training dog breeds

Selecting a Brood Bitch

Canine reproduction is a challenging experience for every dog breeder the first few times that they breed a litter of puppies. Puppy whelpings can and do occur with a minimum of fuss and no veterinary help, but sometimes things can go wrong. As breeders you don’t want that to happen, not only for the broodbitch and puppies welfare, but for your own sake… you may be breeding valuable puppies to sell for instance.

A bitch can have her first heat cycle as early as six months of age, or as late as one and a half years to 2 years of age. They will repeat the cycle every six to twelve months. A brood bitch should not be bred with on her first season… it is best to wait for the second or third heat before breeding with a young female for the first time. Very young broody’s are immature physically and mentally and they can be quite temperamental.

Select your brood bitch wisely. Don’t breed just because you like her. Far too many dogs are being bred with simply to produce puppies, resulting in many young pups being abandoned and ending having to be destroyed after spending a short time in the pound or animal shelters. You should only breed with a pure bred bitch. She should show no signs of inherited disease. She must be 100% structurally sound.

Hereditary Problems to Look Out For… Hips and Joints…

• The most common known problem afflicting dogs is hip dysplasia. Hip Dysplasia is a malformation of the hip joint. The hip socket is too shallow causing head of the femur to not locate properly. As the dog gets older the condition deteriorates and arthritis sets in causing severe pain.
• Hip dysplasia is more common in medium to larger breeds, but can occur in some smaller breeds too. The next most joint ailment is Osteochondrosis Dessicans (OCD)… a cartilage disease most often occurring in the shoulder and elbow joints. Once again it’s more common in the larger breeds.
• In the smaller breeds Patellar Luxation can be a problem. This affects the knee joint… more specifically the knee cap. The Patella (knee cap) slides out of position causing the leg to “lock up”. It is most common in toy poodles and other miniature breeds.

These conditions can be tested for with X-rays and no dog with any of these conditions should be bred with.

Eyes and Ears…

• Deafness can be hereditary and should be tested for if suspected.
• Glaucoma is an eye disease found in many breeds, but is more common in Beagles, Cocker Spaniels, and Basset Hounds.
• Retinal Dysplasia causes blindness eventually and it is considered hereditary.
• Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) leads to total blindness. Some breeds have tests for this disease.
• Retinal Dysplasia causes eventual blindness and is believed to be hereditary.

Some Other Problems… heart disease, epilepsy, hemophilia and allergies. Temperament… you should only breed with happy confident obedient dogs. Don’t ever breed with a shy dog. Other temperamental things to look out for are aggressiveness, excitability and dogs that bite out of fear.

I must get back to writing posts in this Dog of a blog.

The Kelpie was developed in Australia about 140 years ago to work livestock in harsh conditions. Selected for their short coat for heat tolerance, their endurance and intelligence that enables them to take instructions and still work independently of their master. They are a natural herding dog, descending from the British working collie.

The Kelpie uses his eye, bark and bite to work stock. They can work a large paddock out of site of their owner, bringing back sheep or cattle and herding them into pens, along fences and chutes or into trucks. They can work any type of livestock with ease… in fact I remember a pet Kelpie we had when I was a kid, that used to herd the hens that had escaped on my dads’ poultry farm, brining them back, and keeping them in a corner until we opened a gate to put them back in their pens.

Kelpies have incredible endurance and stamina. They are friendly, alert and always are looking for work. They’re best suited to a farm, but can make good pets. As pets their exuberance as puppies can be a handful however.

The Kelpie is a medium-sized dog about 20 inches high, with short weather resistant hair and a thick undercoat. Their colour can be anything from black through red, fawn… even creamy, and with or without tan markings.

It’s never too soon for you to start training a puppy. You can give your puppy as much freedom as possible until he is about 4 to 6 months of age. Of course, that doesn’t include running wild in public places. You should keep a lead and collar on your puppy in public places at all times. There’s untold danger from road traffic and so on, and a young puppy takes time to learn what is and what’s not, danger. It’s against the law in many countries to allow a dog to run free, so be careful if that applies to your country.

