Portuguese Water Dog Magazine » Spaniel

How To Find And Choose The Right Hypoallergenic Dog For You

Master — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 06:48:55 +0000

If you are looking to get a dog that is lessapt to cause allergies look for the hypoallergenic dogs. These dogs since they tend to be smaller, will need more attention then other dogs. These dogs will not cause you to have allergies as bad as the other dogs you may have because they do onot shed and do not have undercoats. These dogs are dogs are very well liked by those that commonly suffer from allergies and are hypoallergenic: Irish Water Spaniel, Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier, and Bedlington Terrier.

If you’re one of those looking for aMore massivebreed of hypoallergenic dogs the water spaniel will do. This breed has short hair and doesn’t shed hair so they should be ok. If you were to get one of these dogs you would have to keep up with its coat and brush it every once and a while.

There are four main types of Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier, the Traditional Irish, Heavy Irish, English, and American. The difference in each of these dogs is their sizes range. The Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier has a short coat that does not shed much during the day. These dogs as well as any other dogs will need to be brushed to prevent rashes and such. This breed is a very good dog and they will be nice to anyone. They love to run outside and be around people inside the house as well. These dogs are not the ideal if you live in a condo or apartment, so you may need to move because they’ll love it if you get a house with a large backyard. This is the breed of dog if you are looking at these types of dogs.

For a smaller breed you may want to considerthe Bedlington Terriers which are more diminutive than the Irish Water Spaniel and Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier; they’ve shorter coats so they’ll need a good brushing every week to maintain a healthy coat. To insure a healthy coat you’ll need to either be able to groom your dog or take them and have them groomed.

These types are not the only hypoallergenic breeds that you canselect fromthere are severalother breeds that will not aggravate your allergies at all. If you live in a small condo than you might just be considering to get a smaller dog. On the other hand if you’re looking to buy a home then you can get one of these Largerbreeds of dogs. These dogs will need to be brushed to maintain their healthy coat because unlike other dogs they do not shed their coats. So if you get one be sure to take good care of it and feed it the right mixture of foods and be sure to exercise them too.

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Gregg Hall is an author living with his beautiful wife and family in Navarre Beach, Florida. Find more about dogs as well as pet supplies at www.shop4petstuff.com

Best Dogs for Families with Kids

Master — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 06:49:08 +0000

Choosing the right dog for your family with children need some research if you are new to the dog ownership. Families with kids need to pay attention on certain dog qualities such as temperament, size and energy level before adopting or buying a dog.

Kids like to play with dogs. Sometimes they forget to respect dog’s cue to back off. You need a dog that will not mind if his hair or tail gets pulled. Size is the another important consideration. This is for the safety of children as well as for dog. There are dog breeds that are very good with kids but too big; especially with small kids who may be accidentally stepped on or knocked over.

Some dog breeds that are good with kids have high energy or activity levels than others. If dogs don’t receive the exercise they physically require, they’re more likely todevelop behavior problems such as excessive chewing or barking. Select a dog breed that cares about children but requires less exercise if your family is not so active.

Here are some breeds that work well with kids:

Beagle: Generally a non-biting breed. Good with kids. Approximate size: 40 to 59 lbs. Beagles do shed. if you or a family member suffer from allergies, it is worth looking into other breeds that do well with kids.

Bassett Hound: Generally a non-biting breed. Good with kids. Approximate size: 50 to 65 lbs. Gets along well with other dogs and pets. Minimal exercise needed.

Cairn Terrier: Generally a non-biting breed. Good with kids. Approximate size: 13 to 25 lbs. Minimal shedding.

Cocker Spaniel: Generally a non-biting breed. Good with kids. Approximate size: 13 to 30 lbs. Regular exercise may be needed.

Dachshund: Generally a non-biting breed. Good with kids. Approximate size: 16 to 32 lbs. Minimal exercise needed. They are medium shedders and require modest exercise. Housebreaking can be difficult.

Golden Retriever: Generally a non-biting breed. Good with kids. Approximate size: 65 to 75 lbs. Easy to train. Get along well with other dogs and pets. Daily exercise needed. Loves to pay with balls and other toys, so exercise is fairly easy.

Labrador Retriever: Generally a non-biting breed. Good with kids. Approximate size: 60 to 75 lbs. Minimal grooming required. Requires daily exercise.

Pug: Generally a non-biting breed. Good with kids. Approximate size: 14 to 18 lbs. Sheds copious amounts, usually seasonally.

While there’s no guarantee a certain type of dog will get along well with children, there is a wide range of dog breeds (many more than mentioned here) that are known for being excellent family dogs. Always remember, before adopting or purchasing your next puppy, please do your homework.

