3 Sneaky Tips on How to Keep Your Dog Healthy
Keeping your dog healthy is not always easy.
Here are 3 easy tips on how to keep your dog healthy. In fact, keeping your dog healthy can, at times, be down right difficult. After all, your dog doesn’t speak English, and she can’t tell you specifically what is bothering her. The trick to deciphering your dog’s health is to pay close attention to her actions. By considering the following points, and having an active discussion with your vet, you can actively improve your dog’s health.
Pay Attention To the Unusual
Dogs are intelligent creatures. They don’t go whine at the door because they want to stay inside. They whine at the door to tell you that they need to go out. To keep your dog healthy, you should pay attention when your dog starts to do something out of the ordinary. That unusual action, no matter how insignificant it seems, can be a part of a bigger issue, especially if you detect a pattern. Let me give you an example. Just recently I noticed that my dog has started to regularly lick his paws. I have noticed this because I find the particular noise of him doing this really gross. For a while I thought, oh, he’s always done this, you just haven’t noticed. Then I did some research. Dog’s licking their paws can be an indication of gluten intolerance. This makes sense in the case of my dog, because he hasn’t always licked his paws, no matter what I might have told myself. He started to lick his paws once I started him on his new food.
Now, do I know he is intolerant to gluten? No, but I plan on speaking with my vet about it. I wouldn’t have thought to speak to my vet however, if I hadn’t noticed him licking his paws in the first place. Paying attention to your dog’s actions is key in keeping your dog healthy.
Give your Dog Regular Massages
Another way to keep your dog healthy is to give her a massage every day. Why? Because giving your dog a massage lets you know your dog’s body. When you massage your dog, you should start at one end and work systematically to the other. You should be looking for anything unusual – lumps, sore spots, cuts, and anything else that presents as weird.
Let’s say you find a lump. You don’t need to run screaming to your vet just yet, although if that puts your mind at rest, do it. What you should do is monitor the lump. Check it every day. Is it getting bigger? Is it moving? Is it sore? What is its texture? Is it changing colors? Not every lump on your dog is indicative of some sort of malevolent tumor, but lumps that change in any way (other than disappearing) are worth speaking to your vet about.
Monitor your Dog’s Coat
Paying attention to the condition of your dog’s coat is a good way to judge if she is getting the nutrients she needs. For example, if you feed your dog diet food, you will probably notice that her coat is not in great condition. Why? Well diet food helps your dog lose weight because it is filler. Diet foods, in order to reduce calories, are not made with complex carbohydrates or high-grade proteins. Such ingredients while high in calories are also high in nutritional value. Your dog’s coat quality is a good reflection of if she is getting the right amount of nutrients for her body. A poor coat suggests that she is malnourished in some way. If your dog does need to lose weight, don’t feed her diet food; feed her less of a higher quality food. You will notice a change in not only your dog’s coat, but also most likely her activity level and demeanor as well.