Also be careful in parks if there are older dogs loose as they may attack a crazy pup that they think is infringing in their territory. A boisterous young pup, especially of a larger breed, can also harm very young children or frail elderly people by jumping on them excitedly. You should always keep your pup in sight when he’s off a lead.

Most breeds of dogs today no longer perform the work they were designed and bred for. Many of their jobs are now done by machines, or chemicals.
Machines? … small powered equipment does much of the work formerly done by the larger dog breeds.

Chemicals? … yes, rats and other rodents are no longer controlled in the traditional manner by dogs… the small terriers for instance. We use chemical poisons these days to control rodents. Our terriers are largely just companion dogs now.

However, no machine can comfort you when you’re down, make you laugh with its antics or see into your soul quite the way a dog can. Until we can invent a machine to fill the human need for companionship and devotion, dogs will always have a place in our homes and hearts.

Sight hounds were bred to assist the hunter, and as such they needed good eyes, had to be agile and posses either great stamina or speed. Instead of finding prey by virtue of their scent, these lean hunting dogs spot their quarry from a distance. They have incredible stamina and speed. They are the Fangio’s of the dog world.

These dogs make great pets, but do need a lot of regular exercise. The fastest of the sight hounds is the Greyhound. Bred in the deserts of Egypt over 5,000 years ago, the greyhound of today does not look a lot different. Maybe today’s greyhound is finer boned, softer coated and faster, but if you look at paintings in the Great Pyramids, and there’s no mistaking what breed of dog the Pharoh’s kept… the greyhound.

Terriers are known for their distinctive fiesty personalities. Naturally tenacious, these lively little dogs require owners who are willing to provide lots of physical and mental stimulation. Their group name is derived from the Latin word “Terra,” meaning earth.

Being bred to hunt vermin, terriers are instinctive, active diggers, which can pose a problem if they are not given enough exercise… they’ll wreck your garden if they get bored.

Some of the more popular terrier breeds include: Airedale, Staffordshire, Pit Bull, Scottish, Rat, Australian Silky and the Jack Russell Terrier.

The dog breeds that are included in the Non-Sporting group vary greatly in appearance and abilities. Dalmatians, because of their amazing stamina and strong sense of territory, were set to run alongside carriages to guard the travelers inside. Later, firemen employed these unique dogs to guard fire wagons. Poodles, which most people associate with high-society, were originally bred as work animals. In addition to pulling small carts, poodles were used to retrieve items from the water.

Like the Hounds, dogs from the Sporting group were bred to assist with hunting. Being alert and active by nature, sporting dogs fit in well with active owners. If you plan on adding any type of Sporting dog to your family, keep in mind that these high-energy dogs need frequent exercise.

The sporting dogs, or sporting breeds, as well as being great friendly companion dogs, are, by many generations of selective breeding, excellent hunting dogs, gun dogs, gamedogs, and bird dogs. Diligently training bird dogs for the field, or training hunting dogs for any type of hunting, is challenging, and pointers are best found in the many dog books on hunting.

Some of the main sporting breeds include the spaniels, pointers, setters and retrievers.

Hound dogs were originally bred to aid man in hunting for food. The history of hound dogs working with man as a hunting animal can be traced back to Egyption times and beyond. Hound dogs are a widely diverse group of canines… they range from the racing geyhounds to the giant Irish Wolfhound, to the lumbering Bloddhound and the short legged Dachshund.

Many hound types have an amazing sense of smell; others have incredible eyesight; and others are best known for their stamina during the chase. Their talent for hunting is the main trait these dogs share, since hounds come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes.

The experts can’t agree, but they estimate there are well over 350 breeds of dogs. Each breed of dog is valued by someone or by some group of people. In fact, the vast majority were bred for specific tasks. They were bred to have characteristicswhich make them suitable for specific tasks and to meet a variety of human needs.

