Dog Food Calculator

This Dog Food Calculator can help you estimate the proper serving size for your pet. It’s based upon a scientific study1 published by a respected veterinary research institute.

The dog food calculator’s formula2 uses a dog’s metabolic weight and suggests an appropriate serving size.
To use the calculator you’ll need to know…

• Your dog’s Ideal weight (what he should weigh)
• Your dog’s activity level
• Your dog food’s calorie content

A Dog Food Calculator for Adults Only

The Dog Food Calculator was designed to be used for adult dogs only… not for puppies. And it should never be used for pregnant or lactating females.

Small to medium breeds may be considered adults after about six months of age.
But large and giant breeds shouldn’t be fed as adults until they reach somewhere around one to two years (depending upon the breed).

The Pit Bull dog Problem?

The Pit Bull Problem How Can You Help?
We need your help if we are to succeed in our mission to help the American Pit Bull Terrier survive into the future.

People power is how we can overcome many of the pitfalls the breed is facing today.

When I'm asked by someone, "How can I help the breed?" My answer is, by getting involved on any level you can.

You don't have to rescue a dog, you don't need to donate hundreds of dollars, and you don't have make it a point to educate every person you see about the APBT. A great way you can help the breed overcome it's current problems is by not adding to them.

20 Ways to Help Dogs in Need

There is a well-known quote by Gandhi that says, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” So many of us are dismayed when we hear stories about dogs in need. We want to help, but how best to do that can be daunting. I’d like to share some ideas with you. The offerings in this post are fairly concrete and straightforward. In a future post I’ll offer more creative ideas.

Shelter:
1. Volunteer at your local shelter. If you don’t want to be in the shelter environment, you can still participate in community adoption days.

2. Donate blankets, food, or crates to your local shelter or rescue group. Check the organization’s website to see what they need. You could even spearhead a blanket drive in your community.

3. Take it a step further: Ask if you can post the organization’s wish list to your website, and/or make signs for local pet supply stores. Collect the goods and deliver them.

Top Ten Ways to Help Your Local Shelter

You don’t have to be an animal expert to help out at your community’s shelter. You just need to have the time and desire to lend a helping hand. And it doesn’t have to be a lot of time, either. In fact, whatever you do for a living, you’re bound to have skills and talents that your local shelter can use.

1. Go To School!
Dog school, that is. Grab a handful of tasty treats, find a suitable canine and get to class. Helping teach shelter dogs to sit, stay, walk calmly on a leash or shake paws will make them infinitely more adoptable. The Humane Society and SPCA of Austin, TX, for example, boasts a team of volunteers who spend their time playing with puppies and taking adolescent dogs to obedience classes. Other helpers pursue more advanced training and learn how to evaluate temperaments and match adopters with suitable dogs.

2. Get Your Shelter Online
Can you give your community’s homeless animals the “cybershelter” advantage? This is a wonderful way for teens who aren’t yet old enough to become volunteers to get involved. They can take photos and write descriptions of the animals with staff assistance, and help keep current the shelter’s online list of available animals. Animals’ photos and descriptions can also be posted in public areas at work, school and around town.

3. Adopt ASPCA’s Meet Your Match®
Ask your shelter to adopt ASPCA’s Meet Your Match®, a program expertly designed to help adopters select the right pet for them. The program's Adopter Survey and Canine-ality™, Puppy-ality™, or Feline-ality™ Assessment and fun color-coding system fit together like the pieces of a puzzle, creating picture-perfect adoptions for shelter animals and their new owners.

4. Let’s Make It Legal!
Shelters always seem to be in need of volunteers with professional legal skills. Dixie Dixon, a corporate lawyer who joined the board of the Pennsylvania SPCA, got started by reviewing copyright notices of a video about euthanasia, and she’s since joined the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

5. Work It, Baby!
Designate a day for co-workers to donate spare change or pool their tips for the benefit of the shelter. Make it an event! Publicize it with flyers and signs, and remind everyone about the important work that the shelter does. A restaurant might ask local celebs to volunteer as wait staff for the evening—with regular staff assisting. A hair salon might time their event to coordinate with the shelter’s “dog wash” benefit to promote well-coifed pets and owners. Or your company, for example, might sponsor a Saturday car wash.

