Are Antler Chews For Dogs Safe?

December 14, 2016 by Fanna Easter

Antler Chews for Dogs: Pros and Cons

Chewing provides plenty of mental stimulation and exercise for dogs. Plus, most high value dog chews taste pretty good. Puppies must have plenty of chewing opportunities, especially during the teething process. While we assume younger dogs enjoy chewing, most senior dogs enjoy a good raw bone, bully stick or antler chew too. 🙂

Providing antler chews for dogs can be a good or bad thing, depending on your dog’s chewing style. Let’s discuss the pros and cons of antler dog chews to help you in this decision.

Pros of Antler Dog Chews

Antler dog chews have recently become a very popular chew item for dogs with good reason. Here’s a short list of antler pros:

Antlers are available in most pet stores or online
Last a long time (six months to a year, depending on your dog’s chewing style)
Different sizes to choose from, depending on your dog’s size
No animals are harmed because antlers are shed naturally
Odor-free
Antlers contain nutrients, such as collagen and calcium
Most importantly, dogs love them

Cons of Antler Dog Chews

While antlers are extremely popular dog chew toys, they have some very serious cons too.

Antlers are made of bone, on which chewing will cause tooth and gum damage
Antlers will splinter during the chewing process
Most dogs can whittle down areas into needle-sharp points
Antlers are expensive! Prepare to pay between $10-$50 per antler, depending on size
Imported antlers contain chemicals

Tooth & Gum Damage

This is easily the most common health issue with antler chews for dogs. Veterinary dentists don’t recommend antler chews due to the alarming amount of slab fractures (i.e. fractures running horizontally along a tooth) and gum lacerations that result from chewing on them. Not only are tooth fractures and gum lacerations extremely painful for your dog, but painful for your wallet as well.

RELATED: Best Dental Products for Dogs

Know Your Dog’s Chewing Style Before Giving Antler Chews

Before giving your dog an antler to chew on, it’s important to understand your dog’s chewing style. Don’t be fooled by your dog’s size because little dogs can chew through tough toys like termites too.

Moderate Chewers

A small percentage of dogs fall into the moderate chewer category, as most dogs will devour a high value chew within minutes. Moderate chewers are usually older dogs, or dogs that take their sweet time when chewing. When watching a moderate chewer, you’ll notice they’ll lightly gnaw and lick a chew, and then take frequent breaks. Some moderate chewers will hide chew toys for later, or just enjoy burying them in the yard or sofa cushions.

Antlers would be an appropriate chew option for this category. When choosing an antler size for your dog, choose one size bigger than recommended on the package. Choosing a larger antler prevents accidental swallowing, and will last much longer.

Strong Chewers

Most dogs fall into this category. Strong chewers will gnaw through chew toys like a termite. When given a chew toy, strong chewers will plop down on the floor and chew until the entire item has been consumed or broken into tiny pieces.

Unfortunately, antler chews aren’t recommended for strong chewing dogs. Antlers are rock hard, and strong chewing dogs will bite down on antlers with all their might. This is how teeth are broken or gums are lacerated. Plus, strong chewing dogs will whittle down antlers into sharp points that are painful to touch. Antlers splinter too, and splinters cause gastric upset, intestinal obstructions, fractured teeth and gum damage. Flexible, yet tough, rubber toys work best for strong chewing dogs.

Use caution when giving your dog an antler chew, and always supervise your dog with any chew toy.

Can Dogs Be Vegan?

December 13, 2016 by Fanna Easter

A Look Into a Vegan Diet for Dogs

Many animal lovers choose a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle because they refuse to harm any animals. As a fellow animal lover, I can completely understand this life choice, especially with news media frequently reporting on animal cruelty and overcrowding of livestock. Of course, animal lovers transfer their personal life choices to those they love most, and for some, it’s their dogs. Before grabbing vegan dog treats, it’s important to understand that dogs don’t thrive on a vegan diet.

Are Dogs Strictly Carnivores?