Each day this week, we will take a brief look at each breed group and explain what they were bred for, and the role they play in society today.

Today we look at the Toy Breeds.

Toy breeds are the very small types of dogs, often weighing less than ten pounds, and as small as a pound… teacup dogs can literally fit in a teacup. If anything, they are miniature toy dogs.

This group is the only one in which the dogs were bred to be mainly companions and four legged alarms, rather than perform physical labor. They make natural “lap” dogs, and today that’s their forte. They are also the pets of choice for people living in small buildings, one room apartments and large cities.

Dogs love to curl up in nice snug spots. This is probably a natural instinct left over from their wolf ancestors. Many people view a kennel or crate from a human perspective - they see it as a cage, or prison. And yet, if it is properly introduced, a dog crate provides a sense of security for your pet; a place of her own. Another advantage is that a dog that is comfortable in a crate is a lot easier to housebreak and they invariably travel well.

Dog crates or kennels of various sizes are easily available at pet supply stores. There are two main styles to choose from: thick, hard plastic crates with small openings on each side to allow ventilation, and open wire kennels. Pet supply manufacturers realize that dog crates are quickly becoming an essential piece of furniture for dog owners. Some now offer a line of high-end kennels with decorative finishes on the sides and tabletops so the crate does double-duty as an end table.

It is very important to get the right size crate for your dog, and remember, if she is a puppy now, it is best to get a crate that will fit her as an adult, because she’ll quickly grow into it! Ideally, the crate should be large enough to allow an adult dog to stand up and turn around, with about four to six inches of extra space in length and width. If you are unsure how large your puppy will grow to be, you can find information in books or on the Internet that give approximate sizes for each breed.

You will need to teach your dog that the crate is hers. Some dogs take longer than others to “catch on” to their special place. This is not an indication that the dog doesn’t like the crate, just a result of unique personalities each dog has. Training your dog to use the crate requires a number of small steps, as well as patience. The kennel should always be associated with pleasant moments. If you force your dog into the crate or get angry at her, she will see the crate as a bad thing.

To introduce the crate to your dog, sit beside it with treats in your pocket and call her to you. When she comes to you, give her a treat and lots of verbal praise in a happy voice. Place a treat at the entrance of the crate, and after she takes it, toss one into the crate. Each time you place a treat inside, give a unique command, such as “in the kennel” or “kennel in” so that she begins to associate the behavior with the command. End the session before the dog loses interest. Once your dog enters the crate, begin feeding her regular meals inside the crate. Nothing says “special moment” like food.

Crates and kennels are comforting for dogs and excellent tools for housebreaking, but they should be used carefully. Puppies will need to be taken out of the kennel during the night to relieve themselves. Never leave any dog confined to a crate for more than 6 hours - they will become bored and can develop behavioral problems as a result.

There’s no such thing as a bad dog… well, at least that’s a common saying amongst dog trainers. While it may be true, any trainer will also tell you that there are also dogs with very bad habits. Simply put, behavior is a way of acting and reacting. When a dog acts or reacts to a situation in a way that has a negative impact on her owner or others, the behavior is considered to be “bad.” Yet, to the dog, it’s just what she does. Eliminating a bad behavior requires retraining the dog, to get a new behavior, or habit.

Dogs Jumping Up On People One of the most common bad dog behaviors is jumping up on people. A dog learns this habit as a puppy. Puppies jump at their mother to get her attention so she will feed them. Dog owners find it adorable that their puppy works so hard to get their attention as she jumps. The naive owners come down to the dog’s level or pick the puppy up, not realizing they have just rewarded the dog for jumping and barking. Unfortunately, behavior that is cute in a puppy often becomes very annoying in an adult dog.

