The Golden Retriever is one of the most versatile dog breeds known to man. Their intelligence and versatility sees them employed in a variety of roles including illegal drug detection, search and rescue, as hunting dog, as guide dog for the blind, as therapy dog, and as a service dog for the disabled. Its friendly, eager-to-please and patient demeanor has made it one of the most popular family dogs in the world. The Golden Retriever has an endless number of positive attributes when being considered as a family pet. They are also very competitive in agility and other performance events.

Golden Retriever puppy are known to be very playful and very friendly and making it the best choice for kids of all ages. While young children should always be supervised when playing with any dog, the Golden Retriever is remarkably accepting of children’s sudden and often random movements or behaviors. Friendly with everyone, including other dogs, the Golden Retriever has very little, if any, guarding instincts. They are a fairly robust and healthy dog breed that can be expected to live for 10 to 14 years.

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If your dog gets diagnosed with a common heart murmur problem, it may be a sign of canine cardiac disease.

According to the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, a heart murmur results from blood flow running through the heart that is abnormal. Some heart murmurs are perfectly normal while others, similar to those heard in aging dogs, may be a sign that some type of heart disease is prevalent. The most common cardiac diseases in dogs include:

1. Congenital birth defects that show up when a puppy is young.
2. Degenerative valve disease (heart valve leaks) that mostly affect older or middle-aged dogs.
3. Loss of heart muscle tissue that is typically seen in young dogs or middle-aged larger dog breeds.

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Have you considered that your dog’s life may be in danger just from him hanging out in your backyard? Regardless if the area is fenced in and seemingly safe from danger, you would be surprised at what may be hiding, ready to hurt or even kill your lovable canine companion.

Your backyard may be a dog’s paradise, but the area can be fraught with danger, especially if you have a puppy that is young, adventurous, and going through that oral fixation phase where he must chew on anything he can find.

The worst age bracket for this problem is between 1 and 6 months, however, other types of dogs, such as Golden retrievers as a prime example, seem to carry this chewing habit with them for the rest of their lives.

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When bringing home a new puppy, you need to be prepared for the worst case scenario. Chances are, your puppy will be an angel compared to what you expect of him/her, but at least you would have covered all bases. As with anything else in life, it is always better to be over-prepared than to be under-prepared.

The most obvious supplies are usually at the forefront of any new pet-owner’s mind. These include feeding and water dishes, a leash, a collar or harness, teething toys, a bed, some sort of confinement and sleeping quarters for the puppy, wee wee pads, food and of course treats.

When choosing feeding and water dishes, consideration must be given to the size of the puppy. Dishes too large may prevent a tiny puppy from eating and dishes too small may provide too little food for a large puppy. Pay particular attention to the amount of food the puppy is currently eating and the height of the puppy when choosing dishes.

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A dog is a man’s best friend. However, true this might be, the fact always remains that dogs are after all wild animals, and training your beast in to a civilized pet is a very important task that you cannot ignore as a responsible dog owner. Dog training apparently might sound a very easy ‘do it yourself’ task, however, there comes a limitation on how well you can train your dog all by yourself. There are many dog obedience training professionals that can do this job for you, at a small cost.

You might be able to train your dog for routine tasks like following you, toilet training, playing games, etc, but living in a city will require more than this basic training. Formal dog training is quite important, for instance if you are taking your dog for a walk on the street, it needs to know how walk in a straight line with a leash around. You don’t want your dog scurrying around dragging you all over the park while scaring other commuters.

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A dog is a man’s best friend. However, true this might be, the fact always remains that dogs are after all wild animals, and training your beast in to a civilized pet is a very important task that you cannot ignore as a responsible dog owner. Dog training apparently might sound a very easy ‘do it yourself’ task, however, there comes a limitation on how well you can train your dog all by yourself. There are many dog obedience training professionals that can do this job for you, at a small cost.

