Puppy time

[denelian]

so, Joe (anivair ) has a new puppy named Jasper. Joe is feeding new puppy on the Raw Meaty Bones diet, which is exactly what it sounds like. Joe is doing much research and making many discoveries, recording it all at  http://www.anivair.com/rawmeatybone/.
I am bored, and have no life, because i cannot really walk at the moment. in a fit of goodheartedness, friendship and massive ennui, i offered Joe help in his academic endevor.
heh, that even reads totally snotty. i amuse myself, anyway.

anyway. the point is that i am doing my best to research various things that Joe doesn't have time for, or doesn't need yet, or is interested in but not that interested that he takes time from playing with puppy to read about puppy.

i attempted to research exercise, specifically what exercise regime would be appropriate for a puppy on the RMB diet. no such luck. general info on exercise is, while quite available, totally contradictory. so i cheated and called the old family vet in CA. which, while helpful, still isnt as specific as i would like. so i posted what i had and decided i needed an avenue of research that was less... persnickity.

this week, then, i will be researching Flea and Tick control.

many of you own pets. so i have decided that, while i am doing technical research, i would also like to have people's thoughts and opinions on the various methods available for keeping pests off your pets. (chris, i'm totally looking at you here, you vet-tech-student-you)

thought? opinions? advice? ideas? statements?

Comments

[anivair.livejournal.com]

I tend to frontline, myself, but I have heard of lots of different options that are dietary. Given that frontline has no negative impact on the dog that I can tel,l I use it for now, but I'm perfectly willing ot use the dietary options if they're good.

[christraven.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you've covered this, but definitely watch the fat content of the food you give - the biggest concern most people run across is too much fat or fatty tissue, which can lead to obesity, heart disease, etc.

That's the trickiest part of a home diet to watch out for.

And Frontline is fine to work with. There's one (maybe Vanguard) that seems to stop working after a while, then starts working after the animal's been off it for a while. It's like the parasites develop a tolerance to the medicine. Dietary-wise, I got nothin', since we haven't covered any of that in classes. Medicine-wise, I'd go with Sentinel or Frontline. The only other way to avoid parasites is to keep the animal indoors all the time, and I'm sure you wouldn't want to do that. :D

[anivair.livejournal.com]

fatty content is tricky, of course, but most of my research says that, like people, the real threat of obesity comes from combining fat with excess carbs. Keeping dogs off grain makes that a bit easier, though fat is still an issue. Canines can eat a much higher content of fat than humans (and they should) but nobody wants too much.

[thedolphingirl.livejournal.com]

Careful with listening to what those diet things say. I had my cats on a "super" diet and they ended up having to be put on prescription cat food, which is waaaay expensive.

[anivair.livejournal.com]

What sort of "super" diet were they on? cats are even stricter carnivores than dogs, so I'd be careful of anyone that recommends you give them anything that never had feet.

[majgie-moon.livejournal.com]

My vet put Sophie on Advantage Multi and said it was what he was recommending almost all his patients start to use because he preferred the oil on the neck of the body over the pill.

While we have had no problems as far as ticks or other parasites that it covers, I have to say that I would rather feed the puppies a pill. The oil does not soak in right away, if you have an active dog, especially one that is inside, you can end up with that stuff everywhere unless you sit there and hold them still for the next 15 or so minutes.

Also, after putting this or any of the other topical type treatments to Harry, he acts sick for the next day or so.