Large dogs that jump on people for attention easily knock down and accidentally injure children and older people. Small dogs may not injure people, but they sure can get their clothes dirty. In both cases, while you might not mind your dog jumping up on you, other people probably don’t feel the same way. Training your dog to sit to be petted is the easiest way to break the jumping habit.

Break The Jumping Habit To help her develop the “sit for attention” habit, you must ignore her when she jumps on you. You should turn your back or just walk away. If your dog follows you, turn quickly and tell her to sit. If she sits, pet and praise her. You can reinforce this behavior by having her sit before you put her food bowl down. Every time she sits, she gets a reward of either attention or food. Every time she jumps she gets nothing.

If you are thinking of adding a dog to your family, why not consider adopting a dog from an animal shelter, or from a humane society. You’ll not only get a good feeling from helping a homeless pet, you’ll get an outstanding companion. The staff at these organizations carefully check the animals for sound health and good temperament. In addition, you’ll find that some shelter animals have had the benefit of personal training to develop good manners while they waited for a new home.

Through no fault of their own, a lot of great dogs wind up in animal shelters hoping for a second chance at happiness. People relinquish their pets to shelters when they are no longer able to care for them. Sometimes this is because the owner was unprepared for the responsibility that comes with caring for a dog. Often, however, caring owners struggling with life-changes or trying to cope with family tragedy realize their pet would be better off with someone else. They bring them to the shelter because they know the animal will be well cared for and placed in an excellent home.

Dog Adoption

You can find just about any age, size and breed of dog at an animal shelter. Often, people underestimate how difficult it is to care for a litter of puppies, and turn them over to the shelter to raise and adopt out. In other cases, young dogs are relinquished because their previous owners didn’t have the time to provide regular exercise for the pup. So, if you have your mind set on a puppy, a shelter is a good place to look. However, if you would like a more mature dog that is likely already housebroken, you’ll find these kinds of canines at a humane society or animal center.

Upon arrival, shelter staff carefully evaluates each animal for physical and behavioral soundness. They make note of quirks, and work with specialists to eliminate negative behaviors. Most shelters have adoption counselors who interview potential adopters to understand their needs and lifestyle so they can make the perfect match.

Bringing your newly adopted dog home is exciting for you, but may be a little overwhelming for her. Keep her on a leash as you take her from room to room, giving her plenty of opportunity to sniff. You may want the first stop on your tour to be the backyard or wherever you want her to relieve herself. The excitement of a car ride and coming to a new place can give her the need to empty her bowels or bladder.

Dogs are creatures of habit, so the sooner you establish a firm routine, the more comfortable your new dog will become. Always feed her in the same spot and at about the same time each morning. You’ll find she grows to anticipate “what comes next.” For example, if you always feed her after you bring in the newspaper, you’ll notice she becomes very excited when you open the door to step outside. Dogs catch on quickly.

Dog breed domain names for sale… 25 of them. All have a website attached. They are all for sale at the right price.

fastk9s@gmail.com

Yorkie puppies for sale
English bulldog puppies for sale
Maltese puppies for sale
Chow Chow puppies for sale
Beagle puppies for sale
Pomeranian puppies for sale
Poodle puppies for sale
Pictures of puppies
Puppy pictures
Girl puppy names
Puppy posters
Chihuahua puppies for sale
Boxer puppies for sale
Bulldog puppies for sale
Puppy names
Boxer puppys
Golden Retriever puppies
Golden Retriever puppys
Beagle puppies
Pug puppies
Chihuahua puppies
Cute puppies
Maltese puppies
shih tzu puppies
Training puppies

These domains are for sale if anyone reading this is interested. I have not set a price on them as yet, however, they are all for sale at the right price.

What is the right price?

