Tag Archives: dogs

Everyone loves summer, dogs and humans alike. It is a great time to play outside in the nice weather and go on glorious long walks by the beach or across the country side.  It is however, crucial to ensure you keep your dog cool throughout the hot weather. While humans have the ability to keep themselves cool in a manner of different ways,  dogs don't have this option and therefore need your help in maintaining a good body temperature.

Dogs sweat a small amount through their paws but they mainly cool off by panting. Unfortunately when the temperatures are very hot and humid then panting is not enough.
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It’s the start of the May Bank Holiday Weekend tomorrow and I hope you are as excited as we are! Long weekends are a great time to make the most of the country side and letting your dog stretch their legs and have a great walk. It can be hard finding a good dog walk sometimes that combines all the required elements such as terrain, space, views and variety. So we have written a list of the top 10 dog walks around the country for you to try out this weekend:

1. Glennifer Braes, Paisley – This walk has plenty of variety along it including open grassland and woodland. The terrain varies from flat to uphill terrain and there are many historical sites along the way as well as spectacular views. There is even a waterfall!

2. Cavehill, Belfast – This walk is more challenging with wild, unsurfaced paths leading you past caves and across moorland and meadows. There is a lot to be explored for both walker and dog and there are views to keep you going for miles around.

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We hope everyone had a lovely weekend, but we know what Mondays can be like. So we thought we would do our best to put a smile back on your face with these fantastic pictures of dogs enjoying the breeze while cruising along in the car:

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As it is national pet month from the 7th April to 7th May, every week until then we are giving you the chance to win a £100 voucher to spend on anything you like from dogbeds.co.uk

You can find out more about National Pet Month and our other 3 competitions in our original blog post.

Our first competition will commence on Tuesday 10th April 2012 and end on Monday 16th April 2012.

In this weekly competition you can enter by linking to our website from yours. It’s that simple, if you have a website or blog just pop a link with the anchor text 'dogbeds.co.uk' to our website onto it and e-mail the page URL it can be found on to competitions@dogbeds.co.uk

Good luck everyone - the winner will be anounced on the morning of Tuesday 17th April before the second competition starts.

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In honour of National Pet Month we have decided to run 4 weekly back to back competitions!

National Pet Month

National Pet Month runs from April 7th to May 7th this year. It is a registered charity that brings together animal welfare charities, professional bodies, pet businesses, schools and pet lovers. The man aim is to improve the welfare of all pets.

In a nutshell it aims to:

• Promote responsible pet ownership
• Make people aware of the mutual benefits of living with pets
• Increase public awareness of the role of pet care specialists
• Raise awareness of the value of working and assistance companion animals

Every week we are giving you the chance to win a £100 voucher to spend on anything you like from dogbeds.co.uk. Whether your doggy needs a new bed or mat, or simply needs some new toys – this prize will make pooches around the country bark with glee.

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We all know that there are considerable differences between cats and dogs. Here are just a few:

• Cats have a better sense of hearing than dogs
• Dogs have a better sense of smell than cats
• Cats are carnivores and dogs are omnivores
• The intelligence of a dog can depend on its breed where as all breeds of cat have the same intelligence levels

However, here at Dog Beds, we believe there is one very significant difference between dogs and cats and this sums it up perfectly:

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Nothing is more important than the health and happiness of your dog. As the two often come hand in hand, it’s important to maintain the health of your dog to make sure that he is the happiest that he could possibly be. As with humans, dogs can suffer from common illnesses and conditions, and like humans, it is important to look out for them to make sure that they can be treated as early as possible. Below are some of the most frequent illnesses and conditions that dogs commonly suffer from.

Joints

It is a little known fact that one in five dogs suffer from Arthritis at some point during their lives. As the disorder can be extremely painful for your friend, it is important to look out for the signs of the onset of arthritis. If your dog seems stiff or sore whilst walking or sitting down, or favours one limb over another, this could be the sign that your dog is suffering from arthritis. A simple x-ray at the vets will be able to confirm if your four-legged friend is suffering from the disorder. Larger breeds such as Labradors, German Shepherds and Collies tend to suffer more from the disorder.

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Walk your dog Regularly

Once that you are in the care of a dog, it is your duty to love and care for them. This also means that you have to help maintain the health of your dog so that they live a long and enjoyable life.

Whilst no dog is the same, and each dog has his or her own personal needs, there are a few ways to help give your dog that extra little boost. Walking your four-legged friend is important, not only should it be a source of enjoyment for the both of you, but it also yields a whole range of health benefits and can serve as a remedy for diseases and disorders.

Arthritis

Arthritis for example, can be a major problem for dogs and is a painful disorder that can start at any point during a dog’s life. Once arthritis sets in, the disorder will become chronic so it is vitally important for you to get your friend treated straight away so that pain can be minimised. There are certain signs to look out for if your dog is suffering from arthritis:

• Dog seems stiff and sore
• Dog favours one leg more than another whilst walking
• Dog suffers from mood changes
• Difficulty in overall mobility, sitting or walking up or down stairs.

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Dog's Teeth

Looking after and maintaining your dog’s teeth is important. Human teeth and canine teeth are very similar in that they will have two sets of teeth during a lifetime. We aren’t as lucky as sharks who can replace their teeth over and over again!

Like most mammals, puppies are born without teeth, as it is not necessary to have them during the suckling stage of their lives. These come in much later at around three to six weeks. Although this may seem exceptionally hasty, it is important to remember that in the wild, survival is the key objective for any animal, so a good set of gnashes is imperative. This is also why it is merely a matter of months until adult teeth begin to emerge along the gum line.

Teething

During this time of a dog’s life it is important to remember that like human babies, teething for puppies can be just as painful so you may expect the odd bit of nibbling amongst your furniture and possessions. Most people may regard this as bad or unruly behaviour but it is merely your puppy trying to aide his teeth along their painful process. If you are worried about your favourite slippers getting chewed up during this time period, you will be glad to know that there are a variety of dog toys available online especially for this purpose; to help aide your puppies teeth along and divert his attention from your brand new sofa.

Once your youngling has chomped his way through his last slipper, he should have around 42 fully formed teeth and now that they are there, it is time to start looking after them. Around 80% of dogs have some form of dental disease that can not only lead to smelly problems, but can also affect key organs such as the heart and kidneys.

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What Guide Dogs Do

Guide dogs (can also be called seeing-eye dogs) are dogs trained specifically to guide the visually impaired and blind around obstacles through life. Although these dogs are taught to navigate a variety of objects and obstacles, they are however colour blind and therefore cannot distinguish the colours red or green, making them unable to interpret street signs.
In most countries guide dogs are allowed anywhere in public to allow them to help their owners go to any place they might want to be. Guide dogs need to learn selective disobedience – one of the most impressive things they ever learn. With selective disobedience a guide dog must be trained to disobey any command given to them that may put their owner in danger. This is an incredible feat for them to be able to balance their own obedience while assessing a situation.

Where Guide Dogs Come From

Guide dogs have to attend a guide dog school to complete their training before they can be passed on to a handler. Most guide dog schools use Golden retrievers, Labrador retrievers or German shepherd puppies to train up as these breeds are characterised by their friendliness, obedience and intelligence among other traits.
Not all puppies are suited to the role of a guide dog however, and puppies are usually screened by trainers for their guiding aptitude. Around 20% of puppies will be released by the school and instead are seen to be more suitable for other dog services such as the police or to help those that are wheelchair bound. The other 80% go into a gruelling training scheme where they work really hard to help change someone’s life later on.
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