped, you’re pooch will be in for a painful experience, bleeding, and possibly even infection. Keep some hydrogen peroxide on hand just in case you cut the nail a bit too close.

Set the Mood

To begin, you must be able to get near your dog’s nails. The worst thing you can do is have the entire household pin the pup down, forcefully grab her paws, and then snip the nails. If this describes your nail-clipping routine, then by all means, put the clippers down and keep reading! It’s very important that your dog associates the nail clipping with a pleasurable experience. And to accomplish this, you must start slow. If this is your first clipping, then put your tools down and just play with the dog. Touch her paws, rub her nails. Associate positive experiences with your hands on her feet. You may even want to take your dog on an extended walk before you begin to release any extra energy. We’ve found that a tired pup is often a relaxed pup. Around our house, we regularly play games with Riley that involve her paws. In exchange for a treat, she’ll happily give a “High 5” or a “Hand Shake”. If your dog will play these games, then begin by shaking her paw a few times. Then gently squeeze each toe and see if your dog reacts. Continue following each exercise with a treat. Do this for a few minutes until she gets used to your hands on her feet and doesn’t react to any paw poking or prodding. Now that you’ve built trust, take out the clippers. Let your dog sniff and look at them for a few minutes. Treat often, and as before, repeat this step until she doesn’t show any aversion to the clippers.

Clip Dog Nails Image

Clipping a Dog's Nails

The Actual Clipping

Start by asking for her paw a few times. Praise and treat her. Then take out the clippers and cut the tip of one nail at a 90 degree angle. Give her a big treat and lots of praise, then assess her reaction. If she is terrified or panicked, put the clipper away for a while and try again later. On the other hand, if your dog is calm and receptive, then continue on to the next nails. After you clip each one, give the dog a big treat. When all of the nails are clipped, be sure to give your dog a bonus treat and heaps of praise! And while you’re at it, give yourself a big pat on the back; you deserve it! Oh, and remember, as long as you don’t clip the quick, you’re not hurting the dog in any way. In fact, you’re actually helping to prevent any problems from developing which can hinder your dog’s ability to walk properly. Consistency is the best policy with nail clipping, because as you cut the nails, the quick will actually retreat over time, making future clippings easier.

Outsourcing the Job

If you can’t stand the thought of trimming the dog’s nails, you have several alternatives:

  1. The vet
  2. The groomer
  3. The sidewalk

The first two, of course, are service providers that you’ll have to pay for every clipping. But as professionals, they can quickly take care of your pooch’s nails without harming her in any way. Finally, if you regularly take your dog on long walks, let her stroll on the concrete sidewalk. The friction between her nails and the ground serves as a natural nail file which keeps her claws from growing too long. This free alternative only costs you time and energy…and hey, we can all use more exercise!