Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Do dogs wear braces and can this help? Apparently, a doggie dentist in Spring Lake, Michigan believes that it can. In fact, he fitted his daughter’s six-month-old puppy, Wesley, with its own set of braces.

The dentist, Dr. Jim Moore, is also a veterinarian for the Harborfront Hospital for Animals. He specializes in endodontics and oral surgery for pets, and he’s had his share of treating dogs with canine root canal and pets with fractured jaws.

In Wesley’s case, the Golden Retriever was fitted with braces because his teeth has been misaligned. The dentist explains that the dog braces are not for aesthetics, as Wesley, like many other dogs in need of dental care, has a valid health concern.

“He wasn’t able to fully close his mouth and chew well and he stopped playing with his toys because of the pain and started losing weight because he couldn’t eat,” said Wesley’s owner, Molly. “The good news is, the correction he needed will be brief, perhaps only a few weeks,” the experts at the Harborfront Hospital for Animals’ Facebook page wrote.

Wesley was fitted with the braces on Feb. 19 and it’s due to come off anytime this week. The braces do not seem to bother Wesley one bit as he eats and plays like any regular dog. “He’s a happy little guy,” noted Dr. Moore.

Meanwhile, the timing of Wesley’s braces procedure highlights National Pet Dental Health, which is observed every February. It is a good reminder for pet owners to ensure their dogs’ teeth are also given attention, as it can lead to serious health issues when it’s disregarded.

Like humans, dogs must visit their dentists regularly for cleaning, and in some cases, they may require filing, extraction and teeth adjustment. Dogs can also develop oral problems common to humans, such as gingivitis, halitosis, receding gums and tooth loss, thus their teeth’s health must be evaluated from time to time by veterinary dentist.

Check out Wesley with his braces below:

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When people hear that Dr. Moore is a “doggie dentist,” they immediately say things like: “What? Does he put braces on…

Posted by Harborfront Hospital for Animals on Friday, February 26, 2016

Diet is a very important part of keeping your dog healthy. There have been many articles about dog food made in China that had harmful ingredients. A raw food diet is the most natural and healthiest way to feed your favorite canine. Here are a few arguments about feeding your dog a raw food diet. Please remember to slowly ween your dog off of their current diet so they do not experience any digestion problems.

Raw Meat

Raw Diet Benefits for Dogs

Cleaner teeth and healthy gums: Your dog’s teeth and gums will be cleaner and healthier from chewing raw meaty bones. When your dog starts eating raw meat with consumable bones; you will learn that raw meat and bones do not allow for plaque to build up. The crunching of small bones by your dog naturally provides scraping for his teeth. Raw bones are easily digested and they are good source of calcium and roughage for cleaning the teeth and gums naturally. On the other hand, canned dog food consists of highly processed food with added fat and preservatives, which will most likely cause plaque.

Keep extra weight off: Raw diet ensures that your dog stays lean and strong, and lean dogs live longer. High protein raw diets will help your dog lose weight without losing muscle mass. On a high raw protein diet, approximately a seventh of the weight loss will be muscle and about 85% of the weight loss will be fat. The bottom line is that to maintain your dog’s muscles, his body needs protein. Raw diet helps you improve your dog’s feeling of fullness, so your dog is less of food pest when dieting, and it should be easier to keep him lean. Lean dogs live longer, have stronger immune system, and have lower blood pressure.

Improved muscle strength and stability: The tearing, shredding and meaty bone crushing activity that comes with raw diet is helpful in building up strength in your dog’s neck, jaws, shoulder, and back muscles. Raw dog diet lifestyle’s increased activity will strengthen your dog skeletal as well as heart muscles, which enhances cardiovascular functioning and improves balance and flexibility. The bones and natural cartilage in the diet will grow your dog strong bones and healthy joints.

Lower risk of cancer: Your dog is less likely to get cancer if he is fed on raw diet. Consumption of raw green vegetables is essentially important for dogs that eat dry foods. Dry foods are predisposed to aflatoxin contamination. Despite the fact that smaller amounts of aflatoxin are considered normal in the grains used for dog foods, green vegetables can significantly help offset the contamination element’s negative effects. Green vegetables are composed of chlorophyll, which is known to delay the onset of signs of liver cancer caused from the consumption of aflatoxin-contaminated grains. Make sure to balance the fats and complete your dog’s nutrition with fresh foods.

Better digestion and improved stool quality: When you give your dog raw food, he starts to eat by working on his jaws and teeth on the meaty bones and fleshy meat. Your dog will eat slowly, providing himself with full enjoyment. As he continues to chew, more gastric juice is secreted so that the food can be digested properly. Firmer as well as smaller stools with less smell are produced by your dog after consuming raw diet. Your dog’s stool may contain powdery white material from bones, which is absolutely normal. Better digestion leads to small and firm stool, which generally improves your dog nutrient absorption.

Better eye health: When you feed your dog raw diet from his young age, he will have fewer eye problems as he grows old. In order to maintain good eye health, raw diet with balanced fats will improve your dog’s retina. The amount of fat, protein, and carbs based upon raw diet will provide your dog with essential antioxidants among other nutrients known to protect the eyes. These may include vitamins D and E, lutein from egg yolks, and zinc. The sardines and oysters in the raw diet provide natural source of zinc. Ideally, a raw diet provides your dog with naturally balanced nutrition.

What should you do if you are discriminated against because you have a service dog?

Public perception and the law don’t necessarily agree in this area. If you believe you have been prevented from accessing a businesses products or services because you are disabled and happen to have a service dog, the first step is to document the incident and present your complaint to the business.  The next step is to file a complaint with the appropriate federal and state agencies (often this is the Human Rights Commission). Finally, take your experience to the web. Filing a report on sites like ripoffreport.com and trustpilot.com will often catch the attention of the senior management of the store.