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Dog Questions & Answers
Question: Is it better for my female to have one
litter of puppies?
Answer: If you are an ordinary family and not
experienced my advice is to have her spayed and leave it to the
professionals. Your female may not be suitable for this purpose. I
have no doubt your vet will confirm this to you.
Question: Is it best to spay a bitch before her
first heat or after her first heat?
Answer: A number of vets may suggest that a bitch
should be spayed at about 5/6 months. Whilst writing this book the
American Veterinary College is now recommending as young as 8
weeks . However I have found that this can have some behavioral
effects in the second or third year. I recommend that it is best
to allow a female to come on heat and allow her to develop, and
after three months to have her spayed. This is not a complicated
operation. Most owners are unaware that a females behavior will
start to change due to hormone influence about 8 weeks prior to
the heat . There are a whole host of opinions including preseason
spaying and not to spay at all.
Question: Do you have any advice for children that
are afraid of dogs, and how not to get bitten?
Answer: A very good friend of mine Terry Ryan (who
is a lady ) who works out of Washington University formed an
organization called Prevent-a-Bite. Due to the sad fact that one
half of the children in the world will be bitten by a dog before
the age of fourteen years, most before the age of nine. The
following guidelines have been written by Terry which I support
one hundred per cent.
- Never touch a dog when he is feeding.
- Don't tease your dog, his ears are not handkerchiefs to
pull.
- If chased by a dog while cycling, get off, place the bike
between you and the dog and look away.
- Avoid packs of dogs, if confronted, don't run away or
scream.
- If meeting a new dog, pat him on the side of the face, under
the dogs chin or on the chest. Never place your head above a
dogs head. Crouch down and approach on his level.
- Ask the owner if it is okay to pat their dog. If it is, let
the dog sniff your knuckles to show you are a friend.
- Don't pat dogs in cars, it is a space they consider worth
defending.
- Don't try to separate dogs fighting, go for help.
- Never approach a dog when it is chained up.
- Never enter a house unless you have the owners permission.
Question: My puppy is getting quite naughty, he
playbites my sons arms and jumps up, and when we go for walks he
pulls us all over the place. One of my friends told me he is to
young to start training, at what age can I take him to a training
school?
Answer: It has been proved by scientists that a dog
of 3/4 months of age should be looked upon like a 5 year old
child. Training should start as soon as your vet informs you that
he is clear of his vaccinations. Most area's now run puppy social
classes designed for young dogs to explore other dogs and where
you get some good information and basic knowledge. I personally
love these classes and so do children, this is a fun hour for all
the family.
However not many people are aware of how old their dogs are
compared to humans years. In the old days we would say 7 years for
each 1 year, but that is incorrect. Below is the official age of
your dog:
| Dog |
Human |
Dog |
Human |
| 3 months |
5 years |
8 years |
48 years |
| 6 " |
10 " |
10 " |
56 " |
| 8 " |
13 " |
13 " |
64 " |
| 10 " |
14 " |
14 " |
72 " |
| 12 " |
15 " |
16 " |
80 " |
| 18 " |
20 " |
18 " |
88 " |
| 2 years |
24 " |
20 " |
96 " |
| 4 " |
32 " |
21 " |
100 " |
Question: Why does my dog turn round and round when
he is about to go to sleep?
Answer: When a dog is going to have a sleep, his
instinct will make him turn his nose in the direction that he
considers to be downwind. This way he can scent and smell danger.
Question: Whenever I wash my dog the first thing he
does is roll on the grass and gets himself all dirty again, why is
he so naughty?
Answer: The dogs instinct tells him that you have
washed away his identity, it is very normal for dogs to carry out
this kind of behavior. What I do when I have washed my dog, I put
her in an outhouse to dry off, then let her out, she does not
normally roll after that.
Question: Whenever I take my dog into the woods he
always finds some droppings of other animals and rolls in it, he
come back stinking, please can you tell me why he does this?
Answer: I am afraid that this is an old instinct of
the wolf that is still in your pet. When wild dogs or wolves hunt
they will roll in the dung of their prey. They are in fact trying
to get the smell of the prey on them. This way they can get closer
to kill the prey. I think we have all suffered from this instinct
!
Question: My dog will not stop barking when the
telephone rings and will not stop when I am talking, do you have
any idea's?
Answer: The telephone is acting as a trigger, the
phone rings you get up and start talking into the phone. The dog
barks, you most probably shout out "be quiet" so now
your dog has your attention and has made you bark! The best way to
deal with this is to get a friend to phone you at agreed times,
every 5/10 minutes. When the phone rings, don't move, look at the
dog, do nothing. After about 3 or 4 rings the dog will not react
again. Try it, it works.
Questions and Answers
About Dogs
by David the Dogman |
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