Mmmmm… I don’t know, however, they are all parked up and hopefully making money by the time they are sold. There’s 25 here, and I’ll post 25 more tomorrow.

training puppies Border Collie puppies Boston Terrier puppies Bulldog puppies Cocker Spaniel puppies Corgi puppies Dachshund puppies Doberman puppies Free puppies French Bulldog puppies German Shepard puppies Great Dane puppies Havanese puppies Lab puppies Labrador puppies Newfoundland puppies Papillon puppies Pitbull puppies Pomeranian puppies Poodle puppies Racing dogs Rottweiler puppies Small puppies Small pups Teacup puppies

I changed the “Theme” on my blog. I got sick of the plain blue one I was using. This ones called Clean Breeze from Chris Coggburn. It has a lot of nice features including the obvious RSS buttons on the menu items.

If you want to subscribe to this dogs blog, or even just a part of it, just right click on the orange RSS button, and “Copy Shortcut”, then paste the shortcut into your feed reader. Alternatively double click on a button to display the RSS code, and copy the URL from your “address bar”

What Is A Fead Reader?

It’s an application that reads and delivers content (feeds) from websites to your browser. They can be browser based or on your server.

A good easy to use browser based feed reader is bloglines, which gives you a blog as well, you can see my Azablog at Bloglines to get an idea what it’s like. Get your own Bloglines reader and then come back here and subscribe to some of my feeds, and they will automatically link to your new feed reader.

If you want a good desk top based feed reader, try Feedreader a free application which I’m downloading right now… so I don’t actually know what it’s like yet.

I’m really going to have to something about the spam comments I’m getting on this blog. I don’t know whether it’s because I don’t keep my posts up to date or what, but I seem to get 5 to 10 a day. Mostly from Texas Holdem, but lately from some i.p. address with no written url name. There’s no comment in these ones. The Gambling ones at leat leave ac comment - even if it is the same auto generating message in every comment.

There is a , Solar Eclipse today, however it won’t send your dog mad or make your chooks go to bed. This solar eclipse is a rare hybrid or “Annular” eclipse. The moon is at a long enough distance from the Earth that the shadow produced only covers a small narrow path across our planet.

At the point of contact at the height of the eclipse, the shadow is only 17 miles wide. T anyone in the direct path, they will see an annulus, or ring of the sun’s surface, which remains to be seen; thus, there is an annular eclipse. In essence, this is really nothing more than a fancy partial eclipse. However hardly anyone will see it.

Mites are little insects that live on the skin. The are very common in animals, including dogs. There’s many different mites, but the most common ear mites affecting dogs are called Otodectes Cynotis. Strange name… but we’ll just call them ear mites

If your dog or puppy is shaking his head a lot, and scratching his ears, he most likely has ear mites. They live and breed in the ear canal. They are blood suckers, and in bad infestations, they will cause the ears to bleed… as much from the continuous head shaking as anything else. They are very contagious, and your other pets can catch them, not just dogs.

Ear mites are not only found in the ears, but around the rest of the body also. If you see hair loss around the eyes, you should suspect mites.

Ear treatment products containing the insecticide Pyrethrin are usually prescribed for ear mites. Other non prescription products containing Invermectin (Heartguard, Ivomec) are also very effective in clearing an ear mite infection, as are Fipronil (Frontline), and Selamectin (Revolution).

Bone growth plates are cartilage growth centres for young bones, and are located at the ends of the long bones. They are the knobbly joints we see in fast growing pups. The bones grow at the ends, not in the middle, and damage to the growth plates at either end of the bone can slow down the growth rate of the bone.

To understand what can happen, I’ll talk about the foreleg of a greyhound I had problems with.

There are two bones in the forearm of a dog, and, naturally, they both grow at the same rate. My pup apparently fell and cracked the growth plate in one of the bones in his lower forearm, just above his wrist, when he was about 9 moths old. By damaging the growth plate the bone grew slower than the other bone alongside it. The damaged growth plate produced new bone at a slower rate than the other bone alongside it.

