Teacup breeds of dogs

The Toy group of dog breeds in the American Kennel Club (AKC) consists of small breed dogs. They are primarily bred to be just pets, unlike the working and herding groups of dogs. Most of the breeds range in size from 6 to 20 pounds. While most toy breeds are small, some breeders have gone to the extra small versions of those breeds. The most common term used for those tiny versions are Teacup, because as a puppy they will fit into a teacup.

You can find puppies for sale around the world that are teacups, not just in the USA. The most common breeds that are bred extra small are Pomeranians, Poodles, Chihuahuas and Yorkshire Terriers. One of the main reasons for this trend is the popularity of celebrities seen with their dogs when out shopping. The next main reason is that many families lack large yards for the larger dog breeds and toy breeds offer the same amount of love in less space.

A new puppy

The last 2 weeks has been a dog owners nightmare for me.

My little buddy, for whom I have had for 9 years got killed. It was a freak accident. He startled a wild animal in the dark and there were probably more than one. I heard the commotion and a small "yip." I was inside a shed and did not see what happened. Found him next morning with evidence that he was probably stomped on by a deer.

Of course I was devastated. He was my little shadow who followed me every where. I would cry at a drop of a hat. I was especially affected when I would come home...you see he would greet me before I even got in the house, before anyone else, which was great on those days when I had a terrible day at work.

I decided about 4 days after his death that I had to get another dog to replace him right away. Doing that would take my mind off of mourning him. He was gone and not coming back but I felt so lonely.

Almost exactly a week after his death someone needed to find a home for an Italian greyhound puppy. We texted each other then I met the pup. He was small and not a young pup but a lively 6 month old. It was love at first sight.

Duke was welcomed into my home.

Now comes the time to arrange for shots, neutering and house breaking. He already has an assortment of toys, came with his own bed but I might do a few changes around the house for him. I was thinking about installing a dog door. Someone told me to put a bell on his collar so I could find him. I laughed at the thought until today when I have accidentally stepped on his toes 3 times while trying to make dinner. He has not learned to stay away from feet.

Life with a new dog in the house............let the fun begin.

Are you traveling safely with your dog in the car?

Just the other day I saw someone driving with a small dog on their lap. The little dog was trying to stick its head out of the driver's side window. The owner seemed oblivious to the dangers that the dog was putting into that ride. All it would take is just an instance of the dog getting in the way of maneuver of the steering wheel or distracting the driver at the wrong time for an accident to ruin everyone's day. You can forget about paying for cheap auto insurance for a few years until that accident goes off your record.

Here are a few safety tips for traveling with your dog in your car

• Use a dog harness designed and made to connect to the seat belt system of your car.
• Keep your dog away from the driver.
• If you have a window locking system in your car use it. That will prevent you dog from opening a window without your knowledge and trying to jump out.
• Look for insurance companies that cover your dog the next time you compare car insurance rates
• Check the local ordinances of the places you are traveling through regarding dogs in cars.
• If you use a crate to keep your dog in during the trip, anchor the crate to prevent it from moving around. Should the car experience a sudden stop or get rear ended the a loose crate with a dog inside could go through a window or hit an occupant in the car.
• Think about what would happen to your dog if you were in a car accident. If you are taken to the hospital - where would they take your dog?

Those are just a few tips. I am sure that you, a dog owner, can think of more. Remember that the cheapest car insurance does not always cover your dog as an occupant if you are in an accident

Dog breeds and genetics

Puppy shopping is not as easy as finding a puppy and falling in love with it. It is not even matching the right breed for your lifestyle, no it goes deeper than that. That pup you just brought home might end up with a debilitating health problem that can cost you money and heartache in just a few years.

Certain breeds are known to have health issues. Dalmatians are prone to hearing loss. German Shepards and other large breed dogs are prone to hip dysplasia. Even some of the smaller breeds have their own set of unique genetic problems. This article on the Shih Tzu's genetic problems can shed some light on that breed.

