By Darcy Keehn & Colleen Akkerman

Article #4 of our series “Visions of Freedom through a Dog’s Eyes!” discusses Freedom from pain, injury or disease. This particular freedom requires us to be proactive in our pets health, and mental wellbeing.

What are the benefits to our dogs and their owners in taking the time and money in being proactive? Through being proactive, our dogs can stay healthier, and may not need to go through disease or injury that requires expensive veterinary care, not to mention the pain and suffering that they can go though.

Basic at home grooming can be as simple as bathing the dog, at least every few weeks, with quality products designed for dogs. It’s important to keep their coats and skin healthy.  Keeping their nails trimmed to a reasonable length helps minimize stress to the joints of paws and legs. This is also a good time to clean their ears and thoroughly check their teeth for dental problems.

On longer haired dogs, it’s easy to use an electric clipper to trim off excess hair from the bottom of the paw. A little manscape and ladyscape goes a long way in maintaining cleanliness.

When you’re bathing your dog, it’s also a good time to thoroughly check whether your flea and tick preventative is working. The misery a dog endures if they have a flea infestation is horrendous, especially so if the dog has a flea allergy.

These are all easy at home common sense maintenance practices.

There are environmental modifications for different ages and breeds of dogs that can make a difference in the dogs comfort. Some are especially essential for senior dogs and certain breeds. Ramps, stairs, orthopedic beds can all make a difference in preventing the severity of arthritis. A baby gate is an easy prevention to keep a dog with failing eyesight from falling down stairs, or to keep an adventurous puppy out of harms way, such as chewing electrical cords.

Vaccinations and dewormers are basic essential requirements that prevent needless suffering and disease!

Just as with us humans, exercising and maintaining a moderate weight helps prevent health issues associated with obesity, i.e. cardiac disease, Addison’s Disease, diabetes, depression, arthritis, constipation and early death.

While many things can be prevented at home, recognizing a serious health issue or injury that requires prompt veterinary care is vital, and is an essential responsibility of all dog owners.

(Liberty’s running through the large fenced yard with the zoomies!)

Liberty:  Whoo Hoo…tag, your it.  Come on Rio, why don’t you join me?

Rio:  You better watch out, here I come. I’m still pretty buff, even for a 13-year-old dog, and I can still beat you!

Liberty: You definitely run faster and longer than a lot of younger overweight dogs I see. I’m pretty proud of you dad…you’re in such good shape, you don’t suffer from back issues or bad health. Does that mean I’ll stay healthier too if I exercise all my life like you’ve done?

Rio:  You betcha sweetie. Do you realize that we can increase our heart rate without even running? When Darcy says “I love you” our heart rate jumps significantly. She read a study to me that shows a 46% increase in heart rate, from an average of 67 beats per minute to 98 beats per minute, when the dog was told that they are loved.

Dog owners would be wise to have at least basic knowledge of canine first aid for emergency situations.

A Dachshund breeder/exhibitor friend who is always watching for up-to-date information on canine health and reproduction, read a post on a dog forum regarding a full-term pregnant dog that died suddenly at home. Out of curiosity, Darcy’s friend did additional research regarding the rare situation.

One week later it happened to her dog. When her full-term pregnant dog died with no warning in her arms, she had enough knowledge to make the choice to take action to save the lives of the unborn puppies. She and her husband were able to save the lives of six out of eight puppies within the two and a half minutes they had before the unborn puppies died along with their mother. She said emergencies can happen to anyone. Knowledge gives you power to make choices!

Darcy is especially grateful for her friend’s courageous choice to take action as those six puppies are sired by her AKC Champion “Kristoff.”

Watch for our next column as the four of us explore Freedom to express normal behavior, the next of the Five Freedoms for Animals.

As always, Woof Woof and Bye Bye!!!

Rio