Just taking a peek into your dog’s mouth will give you a hint. Dogs’ teeth were made to chew and ingest meat. Dogs have canines, molars and incisors made to scissor, pull and saw meat off a bone. When comparing omnivore and carnivore teeth together, it’s pretty obvious that dog teeth look completely different than human teeth. Humans, who are omnivores, have flat molars perfect for grinding fruits, vegetables and grains while dogs have needle-sharp molars that can grind meat effectively.

Look at your dog’s entire body too. Dogs’ eyes are close together for hunting, ears turned like radars to locate sound and sense of smell is simply amazing. Plus, dogs share 98% of the same DNA as wolves, and we know wolves hunt and kill animals.

With that said, wolves and dogs will consume fruits, vegetables and grains from the stomach contents of a killed animal. But are dogs and wolves consuming stomach contents in need of grains or because organ meat is highly nutritious? No one knows for sure. Although there’s plenty of research supporting dogs as carnivores.

Cat in a Coal Mine?

About 15-20 years ago, pet food manufacturers increased grains in cat food to reduce costs. When grains were increased, whole meat and meat meal were reduced, limiting essential amino acid profiles. Cats consumed this new grain-based cat food, and pet food companies lined their pockets.

Something terrible happened over time—cats went blind. Extensive research showed that taurine was missing from grain-based cat foods. Taurine is an essential amino acid found in muscle and organ meat. Diets without taurine will cause blindness in cats.

Taking this horrible incident into consideration, it’s important to know you can put your dog on a vegan diet, but he won’t thrive on it. You should also keep in mind the sources from which your dog consumes vitamins, amino acids and minerals. Vegan dog foods contain synthetic versions, so whole foods are much better. Knowing that dogs are carnivores, we understand it’s impossible to provide a dog essential nutrients from a vegan or vegetarian diet.

Choosing a Dog Food

Health and humane treatment of animals intended for food is a major concern for animal lovers. Animal lovers find it easy to make decisions about their plates, clothing and households, but it’s difficult for their beloved dogs. Rather than put your dog on a vegan diet, choose dog foods made from animals that were humanely farmed. Check out Open Farm dog food. Their ingredients are certified cruelty-free, and they even list where each ingredient was farmed.

Living a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle is challenging, yet rewarding. However, for your dog, choose a meat-based diet from humanely treated livestock. Your dog requires animal protein.

2016 Gift Ideas For Dog Lovers

December 7, 2016 by Fanna Easter

Under $20 Gift Ideas for Dog Lovers

As Christmas 2016 approaches, you’re probably looking for the best gift ideas for dog lovers. Fortunately for you, we have budget-friendly gift ideas for your dog-loving friends and family. Check out these fabulous dog-themed gift ideas that are all under $20. The best part is most ship for free!

Dog Magazine Subscription

Every dog lover enjoys reading heartwarming stories about dogs, learning more about their canine companion and keeping up with the latest dog health tips. Some dog magazine subscriptions offer dog training tips, holistic health information, product reviews and recommendations for high quality dog food. In a nutshell, if someone shares his or her home with a dog, then a dog magazine is a must. Plus, this gift keeps giving for 12 additional months, can be ordered online and ships for free!

As of 2016, the best dog magazine subscriptions (digital or paper) are:

Whole Dog Journal
Animal Wellness
Bark

Personalized Dog Gifts

Everyone loves something personalized, but if something is personalized with his or her dog’s photo, it’s even better! Seriously, some of the best personalized dog gifts contain the gift receiver’s dog’s photo. You can pretty much count on tears of emotion and joy as she unwraps her present.

Plus, with the availability of photos on social media, it’s super easy to find the right photo. Just lift your dog-loving friend’s dog photo off Facebook, Twitter or wherever and print on a pillow, shirt, mug, blanket, Christmas ornament, smartphone case or tote bag. If you really want to create a huge impact, choose 12 different dog photos to create a personalized dog calendar!

