Sample Articles
To view sample Whole Dog Journal stories, click on the links below:
How to Choose Dog Food
No one is in a better position than you are to decide which dog food you should feed your dog. That may not be what you wanted to hear. You may have been hoping that someone would reveal to you the name of the world’s healthiest dog food, so you could just buy that and have it done with. But dogs, just like people, are individuals. What works for this dog won’t work for that one in terms of the perfect dog food. A Pointer who goes jogging with his marathon-running owner every day needs a lot more calories than the Golden Retriever who watches TV all day. The dog food diet that contains enough fat to keep that sled dog warm through an Alaskan winter would kill that Miniature Poodle who suffers from pancreatitis. The commercial dog kibble that stopped my Border Collie’s itching and scratching in its tracks may cause your Bedlington Terrier to develop copper storage disease.
How to Maintain Your Dog's Health
Every aspect of a dog’s life affects every other aspect, which can make it difficult to decide where you should start with a dog with behavior problems. No single effort you make, no matter how huge, will miraculously turn everything around. The good news, though, is that a multi-pronged, holistic dog care approach, comprised of incremental, intelligent improvements in his life, along with a healthy dog food diet just may save the dog. Too many of our dogs are underexercised, undersocialized, understimulated, undernourished, and overweight! This lifestyle is a recipe for poor mental and physical health. Turning this around will benefit your dog – and you, too! Dogs thrive when they receive regular exercise that is within their capabilities and are fed the dog food best for them. The fresh air, sunlight, contact with clean dirt, and mental stimulation of being outdoors is also hugely beneficial to their overall health.
Safe Canine Weight Loss Tips
Does your dog waddle when he walks? When he lies around the house, does he cover more floor space than your area rug? Does he have four legs – and two chins? If so, you may have an obese dog and need to re-think the dog food he is eating. But despite the inclination to view fat dogs as happy or jolly, it’s no laughing matter. Recent studies indicate that up to 40 percent of dogs in the United States may be obese. The risks associated with canine obesity include musculoskeletal disorders such as osteoarthritis, compromised immune function, problems during surgical procedures, delayed wound healing, skin infections, and diabetes. For these reasons, it’s a good idea to get Fido back into shape with the right dog food diet. Improved health, quality of life, and longevity are some of the benefits of keeping your canine companion trim. Last year, the Purina Pet Institute completed a 14-year study that found that dogs who consumed 25 percent fewer calories through their dog food and dog treat intake than their littermates during their lifetimes maintained a lean or “ideal” body condition and lived longer – nearly two years longer, on average.
Dog Owners Guide to Dog Fences
As dog owners become more and more responsible about keeping their dogs safe at home, the incidence of fence-related behavior problems rises. Even the unfortunately popular underground electronic (shock) containment system fences can give rise to the problem. The barrier is there, even if the dog can’t see it, and the intense punishment of the shock the dog receives if he breaches the invisible barrier can intensify the resulting aggression. Tying a dog outside also poses restraint frustration problem, and shares a drawback with electronic fences: neither prevents trespassers (human or otherwise) from invading the dog’s territory, putting both the trespasser and the dog at serious risk.
Five Accupressure Points for Your Dog's Health
Like all mammals, dogs require the same basic constituents that their ancestors did in ancient times. Though dogs have been re-designed by human needs over the centuries, their need for proper food, exercise, rest, play, social interaction, and touch remain the same. In Chinese medicine, health and emotional well-being are considered to be highly dependent on lifestyle, which can be further supported by acupuncture or acupressure and herbs. From the perspective of this ancient medicine, everything is “medicine.” Health is defined as both an internal and external balance of nutrients and energy so that the human and dog alike can function within its environment. The Chinese were interested in how the living body maintains health, thus preventing illness, from season to season and location to location. The goal is to help the body adapt to constant environmental change.
