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Are Drugs Helping Or Hurting Our Troubled Dogs?
Dog Injuries Due To Leash Straining"Who is walking whom?" This question pops into my mind whenever I see owners being dragged down the street by their dogs. Leash pulling usually becomes a ... Sometimes a dog will have a problem is so "obvious" that it is tempting to call it purely a "behavior" problem. However, unless the dog has had a really thorough veterinary examination, the diagnosis is premature. As veterinarians become more involved in pet behavior, the search for physiological causatives through differential diagnoses is rapidly gaining popularity. At the same time, unfortunately, the lure of psycho-active drugs for quick-fix treatments, is also gaining appeal with a some veterinarians and even more dog owners.
Several veterinarians have reported clients who actually drop into the practice to request a Prozac prescription for their dogs! Most of these clients are surprised when they learn of the dangers of drug harmful side-effects, the need for a careful differential diagnosis, and complete medical screenings. It seems the popular press and other media have convinced many people that the "magic pill" has indeed been discovered!
Since scant scientific research has been conducted with these drugs and dogs, and because most of them are not approved by the PDA for use in animals, most veterinarians choose aggressively to diagnose problems rather than merely prescribe stimulants or depressants. They know drugs can mask important behavioral and physical causatives.
Your Friendly LabIf you are looking for a guard dog, the Labrador is not the breed for you. They do not have the same protective instinct as a Rottweiler. But a Lab will bark if someone is outside where he cannot see or if he hears a strange ...
The effects of health problems on a dog's behavior range from dramatic to subtle. For example:
1. Hypothyroidism can create both subtle and gross mood-swings, fearful or aggressive behavior.
2. Sudden pain from a slightly dislocated cervical vertebra or arthritis when a child hugs the family dog's neck can stimulate a vicious bite because the dog associates the pain with the child's action, etc.
Until all possible physical causes of unwanted behavior are investigated, and treated, behavioral therapy on its own will have little chance for success. At the same time, behavioral aspects of the problem dog deserve equal attention with the physical, because social and structural elements in a dog's life can induce chronic stress and create health problems.
The way clients interact physically with their pets, using their hands to express affection through petting, versus dis-affection through punishment, can have profound effects on an animal's visceral condition, i.e., health, while producing or relieving emotional stress. Sadly, the importance of the mind/body health link receives precious little attention from animal behavior researchers. Even so, as the next century nears, diagnostic techniques will be developed which may well astound most of us. In the meantime, we must struggle with rather elementary approaches.
I hope you get some good ideas from these articles about Diamond Dog Food Poisoning and Pet Grooming Office Supplies and that you are able to use them.
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DOG PRODUCTS
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Tue 6 Jan 2009 17:03:46 CST
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Tue 6 Jan 2009 17:03:46 CST
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Tue 6 Jan 2009 17:03:46 CST
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Tue 6 Jan 2009 17:03:46 CST
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Tue 6 Jan 2009 17:03:46 CST
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