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July 2021

Pet

Pet Worries: What’s the Right Thing to Do?

Having a pet is widely supposed to calm anxieties and racing thoughts, by providing companionship, comfort and something to care for. Unfortunately, pets can be a source of worry in their own right! If your pet is sick, loses its appetite, shows destructive or upsetting behaviours then it’s easy to lose sleep worrying about them!

Today we’re taking a look at some of the things you can do when you’re worried about your pet to make sure they get the help they need and you get to relax and enjoy their company as usual once again.

Time for the Vet?

If you notice your pet is injured or behaving in a strange or worrying way, then your first instinct might be to make an emergency appointment and rush it to the vet. While this is a good, caring instinct, it might be counterproductive. If your pet doesn’t need the vet, if it just needs some quiet time to recuperate in safety at home, then you’ve subjected it to a lot of stress for no positive result, reinforcing the negative associations many animals have with vets and making it harder to get them there the next time you really need help!

As the months and years go by you’ll develop better instincts and more knowledge about what’s normal for your pet, what’s non-serious and what’s genuinely worrying, but if you ever need professional input without loading your pet into a carrier, then it’s worth researching the sort of online vet advice UK veterinarians are beginning to offer. An online vet can’t do blood tests, administer medication or touch your pet for a physical examination, but via a video call they can look at the symptoms, talk with you and suggest your next course of action. At the very least they can let you know if you really do need to make an emergency trip to the vet.

Behaviour Problems

Whether it’s unusual aggression, destructive chewing and clawing or obsessive grooming, our pets have many behaviours that can worry us – and cause damage to our homes! Being faced with some of these behaviour problems can be very concerning, but fortunately, a lot of the time there’s a lot you can do to help.

The best thing you can do is try to understand what’s motivating that behaviour: a lot of the time destruction, aggression and house training issues stem from boredom and anxiety: if you can understand the source of their anxiety and address it, or provide some more attention and stimulation the issues may well disappear.

If you’re at a loss and in need of help, it’s worth consulting a trainer or behaviour specialist. Ask local pet owners, or at your vet for recommendations and get the help you need!

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Pet

How to Choose Between a Purebred and Mixed Breed Puppy

A purebred puppy is one that has been bred for a specific purpose, whether that is herding sheep or keeping your family safe. Mixed breed puppies are a mix of two or more breeds, while mutts may have a truly mixed heritage. But which one is right for you? Here are a few tips on how to choose between a purebred and mixed breed puppy.

Know Your Goals

Do you just want a companion animal? A mixed breed puppy can be a viable choice, if the dog has the right personality. A purebred puppy could be a good companion, if it comes from a breed that was literally bed to be a companion. On the other hand, dogs bred to be hunting dogs or guard dogs are rarely good companions regardless of the individual dog’s personality. If you want a dog that will herd goats or play fetch really well, then a herding dog is probably the best choice. A mixed breed puppy probably won’t be able to learn this. If you want to breed the dog at some point, it must be purebred if you want their offspring to be registered and show-worthy.

This means you should create a list of the traits you want the dog to have. This list can include must haves and nice to have features. This list can be used to identify potential breeds and determine whether a mixed breed dog may be an option.

Compare the Breed to Your Lifestyle

Terriers and a few other breeds were bred to chase vermin and even dig them up. Dachshunds love to dig, too, because they’re bred to go after badgers and other burrowing vermin. This means you won’t want these dogs if you can’t stand the idea of them digging up the yard to go after a mole or gopher. Hunting dogs will want to chase everything that fits their definition of a target, and they typically require a lot of exercise. Retrievers like collies and golden retrievers need to be walked long distances or they’re going to tear up the house out of boredom. This is true regardless of their size. Dogs bred to be companion animals tend to have trouble being left home alone, though this can be mitigated by having two or more dogs in the household.

At this step, you should strike potential breeds off your list and know whether a mixed breed dog is a viable option. You should end up with a short list of potential breeds and / or mixed breeds. Know that you could get a dog that is half or three-quarters a given breed and get many of the same traits, though the dog may not have the same sharp instincts as the purebreds. That means you’d need to train it more than a purebred, regardless of your end goal.

Know What to Look for When Shopping for the Puppy

If you’re considering buying a mixed breed puppy, the dog is more likely to be free of genetic defects. However, you need to have the dog checked for general health problems and parasitic infections that can come from neglect if it came from a puppy mill. If you’re looking for purebred dogs, you’ll want to verify the dog’s pedigree and verify that it is free of genetic disease. You can use a website like this when looking for purebred puppies to find breeder who provide health clearance information, genetic test results and authentic pedigrees. Then you won’t pay a premium for a purebred animal with ongoing health problems. However, the dog should still be checked out by a vet.

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