6. Cats Up Close and Purrsonal
You may want to satisfy your need for feline contact by spending time socializing shelter cats. “Our volunteers are dedicated to making the cats purr,” explains Connie Barker, a volunteer with Friends of San Clemente Animals in California. “They spend time each day playing with the cats, getting to know them, grooming them and generally keeping them as happy as they can be, given the inherent stress of being in a shelter.” And based on input from “feline socializers,” adoptions counselors can make better placements.

7. Do You Have the Write Stuff?
Then write or start a newsletter! It’s a great way to keep members, supporters, adopters and the public informed about what the shelter does and what it needs. Many shelters rely on volunteers to write articles, and some newsletters are produced entirely by volunteers. If you’re not so verbally inclined, you might prefer the designing and publishing end of it, or work on creating or updating the mailing list. Be sure to include heartwarming stories and a donation envelope!

8. Throw a Party!
Organize an event for all your friends, and donate the proceeds to the shelter. Any kind of social event—a clam bake, a Super Bowl party, a jazz brunch or a dog walk—is a great way to make new friends and raise money. Each year, as the word gets out, more people are bound to attend, and before you know it, your group will have a major fund-raising event.

9. If You Had a Hammer…
If you’re handy, you’re hired! The Sea Bees, a naval reserve group in Frankfort, NY, volunteered their manpower to the Herkimer County Humane Society in Mohawk, NY. They took down walls and expanded the shelter, built an isolation ward and constructed a much-needed storage area. More modest projects might include a jungle-gym-style cattery, complete with tree branches or carpeted columns for climbing.

10. The Numbers Game
Shelters on a shoestring can reap enormous benefits from the guidance of a caring accountant. To operate smoothly, any non-profit must keep good records, but if you add animal control contracts and the reports for state and local departments, it can all seem overwhelming—except to an accountant!

Ten ways to comfort a dog

At the end of the day, everyone wants someone to come home to, even dogs. But unfortunately, not every canine has that option. Wendy Diamond, a pet lifestyle expert and author of “It's a Dog's World: The Savvy Guide to Four-Legged Living,” shares tips on how pet owners can help local animals in need. Here's an excerpt.
Every Dog Has Its Day At the end of the day, a dog is a dog! And as much as we want to indulge our canine counterparts with the finer treats life has to offer, pure joy to a dog is socializing and playing at the local park or dog run, drinking plenty of water, consuming healthy meals, joining parents on a daily walk, and a cozy home where a sleeping dog can lie.

My hope and dream is that this book will help motivate every pet-friendly reader and animal enthusiast to get involved with animal rescue, find needy animals homes, and work to make every shelter a no-kill shelter. There are many ways to help in your own neighborhoods. Many communities have local SPCA’s (the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a generic term for any group that wants to help animals), local Humane societies (Humane Society of America is a national group doing amazing things, but your local humane society does not have the budget or PR, and needs your support), and small shelters that are in desperate need of volunteers and donations. The easiest way to find your local animal aid organizations is to search for them on the Internet or ask your local veterinarian. Many of the shelters have lists of important items they need but can’t afford. Any donations of time, supplies, or money are greatly appreciated.

Canine Diseases Causing Weight Loss

Overview

Any canine disease that causes vomiting, appetite loss or diarrhea can also cause weight loss. The relationship between these three things and weight loss is obvious: the fewer calories being retained within the dog’s system, the more likely the dog will lose weight. However, it is also possible for other, more serious, diseases to also cause weight loss in dogs. Due to the seriousness of these diseases, it is important to consult a veterinarian as soon as possible any time a dog experiences unexplained weight loss.

