Canine Concerns: 3 Of Your Bad Habits That Could Be Jeopardizing Your Dog's Health

Articles

Of course you love your dog and would never jeopardize his health intentionally. However, you may have some habits that do put his health in danger whether you realize it or not. Once you know the basics of keeping your dog healthy, it is important to avoid the following bad habits that can get in the way of your dog living a long, healthy, happy life.

1. Cuddling with Your Dog when You Have Certain Illnesses

When you are not feeling well, there can be nothing better than snuggling with your dog on the couch while you sip on hot tea with honey or eat that bowl of chicken soup. While you know not to have too much contact with human family members while ill, because you can spread the illnesses to them, you may not realize that you can spread some illnesses to your four-legged friend.

One specific illness that has just been discovered to possibly pass from humans to dogs and vice versa is the norovirus. While you may not be too familiar with the clinical term for this illness, you may know it by one of its informal names, like "the 24-hour flu", or a "stomach bug".

The good news is that dogs cannot contract the common cold or human influenza, so you can snuggle away with no worry when you know you have one of these conditions.

2. Not Keeping Up with the Latest News

If you are someone who doesn't watch the nightly news, then you may miss updates about the current problems facing the canine community. One issue facing dogs right now is the current outbreak of canine influenza that is spreading rapidly among dogs.

This condition is only passed from dog to dog, and has not been included in the typical dog "combination vaccines" that you get your dog every year. Be sure to obtain this vaccine for your dog promptly, especially if he plays with other dogs often or you have other dogs in your neighborhood that follow similar paths to you are your dog during their daily walks.

In the future, you don't necessarily have to watch the evening news to keep up with current dog disease outbreaks in your area, but you should be sure to do a web search periodically to stay updated on what diseases and other problems may be going on in your local dog community. You also need to stay alert of any current dog food or dog treat recalls, as these occur often and if you are not aware of them, you could end up feeding your dog food tainted with bacteria and needing a trip to the emergency pet hospital.

3. Being Lazy

Everyone is lazy from time to time, and it is good to get some rest and relax on the weekends after a long work-week. However, your relaxation time should never get in the way of taking your dog for long walks and taking him out to relieve himself frequently.

Owners frequently keep dog walks short during the busy work week, then plan to play catch up by taking their dogs on long walks on the weekends. Sometimes the weekend comes and you still feel tired and don't want to get some exercise.

If you can't take your dog out for the exercise he needs, then enlist a neighbor to help you walk him daily. There are websites that connect dog owners to potential dog walkers who typically charge very little for their services. Some are teenagers looking to earn a few spare dollars after school. Just be sure to vet any dog walker well, and hiring someone could end up working out well for you, your dog, and a teenager looking to earn a few extra bucks.

Everyone has bad habits, but don't let your bad habits affect your dog negatively. He relies on you for everything in life, so don't forget that when you are ill or would rather sleep in an extra half-hour instead of taking your "best friend" for a walk.

Share

23 June 2015