What about Portuguese Water dogs? As puppies these dogs have very active mouths; they are mouthey; also require constant attention. This is a working breed and it is active. It needs to use its energy, and be productive. Mine is four years old, and spent yesterday around a family with children. The children adore him, and cuddle, massage, play rough, pull on him, and it’s great. But at the end of the day, we were all walking down a tall flight of stairs, and the 6 year old girl was crawling down the stairs, and he just jumped over her, down the stairs, and off he went, meanwhile the kid was crying from this, somewhat shocked. I had a black lab a dozen years by the San Francisco Bay, great family dog.

Dogs trained to smell human cancer

Master — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 06:50:38 +0000

Man’s ideal friend, will become man’s ideal diagnostic tool, detecting cancer in their owners, and other people. There capability is more effective then conventional scientific equipment and leastPriceyA dog’s ability to smell odors, can be trained to smell chemicals that are emitted in urine (example), by cancer cells. Odor from cancer cells can be detected, in very small quantities. Bladder cancer is the ninth most common cancer worldwide, diagnosed in 330,000 new cases a year, and more then 130,000 deaths. Also, a dog can smell a person’s breath, detecting any development of lung cancer. Canine’s sense of smell is generally 10,000 to 100,000 times greater, than humans, because dogs have greater number of neurons, that act like smelling receptors to the brain.

Recent ’60 Minutes’ Show (June 2005), with correspondent Morely Safer, made arrangements with dog trainer Andy Cook, at the Hearing-Aid Dog Center near Amersham, England. Conduct a test, to see if a cocker spaniel, can detect a cancerous urine sample, from a patient diagnosed with bladder cancer. Six other samples, where included, from patients with other diseases, and healthy patients. The test conclusively showed, cocker spaniel was able to detect the cancerous sample twice.

March 2004, Debbie Marvit -McGlothin, learned she was pregnant, and soon afterwards, her dog, a two year old shepherd-hound mix, began to sniff a little mole on the back of her leg. The dog was persistent, licking, biting and scratching the mole. Her Doctortook, biopsy of the mole, from her skin. Laboratory results proved, the mole was melanoma, the most severe type of skin cancer. The remaining area around the mole was later removed, and she was clear of cancer. Another case study, in 2001, man had for 18 years, eczema on his leg. His pet Labrador started persistently sniffing this area of skin, and whenever, he was wearing trousers. His doctoranalyzed this area, and diagnosed he had a tumor. Subsequently, tumor was removed. Afterwards, his dog stopped the attention on his leg.

Dr. Armand Cognetta, dermatologist at a clinic in Tallahassee Florida, worked with police department dog trainer. Objectively, train a dog to locate, and retrieve tissue samples of melanoma, which where stored in doctor’s laboratory. Result of the study showed, dog was able to find and retrieve these samples, 100 percent of the time. Dr. Cognetta had the dog, smell suspected areas of cancer on patients. The dog was almost 100 percent accurate, detecting cancerous skin lesions, in tested patients.

Dogtor Dogs (Dogtor Dogs: HC 77 Box 240, Altamont, TN 37301), a nonprofit organization kennel that specializes, in training dogs to find human cancer. Including, detecting for lung cancer, skin cancer, prostate cancer and breast cancer. Takes two years to fully train a dog, from ten weeks of age. A trained dog can screen over 11, 500 people in a lifetime.

Is docking a dogs tail cruel? – Part 1

Master — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 19:54:34 +0000

Many breeds of dogs are rarely seen without a docked tail. To understand why docking a dogs tail became acceptable, one must understand why the practice started in the first place.

For many dogs, such as the Cocker Spaniel, a docked tail as a puppy was prudent to the life and health of the dog. Cocker Spaniels are a sport dog and in the past were used to retrieve or flush birds or other small prey. During this activity, many adult Cocker Spaniels would injur their tail while running in thick brush, weeds and brambles. The tail became infected and the dog suffered great pain and even sometimes died.

Docking the dogs tail as a puppy, when the majority of the tail is mostly cartilege, became an accepted practice and is no worse than having an ear pierced. As a dog gets older, the tail becomes bone. So, waiting until the dog was older and hurt to remove a portion of the tail, meant that the dog had to undergo major surgery. Thus risk of infection and death increased with the age of the dog.

Other breeds of dogs, suffered the same types of tail injuries due to size, structure and hair cover of the tail. These dogs commonly had their tails docked as well. Other dogs, such as the Laborador Retriever, have a thick tail with much more hair protecting it and have a much less chance of injuring their tail. It is not common practice to dock the tails of these dogs.

The same reasoning can be applied today,even though many people commonly have their puppies tail docked because of looks. It issuperior to dock a puppies tail, who may fall into the category of likely tail injury risk, than to wait until the injury occurs. The same dogs who are only companions today, still play in the same manner that they hunted, flushed or retrieved in the past. The unlucky pet can find themselves with a tail injury quite easily.

