Dysplasia is the term used when something doesn’t grow properly – in this case the elbow joint. The elbow is the coming together of 3 bones – the humerus in the upper leg, and the ulna and radius in the lower leg. If any of these grow incorrectly the joint will not be able to […]
Archive | Puppy Care
Your Puppy at Home
While your puppy is growing you need to consider how much access they will have to your home and where they will sleep. Puppies have soft bones and are still growing which means too much jumping on and off things can cause joint damage. They shouldn’t use stairs until fully grown unless they are carried […]
Puppy Food For Thought
When choosing a food for your puppy check it contains no more than 23% protein. More than this can cause the bones to grow too quickly and become too big for the soft tissues to support, and the muscles, tendons and ligaments can get damaged. You also need to make sure you know how much […]
Exercising Your Puppy
As dog owners it’s up to us to know how far we should expect our dogs to walk. Puppies should have limited walks until they have stopped growing. This can take anything from 6 months to 3 years depending on the breed of dog. Generally allow one month of growing for every 2.5cm (1 […]
Puppy Growth
Puppies aren’t puppies for long which means as owners we only have a short time to give them the best start. Of course it depends on the breed of dog you have how long the puppy stage lasts. The general rule is to allow one month for every inch (2.5cm) of growth until your dog […]
Arthritis, Body Weight and Massage
Arthritis is a painful joint condition caused when a joint gets damaged, sometimes just through everyday activities. All parts of the joint can be affected and it tends to get worse over time. There is no cure for arthritis so managing it is key. Joints are part of the skeleton which supports the body so […]
Massage – Proactive or Reactive
There are 2 aspects to massage. The proactive aspect where massage is used when your dog doesn’t have any mobility issues and the reactive aspect where massage is used to address mobility issues resulting from old age, joint problems or accidents. Massage is used proactively from puppyhood right through a dog’s life. With puppies massage […]
Why massage is an important way to care for your dog
Massage has many physical and psychological benefits-may be more so for dogs than for people. Dogs massage each other during social grooming. Failure to thrive in orphaned dogs can be attributed to a lack of physical contact from their mothers. Pet dogs have more sedentary lives than their wild counterparts so miss out on the […]