How To Care for Your Dog Health | Dog Health Guide

                                  

Dog Health Guide 101: Food & Nutrition                        

Pet owners would give anything to see their pet in a top-notch condition, away from all those diseases and complications. For your dog to be in the best of health, proper diet, healthy food, daily exercise, nutrition, and routine health check-ups are needed. It would be best if you keep an eye on your dog's temperament as well as its habit of playing, eating, and sleeping.

Through this, you will easily find out if something's wrong with your canine friend and root out the disease's cause before it grows any further. However, for this, it's compulsory to get yourself acquainted with a veterinarian to seek timely health care advice and medical assistance.

5 signs that show your dog has a Good Health

 

Dog owners commonly ask how to know if their furry friend is healthy and at the peak of its condition? Here are a few dogs’ health tips that may help you in judging your best pal health conditions a lot better:

1) Healthy Skin and Coat:

A shiny, lustrous, and clean coat is proof of your pet's healthy well-being. A shiny, clean coat is due to your dog's natural generation of oil and daily shedding. Similarly, smooth, and flexible skin free of any such irritations, inflammation, scrabs, and rashes also tell us that our dog is in good condition. However, if you find your dog scratching, licking, or chewing coat excessively, then you should immediately seek your vet's assistance. It is one of the commons signs of skin irritation, fleas, lice, ticks, etc.

2) Maintain an Optimal Weight:

It is no unknown that pet obesity is increasing day by day. Obesity among pets gives vent to heart and lung diseases, diabetes, and varying types of cancer. To keep your dog healthy, you should keep an eye on your dog's weight. A sudden noticeable increase or decrease in weight can be a sign of underlying health issues. In this case, a health care check-up would be a must.

3) Good Oral Hygiene

If your dog's dental hygiene is left unattended for a long time, it can give rise to severe complications. A rotten-smelling mouth could be an indication of tooth decay or mouth cancer. It could also mean that your dog is at the mercy of gum disease or periodontitis. Your canine friend may end up losing its teeth due to periodontitis. That's why a routine oral check-up is also necessary to prevent the excessive build-up of tartar and health-threatening diseases.

4) Consistent Bowel and Bladder Movement

Your dog's bowel and bladder movements tell a lot about the dog's health. If your furry friend's stool is free from any blood, worms, mucus, and grease, then your dog has a healthy bowel movement. Similarly, transparent yellow color urine is also a sign of good health. In contrast, dark-colored urine is associated with dehydration and orange color with Jaundice. If you notice a reddish color, then it could be a sign of urinary tract infection or other bladder problems. You must contact your veterinarian in this case.

5) Healthy and Clean Ears

If you see your dog scratching its ears frequently, this might be a sign of some underlying ear problem. After all, ear infections were the 2nd most common reason why dogs visited veterinarians in 2016. The pungent smell is also associated with ear infections due to the excessive build-up of wax and fungus. Therefore, routine ear check-ups and cleaning are advised to keep your dog healthy and fit.

Good Food and Nutrition to Keep Your Dog Healthy            

Though our pets cannot live with us forever, one thing we can do is to provide them with good nutritional foods so that they can at least live a longer and healthier life. 

Learn how to read the Label

Choosing a dog food without knowing what the label means would not be a wise choice. Firstly look for the words "Balanced and Complete" on the food packaging. These words show that the food is packed with every essential nutrient a dog or pup needs. 

Secondly, according to AAFCO, if the label says that the food contains only one ingredient, then it would include at least 95% of the said ingredient. For example, if a dog food proclaims to be made up of only chicken, then it would contain at least 95% chicken. 

Thirdly, you should remember that the ingredients listed on the label are according to the order of quantity—a food containing more gluten than the grain would have gluten written before the grain on the label. After learning how to read the label, you can easily select the best healthy food supplements for your dog.

Find Out Which Ingredients are Good for Your Dog's Health?

After learning to read the label, you should know which ingredients make up a healthy dog product. For example, grains, gluten, and by-products are known for being healthy ingredients that are easily digestible and are also a great source of carbohydrates and proteins. Therefore, whenever you are looking to buy a healthy dog product, make sure that it contains the ingredients mentioned earlier. However, do make sure to provide other nutrients and vegetables along with grains to form a completely healthy diet for your dog.

Make Proper Use of Omega-3 Supplements

Although Omega-6 can be found as an ingredient in many dog foods, Omega-3 is still nowhere to be found except for fish oils. When Omega-6 gets combines with Omega-3, the food becomes much richer in both nutrients and proteins. Therefore, it is advised to use Omega-3 supplements to make the food healthier and more potent.

Omega-3 Also Has Many Other Benefits:

1) Omega-3 helps in the early development of the brain and vision of pups.

2) It serves as a great reliever of joint and skin inflammation.

3) Omega-3 should be given to pregnant dogs to grow the infant's brain and retinas properly.

Which Food Should You Give to Your Dog: Dry or Wet?

If you are a new pet owner, you must wonder that which is the best food? Dry or Wet? Honestly, there is no single answer to this question because it depends on the owner's choice. 

However, if you are looking for a comparatively cheap option, you should go with dry food. Although it will not contain the same watery content as wet food, it will definitely fill your dog with the energy and nutrients it needed after eating once.

Whereas the benefit of wet food is that it contains 60 to 84% water, so it automatically fulfills your dog's need for drinking water. Aside from this, wet food is also tastier than dry food, but it comes at a high price.

Nevertheless, both types of food are a great source of essential nutrients for your dog and, of course, healthy too! So, before starting or changing your dog's diet, it would be best if you consult with your vet first. Your veterinarian would help you a lot in figuring out what's best for your canine friend.