Pet Health - How To Keep Your Dog Safe

Sadly enought, reventable accidents are also a leading cause of early death for many dogs. Veternarians often see dogs injured as the resutl off car accidents, from dogfights, or who suffer from accidental poisonings.

While accidents sometimes happen no matter how many precautions are taken, there are things you can do to help keep your dog as safe as possible.

Protect Your Dog From Vehicular Accidents And Dog Fights

Never let your dog outside unaccompanied. Try to keep your dog in a fenced-in yard. Reduce the possibility of dogfights by introducing your dog slowly to other dogs. Or, better yet, keep other dogs away from your dog. Most dogfights occur when dogs are outside by themselves. Also, be sure your dog cannot run out of the house or escape from your yard. If you live in an area where there are any vehicles - even golf carts or mopeds - watch the dog closely. And when you walk your dog, make sure it is on a secure leash.

Dangerous dogfights can also occur when there are multiple dogs in the same household. If you own more than one dog, and they continue to fight, you may need to permanently separate them.

Train Your Dog To Respond To Your Commands

A big part of keeping your dog safe involves training, so your dog will respond to your voice in any situation. You may find you need an obedience training class to achieve this. You will also need to practive obedience training througout your dog's lifetime.

The reason for this obedience training is that one day your dog might dash outside without a leash, and you would be able to quickly call it back before it gets into a fight or suffers an accident. Training your dog can save its life. And working with it will also help you and your dog develop a stronger bond.

Protect Your Dog From Accidental Poisoning

Every year, dogs around the world die from accidental poisoning. These are often caused by rodent poisons that have been placed around the home or in outside areas where a dog can access them. While your veternarian may be able to successfully treat one of these poisonings, they can still lead to permanent organ damage. If you use any poisonous products around your home, make sure your dog will not be able to reach them.

Poisoning accidents can also occur from products around the home that are deadly, but do not have a bad taste or smell. Your dog might ingest one of these out of curiosity, thirst, or hunger.

One example of a dangerous household product that can fatally poison dogs is anti-freeze. While it is a hazardous chemical, it actually has a slightly sweet taste that can appeal to both dogs and cats. Make sure there is no spilled anti-freeze around your home or in your neighborhood. Also, be aware of any other products in or around your home that could harm your dog.

Other more common accidental poisonings occur when ogs eat prescription medications and over-the-counter drugs. These drugs may taste horrible to us, but for some reason, dogs seem to find pills particularly appetizing. You may not think that your dog wouldn't be tempted to eat a bottle of xanax, but this does happen.

In fact, some pet owners recently discovered that their dogs were obsessed with getting into anti-depressant medications. While some of these stories are amusing, the consequences that dogs can suffer from overdosing on these drugs are serious. Always keep over-the-counter drugs and prescription medications far out of reach of your dog.

Microchip Your Dog

Chipping your dog is one of the most proactive steps you can take to keep your dog safe and healthy. If, at some time, you and your dog become separated, a microchip can help you reunite with your dog. If your dog becomes lost there is always the possibility that another person might adopt it. A lost dog can also suffer from starvation, get in fights with other animals, or be run over by a car.

When you can't claim your dog

Dogs that are lost are frequently picked up and brought to humane animal shelters. But if the dog is not claimed or adopted within a specified amount of time, it will most likely be euthanized.

However, if your dog does become lost and ends up in an animal shelter, a microchip will quickly identify
it, removing any chance that it is euthanized.

A microchip will also help to identify your dog if you are separated from it in an emergency. Mandatory evacuations caused by fires, floods, and storms are notorious for separating dogs and their frantic owners. So if you do become separated from your dog in an emergency, a microchip can bring the two of you back together.