Before buying that cute pup do some research on the breed and the parents of the pup. The breeder should be able to show you the results of any genetic testing done on the parents. Most really good breeders have genetic testing done on their breeding stock.

Putting your dog on a diet

Do you have a dog that needs to lose a few pounds or even ounces? If you cannot easily feel their ribs or they get out of breath faster than you do during a walk then yes, they are in need of losing some extra weight.

First you need to cut out those little high calorie treats for them. Then learn to weigh their dry dog food before each feeding. Most of the dry dog food bags suggest using measuring cup sizes but I have found that volumes can vary but weight of food is constant. I use a digital postal scale but you can use a kitchen scale or a lab scale as long as it can weigh up to 5 pounds including the container that is used to put the food in.

Next I separate the meals into 2 or even three a day. That helps the dog's stomach to shrink a bit.

I always check the dry dog food for ingredients before buying it. The first ingredient should always be whatever the main meat (chicken or beef). If a grain such as corn, wheat or rice is listed first then I go on to the next brand of food. Price has never been a good indicator of ingredients.......you have to read that label.

Then it is just a matter of sticking to the diet. After all it is up to you and not your dog to stay with the diet.

Puppy pics

It has been some time now since I last posted so I thought I would share a few puppy pics

Dachshund hounds are a wonderful small dog breed

When I decided to adopt a puppy, I knew I needed to research small dog breeds. Living in an apartment in the city meant that having a big dog was simply out of the question. I desperately wanted a canine companion, but I also wanted to make sure I chose one who could play fetch in the house and wouldn't require wide open fields to stay healthy and active. My friend knew I was looking for small dogs breeds and pointed me to a Dog Breed Gallery online. From there, I was able to look at all the different choices I had and make an informed decision. My first choice was a Boston Terrier. I just love those squishy little faces! Alas, I live in a 4th floor walk up apartment with one small a/c unit, and dogs with adorable flat faces simply don't function well if they can't be kept cool at all times. I was afraid the summer months in the city would be too much for a Boston buddy.

That's when I decided to think about Dachshunds. All the wiener dogs I've ever met have had nice, pointy faces, good for staying cool in the summer, but they have also had great big personalities. They are a playful breed that enjoys activity but are also happy to cuddle up with you in the evenings. Best of all, they stay small and can be perfectly happy in a house without a lot of space; in fact, some can even be trained to use a litter box or potty mat indoors which is very convenient in bad weather.

I decided to visit a small dog breed rescue site, and that's where I met my adorable new companion. She's turned out to be the perfect pet – it is simply a delight to come home to her wagging tail after a long day at work!

Warmer weather means fleas

My little dog has been bothered by fleas more now that it is warming up. In the house I use a premise spray as well as using a spot-on treatment for the dog. The problem is the warm weather - it speeds up the hatching out of the flea eggs. The spot-on treatment does work but the flea has to be on the dog for about 3-24 hours before it dies. That is a long time for a dog to put up with biting fleas running around on their bodies before they die.

My dog has gotten to the point that he prefers to be outside in the cooler evening and night time temperatures because he is bothered by the fleas. Right now as I write this he is standing near the where the corner tv stands waiting for me to get up and let him outside where it is cooler.

I need something that will kill the fleas on the dog and yet not interfere with the spot-on treatments either. I also do not want to make the dog sick from applying too many pesticides. Is that too much to ask?

Dog playing with fawn or is it really play?

Found this cute video on You Tube. To the uneducated about dogs and deer, it looks like they are playing. Watch the video first then read my comments below -


 

 The dog is happy just running around with the ball. The deer on the other hand is seeing a predator that is just a bit crazy. The deer attacks the dog with its very sharp front hoofs. That is an act of aggression in a deer, not play. At one point in the video you hear the dog yelp in pain. The deer must have gotten the dog good with the hoofs.

Another fact from the youtube video page is that the people who claim to have "rescued" the deer feed it cat food. Who in their right minds feeds a herbivore meat?