You might be able to train your dog for routine tasks like following you, toilet training, playing games, etc, but living in a city will require more than this basic training. Formal dog training is quite important, for instance if you are taking your dog for a walk on the street, it needs to know how walk in a straight line with a leash around. You don’t want your dog scurrying around dragging you all over the park while scaring other commuters.

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All about puppies is to understand how your puppy develops, both physically and socially. You can tailor your puppys’ training and play time to include sessions that fit you and your pups schedules and abilities. Following this guideline will help to ensure he is getting the most from his or her new world of all kinds of people and places. It also helps limit training failures-which are most common when your puppy is either bored or asked to perform a task of which he is unable to perform to satisfaction. However, with all about puppies, keep in mind that these are generalized guidelines and your puppy will develop at their own pace.

What to expect from your puppy as it grows and develops within the first year

3-5 weeks of age
Your puppy is just now learning to hear , see and smell. As their senses are quickly developing, each puppy is becoming aware of their surroundings. With this awareness, your puppy starts to socialize with other family members; (brothers/sisters/mother). The puppy will also begin walking, barking, jumping, and playing with his /her family and playmates. At this time, their teeth will begin to show through and they want to and should be encouraged to eat solid foods.

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From insects to alpacas, pets come in all shapes and sizes. Many families feel that they are not complete without some little (or large) critter to love. In fact, more than 60% of all American households have pets, and many of those have more than one. If you are considering buying or adopting a new pet, you need to make sure that you are already to take on the demands of a furry (or scaly) companion.

Choosing the Right Pet

When most people think of family pets they think of furry one like dogs, cats, and a variety of domestic rodents. While these are common pets, they are far from the only options out there. Fish, reptiles, birds, amphibians, and even insects can all be great pets for a loving family. Choosing the right pet starts with a close look at your current lifestyle.

One of the most important considerations to make is the amount of time you have free to devote to your pet. Dogs, for instance, need daily exercise and grooming. Are you going to be able to provide that? If you have a very busy lifestyle, choose a pet that requires less work to care for. There are many options that fit well into a busy life, including pet insects and reptiles. Some small rodents, like mice or guinea pigs, fit well into busy families.

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You just brought home your new puppy, now, what should you feed him? There are a million types and brands of dog food, from canned to kibble. How do you know how much you should feed your puppy? For medium to large size puppies, they need to be fed a well balanced, quality, dry, puppy formula, 4 small meals a day, up to 4 months of age. They are growing so fast and using up so much energy, they need to be refueled frequently. From 4 months to 8 months of age, they should be fed 3 meals a day, and from 8 months to 12 months, feed 2 times a day. If puppies are started on dry kibble from the time they are weaned, they will have no problem eating dry puppy food.

Treats can be given in moderation, especially small treats for reward during training. Table food and leftovers should be avoided, although the occasional piece of apple or carrot is okay. Certain foods are not safe for puppies or dogs to eat. Most people know chocolate can harm dogs, but raisins, grapes, onions, garlic and certain nuts are also harmful.

It is important for large breed puppies to be fed a dry puppy food specially formulated for large breeds. Also, do not overfeed your puppy to increase or speed growth. This is especially important for large breed puppies because rapid growth causes improper skeletal development, which leads to bone and joint problems. A slower, steady growth rate is better. You should not encourage your puppy to become an oversized adult to make him look more impressive.

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After you have set a name for your new puppy, teach him to associate it with himself. The goal here is for the dog to know that you will use that name to get his attention. Whatever he is doing, he could be playing or sitting in a corner, but once you call him by that name, he should turn and run towards you.

Teaching your pet puppy to respond accordingly to his name is, in fact, basic in training your dogs with such commands as stay, sit, come, or roll. You will not be able to train your puppy successfully with these if he is not focusing on you. This is exactly why calling or commanding your dogs by their names is important.

In every thing that you want your puppy to do, start the command by his name. Whether it is a call for eating time, or for bathing time, call him by his name. This way you are teaching the puppy to be familiar with the sound of his name. In addition, he also learns to associate his name with a command. After he gets used to this habit, he will run to you every time you call him by his name.

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