The Basics of Dog Health & Wellness

Series Summary

“Dogs are not people. Remember, dogs are not people. Your dog is not your child. A dog is not a person. Remember, your dog is not a person!” No matter how many times the dog trainers, animal behaviorists, and veterinarians tell us this, we still treat our dogs as though they were children or human friends. What is so wrong with this? It is interesting to watch a professional animal behaviorist or “dog whisperer” work with families who have troublesome pets. Invariably the family needs as much training as the pet. Dogs are predictable. Although wild animals at heart, a dog has a formulaic mind that responds to its environment in predictable ways. Training a dog or acting as its “pack leader” is not cruel or unnatural. Canine society requires a pack leader, and your dog requires a strong leader to live a healthy life. You can have a friend and a companion in your dog, but you are selling it short if you do not supply the proper discipline. Without discipline and regular exercise (walking or roaming is evolutionarily programmed into a dog) your dog will be imbalanced and unhappy. Trust the experts.

In this free video series on dog health and wellness, expert Jim Leske introduces you to the common issues of dog care, including the importance of dog tags, vaccinations, and spaying and neutering. He also teaches you about pet grooming, safe ways to clip nails, caring for your dog's teeth, bathing, and flea control. You will hear popular pet myths debunked and information about your dog's diet. It is all here!

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Jim Leske, animal trainer with Expert Village. Over my animal career, I've worked as an animal trainer, veterinary assistant, riding instructor, and a zookeeper as well. Spending quality time with your animal is very important, not only for their health and well-being, but also to head off what kind of things you should be looking for to keep them healthy and let them live long, healthy lives in your homes. Some of the things which I'll be talking about today in the health and wellness category and we're going to be right back with appearance. Today we're going to talk about appearance, and appearance is very important for the health and well-being of your pet. You want to go through their fur. Hides not only protects them from the elements, but it can also hide some of the most common diseases and cuts, bruises, what have you. So it's very important that you go through your dog. What we're looking for is number one, their coat is soft and shiny. They're not excessive shedding, not a lot of dander coming off. But in the meantime, we're feeling around for anything that could be hiding. Cuts, bruises, tics, anything like that. If you were to find any of these things, I would highly recommend that you take your pet to your vet, your favorite veterinarian, immediately. I'm Jim Leske and this is Tess, and we're going to be back talking about animals and disasters."