Looks like you get all kinds on YouTube. 

The advantage of owning a small breed dog

When I became a small breed dog owner several years ago, I never thought that having a small breed would cut down on grooming time and costs. I don't have to give my small dog a bath in the bath but take him to my stainless steel sink in the kitchen for a quick wash down.

Using spot on flea products are cheaper since they sell them by the ml for the size dog.

Yes there are advantages to having a small breed dog.

Calloused elbows

Calloused elbows on dogs, have you seen them? They usually occur on larger breeds but can occur on all breeds. They are caused by the dog laying down on hard surfaces. Dogs that are kept on concrete are more apt to develop callouses on their elbows.

To prevent calloused elbows and to treat them is to provide the dog with something cushy to lay on. Be it an old quilt, egg crate mattress pad or even a small throw rug, your dog will appreciate it.

It will take a few months for the hair and skin to return to almost normal on the dog's elbows if you provide something for the dog to lay on.

Dog spinning in circles - what does that mean?

I have occasionally met dogs that have habitually chased their own tails. They would spin in circles. I was curious as to what causes this so I tried to look it up. Some people and dog trainers put it down to dogs that are raised in kennels and don't get out often enough. They assume that the dog learns to spin in circles as a way to combat boredom. Unfortunately that does not explain the dogs I have known to spin - they never saw the inside of a kennel or even a dog carrier. I do have another theory.

I have a dog that I have to put on a tie out cable when the electric company comes out to read our meter. She is on the tie out for about 1-2 hours on the date of the visit. She is not fond of the meter reader since she doesn't like people snooping around "her" house without her owners around. One day she had to go outside to poop and I put her on the tie out, just in case the meter reader showed up. Sure enough the meter reader was there about 5 minutes later and I saw my dog spinning on the end of the cable. The meter reader got back in his truck and left and then my dog got loose! She only followed the truck to our property line but I then had to fix the cable tie out. I had a set of small hoist rings and used one of them as a temporary ring. It was then that I realized that maybe the dogs that spin had been on a tie out at one time in their lives and learned to spin to break the chain or the connectors. If that is the case then those dogs are pretty smart.

GSP RESCUE

Thanks for the article from Jermaine Haynes

Our German Short-haired Pointer recently passed away and I would like to get my parents another one. Even though they say that they don’t want another dog ( we had our last dog for fifteen years), I feel like they would enjoy one. I didn’t realize that there were a lot of German Short-hairs up for adoption. A lot of the dogs are used for bird hunting. Apparently  after the short-hairs are too old or not good at bird hunting anymore that they are put up for adoption. That makes me sad. I don’t know how you could just put a dog up for adoption, but I guess that people don’t look at these dogs like pets, but workers. Anyway, there are a lot of websites that are German Short-hair rescue sites. I have found a lot of really cute dogs that need a home. I am going to try and find one before Easter so that I can surprise my parents with one when I come home. I can’t wait!

Puppy toys

Puppies and dogs are so easy to find toys for. They enjoy tennis balls, thick rope with knots in it and stuffed animals. One of our dogs enjoys stuffed animals so much that he use to sneak into my daughters bedroom when she was young and steal one of her smaller teddy bears. We would find him either sleeping with it or humping it. She had to keep her door closed until he no longer made those sneaky visits.


Nowadays I give him chew toys and his favorite is a large rubber bone he carries everywhere.


So if you are shopping for kid birthday gifts one day think about getting your puppy a toy in the same toy store.

An app for your phone that every dog owner should have

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Triad Retail Media for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Do you need an app that is made just for dog owners? Then look no further because Purina has come up with one that is sure to cover just about everything a dog owner will need. The Purina Pet Health App is available for both the iPhone and Android systems. I am going to check it out for my iPod. Below are some screen shots of the app

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As you can see you can use the app to not only list your dogs' information and vet visits but to locate local dog parks. Another function is to locate vets too (screen shot below)

Think of the possibilities of this app 

• you are camping with your dog and your dog gets sick. The nearest town is just a few miles away but you don't know where the vet is or even if there is a vet - use the app to find out
• you don't remember when your dog last visited the groomer and when was that next appointment - use the app
• you can also use the app to enter all of your dog's health information. Don't remember the name of that medication that your dog can't have - easy just enter the name into the app and you can access it next time you need it.