Addison’s Disease

Hypoadrenocorticism, more commonly referred to as canine Addison’s disease, is an uncommon disease that occurs when the adrenal glands produce insufficient quantities of corticosteroids and mineralcorticoids. One potential cause of this disease is an autoimmune response in the dog’s body, causing its immune system to attack its own adrenal glands. It may also be caused by other illnesses or the effects of toxins. Addison’s disease most often affects young to middle-aged female dogs. Dogs of some breeds, including standard poodles, Rottweilers and Portuguese water dogs, may have a genetic predisposition to Addison’s disease. In addition to weight loss, Addison’s symptoms include muscle weakness, unexplained collapse and lethargy.

Put Dog on a Vegetarian Diet

Overview

While most dog foods contain protein from meat sources, you can switch your dog to a vegetarian diet if it contains sufficient amounts of other types of protein. As omnivores, dogs can live on a meatless diet made up of vegetables, eggs, beans and dairy products like cheese. With a slow transition to his new food, your dog can acclimate to his new diet with little gastrointestinal distress. Monitor your dog through this process and during the initial transition to see that he tolerates his new food well and does not have any food allergies to the vegetarian diet.

Step 1

Speak with your veterinarian about the ingredients in the food you plan to feed to your dog. Ask her what the amounts of nutrients, not provided by vegetarian sources, are needed to supplement your dog's diet. Homemade vegetarian foods will require specific supplementation with vitamins, amino acids and minerals.

If your dog suffers from a chronic, debilitating condition such as kidney disease or diabetes, ask your veterinarian if a meatless, lower-protein diet is appropriate for him.

Step 2

Purchase ready-made vegetarian dog food, which usually requires no supplementation, or make the food yourself. Choose a commercially made vegetarian diet that has been approved by the Association of American Feed Control Officials to ensure it is nutritionally complete for your dog, recommends the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. AAFCO conducts food trials to ensure that a dog food contains all of the necessary ingredients to sustain a healthy dog.

If making the food, add pre-made vegetarian dog food supplements, typically found in pet supply stores or through an Internet retailer. Ask the retailer if these supplements have been approved by a veterinarian or AAFCO.

Step 3

Slowly introduce the new food to your dog over the period of two weeks to a month. This will lessen any stomach upset in reaction to the new food. Feed your dog 1/4 of a portion of the new food mixed in with 3/4 of a portion of his existing food. Increase the amount of new food, and decrease the amount of old food, by 1/4 of a portion every three to five days, depending on how your dog reacts to the new food.

Transitioning to a canned variety of vegetarian food may take less time than switching to a dry version because canned food smells more appetizing to a dog.

If, at any point, your dog has loose stool or stomach upset, slow the process down and allow for a few extra days for each transition.

Step 4

Tempt your dog to try the new food, especially in larger amounts, by sprinkling grated cheese or chopped, hard-boiled eggs on top. These vegetarian ingredients provide extra protein for your dog and will encourage him to try the new food.

Step 5

Take your dog to a veterinarian to have a complete blood panel performed after one or two months on his new diet. This test will evaluate whether your dog is getting the nutrients he needs from his new food. The doctor will also physically examine your dog to evaluate his weight and coat for any signs of distress due to the new diet. Continue to monitor your dog's health with a veterinarian every six months.

Care for a Golden Retriever dog

Overview

Golden retrievers are a sociable, people-loving breed that make great pets for families with young children. They are medium- to large-sized dogs that weigh between 50 and 80 pounds. Aside from their amiable personalities, golden retrievers are also obedient and relatively easy to train. Unfortunately, like many other recognized breeds, golden retrievers have their share of genetic weaknesses and caring for them can be high maintenance. Exercise, interaction and regular visits to a veterinarian are all necessary to keep your dog healthy and happy.