The two bones are connected at either end at the wrist and the elbow. What happens is that the slow growing bone acts as a splint for the strong growing bone, but it can’t stop the good bone growing faster. By having nowhere to grow to, the good bone develops a curve in it, which can be seen quite clearly in looking at the dog in profile. You will could see the distinctive curve forward just above the wrist.

It didn’t appear to hamper my pup too much, as he went on to be a handy city class sprinter and stayer, named Roller Blader. But who knows, he may have been even better if it had not happened in the first place.

Derek Franklin has just released his Search Automator … I got a copy, and it is the most amazing tool to hit the market since… it’s , I dunno, it leaves me dumbfounded that such a piece of software was even concieved, let alone built.

Searching the Internet will never be the same again.

I got a copy last night, and I’ve just spent 4 hours using it… once I got the hang of it, I found more idea’s, info and keywords in 2 hours than I’ll be able to use in a fortnight!

This leaves Google in the dust when it comes to searching.

Automatically perform relevant, accurate right on the button searches for any term you want in any search data-base on the Internet, at the press of a button… web, video, audio, image, referrence, news, shopping, travel, thesaurus’s, dictionarys, the Bible, movies, aTV commercials, eBay, Amazon — you name it, Search Automator can do it.

Want to research pdf files automatically… there’s millions of them out there, and search automator has access to them all.

This thing is the most amazing tool I’ve ever seen.

Now I’m no expert, but I’m no Newbie any more either, and I can tell you this will light up faster than a haystack in a bushfire.

And best of all… the price is right!

I have no idea where post #47 went, or even if it was ever written. Post #47 could have been eaten by the dog, except that I don’t have any dog’s at home. My dog’s all live at Carl’s place. Carl trains them for me.

Dental care is as important for your dogs as it is for your children. Most dogs and cats have gum disease by the time they are 3 years old. Poor dental health can result in damage to your dogs kidneys, liver, and other organs.

This article explains in detail why you should brush your dogs teeth.

      ~~~~~~~~ : : ~~~~~~~~

Brush your teeth every day. See your dentist regularly. We’ve all heard those basic admonishments since an early age. In order to keep our teeth healthy throughout our lives, we need to adhere to that solid advice.

Humans aren’t the only ones, however, who should be brushing frequently and having their teeth checked. California veterinarians urge pet owners to remember regular dental care for their furry family members. February is National Pet Dental Health Month. Use the opportunity to have a veterinarian check your pet’s teeth.

“By the age of three, 80 percent of dogs and 70 percent of cats have developed gum disease,” said Jon Klingborg, DVM, president of the California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA). “It’s been proven that unchecked dental disease can not only result in a loss of teeth, but may damage your pet’s heart, kidneys, liver, and other organs.”

“In other words,” Dr. Klingborg added, “not taking care of your pet’s teeth can affect its overall health.”

A pet’s bad breath, long a standard running complaint in many households, is often a first indicator of dental problems. When left untreated, plaque and tartar form naturally in your pet’s mouth when food remains in the crevices of the teeth, especially in the gum line. This ultimately leads to periodontal disease that can cause bacteria and toxins to enter the bloodstream with potentially harmful effects on internal organs.

“Oral disease is the No. 1 health problem diagnosed in dogs and cats,” said Dr. Klingborg. “It’s vitally important to have your pet undergo a dental exam by a veterinarian every six to 12 months and establish a home dental care routine that includes a healthy diet and regular brushing.”

Make sure that it is a veterinarian who conducts the dental exam. California law is designed to protect our animal companions, and it clearly states that only a veterinarian or a layperson under the supervision of a veterinarian can perform dental procedures. This includes using any type of metal or hard plastic scaler. Pet owners should be concerned if they have their pets’ teeth cleaned in a grooming facility or pet shop. Only a soft item like a toothbrush or gauze can be used in these facilities to brush an animal’s teeth. Asking about the method used can save your pet from harm.

