CANINE CASTAWAYS, INC.
Changing the World One Dog at a Time Since 2003!
EDUCATION AND RESOURCES
The True Cost of Keeping a Dog in 2020
Click the link for info from BetterPet.com to know exactly how much money it
takes to care for a dog responsibly, from adoption to emergencies
A Huge List of Foods that are Bad for Your Dog, and more...
(Click the link for info from BetterPet.com)
Wide Variety of Valuable Dog Info - Petfinder.com
Click the links for info from Petfinder.com for information about HEALTH, ADOPTION, TRAINING, PROBLEMS, GROOMING, NUTRITION, GRIEVING, LOST & FOUND, COMING HOME and GENERAL CARE.
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Dog Bite Prevention - ASPCA.org
Click the link for info from ASPCA.org about Increasing Safety, Reducing Risks
Common Dog Behavior Issues - ASPCA.org
Click the link for info from ASPCA.org for information about AGGRESSION, BARKING, DESTRUCTIVE CHEWING, FOOD GUARDING, HOWLING, MOUNTING, MOUTHING, SEPARATION ANXIETY, and WHINING
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Spay / Neuter Your Pet - ASPCA.org
By spaying or neutering your pet, you’ll help control the pet homelessness crisis, which results in millions of healthy dogs and cats being euthanized in the United States each year simply because there aren’t enough homes to go around. There are also medical and behavioral benefits to spaying (female pets) and neutering (male pets) your animals.
Here are some of the medical benefits:
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Your female pet will live a longer, healthier life. Spaying helps prevent uterine infections and breast tumors, which are malignant or cancerous in about 50 percent of dogs and 90 percent of cats. Spaying your pet before her first heat offers the best protection from these diseases.
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Neutering your male companion prevents testicular cancer and some prostate problems.
And behavioral benefits:
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Your spayed female pet won't go into heat. While cycles can vary, female felines usually go into heat four to five days every three weeks during breeding season. In an effort to advertise for mates, they'll yowl and urinate more frequently—sometimes all over the house!
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Your male dog will be less likely to roam away from home. An intact male will do just about anything to find a mate, including finding creative ways escape from the house. Once he's free to roam, he risks injury in traffic and fights with other male animals.
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Your neutered male may be better behaved. Unneutered dogs and cats are more likely to mark their territory by spraying strong-smelling urine all over the house. Your dog might be less likely to mount other dogs, people and inanimate objects after he’s neutered. Some aggression problems may be avoided by early neutering.
Heartworms - ASPCA.org
Heartworm is a parasitic worm that lives in the heart and pulmonary arteries of an infected animal. The worms travel through the bloodstream—harming arteries and vital organs as they go—ultimately completing their journey to the vessels of the lung and the heart chamber about six months after the initial infection. Several hundred worms can live in one dog for five to seven years. Heartworm disease is serious and can be fatal.
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Heartworm Symptoms
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Labored breathing
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Coughing
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Vomiting
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Weight loss, listlessness and fatigue after only moderate exercise
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Some dogs exhibit no symptoms at all until late stages of infection
Heartworm Causes
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Heartworms are transmitted from animal to animal by mosquitoes.
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An animal must carry at least two heartworms (a male and a female) in order for female heartworms to reproduce.
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Females produce babies called “microfilaria,” which are shed into an animal’s bloodstream but are not capable of directly causing heartworm without first passing through a mosquito.
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Microfilariae must be taken up by biting mosquitoes, and transform into infective larvae over a two-week period inside the insect.
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When a mosquito next bites a susceptible animal, the infective larvae enter the tissues and begin a migration into the blood vessels.
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Heartworms enter an animal’s bloodstream as tiny, invisible larvae, but can reach lengths of more than twelve inches at maturity.
Diagnosing Heartworm
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Heartworm disease is diagnosed by examination, radiographs or ultrasound, and a veterinarian-administered blood test.
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All dogs should be routinely screened with a blood test for heartworm either annually in spring or before being placed on a new prescription for a heartworm preventative.
Dogs More Prone to Heartworm
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Heartworm infestation can happen to any dog, but since mosquitoes are their carriers, dogs who live in hot, humid regions are at greatest risk.
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The disease has been seen in every state except Alaska, but is most common in or on the East Coast, southern United States and Mississippi River Valley.
Preventing Heartworm
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Heartworm is easily preventable with an inexpensive, chewable pill or topical medication available as a vet’s prescription. The pills or topical are usually administered monthly and can be given to dogs under 6 months of age without a blood test. Older animals must be screened for the disease prior to starting medication.