Step 1

Acclimate your golden retriever to his new environment slowly when you bring him home. Puppies tend to adapt to new surroundings quicker than adults, but it is a good idea to confine your new dog to a single room or floor for his first few days. While golden retrievers are rarely aggressive, the stress of a recent move may cause him to react unexpectedly if you startle him. Feed your dog the same type of food that he ate before you began to care for him. If you want to switch food brands, do it by slowly mixing the new brand with the old, increasing the portion of new food each day.

Dog's Healthy Feeding

If we were limited to using just one modality to treat our patients, it would have to be nutrition. There is little else that can match nutrition for the immediate, significant improvements in health. We have all, unfortunately, spent a generation feeding our animal companions "pet food".

Most commercially prepared foods contain byproducts, additives, preservatives and who knows what else.

Unfortunately we have been indoctrinated to believe that these diets are wonderful, nutritious and balanced for our animals. On paper they might look that way but on paper, the food from any of the fast food franchises also looks healthy. What is important is not only the amount of a nutrient but its source and bio-availability. Many commercial foods are cooked at high temperature and pressure and then extruded. This may take many of those added vitamins and turn them into toxic free radicals. Not a good thing to be feeding our animals. That is why we highly recommend that you feed as natural a diet as you can afford in both time and cost.

Our first choice for our patients is an all natural raw food diet. There are a number of books with recipes and each has their own devotees. For a starting place we recommend using one of the books listed at the end of this paper.

Confused About How Often Your Stinky Dog Can Be Bathed?

Does Your Dog Need a Bath, But You Can't Figure Out How Often You Can Safely Bathe Your Pet?

Washing your dog and keeping his surroundings clean is an essential part of having a dog. After all, no one wants a dirty, stinky dog around, right? The dilemma is, how often is too often. In the doggy washing world, too much of a good thing, isn't a good thing and can give your dog skin problems and dry out their skin. We will discuss some factors and tips for finding the dog washing schedule the works for you and your pet.

So How Often Is Too Often?

Got An Opinion?

Most dogs love to be clean. That being said, dogs are also experts at finding dirt, digging, rolling in the mud, or finding something smelly to "perfume" themselves with. The question of how often you should bathe your dog gets an opinion out of everyone. There is the school of thought that dogs never need to be bathed. Others say that that a bath once a week is beneficial and healthy and yet others who say once a month, once a year and so on. As a general rule, however, if a dog is smelly and or if his coat is dirty, you should go ahead and give him a bath. A dirty dog will be a lonely dog and will probably spend a lot of time in his dog crate whenever anything fun is going on or you have guests over.

How often should I wash my dog?

Most advice you find on the internet recommends washing your dog just several times per year!

Either these people have outdoor dogs or the articles were written a long time ago when the quality of pet shampoo was very poor! Times have changed! Today, dogs enjoy shampoos and conditioners that are on par with the best human shampoos- that don’t have harsh chemicals and that don’t strip the hair of all of its oils.

The arguments against washing your dog too often are generally about stripping the coat of natural oils. The more often you wash something, the more often the sebum (oil) is going to be removed. Think about your own hair. If you don’t wash it, what happens? It gets oily. Is the oil good for your hair? Probably, but we wash our hair everyday anyway so that it’s clean!

There are several factors you should consider when deciding how often to wash your dog which include:

My Dog Is Never Hungry

Not every dog is capable of regulating his dietary intake perfectly. In fact, because the natural social structure of dogs is that of the pack, they will often be willing to eat whenever food is offered to them. Because most dog owners expect this food-driven behavior and are actually pleased when their dogs wolf down their food with gusto, there is an abundance of overweight dogs in our society! It is no surprise then that most dog owners are more than a little concerned when their dogs refuse a meal.

While one or two missed meals never hurt a dog, when your dog refuses food for more than a day, it is definitely cause for alarm.

What to Look For

What To Do When Your Dog or Cat Won’t Eat

Lots of my articles are plagiarized and altered on the web to market products and services. There are never ads running or anything for sale with my real articles - other than my time. 

