Pregnant dogs are lazy too. Lethargy is quite a common thing for some dog breeds when they are pregnant. A dog that is active before but had suddenly lowered its desire to run and play around is likely to be pregnant. This symptom would normally follow the mating period, when the dog continues to be lazy when it should be back to its old self. Pregnant dogs tend to experience exhaustion as a direct result of hormonal changes. These changes are caused by embryo production.

There would be a lot of physical changes in your dog too. Your dog’s nipple will begin to grow. Most of the changes that humans go through during pregnancy can be observed in dogs. Pregnant dogs would have plumper nipples in preparation for milk production.

There would be changes in the dog’s behavior too. Pregnant dogs can be on the extremes – they can either be very affectionate or want to be left alone. It is possible for your dog’s attitude to change for worse. All these are caused by pregnancy so be very patient. This is just a phase that your pet goes through. Try to know and understand what it is that makes your pet feel that way.

A few weeks in the pregnancy, your pet would have a flair for eating. This is when it gains back everything it has lost during the first few days. However, the extra weight will be seen in the abdominal area. Try to feel the belly of your pet. You should feel small bumps in there. This means that the puppies are starting to form. A dog’s abdomen is normally soft. But when it is pregnant, it will be firmer.

The increase in your pet’s abdomen would be more noticeable a little later on. After several weeks, you’d feel movements in the belly. The experience is going to be similar to babies forming and moving inside a mother’s womb. The puppies are moving as they prepare to get out of the womb.

At a certain point, there would be milk discharges in the female dog. A few days prior to the delivery, milk would start to come out of your dog’s nipple. This is a sign that the dog would soon give birth. Your pet would become very restless. It would now pick a spot where it would give birth and stay there often. You should make your dog comfortable by giving it warm blankets or some newspapers. This will help keep the pups warm after coming out.

During pregnancy, the dog would also go through some drops in its temperature too. The body heat of pregnant dogs may reach up to 99 degrees Fahrenheit. This is also the indication that it is going to deliver its puppies real soon.

Author Bio: Part 2 – For part two of this article, head on to http://www.guarddogtrainingonline.com where you can also find the shocking truth about dog food allergies and dog treatments.

©2012 Petquote Pet Insurance. All Rights Reserved.

First, be aware that biting is natural behavior for a puppy. A puppy that constantly bites and nips at you is not vicious; he is only exploring the world around him with the tools that are at his disposal. He is mouthing things and learning about them, and when he bites, he is also likely exercising his muscles and learning what kind of dexterity and strength that he has. Puppies who play with each other will play-bite at each other all day if they can.

When you are getting ready to take on puppy biting, remember that you should not punish your puppy unless you catch him in the act. Unless he is biting you when you reprimand him, he is not going to have any idea what is going on. You will also find that it is possible to correct him without striking him. A puppy who gets hit is going to one that grows up easily startled and confused and when you want to make sure that your puppy grows up healthy and happy, this precisely the wrong tack to take!

You can learn a lot from how to keep a puppy from biting by watching adult dogs deal with them. When a puppy bites its mother, the mother will utter a short sharp yelp. If the puppy persists, she will march off and refuse to play with the puppy for a while. You can take this precise technique and use it yourself. When you puppy becomes too energetic or stops paying attention to how hard he or she is biting, say “ow!” in a high pitched sharp voice. The idea is to startle the puppy into stopping. If the puppy starts up again, walk away and refuse to pay any attention to the puppy for a while. This will tell the puppy that too much biting will result in playtime being over.

When you are training your puppy not to bite, remember that you should not engage in games like tug of war with the puppy. This can be a confusing thing for a puppy to deal with, so just avoid games like this for the moment. Dress your puppy up in cute dog clothes, take them for walks, but avoid rough and tumble games for a bit.

There are lots of ways to stop your puppy from biting, so take some time and really consider what techniques you want to use!

Author Bio: Article by Kelly Perry of Oh My Dog Supplies, check for current specials on dog t-shirts online.

©2012 Petquote Pet Insurance. All Rights Reserved.

It isn’t difficult to test an older dog’s ability to hear and there are some easy ways to identify the problem. Monitor your dog’s behavior in his natural environment. If he is not responsive to sounds that he normally would be such as birds, vehicles passing by, children playing, other animal noises or he is sleeping through excessive noise, there is a reasonable possibility that he is losing his hearing. If he does not bark when a stranger comes up the drive or in situations when he usually would, this is another sign that points to hearing loss. If an older dog is becoming deaf he will utilize his other senses to get by such as his sense of smell, sight and vibration. This might make it more difficult for you to establish whether or not he has a problem with his hearing.

Try to find an opportunity to creep up behind your dog whilst he is awake making sure he is facing away from you. Stay a fair distance away from him because he may be aware of the movement of air or sense a vibration. You can then do any or all of the following; call the dog’s name, yell the dog’s name, jangle some keys, clap your hands, ring a bell or get someone to ring your doorbell. If your dog doesn’t hear any of these things, move a little closer to the dog and try again, but not so close that he can rely on his other senses to detect your movement. If your pet dog does respond at a certain pitch, try lowering the pitch and calling again. That will help you pinpoint how much it can hear but you need to give the pet some time in between to settle down while trying the different pitch levels.

If you suspect that your dog is deaf the certain way to establish this is for your vet to perform a BAER test but his lack of response to the above sounds is a clear indication of deafness.

It is not the end of the world if your dog is deaf. You just have to modify his normal routine. The dog should kept on a leash when outside because he won’t be able to hear anything that might cause him danger, particularly traffic noise. However, apart from some obvious safety measures there is no reason why you deaf dog cannot continue to lead a normal and healthy life.

