Preventive Health Care For Your Dog
^{by Tracy Smith}

Most of our Dog's health problems are preventable! Good nutrition, adequate exercise, loving relationships, vaccinations and periodic check ups with your dog's veternarian are all things you can provide to help keep your dog healthy and happy.

Once you bring your new dog or puppy home, take him to see your veternarian for a physical examination as soon as possible. If possible, get a copy of any health records from the breeder or previous owner who you got your dog from. This will be helpful to your veternarian when scheduling vaccinations. Try to make the visit to your veternarian as low key as possible. If you behave nervously, or make a huge fuss over the trip, your dog is going to pick up on it and that could make the visit an ordeal for both of you. If this is your puppy's first visit, try to arrange for vaccinations to be given on another day. This helps make his introduction to your veternarian a pleasant one and he will be less concerned when you go to see your vet in the future. In addition to scheduling vaccinations, your vet may suggest that you use a flea and tick repellent as well as a heart worm preventative. Before your vet will prescribe your dog a heart worm preventative he/she will give your dog a blood test to check for heart worm infestation. When a dog is infested with heart worms it can be very dangerous to expell them. If the test is negative, your vet will give your dog a monthly preventative that you can feed her at home. If the test is positive, your vet will keep your dog at the hospital while expelling the worms. After your dog is tested free of heart worms you can purchase the preventative to protect him from getting them in the future.

Good nutrition for your dog is easy to provide. Ask your vet which foods he or she recommends. If you purchase your dog food at the grocery store, be sure to check the labels. All animal feed packages have a list of nutrient ingredients called the guaranteed analysis. This can help you determine the quantity of it's ingredients, but not the actual quality of the food. For instance, the food might list 30% crude fiber(a carbohydrate) that is partly made up of cellulose. This food would not provide a 30% level of carbohydrates, because dogs don't digest cellulose.

In addition to the guaranteed analysis, pet foods must list their ingredients on the label. It must include, by descending order based on weight, all nutrient sources, as well as additives and preservatives. Though it's often overlooked because of it's availability and abundance, water is the most important nutrient. Depending on the category of the food, water percentage should be 6 to 10% for dry food, 23 to 40% for soft/moist food and between 68 to 78% for canned food.

Crude protein should have the highest percentage on the guaranteed analysis. Exactly where that protein comes from can be discerned from the ingredients list. Rendered meat by-products are basically the stuff we won't eat cooked down into a slurry. Did you know that feathers are a meat by-product? YUK! Now days it's easy to find dog foods that do not use rendered meat by-products. Read the label and if you're not sure, take it to your veternarian and ask him or her.

If your using a good dog food, supplementation will be unnecessary. Supplementation of a good diet doesn't improve its nutritive value and could cause nutrient excesses and secondary deficiencies. So supplements are not necessary unless your veternarian is aware of a specific condition and recommends it. Table food isn't recommended either. Scraps and table food, if used, shouldn't exceed 15% of your dogs diet. By the way, a good dog food only provides a nutritional base for your dog if she eats it! Palatability is very important. You may have to try more than one brand to find one your dog will accept.

So a good, basic dog food, and access to clean water will take care of your dog's nutritional needs. Annual vet check ups and vaccinations will help prevent illness. Lots of play provides necessary exercise and lots of love will insure that your dogs emotional needs are also met. They require so little and give so much. Provide them with these basics and your dog will be your healthy, happy companion for years to come.