Anorexia is a medical term for lack of appetite. Limping or not eating are the two most common reasons worried pet-owners bring their pets to me. A day in which your pet turns up its nose at food is very common and unusually unimportant. But when this occurs over several days or if your pet actually looses weight, it is time to pay attention to the problem.

Many times, anorexia has a simple explanation. Any stressful situation can cause a pet to eat less. When the stress leaves, or the pet becomes accustomed to it, appetite returns.

What Are Some Of The Reasons that Pets Don't Eat Normally?

Minor Reasons:

How to Neutralize Dog Odor

Dogs often leave behind their odors, especially if they stay confined to one area. The odor that emits from a dog will often linger and can become overpowering, You will need to take the time to tend properly to the odors before they become a permanent part of your home or car. You can neutralize these odors with common household products before resorting to paying a lot of money for commercial cleaning products.

Instructions

1

Spray air freshener in your home or car. The air freshener will mask the dog odor temporarily, but it simply masks the odor and does not eliminate it.

Chronic Bad Breath in Dogs

Halitosis is the medical term used to describe an offensive odor that comes from the mouth, producing bad breath. A number of causes may be responsible for this condition, notably periodontal disease, a disease resulting from bacteria in the mouth. Bacteria is also associated with plaque and cavities.

Small animal breeds and brachycephalic breeds (characterized by their short-nosed, flat-faced features; e.g., the Pug, Boston Terrier, Pekingese) are the most prone to periodontal and other mouth diseases, in large part because their teeth are close together.

Symptoms and TypesIn most cases, there are no other symptoms aside from a bad odor emanating from the mouth. If the cause of the odor is a disease of the mouth, other symptoms may become apparent, including pawing at the mouth, inability to eat (anorexia), loose teeth, and excessive drooling, which may or may not have traces of blood.

CausesA variety of conditions may lead to halitosis, including metabolic disorders such as Diabetes Mellitus (commonly known as sugar diabetes); respiratory problems such as inflammation of the nose or nasal passages (rhinitis); inflammation of the sinuses (sinusitis); and gastrointestinal problems, such as enlargement of the esophageal tube, the main channel that leads from the throat to the stomach.

Other possible causes of halitosis might be traced to a trauma, like that of an electric cord injury. Viral, bacterial or fungal infections can cause foul odors to emit from within the body, and dietary problems can play a role in the emission of odor as well. For example, if your dog has been eating offensive foods, or is exhibiting a behavior called coprophagia, where it is eating feces, your dog will have correlating foul breath.

Further possibilities are pharyngitis, an inflammation of the throat or pharynx, and tonsillitis, an inflammation of the tonsils. The presence of cancer, or the presence of foreign bodies may also result in disease of the mouth and accompanying bad breath. But, the most notable cause of halitosis is a disease of the mouth such as periodontal disease, which is due to plaque bacteria buildup.

DiagnosisDiagnostic procedures to evaluate periodontal disease as the most likely cause of halitosis include X-rays of the inside of the mouth, and an examination of the mouth for characteristics such as tooth mobility and sulfide concentrations.

TreatmentOnce the specific cause of halitosis is known, various therapies may be used to address the problem. In some cases, multiple causes may be to blame. For example, your dog may have periodontal disease along with having a foreign object present in the mouth. Treatment for the condition is dependent upon the cause(s).

If periodontal disease is to blame, treatment will include cleaning and polishing the teeth, or extraction of teeth that have greater than 50 percent loss of the supporting bone and gum tissues around them. Some medications may help to reduce odor, and help to control the bacteria that infect the gums and other oral tissues, causing bad breath.

Living and ManagementYou will need to continue to remain observant of your dog’s symptoms. It is important to consistently provide proper professional dental care to your dog, as well as to supplement this with at home tooth care. Daily tooth brushing can help prevent the plaque buildup that leads to related halitosis. You will also need to prevent your dog from eating bad-smelling foods, such as garbage. Cleaning the yard frequently will also avoid incidences of coprophagia.

