Larger breed dogs are more prone to urinary incontinence and this is usually from lack of estrogen. Black cohosh is a natural estrogen replacement. If this treatment doesn’t work it’s best to take your dog in for a urine test to rule out bladder stones, diabetes or a chronic urinary tract infection although I often wonder if there is an allergic factor involved sometimes like in human urinary incontinence.
The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker’s family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away. The little boy seemed to accept Belker’s transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker’s death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, “I know why. . .”
This is the time of the year when you want to be diligent about replacing that water for the animals. Dehydration can lead to bladder stones and urinary track blockages. . . Exposure to salt-based ice melting products can cause dogs severe dermatitis, inflammation of the paws and serious gastrointestinal problems including vomiting and internal burns of the mouth and digestive tract. . . This is antifreeze season. Just one teaspoon of this sweet, delectable substance will totally trash your pet’s kidneys causing an agonizing death.
While out shopping you’ve lectured complete strangers on the evils of products like “Old Roy”, Hartz, and Sergeants. (Yikes—Guilty as charged!) At least one of your pets was once owned by a client, dumped at the clinic, “put to sleep”, and is either blind, three-legged or lame OR have a problem no vet has ever seen before. Every piece of clothing you own is covered in cat hair. You have friends who laugh at your impressions of “kennel cough” and “reverse sneezing”. You get a rash just from looking at a Shar Pei.
I had not seen this animal before. There was something else odd about her. I just couldn’t figure out what it was. Once my brain clicked in and I was able to concentrate, I saw deep V-shaped marks of her flesh missing from her backside.
Other marks ran up and down her body. At first I thought a boat had hit her. As she came closer, now with only ten feet separating us, I realized what was wrong. She had fishing hooks embedded in her head by her eye, with very thick fishing line running to her tail. She had rolled with the line and was wrapped head to tail about five or six times. The line had torn into her body at the back, and those were the V-shaped chunks that were missing. I felt sick and, for a moment, paralyzed. I knew wild animals in pain would never tolerate a human to inflict more pain. But I had to do something.
Establishing yourself as the leader of the pack must be practiced on four occasions: When the pack reunites for any reason; when it eats; when the pack is under attack; and when the pack goes on a hunt. Jan had an interesting interpretation of separation anxiety. If the dog thinks it is the Alpha of the pack, it feels uncomfortable when you leave the pack (to go to the store, work, outside or even to the bathroom!) If your dog follows you around the house, it thinks it is the Alpha. If the dog destroys the molding of the door or rips out the carpets when you are gone, it’s an Alpha. As an example. . .