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The American Heartworm Society recommends keeping your dog on the medication all year long. Not only does this avoid errors, but many of the products also prevent other intestinal parasites.
Heartworm Treatment
After diagnosis, a thorough examination of the infected dog should be conducted to evaluate the best course of treatment and the potential risks involved.
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The most common course of treatment is a series of injections of drugs called adulticides into the dogs’ muscle. This cure has a high success rate and usually requires hospitalization.
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All treatment protocols require several weeks of exercise restriction after treatment and are not without risk. Disease prevention is a much better and safer option.
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After treatment, your dog should be placed on a preventative medication to reduce the risk of infection.
When to Consult Your Veterinarian
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If you notice that your dog’s energy has decreased, he seems ill, or he’s exhibiting any of the general symptoms described above, please contact your veterinary immediately.
Vaccinations for Your Pet - ASPCA.org
Vaccines help prevent many illnesses that affect pets. Vaccinating your pet has long been considered one of the easiest ways to help him live a long, healthy life. Not only are there different vaccines for different diseases, there are different types and combinations of vaccines. Vaccination is a procedure that has risks and benefits that must be weighed for every pet relative to his lifestyle and health. Your veterinarian can determine a vaccination regime that will provide the safest and best protection for your individual animal.
Core vaccines are considered vital to all pets based on risk of exposure, severity of disease or transmissibility to humans.
Vaccines For Dogs: Vaccines for canine parvovirus, distemper, canine hepatitis and rabies are considered core vaccines. Non-core vaccines are given depending on the dog’s exposure risk. These include vaccines against Bordetella bronchiseptica, Borrelia burgdorferi and Leptospira bacteria.
Report Animal Cruelty
If you think someone you know is abusing animals, please speak up. The best thing you can do is report your suspicions of cruelty to your local law enforcement agency, humane organization, animal control agency or taxpayer-funded animal shelter.
10 Reasons NOT to Use a Retractable Leash
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1. The length of retractable leashes, some of which can extend up to 26 feet, allows dogs to get far enough away from their humans that a situation can quickly turn dangerous. A dog on a retractable leash is often able to run into the middle of the street, for example, or make uninvited contact with other dogs or people.
2 .In the above scenario, or one in which your pet is being approached by an aggressive dog, it is nearly impossible to get control of the situation if the need arises. It's much easier to regain control of – or protect -- a dog at the end of a six-foot standard flat leash than it is if he's 20 or so feet away at the end of what amounts to a thin string.
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3. The thin cord of a retractable leash can break – especially when a powerful dog is on the other end of it. If a strong, good-sized dog takes off at full speed, the cord can snap. Not only can that put the dog and whatever he may be chasing in danger, but also the cord can snap back and injure the human at the other end.
4. If a dog walker gets tangled up in the cord of a retractable leash, or grabs it in an attempt to reel in their dog, it can result in burns, cuts, and even amputation. In addition, many people have been pulled right off their feet by a dog that reaches the end of the leash and keeps going. This can result in bruises, "road rash," broken bones, and worse.
5. Dogs have also received terrible injuries as a result of the sudden jerk on their neck that occurs when they run out the leash, including neck wounds, lacerated tracheas, and injuries to the spine.
6 .Retractable leashes allow dogs more freedom to pull at the end of them, which can look like aggression to another dog who may decide to "fight back."
7. The handles of retractable leashes are bulky and can be easily pulled out of human hands, resulting in a runaway dog.
8. Along those same lines, many dogs – especially fearful ones – are terrorized by the sound of a dropped retractable leash handle and may take off running, which is dangerous enough. To make matters worse, the object of the poor dog's fear is then "chasing" her, and if the leash is retracting as she runs, the handle is gaining ground on her – she can't escape it. Even if this scenario ultimately ends without physical harm to the dog (or anyone else), it can create lingering fear in the dog not only of leashes, but also of being walked.
9. Retractable leashes, like most retractable devices, have a tendency to malfunction over time, either refusing to extend, refusing to retract, or unspooling at will.
10. Retractable leashes are an especially bad idea for dogs that haven't been trained to walk politely on a regular leash. By their very nature, retractables train dogs to pull while on leash, because they learn that pulling extends the lead.
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If your dog is well trained, gentle mannered and smart enough to master a regular leash and a retractable leash without being confused, you could be one of the rare guardians that can walk your pooch on any kind of leash without increasing risks to either one of you.