Home Remedies for Bad Dog Breath

Dog breath is much like humans. Eating garlic, a bad bone or too much of plaque in teeth are liable to cause canine bad breath, much the same way as in humans. Some dogs are predisposed to have breath that is worse than others. Knowing a cure for dog breath can help in getting rid of a bad breath in dogs.

Dogs obviously cannot assume the responsibility of cleaning their own teeth. It is an essential part of grooming the pet and should be assumed by the owner as part of regular grooming. There are a fair number of commercial products that are available in the market that have been launched to address the problem of an offensive smell in dog breath. Natural dog breath fresheners, breath-freshening strips that dissolve in the mouth, mints and toothpastes meant specifically for canines are some such products. You can also find dog oral breath sprays for young dogs that have not learned to accept a toothbrush as yet. There are, however, certain home remedies that may be useful in addressing the problem.

10 Ways to Improve Your Dog’s Bad Breath

We’re all aware that bad breath is one of the worst things a dog can have, and most all of us dog owners experience stinky kisses from our pets every now and then.

Bad breath, also known as halitosis, is caused by excessive build-up of odor-producing bacteria inside of your dog’s mouth, lungs or even gut. Keep in mind, even if the cause of your dog’s bad breath is caused by something minor such as dental disease, gum disease, or tartar, on-going bad breath could be a hint that your pet may be experiencing greater medical problems.

Keep Your Dog Cool in the Summer

School holidays, green grass, blue skies, and warm weather. It is a welcome change after the cold, rainy, and barren winter.

The dogs are dozing, the people are dozing, really everyone is just enjoying the season for lazy and sleepy days.

However, as the temperature rises, it goes from pleasantly warm to unpleasantly hot; then sticky, sweaty hot; then sometimes, awful, scorching hot. If it feels bad for us, imagine what it must feel like for our dogs who always have their fur-coats on!

Dogs have more trouble staying cool than humans do. Because of their thick fur, they mainly dissipate heat through their paws and underbelly. Dogs also stay cool through panting.

Why is my dog always panting?

My dog is always panting! He has water, most of the time he is inside, but he is always panting. Can you give me some insight on what to do? Thanks, E.F.

Dear E.F.,

Panting can be very normal for some animals, especially if overweight or intolerant of warm temperatures. If the panting is truly excessive, it may be an indication of a medical problem. The most common cause of excessive panting in dogs is pain. Unlike humans, dogs will hide their pain and can suppress it without crying out unless it is a sharp, sudden pain. Back problems, hip and joint problems are very common in dogs as in people. Radiographs and a thorough physical exam as well as a complete history from you will be necessary to diagnose these problems. 

Fortunately, we have a wide variety of options to manage pain and treat arthritis in dogs so the long term outlook is usually very good. Another cause of excessive panting in dogs is a common disorder in older dog’s called Cushing’s disease. This is a disease that causes overproduction of the body’s natural steroids and can cause a variety of symptoms including excessive hunger and thirst, poor haircoat, panting, and a pot-bellied appearance. Blood tests will be necessary to diagnose this problem. Lung and heart problems can also cause excessive panting and would require an exam and radiographs to diagnose. It sounds like a trip to your veterinarian for a thorough exam and testing is in order for your dog.

How can I control my hyper puppy?

When I wake up in the morning, and when I come home from work at night, my puppy is so hyper and wild that I can't control him. I'm trying to use training commands, but he just won't listen. Help! 

Thanks to Disney movies and Norman Rockwell pictures, dog ownership is often seen through rose-colored glasses. And while I commend you for turning to obedience commands in your time of need, you might have more success giving them to a potted plant, rather than to your puppy.

Puppies (and dogs!) who spend many hours alone—confined or not—often get too little exercise and so are often labeled "out of control" or "incorrigible," while neither is usually true. They're perceived that way because when they're finally given attention and/or freedom, they celebrate joyously—in ways that dogs find celebratory. They race around, jump up, and take drive-by nips at anything in their path, while their humans, at a total loss, shout commands at them, hoping to make an impression and regain control.