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If your dog has had any illnesses or ailments, you can tell us about them at any time without having to complete the rest of the questionnaire. Simply login to your dog's profile by visiting www.dogslife.ac.uk and click on the link underneath your dog's graph.
The importance of your dog, to you!
Chocolate: a treat for us, not for our dogs
Woof (ouch)! I think I trod on something…
Prize winners!
The importance of your dog, to you!
Over 2,000 pet owners in the UK have taken part in a study for the National Office of Animal Health (NOAH). The study revealed that 77% of owners think that their pet’s health is as or more important than their own health, with 16% saying they visit the vet more with their pet, than they visit the doctor themselves. The study also identified that 10% of owners think that they are more aware of their own health due to pet ownership, and a quarter of owners claimed to have become more active since owning a pet.
Owners taking part in the study cited the three most important welfare factors to provide their animals with were as follows: a safe environment in which to live and sleep (80%), access to nutritious food and water (76%), and access to expert healthcare (42%).
The majority (86%) of pet owners reported turning to their vets as the most trusted source of advice on pet healthcare, followed by other pet and animal experts (53%), and independent pet healthcare websites (47%). The three main reasons for owners choosing a veterinary practice were found to be 1) due to the expertise of the practice staff, 2) convenience of the practice location, and 3) cleanliness and modern facilities.
Almost half (49%) of pet owners taking part in the survey believe they can read their pet’s facial expressions (click here to read our previous article), and two thirds think that they can understand their pet's noises. The study uncovered that 26% of owners would consider getting another pet as a companion for their existing pet and over 10% of pet owners would move house based on their pet’s needs. When asked about holidays, 18% said that they would choose a holiday destination based on their pet's needs.
As for dogs’ home comforts, the research found that 29% of UK dogs have their own seat in the living room and 23% of dogs eat at the same time as the rest of the family compared with 17% of pets overall (and 25% of pet owners said they would cook their pet meals from scratch). The study also revealed that 7% of pets have their own bedroom, 4% of pets have their own social media page (e.g. Facebook or Twitter), 3% of pet owners said they bought their pet designer pet clothing, and 2% of dogs visit pet day spas.
Last but not least, the survey revealed that 87% of owners thought they were happier as a result of owning a pet and 48% believed that spending time with their pet reduces their stress levels.
To find out more about this study, please click here and click here for more information.
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Chocolate: a treat for us, not for our dogs
Recent research has revealed that nearly half a million owners in the UK feed their dogs human chocolate as a treat, without realising that it is poisonous to dogs. Chocolate contains an ingredient called theobromine which is toxic to dogs, and which can cause them to become seriously unwell if ingested in sufficient quantities.
The most harmful type of chocolate is high quality dark chocolate, as this contains a higher quantity of theobromine. Just a small bar of this type of chocolate could fatally poison a small dog or puppy.
Dogs will typically show signs of chocolate poisoning within four hours of ingesting it. Signs include: restlessness, vomiting, sore stomach and excessive thirst. These signs can then develop into tremors, a raised body temperature, rapid breathing and an abnormal heart rhythm. If the poisoning is severe, dogs may have fits and develop kidney failure leading to possible death.
The PDSA see over 400 dogs each year which have been poisoned by chocolate, and the number of cases usually peak at Christmas and Easter time when there is often more chocolate around.
Chocolate poisoning can be prevented by safely storing any chocolate, or wrapped chocolate gifts you might have, where your dog cannot get to them. If you think your dog may have eaten some chocolate, contact your vet right away.
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Woof (ouch)! I think I trod on something…
Dogs don’t need to wear shoes as they have a specialised form of skin on their paws which enables them to bear weight through onto the surface they are standing on. The so-called “foot pads” are hairless, thickened areas of skin which provide a rough and hard wearing surface to walk on, and which have a thick fat-containing layer beneath the surface which cushions the impact when the dog walks or runs around, and which insulates them from cold or warm temperatures of the surface they are walking on. Most dogs have four digital pads on each paw (one for each of the major toes) and a large central pad.
The image below shows the pressure which is transmitted through the pads of a Labrador Retriever when standing on a mat which measures how much force goes through each of the pads. The more yellow the image is, the greater the pressure which is being applied through that area of the pad. As you can see from the image, when standing, dogs bear weight predominantly through their forelimbs (approximately 60%, compared to 40% through their hind limbs), and mainly through the two middle toes of each forelimb. Interestingly, the central pad of the forelimbs bears some weight at rest when the dog is standing still, whereas the central pad of the hind limbs bears little or no weight (although weight is borne through these structures when the dog walks or runs).
Of course, even such specialised structures as food pads can’t cope with some of the sharp items they will encounter on the roads and paths we walk them on, like broken glass, thorns and other sharp objects. Lacerations of the digital pads are very common; we know from the Dogslife database that many of you have experienced your dog cutting one of his or her foot pads already. Usually, the clinical signs are immediately apparent; you dog may vocalise pain, lift the paw, lick the paw or start bleeding from the paw.
In these situations the first thing to do is to evaluate the wounds and try to clean them (ideally with boiled (but not boiling!) water, to avoid introducing any infection into the wound). If the pad is bleeding (and they often appear to be gushing with blood as the pads have a very abundant network of blood vessels in them) then you need to maintain some pressure on the wound, with a bandage or other clean absorbent material. If you have any concerns, the bleeding doesn’t stop, you are worried there may be some foreign material (like grit or glass) in the wound, or your dog seems particularly painful on their pad, then contact your veterinarian immediately. If foreign material is suspected to be in the cut, then it will need to be investigated, and large cuts may require sutures to help them heal quickly. Whilst it would be nice to prevent these injuries, they are often unavoidable, but of course if you do see broken glass on the floor it’s a good idea to give it a wide berth with your dog!
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Prize winners!
Congratulations to June’s prize winners! The following Dogslife members have each won £10 of Pets at Home vouchers: Mrs C from Kent, Mrs M from Cardiff, Miss P from North Lincolnshire, Mrs H from Moray, Mrs M from Dumfries and Galloway, Mr R from Surrey, Mrs R from Vale of Glamorgan, Mr S from Aberdeenshire, Mrs F from York, and Ms T from Suffolk. We hope you enjoy spending the vouchers on your pet.
Thank you to everyone who continues to tell us about their Labrador Retriever; all the information you provide helps our research enormously. If you haven’t won a prize this time, don’t worry! By keeping your dog’s record up to date, you will automatically be entered into the next prize draw which takes place in September. Thanks again to everyone who supports the Dogslife project.
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Don't forget to come back to Dogslife to update your dog's record www.dogslife.ac.uk
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