When there are health concerns to consider, docking a puppies tail isn’t cruel. It is prudent. It is no more cruel to dock a puppies tail than having that same puppy spade or neutered to avoid the health risks of leaving them intact and to avoid over-population.

However, docking a puppies tail is not the same as cropping a dogs ears. Ear cropping became popular in breeds of dogs that were inhumanely used in dog fighting. Most associations and many locations have banned ear cropping, in order to disuade irresponsible owners of some breeds from engaging in these inhumane activities. Ear cropping was and unfortunately is used to prevent a dog in the fight from grasping and ripping the opponent’s ear. Ear cropping serves no purpose in today’s society.

A dog’s ear does not turn to bone as he ages. It is cartilege. The risk of infection is not great if the dog injures his ear at any age. A dog does not likely have to have major surgery if they injur their ear flap.

Docking a dog’s tail at an early age is not cruel.

Water Dogs and the Portuguese Water Dog

Master — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 21:40:55 +0000

The five breeds known as water dogs include the:
- Labrador Retriever – Spaniel – Portuguese Water dog – French Water Dog (Barbet) – Spanish Water Dog
Water dogs are in the news because the Obama family has one as their pet.
The best known water dogs which are in the US, and the United Kingdom are Labrador retrievers, and spaniels. There is no UK breed called a specifically an American, UK or English water dog but the spaniels probably come closest. On the Barbet breed web site it is recorded that, from ‘The Pictorial Museum of Animated Nature’ by Charles Knight (London: 1844), “The water-spaniel is extremely useful to persons engaged in the pursuit of water-fowl; it swims well, is very hardy, and is an excellent retriever”.
The Water Dogs would also in Portugal act as couriers, carrying messages between ships and from ship to shore; they would dive into the sea to retrieve broken fishing nets and equipment that had gone overboard. Often they would have to dive under water to retrieve submerged articles.
The Portuguese Water dogs are typical of the water dog breed family. They are generally happy dogs but the PWD needs to stay busy or it will get bored. You should have plenty of toys for it to play with. Generally healthy, some can develop hip dysplasia and eye problems such as cataracts. However, in spite of their thick, wavy coats, Portuguese Water Dogs are fairly easy to groom, needing only regular brushing and clipping.
Portuguese Water Dogs are very playful, obedient, and easy to train, and I can state they really enjoy retrieving games of any sort. They are medium-sized, usually described a “spirited but obedient.” They make a good dog for modern day boat owners. PWDs have a body that’s slightly longer than tall, the top line is straight and level and the brisket reaches the elbows. Sometimes called ‘Porties’ and ‘PWD’s, they have a broad chest and Largehead with a rounded skull, and heart-shaped ears that shouldn’t hang past their lower jaw.
They were, in times gone by, used for various duties while on board. The most used was their ability to retrieve nets and lost articles at sea, but some state that they were also good at herding fish to the nets. Another use was to get them barking in the fog to alert other boats of their location. This barking saved many boats in the cold foggy waters of Newfoundland, possibly before Christopher Columbus’ voyages.
Portuguese Water Dogs are intelligent, rugged, robust, and love to work in and out of the water. They are exceptional swimmers and divers with great stamina.
As energetic, lively canines the Portuguese Water Dog adjusts well to nearly any lifestyle. They
need physical exercise and they love to swim.
If intending to show them please note that they’re a very tightly controlled breed in the US, but for the whole breed that is good as we doubt there are very many, if any, puppy farms involving the breed.
Portuguese water dogs are medium sized, strong swimmers and active energetic family pets. in fact they can make very good family pets with their cheerful attitude. They are very gentle with babies.
PWD’s can have either a wavy or curly coat. Some people call this a tousled coat, and it requires regular brushing, and also clipping and trimming. But don’t expect your pet PWD to look like the show dogs you have seen in books or on TV, unless you’re trained to do this or the trimmer you employ knows the technique.
They are a hypoallergenic breed making this a perfect choice for the Obama family.
They can come in black, black and white, brown, or brown and white. PWDs are very intelligent and obedient with those who work with them; but they’re also self-willed, and not a breed for everyone!
Those who are considering a Portuguese Water Dog should speak with the breeder about their plans for training and being active with the dog, to make sure the breed is a good fit with your lifestyle.
So to summarize, Portuguese Water Dogs are a good indication of the dogs which represent this category of breed. They are very loving, independent and intelligent dogs. They love attention while being glued to their master’s side. Portuguese water dogs are known to be great family pets. For many families they’ll have a trusty intelligent companion in one of these water dogs .
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