Grooming Your Cats and Dogs: Know How

By Ram Das

Many of us enjoy the companionship of pets. Cats and dogs depend on their owners for healthy food, veterinary care, shelter and safety. in return they give us unconditional love, affection, devotion, loyalty and friendship. This book, written in a simple and lucid manner, deals at length with the care and management of pet dogs and cats. especially meant for the lay readers and pet owners, it provides the basic details on various aspects of pet care like, selecting the right breed, proper feeding, importance of training as well as exercise, social behavior, toilet training, health an diseases, vaccination, general myths and much more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Winchester Publications
• Release date: Sep 14, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386627678

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

Dogs are members of the Order ‘Carnivora’, a group of mammals that originated about 55 million years ago. The current members include animals in Family ‘Canidae’ comprising wolves, jackals and dogs. Canids have large canine teeth, long muzzles and blunt, non-rectile claws. All but the African hunting dog, Lycaon pictus , have five toes on the forefeet and four toes on the hind feet. They vary in size from the tiny desert-dwelling fennec, Pennecus zerda, weighing 1.5 kg to the grey wolf, weighing nearly 75 kg. Some members of the Canidae family migrated to South America where they evolved into foxes. Other Canidae gradually evolved into animals that began the Genus ‘Canis’. The genus continued evolving, producing the species Cam's lupis, or the wolf, about 3,00,000 years ago. The wolf is widely believed to be the forerunner of modern day dogs.

The dog was domesticated about 10,000 years ago by man. Though the new scientific findings indicate that it was domesticated between 12,000 to 15,000 years ago in East Asia instead of the Middle East.

It is believed that the dog family had a common ancestor-a five-toed weasel-like animal, Miacis. It was small with an elongated body and arboreal. From this there were two descendents-first one, a large, heavy boned animal with a long tail and other, a small slender animal which evolved into modern bears and can be considered as the grandfather of the dog family. In this evolutionary chain, ancesters of modern dogs descended, who had a body built for speed as well as for leaping. Thus, the domestic dog, Caniss familiaris, came on the scene.

Human beings began breeding dogs to serve specific functions like hunting, guarding, herding, or even as companions. There are more than two thousand dog breeds in the world. Herding breeds are very useful, like the German and Belgian Shepherd. These breeds were developed in certain areas which gives it their name, and also many different kinds. While herding has diminished in the last decades, they are commonly used in detecting drugs and rescue work.

(Anatomical Topography of a Dog)

TERRIERS ARE RODENT hunters, which due to social changes have become company dogs. These active breeds will have the instinct to dig, which can be solved by giving them place to do it. Hunt dogs usually have a short, bicolor or tricolor coat and an atheletic build. The hounds, like the Saint Hubert, hunt by their sense of smell. The dogs that are most used for hunting, which are bred to track, show and retrieve the prey include the Spaniels, Setters, Retrievers and Pointers. Retrieve dogs are specially used to find the prey and bring it back. The lifters are the dogs that get close enough to the live prey to scare it and have it run so the hunter can have a clear shot.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT DOG

Before choosing a pet one should keep the following aspects in mind:

Need of a pet in the family

Space for pet in the house

Type of house

Age of owner

Type of animal according to lifestyle

Breed i.e. large or small

Type of hair coat

Price

Purpose to keep the dog

Availability of free time needed by the pet

The future of animal in the house

Source to buy/ adopt the pup or dog

It is very important to note that though bringing a puppy into the family is an enjoyable experience, yet if the above-mentioned aspects and factors are not considered in advance, then many dogs are later found abandoned on streets and in animal shelters, or even dumped or killed.

Pups can be bought or adopted from the pet shops or shelters or from friends or breeders. Information is also available in newspapers and magazines. One should make sure that the dog is healthy and free Of any hereditary imperfections (Plate 1). The place from where the animal is bought or picked up should be hygienic and well-kept.

One should always keep in mind the space requirements, time and care needed for a pet. As a large breed dog will not grow up well in flats, only small breed dogs are best suitable options for that. All the dogs need daily grooming and exercise; if you don’t have so much time, then never buy a long-haired dog who needs extra care and time; in such conditions one should go for shorthaired dogs. Thus, one should buy or adopt a pet according to his lifestyle.

Parallel to these are some more factors like how much will be the cost to keep a pet including feeding, grooming, health care and training. Sometimes all the members of a family don’t agree to keep a pet as they don’t want to take responsibilities or may be allergic to animal hair. Likewise, pets should be selected according to a person’s personality, i.e. either docile or active. If you have plenty of time then the pets will get enough exercise and care. 80, the breed should be chosen accordingly (Plate 2).

People should consider the factors why they want to keep a pet, whether they want the dog for company, pleasure, safety, show off or just as a loving pet. The breed characteristics of dogs vary and one should be clear about their needs. Choosing a wrong pet may become trouble for owners. A veterinarian’s guidance is beneficial while considering all these factors.

The age of the pup should be taken into consideration as well. It should not be separated from mother until it is eight weeks old. At the same time, it is imperative to know the quality of pup.

Before bringing the pup people should collect the following things:

Bowls: There should be at least two bowls, one for water and other for food. Fresh water should be available 24 hours a day. Food should be given only in the bowls so that they will identify them as their own and the place of feeding should be fixed as well