Positive Dog Training
After you learn how easy positive dog training really is, you’ll never push a dog's butt to the floor again! Nowhere, perhaps, is the difference between positive and compulsion training more beautifully obvious than with the “sit.” A considerable part of the first session of many compulsion classes is spent teaching owners how to force their dogs to sit by jerking, pushing, and manipulating various body parts. I spend my first night of class talking with my students, explaining how (and why) we are going to train our dogs without using force. Meanwhile my demonstration dog for the night an obstreperous, untrained dog provided by one of my students, a dog whom I have never met before emphatically offers sit after sit after sit. Magic?
Choosing Dog Supplements
What to look for when choosing a nutritional supplement and dog food for your dog. The ideal place to buy supplements and dog food for your dog is an independent pet supply store. Look for a shop owned or managed by someone who has experience with the products, which have been formulated for pets by reputable companies. Every two weeks I faithfully fill the pill organizers for my Boxer, Tyler. He receives a number of dog supplements, a healthy dog food diet, some for general nutrition and well-being, and some specific to his particular health challenges, including Addison’s disease.
Dog and Puppy Toys
Why dog toys are important to your dog's behavior. Dogs can never have enough toys, and here at Whole Dog Journal we are always on the lookout for creative new toys to help you enjoy your canine companions. Good dog toys are crucial for several reasons. First and foremost, bored dogs are far more likely to engage in behaviors that while perfectly natural and reasonable activities for a dog with time on his paws are not the sort of things that will please you. Things like barking at anything that moves outside the windows of the house, attempting to dig out the source of a trail of ants in the kitchen, or chewing on the table legs. If occupied with toys that are engaging (at least more so than the windows, the ants, and the table legs) and enjoyable (satisfying to chew, say, or so exciting as to be self-reinforcing), your dog is much less likely to redecorate your home when you’re at work.
Pre-Puppy Preparation
Stop! Set up your puppy for success by thoroughly preparing your home and family before you bring her home. Most people spend months preparing for the arrival of a new baby. They’re just as likely, however, to bring a baby dog home on a whim, without any preparation at all. Small wonder they find themselves playing catch-up for weeks, months, years, or even “getting rid of” the dog as they struggle to recover from the mistakes made in the pup’s formative months. For example, a lack of a dog crate, puppy pen, proper puppy food or baby gates from day one makes housetraining “mistakes” inevitable. This can set back later housetraining efforts by weeks or even months, as the puppy is triggered to eliminate in spots where he smells remnants of his past “accidents.”
Basic Dog Park Etiquette
Rules of dog-park etiquette and deportment for dogs and their handlers. Depending on who you talk to, dog parks are either the greatest invention since microwave ovens or the devil incarnate – either the perfect place to exercise and socialize your dog, or the best environment in which to traumatize your dog, make him dog-reactive, and perhaps get him killed. We’re told that perception is reality, but these two perceptions are worlds apart. Which one is right? Your local dog park can be a terrific place to take your dog, provided it is well-constructed, well-maintained, and well-monitored. It can also be you and your dog’s worst nightmare. What determines which perception will be your reality?
Dog Whisperer
We favor behavioral science over showmanship. I’ve avoided commenting on Millan’s show in Whole Dog Journal, because I honestly thought that giving it any attention would just reinforce it. I hoped that if I ignored it, the show might just go away! But the show is in its third season, and Millan’s book, Cesar’s Way, has been a best seller for many weeks. I do think Millan is a skilled handler; he’s able to quickly alter the behavior of many difficult dogs. He also handles people well; he’s supportive of their efforts to improve their lives with their dogs. So what’s my problem?
Doggie Daycare Provides Canine Socialization
Doggie daycare provides supervision, canine socialization, and stimulation. The powerful Akita lunges at the Scottie, her mouth agape, teeth flashing. With a guttural growl, her jaws close around the neck of the little black dog. She pins the wiry terrier to the ground, where he struggles, belly up, in a fruitless attempt to sink his own teeth into his attacker’s leg. As a handful of spectators laugh from a nearby doorway, the Scottie’s struggles subside until he is motionless on the floor, the Akita pinning him to the ground with her superior weight.
