Train the Dog Blog

About a third of dog owners allow their dogs to sleep on the bed with them. Many single men and women get company from their dogs in the day and the night time in this way. The owners of no other pets permit their pets to sleep with them as much as dog owners do.

It is handy that dogs have a similar sleep pattern to humans, whereas cats tend to like hunting at night. Dogs also seem to dream and enter into the REM (rapid eye movement) sleep stage.

Every dog owner has seen his dog running and barking quietly in his sleep. What else can they be doing other than dreaming? When a dog is sound asleep like this, it can be as hard to wake him up as any child and when they do wake up they appear to be dozy and they shake themselves awake.

Some dogs have been bred for certain purposes and this has lead to facial traits which have given rise to breathing abnormalities. Pugs and other dogs with squashed faces often breathe very noticeably in their sleep and at other times in the day.

Some dogs even snore and some snore very noisily. If your dog sleeps with you, this can be a concern. The reasons why dogs snore are usually the same ones that lead to humans snoring, although, as stated above one of the main reasons for breathing problems is breeding.

One cause of snoring is a constraint of the nasal passages due to an allergy. If you suspect that this is the situation, you can start by thinking whether you have added anything new to your home or whether you use a new air freshener. If you cannot find the cause yourself, you might have to call in a vet.

One of the main causes of snoring in humans is being too heavy and the same is true of dogs, especially the smaller breeds. If your dog has just started snoring, maybe he just put on that additional pound that broke the camel’s back, so to speak.

If you believe that this might be the reason for your dog’s snoring, the clear answer is to help him to lose weight through activity and dieting. There is a good probability that that will stop the snoring.

If all else fails and you are being driven to distraction by your dog’s incessant snoring, there is some minor remedial surgery available to open up the nasal passages. It is a pretty routine operation that does not take long and should result in both you and your dog having a better night’s sleep..

If you choose to go down this route, ring around a few vets to get prices as the fees that vets can charge vary significantly.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on quite a few topics, but is currently concerned with researching What to do if your dog eats chocolate. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at http://whattodoifyourdogeatschocolate.com.

We all love our dogs, don’t we? We like to give them a little delicacy sometimes as well. Some dogs are so cute when they beg for a bit of what you are eating, but the fact is that some foods that are alright for us to eat are not so good for dogs. This ought not come as much of a surprise as you would probably be quite ill too if you ate a half-rotten bird that you found in the long grass.

The main human food that will kill your dog is chocolate or more accurately the theobromine in the chocolate. Some chocolate has more theobromine in it than others. For example, white chocolate has only 1 mg of theobromine per 28 g (1 oz) whereas baking chocolate has 450 mg per 28 g.

So how much theobromine does it take to poison a dog? Well, the response to that depends on several factors like age and health but most significantly the weight of the dog. Let us say that an average, knee-high, collie-type dog weighs 20 kilos (about 45 lbs.), then it would take about 250 kg (560 lbs) of white chocolate to harm him, but he most likely would have exploded by then anyway having eaten 12.5 times his body weight in food.

However, the picture changes quickly when we examine other kinds of chocolate. It would take about 1.5 kg (3 lbs) of milk chocolate to have the same effect and about a third of that in sweet cacao or half-a-kilo (1 lb). The most hazardous substance is baking chocolate. It only takes just over 100g or four and a half ounces of baking chocolate to give a medium sized dog life threatening complications.

Therefore, the greatest danger would be of a dog eating a chocolate cake with chocolate icing or topping. Children are the worst, albeit innocent, culprits: they often give dogs cake at gatherings and it is one to look out for.

So, what should you do if your dog eats chocolate? It depends on the quantity and the quality and your dog. The safest thing would be to take him to the vet as soon as possible, but if you are sure of yourself you could wait for symptoms like vomitting, diarrhea, twitching, seizure, palpitations or undue wetting.

Theobromine attacks a dog’s central nervous system so not all dogs will respond in the same way, but you will certainly notice that your dog is perplexed, befuddled and distressed.

If you make your mind up to treat your dog yourself, the first thing you should do is stimulate vomitting all the while comforting your dog. A 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide should do the trick. Give your dog a teaspoon full if it is under 10 kg and a tablespoon if it is over 10 kg. Give every 15 minutes until it takes effect. After this, try to get some activated carbon into him to soak up any remaining poison. Follow the recommendations on the packet.

If you live miles from anywhere or you think that your dog is at high risk (the school holiday season is the worst), you could get a pet’s first aid box from your vet. They are not dear and have a long shelf life and you will not be caught out if someone feeds your dog chocolate.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on quite a few subjects, but is at present involved with researching What to do if your dog eats chocolate. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at http://whattodoifyourdogeatschocolate.com.