So are you ready to get that app? If you are then you can download here and start keeping track of all your dog's activities, appointments and fun stuff too.

Dog tricks you can teach your dog

This post is not how to teach your dog 100's of tricks, no, it is going to show you a dog in action, on video that can do many tricks. The video is below and it will give you some ideas for working with your own dog. Enjoy:

Twitter and me

I thought about starting up a Twitter account so I could interact with my readers more. Then I thought about have a Twitter account for my dog so I could put his barks and yips on there. I know, dumb. Then I looked at some of the Twitter accounts that do that already and they are big hits. I don't think I have the humor or at least can't write the humor down that would attract readers or followers. Most of my tweets would read like this:

• I sleeping, don't bother me
• Where is my breakfast
• I want out NOW
• Let me in NOW
• Can I have some of what you are eating?
• Who's at the door - BARK, BARK

As you can see, very limited.

Walkees

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Swifto for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I may have dated myself when I gave the title of this post "walkees." For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, it was coined by Barbara Woodhouse, a very well known dog trainer that had her own TV show. This post is not about her but taking your dog for a walk. 

For me living on a large country property, all I have to do is let the dog out and he runs around and then wants to come back inside. In fact right now he is curled up on his bed near the wood stove. It was not always that way. About 15 years ago I lived in the city in and I had bigger dogs. They had to be taken out for walks otherwise they would have gotten very much out of shape just running around in our small backyard. There were times that I could have used a dog walking service but there was none in the area. 

I found out later that most of the dog walking services were limited to larger cities. New York City has several and Swifto Dog Walking is one of them. They offer a last minute service that can get a dog walker to your door within an hour.  

Something you have go to keep in mind is that your dog will need to be taken out for a walk not once a day but at least twice a day or more. The walk is not only about exercise but also about elimination.  

Flea problem in the winter

For those of you that think that flea problems with dogs end when the summer is over then your flea problems are just beginning.

The heated home in the winter months is a haven for hatching out flea eggs. The rooms are warm and dry, just what a flea needs and wants to survive and propagate. One of the best ways to control fleas is to kill them while on the dog. There are 2 major spot-on flea products, Advantage and Frontline Plus. I have used Advantage in the past with great success, but I never tried Frontline Plus. The major reason I used Advantage over Frontline was the cost. That has got to be the major reason why I don't use a spot-on flea product year round. There is probably an advantage to my dog's health from not having his skin covered in pesticides 100% of the time.

If you want to find out more about the flea life cycle than check out this page from Ohio State - flea facts

The page has some really fascinating facts to ponder. For example, did you know that cats and dogs have different fleas? Adult fleas can live up to one year without eating (blood).

Getting your dog home safely

I was recently on a message board that I frequent and was totally amazed at the lack of common sense that some people have when they find a lost pet. The woman showed a photo of the small dog that had shown up at her house a few days ago. The dog had no tags or collar and she was wondering if anyone knew of a rescue shelter she could take it to.

The first thing I thought of, was why wasn't this woman at least making the effort to find the owner? I wrote a message back encouraging her to take the dog to a local vet and see if the dog had been micro-chipped. While at the vet she can ask if anyone had reported a lost dog and even put up a flyer in the vets office.

Of course if you are a dog owner and you lose your dog, you want to make sure that the dog can be identified and returned to you. The first thing of course is to get dog tag for your dogs collar. Make sure you look at dog tags for dogs and not the human metal ones. There are also customized dog tags for dogs for those owners who want a bit more than the standard information. They might want to include any special medical condition the dog has.

If you happen to find a lost pet, please use some common sense and help that pet to reunited with their family.