Author Bio: Written by Jeff Nenadic from My-DogShop.com – the top place to buy dog beds online.

©2012 Petquote Pet Insurance. All Rights Reserved.

Maintaining a healthy dog’s metabolism involves 23 amino acids. Of these, 10 need to be supplied in the dog’s diet. The remaining 13 will be produced internally in the dog’s liver. If a puppy does not eat the required amount of amino acids it will not flourish, may become ill and will possibly die. If a dog is mature and lacking in the 10 essential amino acids his strength will diminish.

Meat is by far the best food for your dog because it is high in amino acids. If you feed your dog with manufactured dog food make sure that it contains a large percentage of poultry, beef or fish. Look at the label for protein percentages to be certain that the food is suitable for your dog’s protein requirement. The same applies to dry “complete meal” dog food.

The importance of maintaining your dog’s protein levels cannot be stressed enough we have produced the following list of facts to enhance your understanding of the way protein works in your dog’s body.

Protein – the Facts

a) Protein is necessary for the development and maintenance of strong bones and muscles.

b) Protein deficiency will lead to a weakened immune system, weak bones and muscles and stunt the growth of your dog. Over a sustained period your dog will become susceptible to infections due to the lack of development of his immune system and its inability to fight disease. The immune system is reliant on protein so that it can protect your dog’s health.

c) The intake of the correct amount of protein will keep your dog’s coat shiny and healthy, the nails strong and the skin free from dermatological problems. Protein deficiency is evident in a dog if clumps of fur are falling away from his coat.

d) Bonemeal is not high in protein but if you feed your dog on a dry complete meal you can occasionally increase the protein intake with some raw beef. Your butcher should have scraps of beef left over from cuts of meat he has sold and usually will not charge very much money, if any, for the scraps. You can get him to grind this for you or do it yourself at home and just add it to your dog’s normal dry food. If the scraps contain a little fat this is not a problem for your dog, he’s not likely to be looking in a mirror to see whether he has gained a few pounds or not.

e) If your dog is older, there is some valid research that suggests he may need a higher amount of good quality protein than he did when he was younger

Author Bio: Written by Jeff Nenadic from My Dog Shop – visit for more information http://www.my-dogshop.com

©2012 Petquote Pet Insurance. All Rights Reserved.

Do you have the thing you will need for your puppy? Do you have a bag of the same food that he has been eating? You don’t want to make any fast changes in his diet even if you don’t like his current food. Coming to your house will be a huge adjustment for your puppy and you want to keep his food the same to avoid any stomach upsets. Your puppy may have diarrhea anyway because of the changes and stress. No need to make things worse by changing food.

Do you have a collar and leash ready to go get your puppy? The collar should be big enough to fit snugly around your puppy’s neck and allow you to fit two fingers between the collar and neck. A leash that is four to six feet long is usually good. Don’t use a retractable leash at this point. They take some skill to use and you will have your hands full trying to watch your puppy and look out for him. Keep him walking close to you so he won’t stray into something he shouldn’t and become frightened. Nylon collars and leashes are fine. Your puppy is still growing so you probably don’t want to invest in expensive leather collars and leashes or fancy embroidered pieces yet.

Do you have bowls or pans for food and water? Ceramic bowls or steel pans are usually best. Avoid plastic bowls. The plastic can contain chemicals that irritate some dogs’ noses and skin.

Do you have a place for your puppy to sleep? There are many wonderful, soft dog beds for cuddling available online and in pet supply stores. These make great places for your puppy to sack out when he’s tired. It’s up to you whether you will allow your puppy to get on furniture or sleep on your bed. That’s an entirely personal decision.

Whether you intend for your puppy to sleep in a crate or not you should purchase a crate for crate training. Crating your puppy is one of the best ways to help in the housetraining process. All dogs should learn crate training since crating is the safest way for dogs to travel in a vehicle. All dogs other than Toy dogs are crated when they fly on airplanes.

Do you have toys for your puppy? Treats? What self-respecting new dog owner hasn’t brought home some goodies so they can spoil their new puppy?

Before you bring your puppy home you should go through your house and pick up anything that you don’t want destroyed: pick up shoes, remote controls, cellphones, cameras, and clothes. Pick up anything that your little pint-sized ball of terror will want to put in his mouth. Because — and this is the truth — your puppy is a mouth full of teeth with legs. The world is new to him and he is trying to explore it by tasting and chewing everything in it. He will eat anything that you leave lying around for the next six months, at least. Puppies make us better housekeepers. If you want to keep something, put it up high where your puppy can’t reach it. If you think it’s high enough, put it up a little higher because he can probably find a way to reach it. You will come home one day and find your little darling staring at you from on top of the dining room table.

You should also look through your house for places where your puppy can get into things that he shouldn’t. Do you have cabinets that don’t close properly? Do you have a closet that doesn’t shut right? Do you have a cat litter box? (Put it up. Your puppy thinks those are dog treats.) Do you have things hidden under your bed? Whatever it is, wherever it is, you need to do something with it before your puppy finds it.

One of the most useful things you can do is to get down low and try looking at your house from your puppy’s eye-view. You may start to see some tempting things that you don’t usually notice. Try thinking like a curious little puppy.

You will inevitably miss some things. Your puppy is going to get into stuff. Just remember how adorable he is when he runs up to you with what’s left of your contact lens case.

Author Bio: David Beart is the owner of the Professors House. Our site covers family related issues from raising children to dog information, relationships to cooking.

©2012 Petquote Pet Insurance. All Rights Reserved.