Veterinarians are trained in animal dentistry and have the equipment and knowledge to expertly care for your pet’s teeth. Discuss your pet’s specific diet with your veterinarian. Canned foods, which tend to stick to teeth easily, and soft foods should be avoided, while hard food and certain chewing toys are beneficial because they can dislodge plaque while it is still soft. Your veterinarian may recommend a special dental diet if it is indicated.

Ideally, your pet’s teeth should be brushed daily. Here are some easy steps to keep your pet’s teeth and gums healthy:

1) If you have never brushed your pet’s teeth, start by rubbing your pet’s gums, beginning at the front and working to the back, with your index finger. You may want to wrap some gauze around your finger, and then dip your finger into beef bouillon for dogs or tuna water for cats. This gets them familiar with the general idea.

2) Next, get a toothbrush designed for pets or a very soft human toothbrush, as well as specially formulated toothpaste — both can be obtained from your veterinarian. Never use human toothpaste because it can upset your pet’s stomach. Repeat the process you began with your finger by substituting the toothbrush. Avoid forceful restraint of your pet; rather, try to make it a fun bonding experience, and always praise and reward your pet for its cooperation.

3) Keep the sessions short. Even brushing for just one minute can make a difference! Generally, pets get used to the procedure and enjoy the taste of the toothpaste. They think it’s a treat!

Regular dental check-up visits to your veterinarian are strongly recommended, and the interval between check-ups varies from pet to pet. Only your veterinarian should remove hardened tartar.

The California Veterinary Medical Association is the largest state veterinary medical association in the United States, with more than 5,300 members. Founded in 1888, its mission is to serve its membership and community through innovative leadership and to improve animal and human health in an ethically and socially responsible manner.

Source: California Veterinary Medical Association

© Copyright 2005 by HealthNewsDigest.com

Can dogs get cancer malignant mesothelioma — also known as asbestos cancer?

Yes, it seems they definitely can.

Breathing in asbestos has been proven to cause lung cancer and mesothelioma in dogs. Mesothelioma is a rare cancer of the lining of the chest and lungs. It is called pleural mesothelioma. The asbestos fibres are breathed in and they lodge in the lower part of the lungs, and in time cause a cancer which is a thickening of the pleura, the lining of the lungs and chest cavity.

Asbestos fibres can also cause a very rare form of cancer of the stomach and intestines, known as malignant peritoneal mesothelioma.

3½ years on from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, tests are showing that no dogs appear to have been adversly affected by asbestos fibres during their work in the rescue and clean-up operation. This is heartening for the survivors and recue workers who have feared from their exposure to asbestos released in the buildings collapse.

Due to their shorter life span, dogs contract mesothelioma much quicker than humans, and to date no dog tested, alive or dead that was exposed at the site, has proven to have any asbestos related disease. Although it’s only 3½ years, this is the equivalent of about 18 years in a human.

Still not quite long enough, but it is promising.

My research shows that mesothelioma does occur in dogs, and most often when the dogs owners have a lifestyle or occupation where they exposed to asbestos. Dogs exposed to pesticide powders may also develop mesotheliomas.

I posted the beginnings of an article on mesothelioma in dogs on my website a while back, and I think it’s time to explore it further. Lookout for more research on this topic in the near future.

Ringworm in dogs is a canine skin infection. It is contagious to humans. The appearance of small circular patches and hair loss are the usual indicators of the fungal infection. You seek veterinary treatment immediately and keep children away from the dog throughout this period. Other pets in the household should be checked, too.

What is ringworm, and what causes it?

Ringworm is a skin disease caused by a fungus. Because the lesions are often circular, it was once thought to be caused by a worm curling up in the tissue. However, it has nothing to do with a worm.

There are four fungal species affecting dogs which can cause the disease that we call ringworm. These may also affect humans. The fungi live in hair follicles and cause the hair shafts to break off at the skin line. This usually results in round patches of hair loss. As the fungus multiplies, the lesions may become irregularly shaped and spread over the dog’s body.