Best places to create personalized gifts for dog lovers:

Zazzle
Café Press

Hint: For large projects, such as blankets, pillows, phone cases and mugs, increase photo pixels in Photoshop. If you don’t have access, ask a Photoshop software friend to edit photos for you. Oh, and this friend must keep it a secret too!

Donations

Every dollar counts, and this is the perfect time to donate to your dog lover’s favorite animal charity. While it’s tempting to donate to large organizations, small local rescue groups are in desperate need for funds too. Take a moment and investigate your friend’s social media feed. You’ll likely notice likes, shares and retweets from local animal rescues. You could also ask for recommendations from someone close to your dog-loving friend.

Please share your favorite gifts for dog lovers below! Have a safe and wonderful holiday season. 🙂

Dog Conditioners for Short, Medium & Long-Haired Dogs

November 22, 2016 by Fanna Easter

Dog Conditioner for Every Hair Length

Do you need to use conditioner on dogs? Yes, conditioning your dog’s fur is an important step in the grooming process regardless of hair length and type. Different coat types have specific conditioning needs, but all dogs need to moisturize their skin.

While using a dog conditioner isn’t dog training related, this question continues to pop up from my clients. Yes, I’m a dog trainer, but I’m also a licensed master cosmologist too, so I know a thing or two about hair and skin. 🙂 Let’s get started on how to best condition your dog’s fur and skin!

Do Short-Haired Dogs Need Conditioner?

Of course, but choose a light or leave-in dog conditioner. While short hair needs less moisture due to its short length and structure, every dog needs to regularly moisturize his or her skin. Think about it this way: Your skin gets dry during winter months because the weather changes and the climate gets dry, right? As a result, you slather on skin-conditioning lotions to relieve tightness and flakiness. As you can imagine, your dog’s skin needs moisture too.

Instead of choosing heavy conditioners rich with oils, choose lighter versions. However, don’t be fooled; diluting rich conditioners with water doesn’t work very well because as we all know oil and water don’t mix. Lighter conditioners contain silk proteins instead of heavy oils, which moisturizes skin without leaving a greasy feel. Instead of choosing a dog conditioner, try using a rich moisturizing shampoo instead.

Medium Fur Needs Conditioning Too

Medium-coated dogs, such as Golden Retrievers, Akitas, Australian Shepherds and Papillons, have different coat needs. Dogs with medium-length coats, or short body hair with long furnishings, require a combination conditioning approach. Medium hair has additional moisture needs due to its length and structure shape, and all dogs need regular skin conditioning too.

Using a conditioning shampoo for dogs to moisturize his skin is a great first step, but medium-coated dogs with longer furnishings will need additional conditioning and detangling. Spray-on conditioners are excellent for conditioning small areas and contain rich moisturizers that don’t leave a heavy residue.

During your dog’s regular bath, shampoo with a moisturizing shampoo and rinse. Now, massage a dollop of conditioner, or spray conditioner, onto your dog’s front and back leg furnishings and tail. Allow the conditioner to sit for a few minutes and rinse thoroughly. During weekly brushings, use a spray-on conditioner that detangles, yet adds additional moisture.

Long Coat Conditioning Recommendations

Dogs with long coats need regular conditioning treatments—that’s a given. Longer hair means that strands of hair are older because they’ve been growing for a while. Older hair is porous, which means there are more holes in the hair cuticle. Due to the cuticle gaps, porous hair sucks up moisture quickly and can absorb colors introduced from the environment.

As an example, we know bleached hair will turn a green tinge when repeatedly exposed to swimming pool water containing chlorine. The same thing happens when your dog’s porous hair is repeatedly exposed to urine, salve and even red dirt.

To keep longer and porous hair in check, it needs regular moisturizing. Choose dog conditioners containing oils that not only moisturize, but also don’t overdo it. Sometimes, heavy conditioners can weigh hair down and leave a greasy residue that attracts and collects dirt. Other times, too much moisture will cause porous hair to frizz. Look for conditioners containing oils, such as Aryan oil or humectants, which help hair retain its moisture.