How is it transmitted?

Transmission occurs by direct contact. It can be passed from dogs to cats and visa versa, and it can also be passed from dogs or cats to people and visa versa.

How is it treated?

There are several means of treatment. The specific method chosen for your dog will depend on the severity of the infection, how many pets are involved, if there are children in the household, and how difficult it will be to disinfect your pets’ environment.

For more dog health articles go to Training Dog Breeds website and have a look aroungd.

Heartworm is a parasitic problem common to dogs in warmer climates. Heartworm microphilia (immature heartworms) are spread by mosquitoes, and they live in the dogs bloodstream. Heartworm is difficult to detect without veterinary help. As the heartworms mature they lidge in the heart, ultimately causing heart failure if left untreated.

You can prevent heartworm by administering treatment on a monthly basis from the age of about 3 months. Prevention involves regular administration of a daily, weekly or monthly pill containing the drug diethylcarbamazine citrate, ivermectin, selamectin or milbemycin oxime. They work by killing the microphilia before they mature.

Never give heartworm pills to a mature dog that is infected but has never had treatment before. If the dog has mature heartworm killing the heartworm can also kill the dog. Ask you vet for advice.

Some of the brands on the market available by prescription include:

• Filaribits®
• Heartgard®
• Interceptor®
• Iverhart® Plus
• Revolution®
• Sentinel®
In a farming or large scale situation giving Invermectin orally works well. Use Ivomec liquid for sheep on a monthly basis at the rate of 5 mls per 10 kg weight of the dog.

I’ve taken the time to upload new themes to all of my blogs today. The problem is that each them behaves in a different way to my use of Googles Adsense code!

Each theme was written by a different person, so even though they’re all based on WordPress 1.5, they are all different. They don’t all handle plugins in the same manner

I think I’ve got Training Dog Breeds sorted out, although I won’t know for sure, until after I publish this post.

I got adsense working on every page now, and I’ve installed some plugins.

Random File which will display random files from a directory on my site… I’ve not added the files as yet. It will display images, text, anything you want. Would be handy for anyone wanting to keep content fresh on a page.

I got the adsense back, but now it’s too wide for the page, I’ll have to go find the style.css sheet, and see if I can widen the body, or the left column at least, so that the ads fit the page.

I tried editing the width of the ad, but you can’t do that … naughty!

MMmmm… it seems I lost the Adsense files in the upgrade.

I’ll have to find out how to put them back in again, as I’ve had a nice little income increase the last few days, due to those funny little blue text ads at the top of my blog. The file editing in options has changed, so I can’t just paste the code in like before.

How kewl is this?

A brand new look, plenty of new features, and a ‘make your own’ theme library… wow!

WordPress 1.5 is now officially the latest upgrade to this wonderful product. The default template is now Kubrick, the most popular theme used by WordPress bloggers in the past.

This is a full upgrade, so you need to follow the instructions carefully, but they are good and very accurate. Even though my original WordPress was automatically uploaded, I elected to do it manually this time… my host hasn’t got 1.5 available in cPanel as yet.

The hardest part was deleting the old files from my server, and learning how to use CuteFTP to upload the new files.

Once I got everything uploaded, and I pressed the Go button, it worked like a charm… a brand spanking new shiny WordPress blog to play with.

Now to find a new theme, I don’t want it to look like everyone else’s for too long!

OK, that worked, now I can put “inline” adsense ads on my blog posts… to kewl!

Next to see if I can put one on the index page, either on top, or in the side menu.
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I’ve been neglecting my dogs blog for quite a while. It’s not that there’s no news on dogs, rather I’ve been busy building a new website. I found a good affiliate program in the personal wealth building arena… it pays $150 per sale, and that sort of moolah will feed a lot of dogs if I make a few sales.

The other thing I’ve done is put adsense ads on my blogs… well, this one so far, if it works. It’s alway’s been difficult I