Experiment

With so many dog hair conditioning options, it’s easy to get overwhelmed quickly. As a cosmetologist, I believe professional products that cost a bit more are worth it. My favorite brands are Nature’s Specialty, Espree and Chris Christenson’s products. You can order online or ask your groomer what products she recommends.

When using conditioners for dogs, remember a little goes a long way! Don’t forget to rinse, rinse and rinse again to remove any residue. 🙂

UP NEXT: Heavy Duty Dog Shampoo

4 Low-Impact Exercises for Dogs With Arthritis or Older Dogs

November 21, 2016 by Fanna Easter

Low-Impact Exercises for Dogs

Dogs need exercise and mental stimulation every day. Though, sometimes, an injury or chronic pain limits a dog’s activity level—almost grinding it to a halt. That’s when low-impact exercise for dogs is hugely beneficial. Below are several great exercise ideas for dogs!

1. Walking

Slow strolls are an excellent form of a low-impact dog exercise. Remember, walks should be nice and quiet until your dog heals or starts feeling better. Start with a 4 to 6-foot leash—keep retractable leashes at home—to control how fast your dog walks.

You should, of course, provide your dog plenty of opportunities to stop and sniff during walks. Sniff stops provide mental stimulation for your dog, but also provides a short break during walks, which may be needed. In the beginning, keep walks under 10 minutes. The following week, walk for 12 minutes and increase slowly. If, at any time, your dog starts limping or suffers from pain, stop walks immediately and consult your veterinarian again.

RELATED: Walking Two Dogs at Once Tips

2. Underwater Treadmill

Seriously, if I could install an underwater treadmill in my home, I would’ve done it yesterday! Underwater treadmills are filled with a predetermined amount of water based on a dog’s height and exercise needs. By adding water during walks, it not only adds a bit of resistance, but buoyancy as well.

Water buoyancy allows the dog’s body to float, yet still move underwater, which relieves pressure from joints and ligaments. Also, warm circulating water provides additional pain control.

Ask your veterinarian to refer you to a canine physical therapist because he or she will have access to underwater treadmills. Check out a few hydrotherapy tips, so your dog learns to love it! Yes, I’m still trying to figure out how to install one at home. 🙂

3. Swimming, If Your Dog Enjoys It

We all know swimming is an excellent low-impact exercise, but there are a few risks that come with it too. Swimming is a great choice for dogs that already love swimming. If your dog hates swimming, he will likely further injure himself struggling to get out of the water.

Think about it this way: If someone throws you into a pool, and you hate it, you swim for your life. Panicking in water causes overuse of muscles, ligaments and joints, which you’re trying to protect from further injury. Life vests won’t prevent your dog from freaking out in the pool either, unfortunately.

If your dog hates swimming, try walking your dog along the shallow end of a pond or lake. This provides resistance, yet is low-impact. Again, your dog must enjoy standing and walking in water for it to work. 🙂

4. Nose Work

I’m completely obsessed with Nose Work! Many years ago, I was introduced to the sport of Nose Work and I haven’t looked back. Not only is it a super fun activity for dogs, but they will blow your mind with their sniffing skills. Additionally, it’s a low-impact exercise for dogs too.

How to Set Up the Game

There are several elements of Nose Work, but I’m obsessed with the very beginning stages. At first, it’s important to teach dogs how to find hidden food in boxes. You’ll need 5-6 small and medium-sized boxes, super yummy treats, and your dog. Hide food in one box and set it down among the other boxes. Your dog will walk over and sniff around to find the hidden treats. This dog game never gets old for your dog, and it keeps his body moving and his mind sharp.

Remember, have fun and choose a low-impact exercise your dog loves!

Are Antler Chews For Dogs Safe?

Antler Chews for Dogs: Pros and Cons

Pros of Antler Dog Chews